Introducing grooming wondersite: Yes Sir!

It's no secret that I love a bit of male grooming. Take grooming for male TV appearances, for example: How to groom a guy using makeup products but without leaving him looking like he's wearing anything? It can be challenging and that´s why I like it.

Over the years I've been lucky enough to provide professional grooming for fashion shoots, magazines, TV appearances, celebs and everyday gents. What fascinates me as a makeup artist and former marketeer is that the landscape of male grooming is continually evolving. In the UK alone the male skincare market is worth an estimated £600m (source: The Guardian, Sept 2013). £600m!! And if you think about the exploding popularity of beards over the past five or so years...I actually find it odd now when a man´s face isn't partially hidden from view :)

Yes Sir!
One person who is at the very pinnacle of the grooming zeitgeist is Rupa Ganatra (@RupaGanatra), founding partner behind a new grooming wondersite for the modern man, Yes Sir!.

Yes Sir! champions the not-your-run-of-the-mill grooming brands. A Space NK-style eShop for the modern gentleman, beard or no-beard. You gotta check out some of the names of some of the brands...  Scaramouche and Fandango (how brilliant is that), Billy Jealousy and my favourite, Triumph and Disaster.

Gratuitous 'hot grooming pic', courtesy @TomFord (no no Tom...thank YOU).

Ahem, where was I.....yes, grooming!

I was lucky enough to spend an hour with Rupa a couple of weeks ago and was fascinated to hear about the latest mover and shaker products in the male grooming market right now. 

The hugely inspiring Rupa Ganatra, founder of Yes Sir!

Some of the best selling products on Yes Sir! include:
- Beardsley´s Wild Berry Beard Shampoo (£14.95) - the marketing insight behind this clever little invention is that guys dislike washing their beards with regular shampoo because it doesn´t taste nice. Genius.
- Captain Fawcett´s Moustache Wax (£9) which comes in three scents: Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang and Lavender. I was surprised to hear that Sandalwood is the most popular of the three which is curious as it means gents must err more towards a traditional ´old school´ fragrance (grooming brands take note).

I asked Rupa what she thought the big grooming trends of the future will be. She said that brows will probably feature quite heavily (a brow gel perhaps? Or perhaps an increase in popularlity of threading services for men?). She also said a brand called Mazorin featured on Yes Sir! is gaining noteriety because of its business-focussed products (you should have SEEN the excitement on my face). One of their executive care products bears the title ´Working Late Eye Serum´ (£21) and is a tipped as a ´must-have eye roll-on´ for those who ´work hard and play harder´.

Another interesting example is Recipe for Men´s´Energizing Bronze Cream´ (£30) which gives the skin ´a hint of colour for fresh and healthy looking skin´. Check out too the Recipe for Men Concealer Pen (£17, comes in two shades) which promises ´a creamy and caring liquid concealer with vitamin E´. Male concealers are regularly shunned by male friends of mine but I secretly wonder how many of them might be tempted to try one out (nothing ventured...).

Makeup for men will always spark a controversial debate but when looking purely at the principle that says that health is imbued through the skin, if our gents are working hard, just as we are, why shouldn´t they have a little helping hand? In business, good skin, teeth, nails, hair...it´s all part and parcel of presenting a complete package that confidently says "I am the best person for the job. You can trust me. I look after myself." For me a man is no less a man if he chooses to use a moisturiser, a face scrub or even a light concealer. It shows he cares about his appearance and that can be incredibly attractive.

Hold the phones: Get a FREE wet shave or beard trim with Yes Sir! at their pop up shop in Marylebone. 18th - 20th September, 2014

From Thursday 18th until Saturday 20th September Yes Sir! will be launching the world's first social media pop-up barbers in the heart of Marylebone (23 George Street). To enjoy your free wet shave or beard trim all you have to do is post to Facebook, twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #SHAVEMESIR. What's not to love! Hell, I wish I had a beard to trim!! I wonder if they do legs? (lolz).