....the arrival of Jean Paul Gaultier's Tout Beau seems a cultural inevitability. Tout Beau is the first line of makeup specifically aimed at men. According to a Gaultier press release, the Tout Beau line -- including a powder bronzer, a concealer and kohl liner for eyes and lip balm in three shades: natural, fair skin and tawny -- is a ''bold, virile line of revolutionary tools'' designed to ''enhance masculinity'' and ''offer each and every man the right to be naturally handsome.''
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Gaultier has proclaimed that 90 percent of the sales of his men's makeup in France have been to straight men. And since Tout Beau was introduced in the United States last month, sales have been brisk -- Macy's moved $13,000 worth of men's makeup in the week after its debut. Fashion-world observers say they're not surprised that regular guys would be reaching for the mascara. ''With people living longer and longer,'' says Pete Born, vice president of Women's Wear Daily, ''they are expected to remain productive for a lot longer. All of a sudden, appearance is an integral part of one's ability to make money.'' Who knows? By this time next year, perhaps the innocuous corporate badinage of men across the country will have morphed from ''Hot enough for you?'' and ''Don't work too hard'' to ''Dude, where's my concealer?''