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Men-beauty-routine-essential-guide

Very often, men struggle with their beauty routine. Either we have no time for anything more than the basic hygiene or we will take hours treating ourselves. At the end, we do not really know how to handle a beauty routine on a regular basis. Here are 5 key tips to help you manage it. Nothing over the top, only the essentials.

1- Get your skin clean and healthy

let’s start from the first step which is your skin. Do not mess around with it as you only have one (ok cells regenerate but you need to treat your skin well in anycase). The basic gesture for every men is to maintain one’s skin clean and healthy. And the solution is to exfoliate your skin twice a week. As we need to shave quite often, if your skin is recovered with loads of dead cells, shaving will not work well and you will end up cutting yourself. The first thing you need to do is to get rid of your dead cells on your face. For this there are several products in the market you can try. One good secret that I share is to exfoliate your skin while having your morning shower. This will save you time and will be more practical than doing it in front of your bathroom mirror. Here are two interesting products that I personnaly tested and regularly use.

Kiehl’s Facial Fuel Energizing Scrub

Kiehls-facial-fuel-energizing-scrub

The interest of this product is that it was developed expressly for men. It’s formula adapts perfectly to a man’s skin that is ofteb thicker than women’s skin. I like this product especially during warmer months. Menthol provides a cooling and refreshing sensation — it’s like an igloo for your face — while caffeine helps reduce puffiness and temporarily tightens skin. Apricot kernel oil prevents your face from drying out, while adding lightweight moisture. It is a good product, especially for men who will not necessary moisturize after exfoliating their skin. It cost around $20.00 which is a fair price for a good formula in a practical tube.

ClarinsMen Exfoliating Cleanser

clarinsmen-exfoliating-cleanser

This product is probably a great value for money as most of Clarins products. The formula is pretty well done: Deep-cleansing microbeads water-activate into a silky mousse that gently removes embedded sweat, oil and spent surface cells. With your skin pores open, ingrown hairs rise up. It is very easy to apply and it is not very aggressive, even for sensitive skin. The product costs around $25.00USD which is a pretty fair price. The tube packaging is very practical and efficient, while traveling and/or under the shower.
It is important to exfoliate your skin as it will help to clean the dirt built in your pores. Also, note that exfoliating your skin fights acne as well. Acne prone skin actually sheds more dead cells, which clogs the pores and cause both whitehead and blackhead acne. Scrubbing your skin will take care of these dead cells and prevent them from clogging your pores. Exfoliating your skin will for sure provide you a better preparation for shaving, especially if you need to shave several times a week.

2- Shave does not mean a nightmare

When you need to shave your facial hair regularly, you always wonder how to do it and also which products should you use. Here, the best advice is to try different things until you find the best product that fit you. I will not enter into the eternal debate “manual or electric shaving” as it is a matter of taste and sometimes family traditions. In any case if you think you need advice in how to shave your hair, you can always visit a professional barber in your city. He will for sure procure you great pieces of advice. In terms of shaving products, there are more sorts that you can imagine. Here are my champions in each category.

Shaving Soaps, tradition is always good

It all started with shaving soaps for gentlemen. Shaving soaps made their first appearance in the fourteenth century and were extremely popular until World War I, when shaving creams became widely available. Until today shaving soaps still remain in high esteem with shavers who savor the traditional aspect of the wet shaving experience. To properly use a shaving soap, you will need a shaving brush. The gesture is pretty obvious and it prepares well your skin to receive the blade. I would advice to purchase 2 shaving soaps: either the Penhaligon’s Blenheim bouquet and its wooden bowl or the Wilkinson Sword shaving soap (the blue bowl). They both provides a great formula and a perfect behaviour while shaving.

Penhaligons-shaving-soap

Shaving foam, the mainstream

In the shaving foam segment, there are hundreds of thousands products available. From the traditional mass-market expert brands to high-end luxury players, you can easily find the perfect product for your skin and your budget. Here my top 3:
Nivea Sensitive Shaving Foam
The extra gentle formula with Chamomile and Vitamin Care is specially developed for easily take care of your skin. The Ultra Guide Technology™ makes for an advanced shaving experience.
ClarinsMen Smooth Shave
When it comes to a man’s face, ClarinsMen knows the terrain. Smooth Shave’s nick-resistant foaming gel cushions skin for easy razor glide — so you can manage your most challenging angles with expert handling and control. Soothes, energizes and purifies with Bison Grass and Chinese Galanga.
Shiseido Shaving Cream
This rich shaving cream helps prevent razor burn and rinses off easily. Its super-smooth, creamy texture adheres closely to skin and allows razors to glide easily over the skin’s surface to help prevent redness and irritation.

