Good looks more than a girl thing

Always eager to support education in our community, of course I said “yes” when cosmetology student Elaine Wood asked me if I was interested in helping her learn to be an esthetician. An es-the-what? Wood told me she is taking classes at Glen Dow Academy, learning to do facials and other skin treatments. She wants to enlist men for clients when she gets out of school. Would I be interested in getting a facial? That sounded like kind of a girlie thing, really, but then Wood explained that more and more men are getting into being pampered. OK, I said. It could be fun. Little did I know at the time that getting a facial could qualify me as a metrosexual. It seems that metrosexual is a term for the male athletes, celebrities and other urbanites who care maybe too much about their personal appearance. Be warned. Metrosexuality is rooted in vanity and narcissism. The word was popularized by British writer Mark Simpson two years ago in what he intended to be “cheeky satire” and “sober social observation” on a glamour trend that’s been seized upon and magnified by media and marketing, Simpson explained in an online interview on his Web site. Arriving promptly at Glen Dow for my appointment, I filled out the requisite health questionnaire and was directed to a dressing room, where I changed into a kimono. I emerged barefoot and walked through a darkened room to Wood’s treatment table. Soft music played over the sound system. Curtains were drawn on both sides of me. Wood had me lie down and then wrapped me in a sheet like a mummy. She gave me eye shields and used a bright light to pore over my pores to decide what I needed for healthier skin. Wood discovered I was suffering mild sunburn and some other stuff I won’t go into. Suffice it to say I needed moisturizer, lots of moisturizer. Driving home, I felt relaxed and realized my skin was tingling from the vitamin C treatment. It felt a little hot for a while. Over the next couple of weeks, it seemed softer and smoother than usual. At Wood’s direction, I purchased a new bottle of unscented moisturizer sun screen for $8 at the grocery store, and I use it faithfully. Feeling a little feminized by the experienced, I decided to find out if I was part of a cool new trend or just some schmuck conned into joining the fringe of modern manhood. I headed to Spa Paradiso in the basement of the Davenport Hotel and talked with some of the women down there. “One of the trends we are seeing is more and more men coming in for services,” said Sarah Schoonover, communications director at the spa. “Usually when they come in they spend a couple of hours here,” she said. Schoonover estimated that fully a quarter of the spa’s business comes from men. Three of them are bank presidents, but Schoonover didn’t name them. What about metrosexuality? “I think it’s catching on in Spokane,” Schoonover said. So I called Gavin Cooley, one of the best-dressed guys I know at City Hall. He’s the chief financial officer. Cooley said he’s heard the term metrosexual, but he figures he doesn’t qualify because his kids take the shampoo out of his shower. “I use soap,” he said of his hair-washing regimen. My hair stylist, Jan Hoppe, told me this metrosexual thing is nothing new. She said she had guys ask her to pamper them when she took beauty classes years ago. I dropped by Jack’s Barber Shop at Crestline and Bridgeport in northeast Spokane and learned from barber Jack LaSalle that there is surely nothing wrong with a man getting a facial. He used to teach cosmetology. “It’s a very relaxing thing,” he said. Alex Cruse, 15, walked through the door wearing a black T-shirt that declared in bright yellow letters: “Chicks dig me.” What about getting a facial, I asked the young Mr. Cruse as LaSalle snipped away at his hair. “Don’t need to,” he replied. Ditto the moisturizers and all that stuff. “I guess if people want to do it, that’s fine,” he said. Well, let me pass on a little advice I got from Schoonover at Spa Paradiso. “It’s never out of style to take care of yourself,” she said. I guess that means chicks dig it.