CEW Mentoring Event "The Evolution of Male Grooming" with "The Grooming Guru" Lee Kynaston and Steve Griffiths, Philips CEW was thrilled to welcome ‘The Grooming Guru’, Lee Kynaston and Steve Griffiths, Head of Male Shaving and Grooming at Philips, as mentors at their latest event, ‘The Evolution of Male Grooming’ on 18th November 2015. Lee and Steve shared some fascinating insights into how the public perception of masculinity has changed over the last century and how this has affected the male grooming industry. From the emergence of the ‘clean shave’ during the First World War to facilitate gas masks to the hipster trends of today, the audience of CEW members learned how traditional markers of masculinity have been erased and blurred. One defining trend of today is the bearded look, which is entrenched across different social and musical communities, from hip hop, creatives, artists, metallers, bikers, punks and tech-geeks to hipsters and beyond. In an age of female bosses, stay-at-home dads and metrosexualism, men have moved towards something that uniquely signals them as men - hair. Lee claims that we’re seeing a new generation of men that have emerged from the metrosexuals of the past decade – ‘sporno-sexuals’, that is sporty men with a hint of porn star. He notes the wave of hairless, tanned men who spend lots of time in the gym as a sign of changes in the industry. Steve concurred that in recent years modern men have more confidence to change their style and the general male population are more accepting of creative and inventive grooming. As men are changing, so are the products they’re using. They look for performance, function and something that is masculine focussed as opposed to the female trend of pampering. The retail environment too is adapting to suit the needs of this emerging consumer market. Male beauty consumers generally respond well to online retail, where they can research and purchase without a daunting in-store experience. Recent activations with men’s online media have proven successful for Philips, seeing large numbers of men clicking through vlog posts to buy products directly from online retailers. As masculinity continues to evolve, the beauty industry will adapt to suit the ever-changing needs of its consumers and the trends that define them. Hosted by