The Kenyan Metrosexual Man

    Remember the days when the salon was the preserve of women alone? Not anymore. There is a growing number of male customers in the salons and spas in Kenya with proprietors of these businesses changing fast to accommodate the newcomers.

    For the guys, this is commendable and the Eves do appreciate the new guy away from the  dry skin and rough nails as experienced from the traditional Adam to a sexier refined one who values his looks, loves style and fine things including fine liqour. I recon that you have to tweeze your eyebrows, apply some clear nail vanish and exfoliate that face to give the fresh smooth skin texture.  Your bathroom shelf holds several mosturizers and sunblock to maintain the smooth, fine look and feel.  Not forgetting your sleek lip balm to keep your lips soft. Yes, cracked chapped lips are hard to find on a Kenyan metrosexual guy.

    Not familiar with the buzzword yet? A metrosexual man is defined as a strait sensitive well educated urban dweller who is in touch with his feminine side. He is not a gay man.

    For avoidance of doubt, I appreciate well groomed men and there is no excuse for not taking care of oneself. Clean, neatly shaped nails and toes is not only hygienic but also trendy. The hair cut and the fine trim on the beard, waxing and hair mildly relaxed and tinted black gives him a polished look that one cannot gues his actual age. Ofcourse  many of us want to defy our age and appear younger, ladies being the biggest culprits.    

        Just a close look at the metro salon where the metro guy patronises,  situated on a big mall or a house with change of user to commercial user are the highly trained and friendly hair stylists  male and female adorned in their white uniform, the male stylists mainly do the hair trimming while the female beauticians perform other treatments and massage. On my next blog, i will discuss why most man preffer a massage by a masseuse (lady) to a masseur (man). Just one more thing, sharing of personal effects is a no no! so he carries his shaver to the salon.

    When i asked my friend Eva out for a drink at our usual home joint, she was quickly answered that Thursdays is her perfect girl's night.  Your gues is as good as mine, her boyfriend (Tevin) is a metrosexual who is keen on style, spends a relatively high amount of money on personal grooming and style, shopping for designer clothes and shoes and once in a while visits the gold souks in Dubai to update his jewellery. His ride speaks volumes whenever he drives it around the town or at a joint where he meets his boys. Sorry i digressed. So, his salon appointments falls on Thursdays but she doesn't accompany him to the salon, i gues he receives more attention than her but didn't want to interrupt as she continued continued explaining the much attention she receives from the public in his company.     

        Back to my conversation with Eva on Thursday, after two double tots JD ( Jack Daniels) she begins to open up and confesses that though she loves Tevin and really likes the looks of the refined man, the relationship is unfulfilling since Tevin can hardly offer anything close to what she grew up considering to be a manly task. A simple one likes fixing a bulb or a leaking tap in the house has to pay  the caretaker or a fundi, tasks which her dad used to do as a normal tasks. He defends his unwillingness to perform the tasks as he just had a manicure the previous day plus he needs to play golf the following day with a friend who placed a good bet on the game and cannot spoil his nails.

    Their bathroom is full of expensive lotions, sunscreens and scrubs and she has to wait for him in the car as he takes longer to leave the mirror whenever they have to leave the house. Shopping for man-targetted beauty products costs him enough money to give 'wings to fly' to a Kenyan bright needy child, thanks to Equity Bank for the initiative.

    The problem with the modern metrosexual man in Kenya is the lack of discernible depth which he needs to correct. It’s not as if there haven’t always been men who dressed well and appreciated beauty and class. It should however be that one part of their overall personas, and it certainly shouldn't be the main thing. When all is said and done, they are men first: husbands,fathers, boyfriends, protectors and hands on guys. They shouldn't be inclined to compete with their woman for the title of who looks the best and avoid manly tasks at the expense of style. It is given who should put the most effort into that, and who should continue hogging the mirror and taking more time in the salons and shopping malls.

Esther Mwangi