Over the past year, top designer labels such as Yves Saint-Laurent and Lacoste have used hairy-chested models to launch new perfumes, while other woolly, muscle-bound types showed off flimsy mesh briefs from the likes of Dim or Scandale.

Meanwhile Beckham-esque ponytails, teenage rasta-style dreadlocks and the tres chic three-day stubble and shaggy bed-head (neo-mullet) hair look have brought head hair back.

This does not mean the shaven head ? "it helps conceal sudden graying and early baldness" said one proponent of the style ? is out. It remains popular.

What the hair revival is about is the new male's new taste for preening and pampering.

"Look at the way Tom Ford keeps his shirt slightly open, you can just see a little hair on his chest," said Philippe Dumont, founder and CEO of Nickel men's spas in Paris and New York that offer waxing, facials and other care. "People spend an hour a week to achieve that. They'll get the hair trimmed, excess removed, and use a special gel for a glossy finish."

Likewise a three-day stubble needed work with a blade every couple of days, he said.

So the hair you see is not necessarily the original hair on the beast. An impressive array of scissors, blades, razors, shears, waxing strips and creams and lotions have come into play.

"The masculine market for hair dyes and colours is exploding, much more than skin care"," said Marie-Alix le Roy of Marketing Intelligence. The men's beauty market continued to revolve today around stubble and shaving, she added, while shampoos specifically aimed at hair loss for men would be a big seller in the future.

"The contemporary man," according to a study by Danielle Roy for trends firm Altema, "is increasingly concerned by his appearance. He worries about his extra kilos and early signs of baldness."

"He tries to conform to norms of appearance and must be seductive," she added. However, "seduction nowadays is not just aimed at conquering love but at conquering all sorts of people, for example a future employer, a colleague or a prospect."

Dumont, whose men's spas register annual turnover of a million euros in France and two million dollars in the United States, said Nickel had more body-hair clients in New York than in Paris, where facials were the big draw.

But waxing was increasing with both hirsute heterosexuals and gay men. "Eighty percent of those customers come to remove hair from the shoulders and back. Hair on a man's back is really gross."

At Algocire, a new unisex waxing institute set up in central Paris 18 months ago, Corinne Bouhanna offers specials for men's chest, back and shoulders (40 euros), legs and arms (32 euros) ? "for sports buffs" ? and eyebrows, ears, nose (19 euros) which, she said, "is quick but they do suffer."

"It used to be extremely difficult for a man to dare to open the door to a beauty parlour and step in," said Bouhanna. "Now around 20 percent of my clientele are men."

One airline steward comes in once a week to get his chin waxed. "It's made his facial hair softer," she said.

Similarly the more upmarket Sothys beauty institute on the posh Faubourg Saint-Honore ? it has 19 employees on staff and 12 cabins ? has noted enough of an increase in male interest to decide to open a specialist men's centre nearby next spring.

"We do a lot of facials but also have the husbands of many of our clients come in to have ugly hair removed because their wives are unhappy about it", said Emmanuelle Foucaud.

Bushy backs, hairy eyebrows and hirsute necks were the main culprits, she said.

As Dumont put it: "The problem with hair is knowing which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of."