Facial Mask for Men? 

Why not facial mask for men?

I was working the other day on a highly effective facial mask for older women and then did a deep dive into face mask for men as they are nearly half the population.   Marketing research shows that women 18-44 make up 70% of the mask use and adding in women 45+ gives us up to 90% of the mask sales.  Men making up less than 10% of the sales.   Why?

I see a tremendous amount of sales potential for this market. But, what are the issues with trying to increas this demand?   Let's start by looking at marketing hurdles…

1.        Men feel mask are too “emasculating” or “unmanly”, even though men have plenty of time at night to apply a mask for 30-40 minutes while watching TV, doomscrolling, reading, etc.  

2.        Inconvenience and discomfort are touted as primary reasons but water-based mask feel and function great, PVP types are easy to use and may only be an issue if there is a beard of mustache, paper type (cut-out) mask may look funny but can be used on both bearded and non faces.  Men need to think of this as an adventure.

3.        Some major male role models have come out objecting to masks.  Benefit marketing and the lack of understanding of the mask's role can easily overcome this objection.

4.        Ignorance of the benefits such as calming, moisturizing, anti-aging, redness and microcapillary reduction and skin lightening and to even out the skin’s color are just a few of the reason FOR using mask.   Most men want to look younger for work and hiding or reducing the appearance of those microcapillaries and blood vessels on and around the nose are critical to younger looking skin. 

5.        Lack of skincare routine is a major factor in the low usage but a good marketing team, targeting men, would be able to design a system friendly to the male user.

What should a man’s mask target?   Easy, it should be based on the major skin issues men face such as:

1.        Oily skin can be helped with actives such as salicylic acid, bentonite, silica, clays, charcoal, Seppic’s Sepicontrol A5, Expanscience’s 5 Alpha-Avocuta or Pixalia.

2.        Acne prone skin is common due to the fact men do produce more sebum on their skin than women.  Look at Retinol, BASF’s Retistar,

3.        Larger pores, also due to sebum production can be treated with AHA and BHA acids, Mibelle’s PoreAway, BASF’s Perfectyl, Sederma’s PoreTect, Seppic’s Ceramosides HP

4.        Redness and Rosacea can be treated by Tri-K’s Triglyphix Sense, Vital ET from Ashland, Inflamox Plus from Greenline/Omya, Gatuline/Omya’s Derma Sensitive or Mibelle’s GSP-T

5.        Thinning skin is common as men age which exposed the microcapillaries and blood vessels just under the surface.  You can look at Givaudan’s Retilife, Retinol Palmitate,

6.        Skin Irritation due to shaving can be treated with Tri-K’s Triglyphix Sense, Phytodefense from CLR, Alpha Bisabolol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Cytokalmine ER from Alban Muller, Solabia Resistess or Backuchiol

7.        Dry, Rough skin due to sun exposure, lack of a treatment routine, and weather can be helped with high percentages of Glycerin, Seppic’s Aquaxyl or Xiliyshine, Kinetic’s Hydractin or Hydractin LMF, a blend of HMW, LMW and ULMW hyaluronic acids such as Bloomage 4D Hyaluronic Acid Blend.

8.        Dark Circles under the eyes are a major problem for men and there are a number of actives targeting this.  Expanscience’s Number 6 or Actimp 193, Seppic’s Adipoless, or Suberlift from Ashland or BiotechMarine’s Sea Lavender SC.

9.        Wrinkle reduction- here is where a mask would be perfect rather than go in for botox injections.   Alban Muller/Croda Repulpami ER, Seppic’s TimeCode or Juvenessence. 

The above are just a glimpse at the palette of actives the cosmetic chemist and the marketing group can play with to create a man’s facial mask that addresses the main concerns of men as they age.  

Here at OpenBoxChemistry, we are combining 30+ years of cosmetic actives and formulas to help you develop just that perfect product to meet the deliverables needed for that next successful launch.   Give us a call or email us at chris@openboxchemistry.com and let us help you with that next project.