"I'm really getting the crow's feet," says Susan Tullis as she gently swabs liquid fruit acid on Mario Hieb's face. "Next to Retin-A, this is one of the proven things to smooth out wrinkles and fine lines."
Hieb, a Salt Lake broadcast engineer, is getting an alpha hydroxy acid peel ($60) at The Skin Works in Trolley Square, a skin care center and school.Stretched out on a table with his shirt off, Hieb is bundled in towels and big sheet while Tullis attends to his skin's health and appearance.
The treatment, which lasts more than an hour, includes deep skin cleansing and rejuvenation; a clay facial masque; facial, neck and upper arm massage with aroma-therapy oils; and a massage for both hands following a long soak in warm paraffin and hand mitts.
On this day, Tullis also tints Hieb's eyebrows a slightly darker shade than their natural brunette ("Even though he has dark hair, his brows look a lot more distinguished if we get them a little darker," she explains) and uses hot wax to strip away a few untidy hairs at the brow line.
Hieb is not alone in his pursuit of smooth, clear skin and better looks. Tullis estimates that at least a third of the clients at The Skin Works are men and their numbers are growing.
They include businessmen, lawyers and teachers. Some are in the public eye, such as well-known television personalities and members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but Tullis said most are regular guys who just want to look good. Many are introduced to the center by wives or girl friends.
Manicures for men aren't unusual, but getting professional skin care is a fairly new trend for both men and women in the United States. Unlike their American counterparts who tend to get their hair done when they want to look good, European women have long included facials in their beauty routines.
The Skin Works offers a wide assortment of skin treatments, hair removal, manicures, pedicures and massage, but no hair styling. Prices range from $30 for a half-hour mini-facial ("Great for a lunch hour," said Tullis) to $110 for a half-day of pampering.
Some people might scoff at the idea of skin treatments - especially for men - but Hieb's attitude is "why not?"
"Men get haircuts. I don't look at it as any different than getting a haircut," he said. "I have oily skin so I still get pimples even though I'm almost 40. It really makes a difference."
Does anyone ever razz him about this?
"No," he said. "They're jealous."
Tullis is an aesthetician, a skin care therapist, who co-owns the business with Jonathan Kralik. She said male clients generally come in for manicures and pedicures. Next on the list are massages, waxing backs (a lot of men apparently are embarrassed by excessively hairy backs) and facials.
"I've even waxed men's chests," Tullis said.
She fixes things when men have what looks like a single eyebrow across the entire forehead, which gives a glowering look. She's also waxed toes so male feet look good in sandals.
But Tullis' primary focus is on skin care and health. She said she has studied in Paris, Newport Beach, Calif., and the Institute of Facial and Cosmetic Surgery in Salt Lake City.
"I have a medical background and a background in the beauty industry," Tullis said. "I worked for a plastic surgeon and dermatologist, Dr. James Fulton Jr. He co-developed Retin-A. I use his skin-care products here."
Although Utah has educational and licensing requirements for people who do hair and massage, the state does not regulate those who do skin care or nails.
"Most states require 600 hours of training. Getting good training is really hard and there is a shortage of aestheticians in this state," Tullis said.
That is one reason why she currently is teaching a three-week advanced skin-care class. In other states, it is not uncommon for some aestheticians to work with dermatologists or plastic surgeons as para-medical aestheticians, she said.
A variety of treatments offered by aestheticians can help with health-related problems like ingrown hairs or severe acne which can become infected. For example, when she previously worked under a doctor's supervision, Tullis could give steroid injections into cysts to eliminate them.
The Skin Works' seven employees include licensed massage therapists like Tony Welsh who busily massages Hieb's now paraffin-free hands while Tullis massages Hieb's face, neck and temples.
"I feel very relaxed," Hieb murmurs, his eyes closed. "I fell asleep one time."
When it comes to massage, both Tullis and Welsh said clients don't ask for anything other than the legitimate article. Tullis said The Skin Works projects the type of image that discourages inappropriate requests.
Welsh said people seem to feel more comfortable with female massage therapists, at least at first. "One of my loves is to work on athletes because they know the benefits of massage" and don't care whether it is administered by a male or female, he said.
Incidentally, Welsh said the French terms "masseur" and "masseuse" seem to have fallen out of favor for the more gender-neutral titles of massage therapist or massage technician.
"It's not for everybody," Tullis said. "You still find a lot of men who don't feel comfortable with massage or treatments. I don't know why. Maybe they're embarrassed."