The ad for Jean Paul Gaultier's new Monsieur line, which includes Monsieur Eau du Matin.
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What a boring, narcissistic, vain dandy!
I won't call him narcissistic only because I wouldn't call a woman who cared for her appearance that much narcissistic — but, yes, what a dull day he has in this ad! Nobody to see, nothing to do, apparently.
That's the point: I call him narcissistic, because he is completely alone – with his mirror image. Hasn't an ad failed completely when it provoces pity?
When my 21 year old daughter moved back to LA, she was appalled by the everpresent “metrosexual” guys she kept meeting. Her take…when her date spends more time than she does on makeup, it's time to move on!
I was okay with it until he put on the eyeliner.
LOL — ok, I'll agree with that!
LOL — you know, I'm sure many men *and* women are not “ready” for the concept of men wearing makeup, but I can't see why it is any better or worse for men to paint their faces than for women to do so.
I wear makeup, but have to say the whole concept of “decorating” the face, when you stop to really think about it, is just weird. I put glop on my eyelashes so they'll look darker — isn't that strange? Why would eyelashes be considered any “better” when they're unnaturally dark? I mean, one way to look at it is that women have been bamboozled into the whole process, and why shouldn't men be bamboozled too, LOL…
It's not the concept of men wearing make-up, which irritates me. I only wished it was Johnny Depp and not this poor, lonely wretch.
Recall that it is only a few centuries since the reverse was true, with painted dandies and women (unless you were in the demimonde) not wearing any sort of makeup at all!
I think the urge to 'decorate' the face and/or scent ourselves, etc, weird as it is when we stop to think about it, is hardwired into humans. I'm not a biologist so I can't speak with any authority about the 'natural' world but isn't it usually the showier, stronger of the species who get first dibs on mating? Even those of us who don't necessarily want to procreate are generally predisposed to make ourselves more attractive to the opposite sex (or whomever it is one is trying to attract).
It is such a cool/cold businesslike ad… I was waiting for something to happen. Nothing special happened. He just did what all women do: look in the mirror so now and then and touch up his makeup.
Nice simple packaging.
If a man wants to put on makeup, that is fine with me.
In Europe more and more men use creams, dye their hair and have facials.
A good foundation or bronzing powder can make a nice difference.
Actually when I was watching the end of the ad, the sentence “a day in the life of a serial killer” crossed my mind.
Sorry Jean Paul Gaulthier! When he started to do his eyes, for a second I thought of 'American Psycho'
Weird how the mind works.
LOL
HA — yes, then there's that issue
Agree entirely, it does seem to be instinctual on some level to “prettify”. Still seems odd! You should see my eyeshadow collection, LOL…
M, men's skincare & grooming lines are doing well in the US too. Not sure makeup will, but we'll see. There isn't much “makeup” in this line to speak of, really, just a few items.
I just bored myself for a minute.. I could not watch the whole thing.
I can't see why makeup is socially OK for women, but not for men – I've often felt sorry for men I've seen who have facial difficulties that a woman could cover up with a bit of foundation and concealer. My only reservation is that makeup limits your activities – if your face gets dirty or wet, you can't just scrape at yourself with a towel and expect not to smear foundation and mascara all over the place. There's something biological in me that is quite turned off at the thought of a man refusing to go out in the rain in case his eyebrows run! Yet, in a world where men are rarely required to go out hunting mammoths in all weathers, it's really quite illogical to expect a bloke to be cosmetically nude. And Johnny Depp as Captain Jack was so beautiful, I'm surprised all men weren't pinching their wives' eyeliner!
Yes Johnny Depp looked really good with all that makeup
Not every man should have smoky eyes though.
Maybe men should be spare with lipgloss. Oh well… who am I
?
You didn't miss much…it isn't much longer than a minute anyway.
Cracking up — I have “facial difficulties” that I don't bother about. Last I was in Barneys, 2 separate SAs told me “we can do something about that redness”, LOL…anyway, not sure what my point is, but like knowing there are all those men who can't be bothered either, if that makes any sense.
LOL.. redness also seems to be 'my problem'. The salesladies keep advicing me foundation with a 'yellow undertone' but then I am so pale in winter that some color, be it red, is better than no color.
I use some bronzing powder instead
Do you have a nice collection of eyeshadows Robin? I am such a lover of colors, and every season the new trends come out..well then I have to sit on my wallet…
Yep JPG that was a little far out for me,the makeup thing shouldn't have been involved if this is promoting un Monsieur, ummm well I guess this isn't a viril eau du matin.*L*
Monsieur is the name of the whole line they're promoting — it includes skincare & makeup & the body splash thing.
I have a silly collection of eyeshadows — tons of them, all in the same pink-lavender-purple spectrum. Have no idea why I keep buying them, I almost never wear any makeup other than mascara & lipstick.
I have my own collection of eyeshadows, natural shades, pink, soft orange, gold, brown shades, really lovely ones, and me too I mainly use mascara and lipgloss and a bit of bronzing powder with a touch of goldshimmer.
Some women go for shoes and I go for eyeshadows and lipglosses. I like shoes as well but eyeshadows feel like little treasures.
And of course, eyeshadows are cheaper than shoes
Hello?! Anyone out there who thinks this is something SPECIAL?
].
I don't like powdered men with intensely picked eyebrows. But I think the fact we get this product line is quite remarkable.
A little eyeliner accentuating the eyes can looks great on a guy! And that has nothing to do with being gay, I know many women who like it on men [see above
But the most striking about this is: Do you guys know anything similar? Can you imagine this 10 years ago? It's definitely pretty interesting. I think the marketing for such a product has to be very well thought about, I can understand they wanted it to look a bit busyness-like and cold, and I actually think they managed well not to make him look too dandyesque and narcissistic. It looks very casual how he applies all his stuff… Still, I don't really find it attractive.
I would never wear make-up during day, just a little bit of well blurred eyeliner every now and then before I go out, and only if I'm in the mood.
I wonder how this is selling, it's been around for some years now.
Well you know, I don't know a darned thing about it — is this the *only* such line for men? I honestly wouldn't know. And I thought he already had a similar line and it failed and this was the 2nd attempt? So not trying to say it isn't special, I just wouldn't know.
Robin, I don't really know anything about this topic myself… I remember something Gaultier did some years ago. Was just expecting more people to express more surprise… I am quite impressed watching this as it's just such an unusual image, a guy casually using makeup in public places. Weird. One could start analysing changes in society now but I'm not a sociologist…
For a bit more choice for men I would recommend M.A.C. Cosmetics. MAC has an amazing collection and nice simple packaging. See http://www.maccosmetics.com or even better: the MAC counters. Khol kajal works amazing with both men and women. It intensifies the eyes in a beautiful way.
Lars — so agree that the image of a man putting on lipstick (although it didn't seem to have much actual color, did it?) in public is very unusual. But perhaps those who find it most startling are not commenting about it…there is always a kind of self-selection in the comments!
True, and around here, there are often young men wearing a good deal of makeup behind the MAC counter…