CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Local man, Charlie Belmont arrives at work each morning smelling like coconut and murumuru butters – and it has nothing to do with his diet.
Charlie is one of thousands of men around the country that douses his body each morning with expensive hair products that are not meant to be used as bodywash.
“I’ve got all these health and beauty products at my disposal. Why not go for the one that smells the best,” says the 29-year-old sports analyst.
“Why would I bother with the Imperial Leather or Pears soap when I can coat my rig in this silky smooth Aesop range,”
Charlie has been using his girlfriend’s expensive hair products to wash his body for a good part of the year – and he hasn’t look back. His girlfriend, Ella (28) says that she has reprimanded him on several occasions for wasting her boutique hair products by using them to wash his entire 110kg body, but says there is no point anymore.
“He refuses to stop it. He loves the stuff,”
“He’s even offered to replace it, but he never does. The moment he runs out of the shampoo he just moves onto the conditioner or the face scrub,”
“I don’t think he understands that these products probably aren’t the best things to be massaging into his armpits and crotch. But it’s all about the exotic smells for him,”
A 2015 study by the leading Australian consumer advocacy group, CHOICE, found that roughly 80% of Australian males would be more likely to use female hygiene and beauty products, if given the option.
Lead researcher, Dr Vita Maroni says Charlie Belmont is just one of many.
“What we have found is that most blokes, whether they want to admit it or not, would much prefer to use Dove’s female anti-perspirant deodorant than BRUT or LYNX,”
“Men are given very little options when it comes to male-oriented beauty products. Why would you want to smell like a generic ‘sports’ deodorant, when you could smell like rainforest fruits,”
“They have a just as much right to feel and smell beautiful as women do,”
Charlie’s girlfriend says she believes her boyfriend is one of the driving forces for this movement.
“He’s unashamed in his approach to silky and smooth skin that looks and feels great,”
“Even as a teenager, his mum told me that he used to steal his sister’s Impulse spray because it smelt better,”
Charlie says he makes no apologies.
“Who the hell is gonna tell me I can’t restore my sheen and softness while also improving flexibility and minimizing frizz?”
“Plus, if they didn’t want me washing my whole body in it, they wouldn’t have called it ‘extra-body’ shampoo!”
My dog, Nina, thoroughly agrees: although she thinks that he is playing a bit of catch up. She insists on getting her wipe down each morning with moisturising tissues.