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Is it now cool for a real man to wear makeup?
San Antonio Business Journal - by Glenn Hunter
When it comes to skin-care products, men and women pretty much have different attitudes.
On days she wears makeup, for example, my wife for decades has scrubbed her lineless face with Cetaphil before bed, then applied Purpose moisturizer.
I typically scrub my mug with hand soap in the shower, and that's about it.
Until very recently, that is, when I've snuck on a little eye cream, trying to smooth out the effects of age and years spent tanning on the beaches of Southern California.
Probably a lost cause.
A growing company in Carrollton wants to convince me otherwise, though.
And, if its record of success so far is any indication, it may be onto something.
The company, called Jack Black, sells more than 30 skin-care products for men under that name, from beard lube and shaving lather to body lotion, lip balm and hair gel.
The brand name itself is made up -- there's no "real" Jack Black -- even though people call the company asking to talk with him.
"I came up with the name," explains Curran Dandurand, who founded Jack Black with her husband, Jeff Dandurand, and their business partner, Emily Dalton, in April 2000.
"It's a name that makes a guy feel comfortable," Curran Dandurand says. "They feel OK saying it."
That's important, because this whole skin-care game is new to many men and, for some, it can be off-putting. Masculinity issues, you know.
That's why Jack Black's packaging is simple and bold, using manly colors like blue, black and red. And the company's products, according to its Web site, don't smell "too girly."
Curran Dandurand had worked for Dallas-based Mary Kay Inc. for 17 years, ending up a VP in global marketing, when she realized there was a business opportunity in skin products aimed at men.
Mary Kay had its own brand for men, as did other big companies like Clinique and Estée Lauder.
But for many guys, there was a stigma attached to buying brands that were also sold to women.
Even so, even Curran Dandurand's husband had serious doubts about Curran's brainstorm.
"I was very apprehensive," he recalls. "I thought, guys don't care about skin care."
Nonetheless, the Dandurands took $500,000 in personal savings and family investments and started Jack Black with Dalton, working at first out of their homes and an executive suite, trying to keep costs in check.
'More visible' niche
After placing the new brand in outlets like pro shops at country clubs, they caught a big break in the fall of 2001.
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