Times have changed and it is a bit more acceptable to refer to a male as 'beautiful' however handsome is still the preferred adjective. The word beautiful is considered to have a feminine subtext.

If you are referring simply at the beauty of the man or the woman I think you have to use handsome for the man and beautiful for the woman. You can also exchange this adjectives but in this way you are describing nuances referring not simply to the beautiness. An handsome woman is a striking, elegantly, proportioned though not topically beautiful. Last from word reference.

It is perfectly acceptable to describe a man as "beautiful" although it's never been said of me. ))))) However it is more common to describe men as being handsome, again I'm still waiting to hear this. )))))

oh)) thank you very much for the correction)) it is really funny))))

Just an extra tip... "explain me" means "объясните меня"! For "объясните мне", use "explain to me". It's a common error (and it sounds a little funny, too). :)