A new spa opens in Hamilton today offering waxing, haircuts, manicures, pedicures, and head massages – but with a twist.

The Modern Gent Dapper Lounge and Spa is seeking a male clientele.

“There are no pastel colours anywhere,” owner Dion Furbert said.

The website proclaims: “Welcome to the new home of discerning gentlemen. This is your oasis away from the drudgery of the daily grind. Here in this unique salon and spa, created specifically for the needs of refined men, you get the world-class pampering and grooming you need to face the world looking and feeling better.”

The magazines in the lounge are about men’s health. There is a thick biography of Elon Musk to read while you wait.

The walls and floors are in shades of brown tan and grey. The furniture is studded leather, and there is a pool table in the middle of everything.

The new business at 19 Queen Street in Hamilton, is the realisation of a long-held dream for Mr Furbert.

“I started thinking about doing something like this 15 years ago, but I did not think Bermuda was ready,” Mr Furbert said. “It was always in the back of my head.”

Last year, after 34 years working for a mechanical company, he decided it was time.

“I did some soul-searching and decided it was time to do me,” Mr Furbert said. “We looked at renting space upstairs. Then the landlord said I had to see downstairs.”

From the moment he walked into what was previously the Seahorses Bermuda betting shop, Mr Furbert could see the spa in his mind.

“It is because I worked in construction for so long,” he said.

The spa business appealed to him because he had always liked looking good and wearing nice clothing.

“I used to be a bodybuilder,” he said. “Back then I was big [muscular] and I always wanted to go with my shirt off, or wear a tank top.”

As a hairy man, he felt more comfortable going shirtless, only after regular wax treatments.

“That meant going to a lady’s spa,” he said.

He was not embarrassed to go to a women’s salon, but always felt a little out of place in a room full of females, also waiting for beauty treatments.

“There were not a lot of other metrosexuals in Bermuda in the 1990s, or even many other bodybuilders,” he said. “The whole dynamic of Bermuda has changed since then.”

He attributed this to the rise of social media, which has made some men become more conscious of their looks.

Independent magazine journalist Mark Simpson first used the term “metrosexual” in 1992, to describe a typically heterosexual, urban male who likes to dress nicely, exfoliate and look well-groomed.

To do some market research, Mr Furbert talked with his friends, and also approached well-groomed men he saw in the street.

“I would ask them, what if there was a men’s spa here,” Mr Furbert said.

The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They were interested.

It took six months for Mr Furbert to turn the 3,000 square-foot space into a men’s spa. He thought he would be ready last Christmas, but it did not work out that way.

“At first, things went pretty fast,” Mr Furbert said. “Then we had to wait for building permits and work permits, and things like that.”

Now, he is offering a number of different packages, including one for groomsmen.

“When there is a wedding, the groom can bring his groomsmen in here,” he said. “Usually, when there is a wedding everyone takes care of the bride. Who takes care of the groom?”

Modern Gent stocks award-winning Daimon Barber brand men’s grooming products.

“The firm is very excited to be in Bermuda,” Mr Furbert said. “They are already sold in 25 different countries.”

The Modern Gent is aimed at men, but will not turn away clients based on gender.

“The women let me use their salons all these years,” Mr Furbert said with a smile. “But we definitely cater to men. If women are comfortable with that, then we are good.”