The Lunar New Year is a good time for blind dates. Surprisingly, the demand for makeup services for men in China is high.
Xiao Dan, a makeup artist in Sichuan province (southwest China), said the fee has skyrocketed to nearly 200 yuan (about 680,000 VND) for a makeup session, compared to 60 yuan (about 200,000 VND) at other times of the year.
She said the service has become popular not only in cities but also in rural areas, where elders arrange multiple blind dates every day for single men in their families.
“Who doesn’t want to make a good first impression? More and more men are wearing makeup,” said Hieu Dan.
"My makeup appointments for men on blind dates were completely booked during the past Lunar New Year week. Every day, I did makeup for at least two male clients," she added.
Makeup artists say Chinese men tend to like to get their eyebrows and hair done before a date. (Photo: Baidu)
Coco, another makeup artist in Guangdong Province (southeast China), also has a busy schedule. Last month, she did makeup for 36 male clients and February is also full.
Coco said many clients shared that they were not attracting women on blind dates, so they came to her to improve their appearance in the hope of impressing the other person.
“Makeup can boost their confidence,” she said, adding that men tend to focus on their complexion and eyebrows while some others want to redesign their hairstyle.
This trend has caused controversy on Chinese social media. Some people think that men wearing makeup is effeminate and loses their masculinity, and that what matters is their personality and what they have in their hands.
There are also supportive opinions. One netizen commented: “I support this. It shows that men are starting to respect the women they date.”
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China shows that there were 240 million single people in the country in 2018. Among them, the number of single men aged 20-49 is much higher than that of single women of the same age.
According to the China Statistical Yearbook, only 6.83 million people got married in 2022, down about 803,000 from 2021.
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