UrbanUpdate

When the 2015 MLB playoffs ended, former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez found himself missing his routine as a studio analyst for Fox Sports. Not just because baseball was over: He missed the makeup.

“For the entire month [of October], you do it as a routine,” he says. “Once that ended, I looked in the mirror and I said, ‘Wait a minute!'”

Now he's partnered with telehealth brand Hims & Hers to release The Blur Stick, a concealer targeted towards men. (Rodriguez, appropriately enough, says it feels and looks like eye black, the popular undereye grease applied by baseball players worldwide.)

Hims "The Blur Stick"$17

Hims

Though traditional ideas of masculinity are, thankfully, evolving, and makeup is becoming less stigmatized for men, Rodriguez believes there’s still plenty of room “to enhance the way men take care of their skin, and their overall health and wellness.” We agree!

GQ caught up with A-Rod to talk manhood, learning self-care from his dad, and young NBA hotshot Anthony Edwards not knowing who he was. 

When you say you missed the work from FOX, what did you like about getting the face put on every show?

Well, I have darker skin, and sometimes when the sun hits you—especially here in Miami, the sun hits you hard—you get a chance to balance things out a little bit. On TV, with all the lighting, it’s like 3D, so the tonality just makes everything feel better and look better. It dims the lights a little bit. 

When I did that for the entire month of October, I'm like, well, why shouldn't I have this in November, December, January, for the rest of the year? 

The norms around this are changing, but I think it would be fair to say there’s been a stigma around men using makeup. Was that something you had to get comfortable with?

The thing is, I don't look at it as makeup. I see it more as part of my routine. I see it more as a Blur Stick. It helps with blemishes, dark spots, pimples, redness. Sometimes you don't get to sleep eight hours. So I see it as a continuation of my routine that I've done for the last 40 years.

Ever since I was five years old, I remember getting eye black for Christmas. And [Blur Stick] looks like a larger version of chapstick. If I’m at a restaurant, do I feel comfortable doing it? Absolutely. If I have a little blemish, or a pimple, or just want to block something, why not? I've always felt very comfortable in my skin, so I've never been worried about that.

I’m curious what your routine looks like, or how it’s changed. Is your analyst routine similar to what your baseball routine was back in the day?

My routine has a lot of common themes, during my career and post-career. A lot of it has to do with healthcare and wellness: trying to sleep eight hours a day, staying hydrated, having a balanced diet. When I was playing with the Yankees, one of my friends taught me this: when you put on your uniform, you look good, you feel good, you play good. And I think the same is true in business, and in life. You just want to make sure that you feel good about yourself when you walk in a room. It’s that nonverbal signal. You get an opportunity to express yourself in any way you want. And I think that's the most beautiful part about this: everybody should have the freedom to be themselves.

Was the friend who taught you that Deion Sanders?

[laughs] No, but that would probably come from Primetime, cause he always looked good.

When do you find yourself most often using the Blur stick?

Every day. [laughs] It’s just so easy. Again, I carry around my chapstick. I don't carry around my Blur Stick—although I would. I wanted it to look very common, very basic, and also for everybody. Very inclusive. And I think we've accomplished all of that. 

What are some of the stigmas you've seen change in the last 20 years or so, around masculinity and male care? And what are some of the ones you want to continue to try to change?

I just think our kids one day, collectively, are going to say, “Wow, I can't believe that this type of care was only available for women.” I think at one point it’s just going to be normal that both men and women have equality around health and wellness and taking care of themselves.

Why do you think men have struggled with sort of taking care of themselves?

I know that growing up in a locker room for so many years, it was all about like, being tough, being in the weight room, being a gladiator. But I've always felt very comfortable with taking care of myself. But I think people are getting more comfortable with this in the male space.

When did you start being so intentional, as it sounds like you are, about taking care of yourself? As an athlete, that’s maybe a natural thing, but I know some guys learn that over the course of their career.

I've always felt it was important to take care of yourself. I remember as a kid reading GQ, some of my jock friends would be like, hm, why are you reading that? Even then, there was a stigma.

My father used to always wear suits and I saw him and the way he shaved and the way he took care of himself. My brother was the same way. So I felt like I had some good role models on making it acceptable to be good to yourself and to take care of yourself.

Do you enjoy any of this grooming stuff with your daughters at all?

We do stuff around facials. We put on masks and we use creams. All of that is really, really fun. I have two daughters, so I either better join the party or get thrown out of the party. So I join it.

I do have to ask if you had a reaction to the GQ interview with Anthony Edwards, where he copped to not knowing who you were.

Oh, I love that. I posted it on my socials—that went viral. My girls loved it. Now he calls me. He was great. He had a great attitude about it and he's a fine young man though. That was funny.

Did it hurt at all to be like, man, this guy doesn’t know who I am?

Oh my God, no. Why would that hurt at all? Now the world is so big and there's so many things going on, and he's young. He's 19. 19 or 20. I think he's 20. There’s a lot of people that don't know me. The more people that don't know me, the better.

One thing that strikes me is that you've lived sort of in the public eye since you were 18. Everything you do—successes, failures, relationships—are all up for public consumption. What have you learned about handling all that noise?

Less is more. One of the things that I've been better about is levity, over the last five or seven years. Just to not take yourself so seriously, and have a little fun, balance things out a little bit. Making fun of yourself and self-deprecation is something that kind of eases the tension.

If you're not self-deprecating, then Anthony Edwards can do it for you.

Oh yeah. Or teenage daughters—they'll never let you get too far.

Interview has been edited and condensed.

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By Tyler R. Tynes

Clay Skipper is a Staff Writer at GQ.XInstagramRelated Stories for GQAlex RodriguezBathroom and ShowerMasculinity