PRESS RELEASE June 2009

Men avoid and Sir Philip Green’s bushy- hair look at

Men are defying the Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green look and upping their grooming ante with chest waxes and eyebrow shapes at Selfridges.

Since Simon Cowell and Sir Philip Green were photographed on holiday in Barbados, Selfridges customers keen to avoid the ‘bushy-look’ are prepping for the hot weather with back and chest waxing at its Gentlemen’s Tonic salon and artful eyebrow shaping at the Blink Brow Bar.

This weekend Gentlemen’s Tonic and the male Blink Brow Bar were fully booked with appointments eager to rid themselves of their excess hair.

Selfridges has experienced a strong growth in male cosmetics over the past five years, with men increasingly willing to be seen to take care of their appearance. According to Mintel the UK male grooming market is currently worth around £700m annually and it is predicted this will rise to over £820m in 2009.

David Walker Smith, Direct of Beauty at Selfridges says “Male grooming is a massive growth market and Selfridges is at the forefront of this trend. We noticed a surge in sales for general male grooming products approaching the summer months, but this weekend we were fully booked at Gentlemen’s Tonic and the Blink Brow Bar was over spilling with desperate male bodies de-hairing themselves in preparation for this weeks hot weather.”

Male Blink Brow Bar at Selfridges Eyebrows Tidy and trim £17 Middle of brows £5 Eyebrow groom £35 (shape, tint and mini brow massage) Eyebrow tint £12 Eyelash tint £18 Eyelash lash and tint £25

Gentlemen’s Tonic at Selfridges Waxing Back £34 Shoulders £28 Back & Shoulders £50 Chest £32 Chest & Stomach £42 Arms £30 Legs £42 Underarm £28 Nose £18 Ear £14

For bookings call 0800 123 400

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For further information or high res images please contact Niravta Patel at ZPR on 020 7896 3202 or email [email protected]

Notes to editors:

About Selfridges • The business was founded by American entrepreneur Gordon Selfridge in 1909 and run by him until he retired in 1940 and took on the role of President. Gordon Selfridge died in 1947. Four years later the business was sold to Lewis’ of Liverpool for £3.4 million. • In 1965 Charles Clore’s British Shoe Corporation won control of Selfridges in take-over for £63 million. New developments included the opening of . • In 1998 the company was de-merged from the Sears Group and floated on the . • In 2003 Galen Weston purchased Selfridges. He and his wife Hilary are closely involved with the development and growth of the company and their daughter Alannah is Creative Director. • In the year ended 31 January 2008, Selfridges’ sales rose by 10 per cent to £655 million and profit grew by 30 per cent to £84.1 million. • Galen Weston is Chairman of Selfridges and, in January 2004, Allan Leighton was appointed Deputy Chairman. • Paul Kelly became Chief Executive of Selfridges in February 2004. Before that, Paul was Managing Director of Brown Thomas in Dublin for ten years. He has worked with the Weston family for over 20 years. • Galen Weston is Chairman of the premier luxury goods company which, as well as Selfridges, includes Holt Renfrew in Canada and Brown Thomas in Ireland.

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Niravta

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