Key Takeaways:
For decades, men’s beauty followed a predictable script. Grooming meant shaving, deodorant, and haircare, purchased primarily at drugstores or selected by a partner. Skincare, when it existed at all, was positioned as an extension of shaving, framed around irritation, razor burns, or repair. That model shaped everything from product development to retail placement and marketing language.
Today, that framework is breaking down. Younger male consumers are no longer entering beauty through shaving, nor are they shopping exclusively for “men’s” brands. Instead, they are discovering skincare and wellness often on their own terms, and often outside gendered retail environments.
This shift marks one of the most significant evolutions in the men’s beauty category to date, with implications not just for brands, but for how the market is measured, merchandised, and funded.
The Original Gateway: Why Shaving Worked
Historically, shaving functioned as men’s skincare’s secret back door. It was a culturally sanctioned entry point into self-care. According to Michael Gilman, CEO of Grooming Lounge and one of the pioneers of modern men’s skincare in the early 2000s, its acceptance was deeply rooted in masculinity.
“Shaving was always and continues to be viewed as a ‘manly’ activity,” Gilman explained to BeautyMatter. “It’s hair removal, which shows that a man can grow such hair, and the act of using a sharp blade to do so even adds to the ‘machismo’ factor.” Since shaving was unimpeachably masculine, it allowed brands to introduce adjacent products without threatening gender norms.
Early men’s brands deliberately framed skincare as functional problem-solving, avoiding any suggestion of enhancement. “It was 110% solutions to challenges or issues, 110% deliberate and strategic to avoid the ‘enhancement’ discussion,” Gilman said. Products were positioned as fixes: razor burn, redness, under-eye circles, thinning hair. Even naming conventions reinforced this approach. “We always used to call our retail products ‘solutions’ rather than the product name,” Gilman added.
That strategy worked, but it also set limits. While grooming-led brands succeeded in normalizing basic skincare, the category’s growth has often appeared underwhelming when measured against women’s beauty. According to Coresight Research senior analyst Madhav Pitaliya, that perception is largely a data problem.
“The men’s beauty category is less underdeveloped than it is structurally under-measured,” he said. “Traditional benchmarks have been calibrated against female behavior and therefore fail to capture how men actually engage.” However, some industry founders and executives argue that this comparison is fundamentally flawed. Men’s beauty is not failing to explode, but evolving according to a different set of consumer behaviors, cultural expectations, and retail dynamics.
Understanding those distinctions, rather than forcing equal comparisons with women’s beauty, is now one of the critical challenges for brands. Men tend to buy fewer SKUs, shop less frequently, and favor multifunctional products, which suppresses apparent spend and penetration. “When measurement shifts toward usage occasions, cross-category overlap, and household purchasing dynamics, the true scale and momentum of men’s beauty becomes more visible,” Pitaliya explained. This reframing is critical, particularly as younger men begin to behave differently altogether.
Gen Z Is Bypassing the Shave
Generational divergence is now one of the most important forces reshaping men’s beauty. While male Gen X and older millennials typically entered skincare reactively, through shaving or deodorant, Gen Z men are often encountering skincare first. “Gen Z men differ meaningfully, in that skincare is often their first point of entry rather than an extension of grooming,” Pitaliya said. Acne treatment, suncare, and ingredient education, driven by social platforms, are leading touchpoints.
This cohort views skincare as “preventative and expressive rather than corrective,” he added, and is “less constrained by legacy gender norms around self-care.” As a result, grooming rituals like shaving are increasingly optional or situational, while skincare and wellness are viewed as foundational.
That evolution is already visible in retail data. Pitaliya pointed to “long-term stagnation or decline of traditional shaving categories alongside consistent growth in men’s facial skincare,” particularly cleansers, moisturizers, and SPF.
There is also the path to purchase, which now includes drugstores and self-directed choices. Historically, men’s beauty purchases were either utilitarian or outsourced. That dynamic is changing.
At Bubble, founder and CEO Shai Eisenman noted that male consumers are increasingly discovering products. “Many discover Bubble through dermatologist recommendations, their own research, or through someone they trust like a sibling, partner, or friend,” she told BeautyMatter. “Once trust is established, we consistently see men become more open to adding steps like moisturizers and serums,” Eisenman continued, provided products “fit naturally into their routine.”
Retail data supports this evolution. According to Cali Johnson, Senior Category Manager at Pattern, men’s skincare is a ~$231 million trailing-twelve-month (TTM) category growing at ~5% year over year (YoY). However, explicitly men-positioned products are growing faster—~12% YoY on ~$100 million TTM—driven by high-intent search behavior.
Search demand for “face wash for men” is up 177% YoY, while branded queries like “Harry’s face wash for men” have surged 681%. This indicates not just interest, but active decision-making. Men are searching, comparing, and choosing for themselves.
While shaving remains relevant, it is no longer the dominant entry point it once was. At Medik8, Chief Product Officer Daniel Isaacs observed that men now approach skincare through a familiar lens, but with expanded expectations. “Men tend to adopt skincare through a problem-solution mindset,” Isaacs said, favoring “straightforward routines and multifunctional products that deliver immediate, tangible results.”
Anti-aging remains the top concern, driven by physiology—think greater sebum production, thicker epidermis, and increased facial hair—but also by a desire for prevention. Sunscreen uptake, in particular, continues to grow when combined with added benefits.
Importantly, Isaacs noted that men are gravitating toward gender-neutral formulas rather than overtly male branding. “They are drawn to the cutting-edge science behind modern skincare, viewing it as ‘tech for your skin,’” he said.
Investment, Opportunity, and the Limits of “Men’s”
Despite renewed momentum, Gilman offered a sobering perspective on the economics of men-only brands today. “I wouldn’t start a men’s skincare brand today,” he said bluntly. “The market is too small, the cost of entry too high, and the rewards too small.”
Instead, he sees stronger long-term prospects for brands that can serve men without isolating them. “It appears a lot of those are more unisex brands, [which] the company could also sell on the larger women’s market to make them make business sense.” This aligns with broader investment trends, which increasingly favor scalable, gender-inclusive platforms over niche positioning.
Looking ahead, experts agreed that the next phase of men’s beauty growth will not be defined by longer routines, but by convergence. “The more scalable opportunity lies in products that blur lines between skincare, wellness, and performance,” said Pitaliya. Claims tied to stress, sleep, longevity, and health are expected to resonate more than multistep regimens.
Signals to watch include increasing willingness among men to pay for treatment products, growing engagement with education-led content, and the normalization of men shopping skincare outside of gendered retail spaces.
For brands, the implication is stark. Men’s beauty is no longer about drawing consumers in through shaving. It is about meeting a new generation where they already are—informed, curious, and increasingly in control of their own choices. As Gilman put it, the fundamentals remain unchanged. “If it works and does as advertised, men come back for more. If not, you’re getting dropped.” The evolution of men’s beauty is not loud, nor trend driven. It is structural, and it is irreversible.
