Guys talk grooming

Does he … or doesn't he?

Only his dermatologist knows if a man is on Propecia, the baldness drug — but other guys are wondering.

Ditto whether he's unfurrowing his forehead with Botox.

Or brightening his mug with microdermabrasion. Women have long tittered about whether a friend has gotten Botox, a nose job or breast implants, but guys are forming their own gossip networks.

John Edwards is still doing follicular damage control for his penchant for $400 Beverly Hills haircuts.

The coif gaffe, which made headlines this spring, is the framework for the July/August Men's Vogue cover story on the presidential candidate. And it gets a mention at the end of Esquire's August cover profile. But beneath the smug ridicule of Edwards' Ken-doll persona, there's envy.

The number of men undergoing non-surgical cosmetic procedures is on the rise. In 2006, 202% more men went under the Botox needle vs. in 2000, 112% more had their skin sloughed via microdermabrasion, and 49% more had it resurfaced with lasers, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Younger men are also increasingly submitting their scalps to the scalpel. In 2006, 17% of men ages 20 to 29 sought surgical treatment for hair loss, compared with 15% in 2004, according to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery. Last year, 31.6% of men between 30 and 39 underwent the procedure, vs. 28.7% in 2004.

Male vanity is thriving, if on more of a sotto voce level. "Guys are always scoping out other guys, saying, 'That's a transplant, that's Propecia, that guy's wearing a wig,' " says Men's Health fashion and grooming director Brian Boye.

"Whether in the locker room or restaurant or while watching TV, they've got one eye on what everyone else is doing, on what looks good and what doesn't look good. "

Today's tress talk is about "trying to gauge how far we as a sex are willing to go to improve our looks," says Boye. (At Men's Health, grooming ranks "right up there" with fitness and nutrition in terms of reader request for coverage.) "We're trying to gauge how acceptable it is, and it is definitely becoming more acceptable. …

But we're still nervous to talk about what we're doing until we get sense of what everyone else is doing." Guys are going to great lengths to save some of their hair — and lose other strands. Because uni-brows are unseemly, Ace, maker of the classic barber comb, is launching a men's grooming line this September that includes testosterone-friendly tweezers fashioned from blackened stainless steel and red rubber gaskets.

With a wider grip and diamond texture, they look "a lot like tools,"

Ace brand manager Christin Hartsfield says, "like a Maglite flashlight." Then there's the Philips Norelco Bodygroom, a razor meant for manscaping below the beard, which launched last year with a, um, cheeky Internet ad, Shaveeverywhere.com, that proved a hit.

The site was updated last month with a short mockumentary about the history of male deforestation, starring a medieval-looking device called the Tuft B-Gone and its creator, Frank "Furback" Sack. If the metrosexual introduced basic moisturizer to the general male population, guys are now jumping on the anti-aging buzzword brigade, targeting creases such as crow's feet. Elemis' Time for Men line launched this month and includes a wrinkle reducer and an eye reviver.

Male-marketed Peter Thomas Roth introduced a crow's-feet fighter in May. High-end anti-aging creams and serums are among the top sellers for men at Beauty.com, where, yes, they really stop and shop and post (typically anonymous) product reviews, says the company's Kathleen McNeill.

They're focused on growing the men's business.

For guys, "the online environment is less intimidating than going into a department store and talking to a commissioned sales associate," says McNeill — not to mention that "beauty counters are very feminine." So instead of getting advice from a woman wielding $20 lip balm, they're receiving it from their friends.

Longtime Propecia popper Cory Gnazzo, a Manhattan TV producer, says the chatter in his circle runs along the lines of, " 'So-and-so should be on it,' because you notice when people are not." Gnazzo, 37, has gently suggested to some people that they join this particular hair club for men, which, according to Propecia maker Merck, boasts a healthy membership:

More than 1 million men have used the drug since its 1998 introduction. "If it's someone I know well, I will tell them, 'Seriously, you should look into it,' " says Gnazzo.

Sporting a full head of close-cropped hair, Gnazzo is unusual in that he's "very open" about his $50-a-month habit. David Colbert will readily admit he's a patient, too — in part because he's a prescriber.

The Manhattan dermatologist, 41, has been on Propecia since it came out; "probably several thousand" of his patients have tried it. "My brother's bald, but I'm not," he says. He's seeing a shift in perception. "There was a point in time when people weren't telling other people they were on it," Colbert says.

Now, as Propecia use spreads from urban centers to middle America, "I don't think there's any stigma to it at all. … It's just part of routine maintenance."