What Men Want: Behind the Washroom Door

Hair is in Gerd Schwarzkopf's blood. His grandfather, Hans Schwarzkopf, founded the Schwarzkopf company and Gerd founded Professional Hair Care Products Incorporated (PHCP), so he could manufacturer his own products. His newest line, MENSGROOM, is based on hard research about men's grooming attitudes, garnered from an online poll of 1,000 Americans aged 25 to 49. The results, from the company's "Behind the Washroom Door Report," are enlightening. For one thing, if you've been assuming you have to get the women in your salon to buy for the guys, it's time for a more direct appeal. According to the report:

• A very high percentage of married men shop for their own personal products: 91% to be exact. Men aged 45 to 49 (95%) lead the charge.
• While grooming is important to 77% of Americans, it's those aged 35 to 44 (78%), as well as married couples (81%), who deem it most important.
• Women are more comfortable talking about grooming with their girlfriends (77%) then men are with their buddies (30%).
• When presented with a list of male celebrities, Americans chose George Clooney (31.5%) as the best groomed, followed by Sean Connery (20%) and Brad Pitt (10%).
• Men are not good judges of other guys' sex appeal. When asked if they could tell if another guy was good looking, 28% of male respondents choose "Don't know."
• Three out of 10 men (30%) talk to their buddies about wrinkles, thinning hair, dry skin and dry scalp. Most verbal on the topics are married guys (46%) and those with family incomes over $75,000 net (38%).
• 32% of American males admit they have used women's grooming products in the past, and they're more likely to have done so if they're married (36%).
• The majority of all survey respondents said that being well groomed makes them feel more confident when meeting new people, both personally and professionally-the effects are more pronounced in women (94%) than men (80%).
• Eight out of ten respondents said they would give grooming greater consideration if they knew it could possibly slow down the aging process and make them appear more youthful to the opposite sex. 72% of guys said they would give grooming greater consideration in the interest of  "physical preservation."