Still, there are plenty of prejudices when it comes to skincare for men. We say: taking care of yourself as a man isn’t vain—it’s a sign of self-respect. Especially today, when musicians like Harry Styles deliberately experiment with gender boundaries and make-up, no man needs to feel ashamed of investing in his very own glow-up. Skincare for men is one of the beauty trends of 2022.
But how should men’s skin ideally be cared for? In this article, we’ve collected simple yet effective tips to make your skin truly glow.
#1: Cleanse Your Face Before Going to Bed
When it gets late in the evening or our heads are full of thoughts, it often happens that we forget to prepare our skin for bedtime. This includes, above all: cleansing the face. So basic, so effective.
If you don’t cleanse your face, dirt can settle in. This in turn leads to clogged pores, which cause breakouts of all kinds. Not washing at night is even one of the main causes of acne. That’s exactly why cleansing your face of the grime of city life is now a first important step toward your glow-up.
It’s also important that you know your skin type. Instead of only using products specifically developed for men, you should focus more on effectiveness than on masculine packaging when choosing. Many men immediately think of products with strong, “masculine” formulas—but wait! Harsh products can cause an imbalance in your skin’s oil balance.
To cleanse your face, it’s better to use natural-based soaps and products with organic ingredients like aloe vera, honey, avocado, or goat’s milk soap.
#2: Skincare for Men in the Morning
Cleanse your face again right after getting up, even though you already did your skincare routine in the evening? We say: yes! The fact is that men’s skin produces up to four times more sebum than women’s skin—and not just during the day, but also at night while you sleep.
Of course, an average amount of sebum is healthy, but an excess can cause environmental dirt to settle directly on your face.
That’s why washing your face in the morning, together with evening facial cleansing, is essential for a natural glow-up. When washing, it’s best to use gentle soaps and facial cleansers that preserve your skin’s pH balance.
#3: Nice Eyebrows Make the Difference
Body hair is masculine—yes. But when it comes to eyebrows, men may and should draw a line. Unibrows and untamed overgrowth above the eyes have long been out. Men, too, are allowed to shape their brows with tweezers, scissors, and brow combs before heading to important business events and stylish dates.
Our Sanft & Schön tip: At Sanft & Schön, we advise our clients to have their eyebrows plucked about a day before an important event to avoid unnecessary redness. On the day of the event itself, a brow gel will do the trick to bring them into a nice, defined shape. By the way, eyebrow waxing is the most effective method for removing pesky hairs.
- Alona Siniehina - Shutterstock.com*
#4: Exfoliating as Skincare for Men
An exfoliant helps you specifically remove deep-seated dirt and bacteria that have settled into your pores. With the help of brushes or a soft cloth, you can gently rub away buildup or dead skin flakes. You’re especially gentle when you use circular motions, which also improves blood circulation in your face.
With regular exfoliation—as peeling is called in professional terms—your skin becomes more even, smoother, softer, and clearer. Regular exfoliation can also help with shrinking large pores. Do you struggle with flaky skin? If dead skin flakes are hard to shed on their own, exfoliating is the right path to a nicer complexion.
It’s important to note that you shouldn’t exfoliate more than three times a week, as this can otherwise damage your skin.
#5: Use a Primer
They’re considered absolute beauty wonder products, once used only by top makeup artists, before making their way into perfumeries and drugstores in recent years. No wonder: primers don’t just make the skin of stars silky, smooth, and fresh.
Wondering what exactly a primer is? Essentially, a primer is a make-up base that retouches skin imperfections, fills in fine lines, and minimizes pores. Yes, in theory it also makes make-up last longer—but you don’t even need to go that far. Primers are usually colorless; their light texture with mineral powder and silicones settles onto your skin like an invisible layer, giving you the ability to cover up small flaws from now on.
Is there anything else you should know? Maybe that primers don’t absorb into the skin. So they’re not classic skincare products, but rather form a fine film on your skin on contact. Some primers also reduce redness.
#6: Skincare for Men Provides Hydration
Most men avoid moisturizers because they think it will make their skin oilier. Unfortunately, this misconception persists stubbornly. There’s hardly anything more important for your skin than proper hydration.
Because if your skin lacks moisture and lipids, the skin’s natural protective barrier is weakened. The result? Redness, flaking, itching, or a tight feeling.
Moisturizer, in turn, strengthens the skin’s protective barrier and keeps it balanced in the long run. It’s essentially based on a mixture of water and oil, with the ratio of these two components and the addition of other ingredients varying by product.
If you don’t suffer from dry skin, you can opt for a light, oil-free moisturizer that absorbs quickly.
- Fizkes - Shutterstock.com*
#7: Sunscreen Is the Most Important Skincare for Men
Too white, too much hassle, too sticky: there are many supposedly good reasons against using sunscreen. But there’s one reason that’s absolutely in favor of it: its protection against premature skin aging and skin cancer.
Because regardless of whether it’s rainy, cloudy, or sunny outside, and regardless of whether you mostly stay indoors—UV rays have a harmful effect on your skin 365 days a year. By using a daily moisturizer with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30, which blocks 97 percent of the sun’s UVB rays, you protect your skin—and keep it looking younger in the long run. As a nice side effect, you also help prevent conditions like eczema and melanoma.
Here’s how to regenerate stressed summer skin.
#8: Skincare for Men: Stay Hydrated, OK?
Drinking plenty of water is perhaps the most natural of all skincare measures.
The best part is that you’re not only doing your skin a favor, but also helping your body become healthier overall. Water ensures that your metabolic processes are optimally activated. This means that more nutrients can be transported into your cells, giving you more energy and improved performance as a result. So you’re killing two birds with one stone.
Here’s how: it’s best to drink eight to ten glasses or three liters of water a day to be on the safe side.
#9: Skincare for Men Means Getting Enough Sleep
Beauty sleep as a concept isn’t exclusively reserved for princesses. In fact, it’s proven to be recommended for all genders.
Ideally, you should get eight hours of undisturbed sleep so your skin—and your body—can recover. Otherwise, lack of sleep leads to puffy eyes and dark circles. Worse still: insomnia can increase your skin’s oil production and thereby cause acne.
So if you want to wake up with good skin going forward, you should definitely work on your sleep routines.
New Africa - Shutterstock.com
#10: Learn What Suits You
A hairstyle that’s matched to your face shape can make a big difference in how you’re perceived. A square face, for example, suits most short to medium-length haircuts and can be combined with a variety of beard styles.
It’s best to talk to your barber about how to downplay a high forehead, a soft jawline, or a small chin. Whatever combination of hairstyle and beard style you ultimately choose: the most important thing is that you take care of your hair, change your razor blade, invest in high-quality shaving foam, and pay attention to your overall appearance.
Conclusion: Skincare for Men Is a Long-Term Investment
Investing in skincare and thinking about the right consistency of moisturizer might seem strange to you at first—but trust us: after your glow-up, you’ll soon shake your head thinking back to the days when you couldn’t even manage to take five minutes for yourself.
Because at its core, skincare for men is exactly that: self-care, time for yourself, respect for your own body, which is reflected in a more vital, firmer, and simply more handsome appearance.
We at Sanft & Schön are happy to advise you on your individual glow-up and introduce you to skincare for men.
Among other things, we offer hair removal methods such as waxing or laser hair removal as well as all kinds of facial treatments such as microneedling, aquafacial, and microdermabrasion and acne treatments in Berlin.