Shiseido-Shaving-cream

Shaving oil, new and daring

Although most shaving products come in gel or cream form, shaving oils provide a different formulation that prevents the skin problems that can arise when shaving the skin. Applying a good shaving oil before your morning shave does a lot to lubricate the surface of your skin, raise your facial hairs and allow you to line up better for goatees and other facial hair styles. It doesn’t get absorbed immediately like an aftershave. That’s the point. It’s meant to stay on the outer. There is only one product I would recommend if you wish to try this specific formula: the ClarinsMen Shave easy oil. ClarinsMen’s comforting shaving oil — with essential oils of Rosemary, Eucalyptus and Mint — softens stubble to banish razor burn. You can actually use it alone or as a pre-shaving product.

clarinsmen-shave-ease-oil

3- Moisturizing is the secret of eternal youth

After taking care of two main challenges for men, which are cleansing and shaving, the next frontier is definitely moisturizing. To the sentence: “real men do not apply cream”… well, let’s talk about it in a decade. The skin suffers from many external factors that all contribute to the skin aging:

  • Extreme weather conditions
  • Pollution
  • Stress
  • Sun over-exposure
  • Lack of sleep
  • Intense shaving

All these elements and much more can contribute to damage your skin. That’s why you need to take care of the mointurizing levels of your skin surface part. Obviously you need to find the perfect match in terms of product. There are several points to help you out:

  • Your age
  • Type of skin (oily, dry…)
  • Preferred formula (cream, lotion…)
  • Budget

Generally the choice of the perfect moisturizing product is very personal. You can either steal your girlfriend/wife cream without being caught, or you can try one of the following products.

Lab Series Age Rescue, efficiency proved

LAB SERIES unleashes the power of ginseng to help save skin from the visible effects of aging, stress and fatigue. AGE RESCUE+ gives skin the extra shot it needs to look younger, well rested and in peak condition. Anti-age treatment helps fight the look of wrinkles and fatigue

Sisley Sisleÿum for men, Global care

sisleyum-for-men-peaux-seches

Sisley always produces amazing products that provides best in class formulas and a high value-for-money. With the launch of Sisleÿum, Sisley strategically positioned the brand in the highly segmented men skincare market. Sisleÿum formula is a cream (there is also a Gel version) with an interesting Plant natural complex blended with key minerals. The formula, packaging and usage have been thought-through in order to adapt to a every day routine and be the perfect companion for men.

4- Your nails are the mirror of your soul

I will not say too many things about nails. There is one important thing any man needs to do: to cut short his nails, stop eating them and making sure you care for your hands. There are no worse visit card for a gentleman than ugly nails. Women will always look to a man’s hands before other things. So a simple advice, keep your nails short and the skin of your hands healthy. you can use a hand cream that you can easily find.

5- The perfect fragrance for men

Most of men do not know exactly what is the correct name of their fragrance. They choose a fragrance to wear and sometimes someone else have chosen the fragrance they wear. Nevertheless, there is an aim to “smell good” and men know that fragrances can be part of their seductive power. So yes it is important. So how to choose the right fragrance for you? Not a simple task. Some men will prefer light fragrances like Eau de Cologne. It is fresh, not much intrusive and represent a good extension of their hygiene routine. Smell fresh equals smell clean. Fragrances like Ck One, Mugler Cologne, Eau Sauvage, Acqua di Gio or Cool Water by Davidoff represent a set of choices you might wish to explore if you like sparkling and bright fragrances.

acqua-di-gio
In case you wish to step up a bit, masculiemne perfumery has scented bombs that will definitely boost your charisma (in a certain way). Fragrances like Le Male by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Azzaro for men, A*Men by Mugler or even One Million by Paco Rabanne will make a blast no matter where you go. Obviously they are very distinctive fragrances and you will leave an invisible yet present mark everywhere you go. Last but not least, you might be looking for something more unique, more confidential and that might not be a perfumery mainstream. For that you can find hundreds of alternative brands, mostly independent, that will offer unique and exquisit fragrances. These niche brands will work their product portfolio aways from the perfumery “block-busters” and if you fall in love with one of these scents you might not be able to find something similar elsewhere. Interesting brands to discover are Serge Lutens, Penhaligon’s, Creed, Joe Malone, Frederic Malle or even Maison Francis Kurkdjian.

Amen-Thierry-Mugler
A*Men by Thierry Mugler
Frederic-Malle-fragrances
Editions Frederic Malle
creed-fragrances
Creed Fragrances

By taking care of yourself, you show you are a caring person. Also do not forget that we live a longtime now, so you might want to keep up the good looking for an extra while. With all the beauty tips above you have a great beauty programme to create and please yourself with self-indulgent great moments.

Jose Amorim

Info sourced at the brands websites, Mens’Health, GQ UK, Elle.com and more. All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. Images are for illustration purposes only.