Lifestyle - Girls like 'em clean

Here’s something women always knew and men suspected — most women are partial to men without facial fuzz, to the extent that it influences their dating and marriage decisions. Now for the first time, there are figures to support this oft unspoken truth — 91 per cent of women in Delhi say they are turned off by unshaven men, and 73 per cent admit that they are more likely to kiss a guy who’s clean shaven.

In a first of its kind survey on the urban Indian male’s shaving habits and perceptions, conducted by Gillette India and AC Nielson, the shaving habits
of men in eight major metros in the country — among them Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Bangalore — were studied, and the results are fascinating.

In an interesting parallel to women’s preferences, 82 per cent of Delhi’s men were found to be clean shaven — the highest percentage among all eight metros!

The most cited reasons for being clean shaven are: the desire to look younger and more handsome, to be well groomed, to appear “honest”, family pressure, and because they feel it makes them look sexy and “good in bed”.

And for women, facial hair signifies lack of grooming and laziness on the man’s part.

The desire to look good and fit into a particular image is normal human psychology, according to Dr Megha Hazuria Gore, clinical psychologist, Max Healthcare.

“First impressions are always physical. Whenever you are presenting yourself to another party — whether an interviewer or the opposite sex — you have to take care how you look. The aim is to get attention and to stand out.”

Sumeet Narang, marketing manager, Gillette India, says, “It [clean shaven] is a look that never goes out of fashion and now we have a study that supports that. As the study reiterates — men feel more confident after a shave, which in turn helps them to be at their best. That is why we extended this study to what the two most important stakeholders in a man’s life think — his woman and his boss.”

We know what the women think — what about the boss? Well, the survey also concludes that 91 per cent of employers are more likely to hire and promote clean shaven men.

Sorry men, but it seems you stand a greater chance to win love and money sans beard and handlebar.