In our country,the land of the Apsaras and the Ajanta temples,beauty is skin deep.So much so that even the venerable Gods have been shown biased towards those with a melanin advantage.Folklore has it that Lord Krishna , in a fit of post pubertal adolescent jealousy ,asked his mother,"Radha Kyu gori , mai kyu kaala?
And he did not get any answer . For thousands of years as he traversed the vastness of eternity ,riding the wheels of incarnations and reincarnations,he did not find any answer.Even the Bhagwad Gita which delves so deeply into a man's Karma and Dharma is silent on his Charma.
But today we have an answer,..... in fact many of them.The answer is Pond's, Nivea or Garnier.Or Lakme,Lotus,Himalya. For every skin type.To suit every budget.
Before the advent of metro sexuality,the Indian male had always been given the step motherly treatment by the sundry manufacturers of creams ,lotions and other skin care products.Except for the odd after shave ,the defenseless male skin had to bear the brunt of acne,burns pimples,scars,dirt oil ,on its own.In the great undivided Indian Family beauty tips and secrets were passed onto the daughters on a platter while son fought lonely battles under the scorching sun on football field and cricket fields , mired in dirt and dust.
Thus,to right a historic wrong ,my yearning for justice led me to where all the searches begin these days :on the Google.
One fine morning ,humming with hope,but donning a mask of nonchalance to smother the excitement ,which ran riot in my veins,I typed in "skin Care for Men"on the Google homepage.
And voila 328000 results.I was stupefied That was my taste of the vastness of the skin care firmament I sipped some coffee from the pot on the table to regain my equanimity.
I was certainly not in the mood to wallow into the labyrinth of 328000 results . I just wanted to dip my toe deep enough to know how cold the water is.after all I was just a novice, at the cusp of something exciting.
My campaign for a fair skin needed some refinement.So to narrow my search further , I keyed in "Facial skin care for men"The search narrowed , but only just:199,000 results.That was still 198999 results too many!
So enough of toe dipping,I thought,it was time to take the plunge
The first web link which I clicked on read:"Men skin care,How to treat enlarged pores".I do not have enlarged pores .At least not above the neck.But my curiosity,which was guiding my campaign, the way a walking stick guides a blind man,will have none of it ,and I was forced to read further .The link contained ,material that read like this:
"Men have oilier skin so the skin care experts insist that the only cure to smooth and beautiful skin is through the care over 20000 pores in the face .Each pore needs to be cleansed ,unclogged and cared for using effective skin facial care for men"
and On and on it went.
The next link I visited was something called ehow .com . The article was in the name of a video post and was titled :"Facial Skin Care for Men "
video transcript went something like this:
Facial skin care for men is pretty simple. You just want to make sure to find simple products to use; something that you know you are going to use everyday. I would start off with a basic cleanser for your skin type and then also sunscreen and moisturizer. Now they come out with a moisturizer with sunscreen in it and that is what I would highly suggest for men. You guys don’t want anything fluffy, just simple basic products.and blah ..blah .....and so it went"
Sauntering through similar webpages ,my attention was arrested by something on the right hand side of the monitor.As I turned right ,something swam into my line of vision:"Sponsored Link ,"it said"Make up for men", It said in bold Blue.I read further to understand that these people have created some kind of a "men pen " which is a kind of roll on make up tool which can conceal your moles,scars,acne ,pimples etc. I was ,needless to say, quite amused to note that the Adam's Race can now compete favourably with The X chromosome carriers
So after snaking my way through scores of such articles, I attained enlightenment.
Thus in my infinite wisdom and sagacity,I have prepared myself a home grown self help manual for skin care for men .The contents of which are :
Cleanser: As a first step cleanse your skin thoroughly with a soap free cleanser. The cleanser will remove the oil and dirt from your skin and unclog the pores.Pat dry with a towel
Scrub:Daily use of a scrub will remove the dead cells around your pores .it will also reveal the smoother ,fresher skin
Toner: Male skin is much more exposed to environmental pollutants than female .so using a toner helps .Toner nourishes male face and improves skin elasticity .Toner also tightens facial pore,removes residue and remaining grime
Moisturizers:Male facial skin is thicker and oilier than a woman's .so it need a special moisturizers to hydrate, protect and reduce fine lines and dry skin
Thus armed with this knowledge I found myself a changed man.I buzzed off straight to the Tech market at the IIT Kharagpur and bought myself a cleanser, a scrub,a toner and a moisturizer.
which in total cost me Rs 500
Beauty ,after all is not only skin deep.It is also as deep as one's pockets
