A Simple, Yet Effective Skin Care Routine For Men

Many guys are interested in taking better care of their skin, but have no idea how to do so. The skin care industry, which mostly caters to women, has made it incredibly complicated (unnecessarily). To make life easier for you, we’ve built a simple yet highly effective skin care routine any man can follow. Read on to learn how to get more firm, energized, and healthy skin.

Learn Your Skin Type

In order to take care of your skin the best possible way, you need to know your skin type. Knowing your skin type will help you buy the best products for your face, allowing you to get the best results (and not waste your money in the process). In general, there are five different skin types. Read the descriptions to figure out your own.

Normal: Your skin stays pretty oil free most of the day and doesn’t get irritated or dry easily. Acne is not much of an issue.

Oily Skin: Your skin has a natural shine to it, and often has build up or acne.

Dry/Sensitive Skin: Your skin gets easily irritated and often feels dry or tight.

Combination:  Imagine your face has a “T” on it. The horizontal bar of the T goes across your forehead, while the vertical bar runs down to the tip of your nose. This is called the T zone, and guys who have combo type skin have an oily T zone, but have dry or sensitive skin on the rest of their face, primarily the cheeks.

Aging Skin: Aging skin can be categorized as looking worn out, wrinkled and having age spots. In other words, you have spent many years neglecting your skin.

Once you know your skin type, building a solid daily routine gets easier. Always make sure to look on the package of a skin care product you’re about to buy to see if it’s been formulated for your skin type. Armed with knowing your skin type, it’s now time to build out our routine:

Cleanse

The pillar of a skin care routine is to thoroughly, yet gently washing your skin with a men’s face wash (alternative). Cleansing your skin with a men’s face wash in the morning and before bed will help remove oil, bacteria, and impurities from your pores that can cause acne and dull your overall complexion. Not only does cleansing help your face’s complexion, it can lead to a better shave by removing bacteria and oil that can seep into your pores as you glide your blade across the skin.

Before washing your face, make sure to open up the pores by hopping in the shower or splashing some warm water over the skin. This will help open up the pores for a better cleanse. Apply the wash all over, gently rubbing in circles. When done, rinse your face with cool water to close the pores and gently pat your face dry.

Your skin should feel clean, but not “too clean” or dried out. An excessively washed or dried out face will cause irritation, excess oil production and premature wrinkles.

Exfoliate

Exfoliating is a crucial step to any skin care routine, not only for the skin, but for a better shave. Using a men’s face scrub (alternative) offers two benefits – it removes dead skin cells, build up, and other impurities on the face, but also softens up whiskers, lifting them up for a closer, smoother shave.

Since men tend to have oilier skin than women, you’re more prone to dead skin cell build up and other impurities sitting on your face. Exfoliating removes these from the face, allowing newer, healthier looking skin cells to appear.

We all know men have coarse, thick hair on their face. Using a face scrub on the shave area pre shave will soften up the whiskers, allowing the blade to have an easier pass. It should be a no-brainer that the less tugging and better glide your razor has over the skin, the smoother your shave will be.

Post shave, a face scrub can be a true savior for any man prone to ingrown hairs. A few days after you have shaved, hairs tend to start curling, with some growing back into the skin. Gently rubbing a face scrub over the shave area (gently is the keyword here since your skin is still healing from the shave) uncoils these hairs, preventing them from growing inward.

Using a face scrub to exfoliate your face is easy. First, after washing your face with warm water, gently rub the face scrub over your shave area and the parts of your skin that are most susceptible to build up (forehead, nose, chin). Once your skin feels polished, rinse the scrub off with cool water to close your pores and pat your face dry. We recommend only using a face scrub two to three times a week to not irritate the skin.

Moisturize

Usually the biggest difference between someone with healthy looking skin, and tired looking skin is the degree to how hydrated their face is. Using a men’s face moisturizer (alternative) daily helps keep the skin cells full of water, while preventing oil and other impurities from entering into the pores. It also provides anti aging benefits via nutrients and stimulating collagen production (the structural protein of the skin that keeps it looking firm).

After patting your face completely dry from washing it (or after exfoliating), apply a thin layer of face moisturizer all over, especially targeting your forehead, around the eyes and your cheeks. Most men apply way too much face moisturizer on their face, you only need a dab and remember since you have oilier skin, it won’t absorb as well as women.

A note for men with really oily skin – there’s a misconception that you don’t need to use a face moisturizer. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially since guys with oily skin like to excessively dry out their skin. When your skin is dry, your sebum glands (the glands that produce oil) see that as an imbalance to your skin, and create excess oil to make up for it. That excess oil turns into shine, oil pools, build up and acne. Applying a thin layer of face moisturizer after washing your face helps prevent this excess oil production and your skin looking hydrated, not oily.

Prevention

Sunscreen: Any good skin care routine includes preventing the sun’s ultraviolet rays from damaging your skin. Despite what most people think, a tan is actually a warning sign that your skin has been harmed and is trying to protect itself from further damage.

Before going outside, liberally use a sunscreen with at least SPF15 all over skin that will be exposed to the sun. If you’re sweating or in the water, make sure to reapply every hour.

Anti Aging Cream: If you’re a guy who is worried about Father Time and want to be one step ahead of him, we suggest use an anti aging cream for men (alternative) before you go to bed. The body has a natural restorative process as you sleep and applying the cream to the skin before bed will allow it to work with this process. While nothing will magically make wrinkles go away, a good men’s anti aging cream should allow wrinkles to develop slower and fill in some of your fine lines.

Eye Cream: Many men scoff at the idea of using a men’s eye cream (alternative), but after they use it, realize how helpful they are. As we sleep, fluid builds up underneath your eyes, causing blood to push up against the skin, causing dark circles and bags. It can take awhile after you wake up for these unsightly conditions to go away and that is where an eye cream comes in. Most eye creams contain some form of caffeine. Caffeine will help stimulate the blood, dissipating the puffiness and dark circles. If you’re a guy who likes to burn the candle at both ends or are often hung-over in the morning, a men’s eye cream will be your secret weapon.

Hopefully, you’ve seen having a daily skin care routine can be easily achieved with just a few steps. Take the time to incorporate these steps into your daily routine and your future self will thank you when you are walking around with firm, energized skin, and not looking like a worn out leather belt.

About the author:
Josh Meyer is the co-founder of Brickell Men’s Products, high performing natural skincare and grooming products for men. They use powerful, natural & organic ingredients to help men from all around the world look better, everyday.  Want to try Brickell?  They are offering a 15% discount to Sharpologist readers: use the code SHARPOLOGIST15 through 7/6/16. Valid for all purchases except Starter Sample Kits.