How I Found Out That Clear Mascara Is a Thing
I want to post this because I just semi-picked Clear Mascara on our podcast, Der Übercast. (If you haven’t, you should really check it out. Perfect balance of information density and entertainment. German only.) I discovered this a couple of weeks ago, but kept it for me because I thought Patrick, Sven, and our guest, Franziska, might get a good laugh out of it. Well, they did.
I realized after recording our last episode that my rabbit holes have changed quite a bit. While I’m still the technical nerd that I used to be, I use my nerdy powers now more often to find stuff about societal, and business issues. After all, there’s more what I want zCasting 3000 to be, so it makes sense to do some research in this regards.
Anyway. The rabbit hole. This rabbit hole goes something like this. I read somewhere that China is a growing market for big companies like Apple, and they invest a considerable amount of effort to expand in these regions. First I was wondering what are people up to in these countries. So I researched some articles about that topic.
After I found out what the market generally wants, I also found some articles which mentioned that grooming and skin care products are specifically successful in Korea:
- The Korean Men Makeup Fad: South Korea Is Largest Market For Men?s Skincare In The World
- Makeup helps South Korean men in careers - Business Insider
- New Statesman | Why men are wearing make-up to get ahead at work
- For S. Korean men, makeup a foundation for success - Businessweek
- It’s a Man’s World: Men’s Grooming Breaks New Ground | GCIMagazine.com
After I found that out, I was wondering: What’s the stance in Germany? Is it now acceptable to wear makeup? At work? To go out? What’s the business etiquette saying?
To give you a quick overview:
- Among the younger generation it’s more accepted to wear makeup, than among older folks.
- A man wearing makeup quickly becomes “unmanly”, in the eyes of his fellow men.
- But, a man wearing makeup, is generally more attractive to women. (I explain why, in a future post.)
- As a result, men’s makeup should be used very subtly. Only self-aware men are able to pull this off. (Someone who is aware of themselves enough to hit the right spot of “enough”.)
Because men’s makeup has to be “subtle”, some companies come up with products that are not really makeup. Makeup in this regard means that it’s colored, and therefore changes pigmentation, highlights, etc., on certain areas.
After I had the gist, I wanted to go into specifics. Hair, fingers, head, eyes. The Clear Mascara came up when I finally reached “eyes” as my research target. There’s a German forum I come across occasionally, goFeminin. I found these two threads there:
Second link mentions “Makeup for men is acceptable […] get clear mascara…”. That caught enough of my attention that I had to find out if that’s a thing. And, yes, it’s a thing. Clear Mascara is a thing we humans have. One company who makes these is Maybelline. Link is at the top of this post.
Fascinating.
That’s how I spend some weekends. Research stuff, because I’m a huge nerd.