GOOD GROOMING

SALONS AND SPAS CATER TO THE GUYS

STORY BY Barbara Pash   PHOTOGRAPHY BY Lisa Shires

When Russell Creel attends sales conventions, as he does regularly for his profession, he is, quite frankly, appalled by the casual clothing and haphazard grooming. There are man_with_blue_shirtattendees, men and women, “who look like they just came in from mowing the grass.”

He will never be one of them.

“I’m a sales guy. I’m selling myself and if I don’t keep up appearances, I see it in my accounts,” says Creel, vice president of marketing for a commercial janitorial service whose clients include the White House.

Creel practices what he preaches. An advocate of men’s grooming services at high end salons, he frequents Patrick’s Hair Design, in Columbia, for weekly facials, and hair and eyebrow coloring every other week.

He doesn’t neglect the rest, either. A healthy diet and regular gym workouts are part of Creel’s routine. He even mentions a few strategic nips and tucks – nothing outlandish, nothing freaky but just so “people think you look better but can’t figure out why,” says the gregarious 54-year-old Howard County resident.

Creel is not the only man at the salon. The International Spa Association (ISA), an industry group headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, estimates that men have accounted for about 30 percent of spa goers in recent years. In 2013, that figure jumped to nearly half – 47 percent – nationwide. The spa industry, it seems, has just started to realize the powerful marketing in treatments and packages for men.

The trend seems to be taking hold in Howard County. According to the ISA, the number one treatment for men and women is massage. Salon owners say massage is often an entry point for other services.

“The key is to have them come in, to get comfortable in our environment,” says Marla Peoples, co-owner of The Still Point, with locations in Clarksville and at the recently opened Haven on the Lake in Columbia.

man_with_towelPeoples says that men account for about one-third of The Still Point Clarksville’s clients. They often start with massage and progress to other services like acupuncture, waxing and facials. “Spas assume men don’t want their services. But if you offer it, they will come,” she notes.

Lynn Shannon, owner of Lynn’s Day Spa agrees. “Men start with massage, for back issues and stress knots in their muscles, then realize they can benefit from skin care. Facials aren’t just a feel good thing. They retard aging,” she says. Shannon says her Columbia spa has seen a gradual increase in men’s facials in each of the past several years.
Jodie Gill, owner of Patrick’s, has long offered haircuts for men, but has seen a 10 percent increase in “clipper cuts,” a more stylish form of barbering since 2010. As for facials and waxing, she says, “we’re getting there.”

One of Peoples’ male clients at The Still Point is a 30-something triathlete who gets an annual body waxing before the competition season. Men in their 30s to 50s get facials to combat sun damage or rosacea, or for a toned appearance. Mothers bring in adolescent sons who have acne.

Peoples describes a teenage client who has been getting skin treatments for the past year. “He started with facials and using our skin care products. He also talked to our nutrition coach about his diet,” she says. “We helped him figure out how to deal with his skin,” and the results have been positive, she says. “His acne is under control now and he comes in if it flares up.”

Chris Speicher became a Still Point client 18 months ago. A longtime back pain sufferer, the 42-year old Olney resident says his wife urged him to try massage instead of the pain killers he had been relying on.
“It was life changing,” says Speicher, cofounder of The Speicher Group of Remax Realty, who now gets regular massages. Even so, he found the hardest part was taking the first step.

“My wife had to do a lot of convincing to get me through the front door,” says Speicher. His massages have led to monthly acupuncture sessions and nutritional coaching.

The couple now has a personal chef who comes to their home to prepare healthy meals.

Michael Crabb, 66, is accustomed to having people tell him he looks much younger than his age. That isn’t the reason, though, that Crabb, a systems engineer and Laurel resident, has been getting salon services for more than 30 years.
“To me, it’s a health and hygiene issue,” says Crabb, who goes to Mason & Friends Salon & Spa in Columbia for manicures every two weeks, pedicures every six weeks, and facials four times a year. He also has weekly treatments in Bowen therapy, an arthritis pain relief technique.
brush_set

Crabb has strong nails, thanks to professional manicures. His skin is healthy and youthful thanks to the deep cleaning seasonal facials. “I don’t think it’s odd to be in a salon or to go for regular treatments,” he says.

On a recent visit to Connecticut he walked into a salon for a manicure, and the staff gave him confused looks, he says. “That doesn’t do much for business,” he told them.

Crabb says he sees more and more men at Mason’s. Pam Mason says about 25 percent of her clients are men, with haircuts and massag
e the most requested services. Men’s hair coloring has been on the rise as well as a demand for botox and fillers.

While spa customers are still predominantly female, The Still Point’s Peoples says she is amazed by the increasing male voices at the other end of the phone line making appointments. “They’re taking care of themselves,” she points out.
And if they don’t, their families will, she says. “The number of gift cards we sold for Father’s Day was off the charts.”*

 

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