Future grooming trends

In this, GQ’s 30th anniversary year, our Style And Grooming Director predicts how men will be looking after themselves in three decades’ time. Eyebrow pencils at the ready, gentlemen…

By Teo Van den Broeke, GQ

We’ve come a long way in the past 30 years. Not only has the men’s grooming industry gone from a non-entity to a multi-billion-pound global business in that time, it’s also become acceptable – nay, expected – for modern men to engage in some form of involved grooming regime.

In a study carried out by this magazine and Clinique For Men earlier this year, it was revealed that 53 per cent of 16-24-year-old grooming-product users have added a new product to their grooming regime in the past six months, 19.7 per cent of British men have treated themselves to a grooming treatment in the past year and 66 per cent of GQ readers spend more than £15 on grooming products each month.

Though we’re fully versed on where men’s grooming is right now, what we don’t know is where the industry, and our attitudes towards it, will be in 30 years’ time. Herewith, our predictions for the future of men’s grooming.



1

We’ll be wearing make-up every day

I recently tried out the new make-up for men range by Chanel, Boy de Chanel. I was dubious at first, but once I found my hue in the brand’s line of foundations (medium) I felt more confident using it. It didn’t have a scent, it felt great on my skin and it was totally unnoticeable (I double-checked with plenty of people to be sure). Now I use it regularly to cover up red spots and blemishes. If I am doing this now, just think where we’ll be, collectively, in 30 years’ time. I predict that by then, if not lip glosses and colourful eyeshadows, then men will regularly be wearing foundations, concealers, mascaras and eyebrow pencils. If you can look like an ever so slightly better version of yourself every day, for the sake of a few extra minutes spent in front of the mirror in the morning, then why wouldn’t you?



2

All of our fragrances will be personalised

The biggest revolution in fashion over the past few years has been the dawn of accessible personalisation. Whether in the form of made-to-measure chinos (see custom-made trouser company Spoke) or custom-created suits (see Suit Supply), in 2018, made-to-measure has become the new norm. My prediction for 2048, therefore, is that all of our fragrances will be tailor made to our wonts, needs and olfactive desires. With the rise of cheaper, not to mention legitimate, synthetic notes, and an increased willingness on the part of the general public to spend real money on quality scents (see the inordinate success of Tom Ford’s Private Blend range), it’s only a matter of time before off-the-peg scents are a thing of the past.



3

Non-invasive surgeries will be the norm

Tie tucks, thread face-lifts, botox injections and hyaluronic acid fillers – the proliferation of highly effective, minimally invasive treatments on the market has never been greater (or easier to access). When it comes to men, however, the surgeries, spas and salons offering these treatments have been slow off the mark to harness the (increasingly eager) male consumer. My prediction for 2048 is that the aforementioned treatments will be as readily accessed by men as they will be by women, that they’ll be subtler (and more affordable) than ever before and that any stigma about dabbling in them will have evaporated like the aforementioned fillers after 18 months.



4

Baldness will be a thing of the past

For generations, men have been mocked for tackling their male pattern baldness. Even now, in 2018, public figures are regularly denigrated in the media for daring to “indulge” in a hair transplant. My prediction for 2048 is that pain-free, affordable, fail-safe hair transplants will not only have been invented, but that they’ll be offered on the NHS. (My other prediction for 2048 is that the NHS will still exist, because the alternative reality is just too awful to imagine.)



5

It will be less about products, more about self-care

Though face creams, scrubs, serums and spritzes will still have their place, the cavernous gap between inward self-care and outwardly visible results will finally have been bridged. It’s no secret that external factors such as stress, smoking, alcohol abuse, pollution and over-exposure to the sun are all terrible for our skin, and by 2048 we will have figured out a way to minimise all the aforementioned factors to a level that will make everyone look considerably better without the necessary addition of products. My suggestions? A universally imposed four-day working week, a global ban on all fossil fuels and tobacco production and prescription sunscreen from pre-school onwards as standard. The booze issue, on the other hand, might be harder to tackle…



6

Beards will (probably) be back again

Beards, stubble and being clean shaven tend to go round in cycles of two years, so given that we’re currently in a clean-shaven moment, my prediction is (by some shoddy calculating) that we’ll be back in beards by 2048. Any mathematicians out there, please refrain from writing in.



7

Having a tan will be the height of nap

Much like having a tan during the Elizabethan age was indicative of poverty (due to the fact that the serf classes were the only ones toiling out in the midday sun), for 2048 my prediction is that tans will be equally as frowned upon, not for class reasons, rather due to the fact that we will have finally figured out, once and for all, that overexposure to the sun is just too bad for your skin to ignore. In 30 years’ time there will be a worldwide moratorium on electronic sunbeds and sunbathing will be an exclusive practice of the mad and masochistic.