The Long Hot Summer

Summertime and the grooming is easy. This year, the hottest products for warm weather will offer simple solutions. You'll find conditioning shaving creams and vitamin-based formulas that will revitalize your skin and hair. There's even a lotion-and-pill combo that will give you a great (but expensive) tan.

Last year, the big news was alpha hydroxy acid. These natural acids help slough off old cells, leaving the skin looking smoother and younger. Products containing AHAs transformed the men's grooming market, opening a whole field of preparations that included moisturizers and sunscreens.

This year, vitamins will be the new treatment. Based on the premises that vitamins help fight the signs of aging, protect against environmental damage and soothe the skin, vitamins are included in skin and hair formulas. Topical vitamin therapy is so popular that you'll discover vitamins in everything from aftershave creams to shampoos. Some products emphasize specific vitamin formulas. The new Malibu Bodies collection of moisturizers and body washes contains essential oils and vitamins C and E. But many companies hedge their bets by including all the latest and most popular ingredients, such as vitamins, AHAs, sunscreens and moisturizers.

Chanel, for instance, will launch a new men's collection this spring. The three-product Technique Pour Homme will contain AHAs, sunblock and vitamin E. Sharp Shooter, a new oil-free antioxidant night lotion from Aramis, is also due out this spring, as is Karin Herzog's Ultimate face cream (which delivers oxygen, vitamins A and E and AHAs to your skin).

Skin Strategies already produces a line of vitamin-enriched skin-care products for men that includes cleanser, exfoliating scrub and moisturizer. Also available is Man Made, a multivitamin and mineral supplement that contains an antioxidant complex. Nature's Elements, a collection of natural skin-and hair-care shops, recently added vitamins to its shelves. And it will soon be coming out with a pre-shave scrub for men who have problems with ingrown hairs.

Pycnogenol is a popular new ingredient in skin care. Extracted from grape seeds or pine bark, pycnogenol is said to help your skin by acting as an antioxidant, assisting in the prevention of ultraviolet damage and helping to rebuild collagen. Grape-seed extract is found in Country Life's Maximum Skin Care Formula, a supplement that also contains beta-carotene, vitamins B and E, royal jelly and squalene, a derivative of shark oil. Nature's Elements will offer a new shaving cream with herbs, green-tea extract and pycnogenol. And Zirh Skin Nutrition, a new grooming collection, will use pycnogenol to treat both the inner and outer man. It includes a pycnogenol-and-vitamin C supplement along with a cleanser, facial serum and a moisturizer that contains additional pycnogenols, AHAs and sunscreen.

And DK Men makes travel easy with its new disposable travel kit, which contains small versions of cologne spray, aftershave, hair-and-body shampoo and antiperspirant.

A Cut Above

Razor burn and skin irritation often become more problematic during warm weather. This summer, Guerlain introduces a sensitive skin serum for men whose faces get irritated from shaving or from too much sun. Schick presents the new Tracer FX, a razor for men with sensitive skin. It has a patented herringbone-patterned rubber strip designed to cushion the blade. And Gillette has come out with a new line of products to help soothe your skin. The Pacific Light collection includes Extra Protection Shave Gel (with lubricants and beard softeners to help protect against nicks and cuts), After Shave Skin Conditioner and Moisturizing After Shave Splash (an alcohol-free toner). And, if it's your wallet that's sensitive and not your face, look for Braun to add less-expensive shavers to its line.

Hair Apparent

Getting and keeping great hair is a big part of men's grooming, especially during the summer. To build super body, check out products designed to add volume to your hair. There'll be a new sculpting foam with strong hold from Paul Mitchell. Redken introduces a Fat Cat collection of Body Booster hair products. The line includes a shampoo for fine hair, a detangler and a "volumist" designed to give your hair lift. And Image Laboratories has introduced Gel 2 Foam, the first styling gel that expands into a foaming mousse. It's formulated to add bulk to fine or thinning hair.

To revitalize dry hair, Redken salons offer a massage using a formula of vitamins, natural extracts and oil for an intense moisturizing treatment. The service starts at $15.

Fun in the Sun

You already know the pros and cons of tanning. But you can avoid the sun and still get the color you want by rubbing on the new self-tanner with AHAs from the Aramis Lab Series. Clarins, Polo Sport, Neutrogena and Coppertone (concluded on page 166)Long Hot Summer(continued from page 108) also make great tanners. But California Tan makes what is probably the most expensive suntan product in the world. Its two-part tanning routine starts with Mocha, a tanning mousse with a melanin-stimulating hormone and vitamins A, C and E. Once your tan is under way, the next step is Unison, a lotion combined with a pill. The lotion includes a variety of oils and extracts, plus copper dioxide, which supposedly works with the pill to enhance the production of melanin. Mocha sells for about $25. Unison costs $70 for an eight-ounce tube of lotion and the supplement.

The next wave of men's grooming will stress function and versatility. Tommy Hilfiger is adding antiperspirant and bath soap to his recently launched line of grooming products. Calvin Klein's CK One will add a talc, hair gel and conditioning shampoo to its unisex collection. A fragrance that will be big this spring is Navy for Men. Taking the name, but not the formula, of the popular women's perfume, Navy for Men combines wild water mint, tangerine, sage, nutmeg and clove in a sharp, sensual scent that will be available in cologne and aftershave.

The trend will continue toward multipurpose products. And you'll also find special treatments that include antiaging skin creams, shave formulas for particular skin types and products for the older man. Expect more inventive uses of vitamin therapy for skin care and hair care. Watch for fresher fragrances inspired by natural fruit scents, as well as treatment creams designed to combat free radicals.

Men's increased interest in looking good has created a whole new market for day spas. Traditionally thought of as female territory, these bastions of beauty have undergone a makeover. Some spas have designated special days for men, others have redecorated a section of the facility in a masculine motif. But if you've had your fill of the typical salon atmosphere and want to change gears, the Service Station, at 137 Eighth Avenue in New York City, may be more your speed. This new storefront day spa offers pedicures, manicures, haircuts, massages, tanning beds and facials for both sexes. And, though women are welcome, the facility is designed to make men feel comfortable. The staff wears overalls, the walls are lined with gas station signs, the metal floor is reminiscent of a grease rack and car seats serve as sofas. Thus far, the place has gained the favor of men and women alike. If this trend continues, by next year you could be watching the World Series at a spa instead of a sports bar.