Male vanity at an all time high

The average UK man will spend 56 minutes looking at his own refection everyday, according to a nationwide study.

The survey by Betta Living, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen fitter, also revealed that men spend longer checking themselves out than women. In fact, men aged 25-50 total up 340.67 hours a year looking at their reflection, compared to women aged 25-50 totting up just 265 hours.

Almost three out of four men (73%) admit their “getting ready regime” in the morning has almost doubled in length over the past decade as more male grooming products become available.

Men readily admit that they spend longer grooming by coiffing their hair, plucking their eyebrows and fake tanning.

It is not just the bathroom mirror they spend time staring at their reflection. The survey revealed men spend five minutes everyday using their car mirrors, 15 minutes using toilet mirrors at work or at the gym. Four and a half minutes checking themselves out in shop windows and seven minutes using their computer screens or mobile devices.

Barry Rourke, Betta Living marketing director, said: "A modern man using beauty products to look his best is considered very normal in 2014. So men no longer have to feel insecure about preening and looking in the mirror is no longer the social no-no it used to be.

"It is still something of a novelty for men, however, and potentially that is why they spend so long admiring themselves in the mirror - substantially more than the average British woman, according to these statistics.”