The new man, not afraid to act like a woman

Men getting manicures and facials is no longer surprising, and their lotions and tonics are seeing increased sales. But lately they have delved into territory that was once solely for women: bikini waxing.

Since Bliss spa introduced men's waxing services last year, Mike Indursky, the chain's president, said that their popularity is set to double by the end of this year. "You feel more confident," he told The Times of waxing. "It actually makes you feel more masculine."

In a post-metrosexual world, men are the new women.

"Men have become very interested in themselves of late - their profiles and their pectorals," Mark Simpson, author of "Metrosexy: A 21st Century Self-Love Story," wrote in The Times. "Men have also become much more interested in cooking and child-minding, sensitivity and sensuality."

And fashion companies have become more interested in them, vying for a slice of an underexploited luxury market: men's wear. E-commerce has become an important factor because affluent men appear to be predisposed to buying online.

Men are driven to the Internet because it's more suited to their shopping habits, Ashma Kunde, an analyst for Euromonitor International, told The Times. "For them, the shopping experience is less about exploration and more about being informed about what they should be buying."

YOOX Group, an online fashion retailer, has seen its men's wear sales grow in all its stores. Federico Marchetti, the chief executive, said men ages 26 to 35 account for one-third of its clients. "Men don't shop; they buy," he told The Times. "Men spend 30 percent less time browsing online than women, viewing fewer pages before purchasing."

But perhaps these men are simply more open to buying fashion than before, just as young men have become "very touchy-feely compared to the older generation," wrote Mr. Simpson.

Bonding has long been a part of the office, but instead of happy hour or paintball retreats, men are doing group cleanses, one-to-five day, all liquid-diets, usually of grassy blends of juice, The Times reported. The corporate cleanses "commonly skew toward men, especially traders, investment bankers and lawyers," Jina Wye of BluePrint Cleanse told The Times.

Peter Alfano of Citigroup participated in a three-day $210 cleanse with colleagues. "We would all hang out together at lunchtime, and we'd take our bottles to the park," he told The Times. "The feeling of accomplishment is amazing."

So amazing that perhaps you may be inspired to don a pair of James Bond swimming trunks afterward. Ever since "Casino Royale" in 2006, when Daniel Craig as Bond wore some short, tight GrigioPerla swim trunks, brands like Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Diesel have adopted the style. International Jock, a men's swimwear and underwear Web site, has had a rising number of orders for the suit, The Times reported. As for Mr. Bond, he may wear a pair of short trunks in "Skyfall," out in October.

As more men take a size 007, some look to the American Olympic swimmer and gold medalist Ryan Lochte as a sex symbol in neon swim briefs. At the London Games, he flashed an American-flag diamond dental grill made by the rapper Paul Wall and Johnny Dang, the Houston jeweler to the hip-hop stars. Soon after, the company received hundreds of inquiries about it. Philip Crangi, a designer, admitted to being generally bedazzled by the swimmer. "I am kind of into the grill," he told The Times. "It's like a tiara for men."

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