Jim Sullivan doesn't cut a profile that you'll see on the cover of GQ, but he's always had pride in his appearance.

The 53-year-old central Ohioan said he's put a lot of time and effort over the years into eating right and exercising, so he's got a trim physique and healthy skin and eyes. And while he doesn't have any white hairs yet, he's graying.

"I tried hair color," Sullivan said.

Sullivan jumped on the bandwagon of what is becoming common for baby boomer men -- he grabbed at something that would give him a more youthful reflection in the mirror.

It wasn't such a huge step for him. His friend, Brenda Kocak, owns Modern Male Spa in Dublin, Ohio. After Kocak started her just-for-men salon five years ago, Sullivan started getting haircuts there instead of at a discount mall place.

"After years at Great Clips and being completely satisfied, you go get a real haircut and think, 'Oh, yeah!'" Sullivan said.

So he got a little hooked on the spa. Next his wife got him a gift certificate for a facial. He has kept that habit.

"It's nice to go into a place and have beautiful women rub oils on your face. I'd recommend it to anyone," he said with a laugh. "It's not just the glow in your face, which is there, but you're a little lighter of step -- so much the better. It's better than hitting the bottle."

A Little Color

One day, Kocak offered a little color for his locks.

"Brenda said, 'I can give you some oomph. I'll make it so subtle even your wife won't notice.' It was subtle, but I could tell the difference. It took days for my kids and wife to notice, so I finally told them," Sullivan said.

Kocak said hair color is one of the top requests she gets from baby boomer men.

"It's not the old pancake hair color guys are afraid of," she said. "Most guys -- you wouldn't even know they'd colored their hair. We just blend in with their natural."

It was too subtle for Sullivan. He decided to save his money for more facials and massages at Modern Male.

Sullivan acknowledges, though, the truth every boomer knows -- men get away with aging and women don't.

"(Wrinkles and gray) work for men -- it makes them more attractive. It's unfair for women, but just true," Sullivan said. "My wife has her hair colored. We joke that I married this cute, thin little brunette and she's been a blonde and a redhead along the way."

All About Marketing

Kocak estimates that 40 percent of her all-male-clientele business is within the baby boom demographic. She attributes the interest to a number of factors -- men in their 50s and 60s might suddenly be looking for a new job or taking a new wife, and they want to look their best.

"Marketing -- selling a product or yourself -- is all in perception. Everyone wants to be perceived as youthful and skillful," Kocak said.

Others are fighting years of sun damage or want help choosing skin care.

"Not using any sunscreen for years, being out on the golf course, being out in the sun -- now we're seeing the effects of that," Kocak said.

To fill that need, companies including Avon are creating products for men. Actor Patrick Dempsey created a fragrance with the company, and baseball player Derrick Jeter has a line of Avon body products.

Men Open Up To Cosmetics, Surgery

For Avon sales representative Katrina Damico, of Levittown, Pa., one of her early male customers was her husband.

"People at work started telling him he looked tired. His first product was eye cream," Damico said.

Now, Damico's husband talks up her products to most men he meets. And more of those men are listening.

"Baby boomer men are more open to cosmetics than their fathers," said Gabrielle Redford, the features editor at AARP.

It isn't just creams and dyes -- more men are getting nipped and tucked and Botoxed, too. Men had nearly 1.1 million cosmetic procedures in 2007, according the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery cosmetic surgery national data bank -- that's 9 percent of the total. The ASAPS reported the number of cosmetic procedures for men increased 17 percent from 2006, and the top five surgical procedures were liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, breast reduction to treat enlarged male breasts, and hair transplantation.

Sullivan said he's not quite ready for the knife or needle.

"The physical thing is more than getting nipped or tucked -- you've got to involve the mind, heart and the body," Sullivan said.

His approach to aging includes going dancing with his wife and appreciating every day and experience as they come.

"I view all my scars as interesting stories I've collected along the way. My wrinkles are laugh lines, not crow's feet," Sullivan said. "My wife has beautiful skin. She takes a natural approach. She's in menopause, and we look at it as what we signed up for -- better or worse. We still dance together. Stay young that way."

And maybe add a monthly facial.