Anthony Logistics for Men: The Logic of Personal Care for Men

This writer talking about those capricious muses called Fashion and Beauty is like Bentong analyzing Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or that model (who once blurted out the phrase "long-legged legs") explaining the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. You could fit all I know about fashion and beauty inside the head of an ant — and still have room for my knowledge of the Old Testament. I once asked my sister if the loofah sponge she just bought was to be used for sinigang. I am that dense. I got all my grooming tips from a tubercular barber named Mang Paeng, whom customers all called "T’yo," for some reason. Once, I was too engrossed over Anak ni Zuma (or was it Kambal sa Uma?) in ancient Aliwan Comics that I failed to notice that T’yo Paeng had given me a nasty siete. The man also gave me handy, and sometimes batty, tips: using aloe vera shampoo will make your hair grow faster (handy; might be true), and applying dead bangaw on the chin will help grow facial hair (batty; nothing but gin bulag philosophy). And yet, I kept coming back to his dilapidated barber shop not for the haircut, the advice or the dangerous neck massage but for a glance at those Tanduay calendars, as well as infinite games of dama.

Men like me — who are clueless on the art of taking care of oneself — are anachronistic, terribly outdated. We lived under a rock the past few years.

Douglas Watson of Anthony Logistics for Men — a brand which has a full line of skincare, bath and body products designed for the rougher gender — says men are coming around to taking care of themselves.

"The younger guys are more attuned because the marketing machine has been in motion for them," Watson says. "But when the older guys see twentysomethings look fit and trim, they want to remain competitive. We’re honest about it — nothing’s going to turn the clock back twenty years for them. But they can keep themselves in the best shape they can be by using our products."

Watson is based in L.A. working for owner Anthony Sosnick as West Coast VP and account executive. Anthony Logistics for Men was launched in two years ago and is sold in three department store chains in the States (Barneys, Sephora and Nordstrom). Anthony Logistics has made its way into the UK and Asia as well. In the Philippines, the brand is carried by Stores Specialists and sold in the Beauty Bar in Glorietta 2 and the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell.

"The men’s business is actually growing faster worldwide than the women’s, which is already saturated," observes Watson. "What I’ve noticed is, women are always into the new. She wants the latest, greatest, new thing. He, on the other hand, gives twenty years of loyalty to his shaving cream. Might not give it to his wife, though. But first, we have to give him something new, better and more effective for him. This is what would win him over."

Anthony Logistics’ complete product line is divided into four core areas (face, shave, body and hair care) with an impressive 49-item line. What about products that deal with that tricky business of shaving?

Douglas says, "Shaving is the biggest concern men have, and there’s a lot of misinformation as well as queries about it like ‘Why do I get this burning, raw feeling after shaving?’ That’s why we have products that address those issues."

One such product is the Pre-Shave Oil, which prevents those burns, discomforts and irritations because it acts as a barrier between skin and the blade. That product was a result of meetings with male focus groups conducted by the company.

"We sat men down and asked them what their concerns were, and we tried to meet and satisfy all those conditions with our products," relates Watson.

Several self-evident facts were discovered. 1) Men want things to be effective. ("If something doesn’t work, adios!) 2) Men don’t want things to be frilly and feminine. ("Macho appeal is still important.) 3) Men want something specifically made for them. ("This is in terms of fragrances and benefits.") 4) And men want things to be simple. ("So what we did was go back to basics.")

Dudes can tinker with minuscule warships, dabble in German philosophy or rocket science, tweak with the complicated innards of computers, cars or guitars, but when it comes to bottled whatevers (or understanding women), men are klutzes. Watson says, "That’s why we made our products easy to use, easy to understand. They have labels that tell what the product can do. Simple instructions that men can digest and understand. All our items have flip tops, since men don’t want jars or screw tops. Our tubes are handy and fit better in a man’s hand."

Anthony Logistics also devised a quick-fact sheet listing down products, their description, key ingredients, benefits and a few recommendations. "We recommend specific products for specific concerns. Men are misled into thinking face scrubs are cleansers. Wrong! The analogy is, you won’t wax your car without washing it first. The same with skin — you need to clean it first and then use an exfoliator once a week, to brighten it up and keep the skin healthy."

Since the eye area is where men show the first signs of aging, Watson espouses the use of eye cream. "Eye cream takes away the firmness, the puffiness, the dark age spots and all that. Basically, you just need cream the size of a grain of rice. More is definitely not better. Use a padding application, not windshield-wiper style. The least amount of manipulation in the eye area the better."

(Douglas’ aside: "American men don’t age, they just develop ‘character.’")

For Filipinos specifically, the right products to use are those created for oilier skin since it’s hotter, more humid and stickier here. (Just try riding a rickety JD Transit bus from Monumento to Crossing during apocalyptic traffic and a layer of grime would accumulate on your mug.) "Hydration is important. Active moisturizers keep the oil and water levels in your skin. And a lot of guys think suds equals clean. That’s not true." Yes, you need big, lathery, Ajax-like soap to clean your old bell-bottomed denims but not your face.

I ask Watson what he’d recommend for this personal care troglodyte who has the same sartorial elegance as bus preachers and fertilizer dealers. "Be as nasty as you can be — I can take it," I tell him, almost wanting to duck.

Douglas breaks it to me gently. "For you, I’d recommend a good cleanser. A toner, also. Use a sunscreen. If you get large pores or breakouts, have a face scrub twice a week. Use an alcohol-free deodorant. You need four or five items that will take care of your basic needs."

Hmm..that doesn’t sound bleak or utterly hopeless, I sigh. Nothing in the realm of plastic surgery or a sip of insecticide cocktail. Pointing to my steelwool-like, Steeldragon-inspired ponytail (which is as fashionable nowadays as elevator shoes and REO Speedwagon), I ask for specific hair-care items.

"For you, hair cream is better, since gel will leave your hair stickier," he says. The man also explains that hair cream is going to add oil to my hair shaft, put shine and keep the flyaways down (probably noticing the Gorgian tangles and the split ends of the dust and grime magnet that is my ponytail).

Watson stresses that caring for the skin, the face, the whole package doesn’t diminish one’s "macho-ness." It won’t turn men into "soft, vain machines" overnight (to steal an oxymoron from William Burroughs). It won’t make us males wear color-coordinated clothes (I know one who does); sit in the beauty salon for three hours just to have Roberta Flack braids (yup, the same person); and listen to Liberace, I Will Survive or "The Broadway Hits Collection Vol. 2" (well, that dude claims to be a fan of Rage Against the Machine, but I seriously doubt it). Maybe a re-thinking, for clueless blokes like me, is in order.

The little prince from Asteroid B-612 once said what is essential is invisible to the eye. So in a way, the body is but a vessel of the essential, a case that houses the cosmic, a can of flesh. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a sin to beautify the container once in a while.