Men replacing newspapers with smartphones as toilet reading material

London, Feb 25 (ANI): Taking the newspaper to the toilet has long been a proud male preserve, but now the tech age has affected even this most established masculine habit.

According to a new research, men are far more likely to be scrolling through their phone screens than browsing the paper.

Now one in two men regularly take their mobile phone into the toilet to surf the internet, compared to just a third who take a newspaper.

The new survey, carried out by shampoo brand Head and Shoulders, also found that men spend longer in the bathroom than women - 19 minutes compared to 18 minutes on a typical week day.

More than twice as many men as women take two or more showers a day - 19 percent compared to nine percent - and men are much more likely than women to regard a loofah and nail scissors as a bathroom essentials.

Geordie men are the cleanest when it comes to bathroom habits, spending 26 minutes in the shower on a typical morning, while men from the north-west spend least time at just 16 minutes.

At weekends, men in London indulge themselves with showers averaging an incredible 31 minutes.

However, our motivations for washing are more complex than they might seem - women are more likely to feel showering makes them feel more attractive, while men say a shower makes them feel more productive.

As an escape from the daily routine, one in five men thinks about singer Cheryl Cole in the shower, while women are most likely to think about Hollywood star Johnny Depp while washing. Scottish and Northern Irish women are particularly keen on Gary Barlow.

The bathroom is also seen as a retreat from stresses and strains for men, with more men than women using time in the bathroom to mull over problems.

"It seems that for many people their bathroom is a little oasis of calm in which they can indulge in their own personal grooming rituals and get away from the stresses of the day," the Daily Mail quoted Michael Douglas, Head and Shoulders' grooming creative director as saying. (ANI)