European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Face up to cosmetics by Robert Dvorchak associated press is asst. You can Stop sneaking into your wife s Beauty Cream Stop slinking around cosmetics counters. Its the 90s and times have changed. Quot men have begun to come to grips with their masculinity in a less stereotyped Way. They can say i can use this treatment Cream and in a still a  but men have to be taught to use the product. They Haven t used them since they were a teen Ager like  that a the word from Byron Donics president of the Aramis division of men s skin care products for Estee Lauder. Fourteen years ago Estee Lauder s Clinique division sold the first Dermat logically designed line of cosmetics made specifically for men. Women s products Arentt for men the makeup makers say because a Many a skin is thicker Oiler and has larger pores. Men also have special shaving related problems such As ingrown hairs. No need to Blush. You re not alone. Sales Are growing about 15 percent a year. Seventy five million Bucks last year. Nobody s calling that a Boom especially with women shelling out $2.5 billion a year but. Quot there a a joke in the Industry that menus cosmetics is an explosion with the longest fuse Quot says Donics. Quot there a still a stigma attached to some of these products Quot according to Allan g. Mottus. He san Industry consultant. Quot men Don t like products positioned As cosmetic or  but if you Tell a Guy about fragrance free Oil free skin Clearing solutions made of crushed Apricot pits to exfoliate dead skin cells shaving gels with Cationic polymers to shield skin from razors non Comedo Genic scrubs to Ward off blackheads and ingrown hairs dual action Glycerine soaps to clean the face and soften the Beard before shaving translucent balms to relieve razor Burns and anti aging supplements with Radical scavengers to reinforce skin a Well we re not exactly talking Chanel no. 5, Are we Aramis has a travelling staff of 200 people to visit department stores around the United states to talk one on one a to you a about the benefits. Another Way to reduce feminine connotations is marketing. Clinique Calls a facial Cleanser for women clarifying lotion for men it s called scuffing lotion. Us huh. Menus products also come in Manly Gray packages. Nothing for geeks. To promote its lab series products Aramis opened the Only cosmetics counter of its kind in the country a year ago in the men s department of Bloomingdale s in new York. Radical huh two White coated technicians Are on hand to give a computer test to see if skin is oily or dry. In the privacy of a Back room customers can also Sample treatments. Three quarters of menus cosmetics still Are bought by women for men. Andrew Shore an analyst for Shearson Lehman Hutton figures he knows Why a men Are intimidated. Men Aren t educated about these products. How in the world Are you going to get a Man to Cross a department store floor and stand at the cosmetics counter to ask for moisturizing Cream its also a big City phenomenon. You re hard pressed to see an Auto Mechanic in Albuquerque buying this  no maybe just a Little Gillette aftershave for that Guy. But wait. Gillette co. Itself plans to introduce Tony toiletries next year. But nothing too fancy says Michele Szynal a company spokesman Quot i done to think Well get into anything like mud packs to firm up jowls or toning lotions or bronzes. There a a mindset Here. I Don t think men have progressed to the Point where they re comfortable with  hey listen Michele Quot maybe in the beginning i did no to Tell anyone i used them. But i done to feel funny about it. I Don t think there a anything feminine about it. I want to maintain  that s Cary Pollock 30, a Salesman in new York. Says he likes the results he gets with the Aramis lab series. Quot i m doing it to impress me. When in a 60, in a going to look  John Stabenau divisional merchandise manager for men s cosmetics at Marshall Field s department stores in Chicago has seen High school Guys Chicago cops and investment Bankers even Texas cowboys at the men s cosmetics counters. Does anyone else find it incredible that a series of Home movie clips actually was the no. 1-rated television show recently Given my experience i fully expected Quot America s funniest Home videos Quot to carry a warning Quot do not drive or run heavy machinery within six hours after  but that is not the Case. The show is downright funny. I sat there wondering where do they find these people most of the Home videos i have seen including our own would put a Nielsen family into a coma. It takes All the courage we have even to turn out the lights when we show ours. Its rare when we Don t hear the shuffling of feet doors opening and closing and car motors turning Over. When we turn on the lights its not at All unusual to find everyone has gone but my husband and me. Page 16 i can Tell you now you will never see the Bombeck Home movies on the big screen. Ours have been referred to As the Quot heavens Gate Quot film festival. They Are just Plain Boring. This is because something strange happens when my husband gets a camera in his hands. His Tennis shoes turn to boots his jeans turn to jodhpurs and his hands to frames. We can to just walk out of a Porta potty at a rest Stop and climb into the car. We need stage directions. During his Ingmar Bergman period he shot an entire reel in Black and White of a Hamster in our bathroom sniffing at the commode. As the Hamster discovered a hair dryer Cord and bites into it the screen goes to Black. My husband said it was symbolic of death actually he ran out of film. While he was under the influence of an Andy Warhol underground film he captured two reels of Duck eggs hatching in our basement. Ducks done to just pop out of Texas cowboys Quot society is changing Quot Stabenau says. Quot there a no social stigma today to using anything if you want to improve your  but Aramis shaving gel for $12? Glycerine soap for $10? and 1.7 ounces of moisturizing Cream for $18.50? wait. For a fraction of the Cost drugstores carry Beauty bars astringents moisturizers and Fra Ganced rubbing alcohol for oily skin. Quot you need to protect your skin beyond cleaning with soap and  that a Zoe Drallos a dermatologist in High Point . Quot you re no longer a Sissy if you put things on your  Quot its taking care of your skin which is the body s largest  think about it. A a a an egg like a stripper out of a cake. They take their time. The effect is right up there with watching paint dry. His David lean period is interesting. While other daddies were taking closeups of mom pointing to Quot Welcome to Quot state signs he was crawling around on rooftops getting the Quot big  last summer he was in his Steven Spielberg phase. We never knew where the camera was. Everyone in the family was combing the Back of his or her hair for the first time. The other night we watched Quot americans funniest Home videos Quot together. They showed a clip of a wedding with the Bride at the altar ready to Exchange vows with the bridegroom. Hesitantly she interrupted the minister and asked Quot May i go to the bathroom. I laughed. My husband asked Quot what a her motivation Quot c 1990 Erma Bombeck the stars and stripes monday april 9,1990