aftershave

Man myths: busted

Our resident grooming guru Lee Kynaston debunks some of the most common male grooming myths so you can set your customers straight.

Dandruff is caused by dry skin

Dandruff is actually caused by a tiny fungus called Malassezia globosa, which lives on our scalps without causing trouble – most of the time. Occasionally, however, it multiplies out of control, causing flaking of the skin, a process that’s often triggered by stress, changes in environment or bad diet. A whopping 50 per cent of us will suffer from dandruff at some point in our lives. Thankfully, it’s easily treated with shampoos containing zinc pyrithione or the anti-fungal agent ketoconazole.

 

Selling scents

Get ready for the Christmas rush with our guide to selling fragrance over the festive period.

Love it or loathe it, Christmas is coming and retail shelves are already groaning under the weight of innumerable gift options. For most people in the fragrance business, the festive period is the culmination of their year’s work, with the past three months being their busiest and most profitable time.

Gill Smith, managing director of The Perfume Shop, says: “Christmas is what we build up to all year; everything we do is to build up that Christmas momentum. We start the year by looking at our last Christmas period and all our learnings from it – what worked, what didn’t, and what we need to remember for next year, and from that we build up our plans for the year.”