The 'Love Island' Boys Are Here To Prove That It's OK For Men To Care About Their Appearance

Moisturising, exfoliating, shaving, waxing, hair styling, tanning, concealing and spritzing... if there's one thing the Love Island lads have given us this year, it's a refreshing insight into men's grooming.

Perhaps more so than any other series, the boys have been unashamedly open about their grooming habits.

On the first very day, Anton unashamedly revealed he shaves his whole body (with his mum taking on bum duties) - and it truly set the mood of things to come.

For the past seven weeks, we've been treated to getting-ready scenes of the boys performing their many rituals, from applying face cream, body moisturiser, and styling their hair with all manner of grooming products.

Marvin famously used a round brush and hairdryer to style his quiff, while we launched an entire investigation into Michael taking razor his forehead (he was keeping his hairline sharp, FYI).

Shaving hasn't been restricted to stubble: we've seen the lads whack off leg hair, armpit hair, and chest hair (with Curtis Pritchard doing Tommy Fury's on one occasion).

The boys even staged an "intervention" for Tommy, when Michael Griffiths offered: "I think you'd feel like a new man if you Veet your chest, Veet your pubes and Veet your arse." Taking cues from bum-advocate Anton, the lads convinced the 20-year-old boxer to go through with it.

With over six million viewers tuning in for the villa action, it's no wonder our grooming-positive lads are having an affect on the male population.

Of the men that watch the show, 54 per cent said they had began working out more since the show started, 28 per cent have gone on a diet, and 19 per cent have began grooming their brows, a survey by Cosmetify found.

To add to this, the value of the men's grooming market in the UK has increased to £500 million in the year ending at the end of June 2019, according to research by The NPD Group. This is £2.2 million up on the same period from the year before - a figure thought to be linked to the popularity of Love Island.

"Love Island continues to be a hugely popular show and presents a modern image of men today. It's ok to take care of yourself, to look grooming, smart, tanned, and toned. The prestige men's grooming market has certainly benefitted from this trend as we have seen some dramatic increases in the growth of men's face masks and men's body care such as cleansers and exfoliators," commented June Jensen, director at NPD UK Beauty.

And while the male Islanders' routines may seem an anomaly in the context of the entire nation, this isn't the case.

We aren't able to watch it on our screens everyday, yet 42 per cent of them admit to taking longer than their partner to get ready, the same survey by Cosmetify found. To add to that, one in five men have worn makeup, more than half of men (53 per cent) use skincare products, with 64 per cent use them daily, and 39 per cent of men admitted to wearing fake tan, although most of those (59 per cent) said it was just for special occasions.

You have to give it to the Love Island boys for doing their bit as emblems of-non toxic masculinity. They're proving it's totally OK to care about your appearance as a man, and for that you have to love them. Bum shaving and all.

Featured Image Credit: ITV

Topics: Hair and Beauty, Style News, Love Island

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance journalist working for Tyla. After graduating from the University of Sussex, Ciara worked as a writer at GLAMOUR Magazine and later as the Assistant Editor of Yahoo Style UK.

@ciarasheppard