Having a daily men’s skin care routine that you can actually follow might seem impossible. But understanding the basics of what your skin needs to be healthy can help when creating an easy-to-follow regimen that you can integrate into your daily routine.
While a lot of skin care products are marketed towards women, men might find themselves unsure of what products they actually need. Men and women have different skin concerns, and there’s a growing market for men’s skin care that’s making it possible for men to maintain healthy skin as they age.
So how do you build a simple and easy men’s skin care routine?
Pre-Routine: Identify What Type Of Skin You Have
Instead of buying the first line of products you see, you have to first understand what your skin needs. You skin type is how your skin feels normally and usually falls into one or a combination of the following categories:
- Oily: Your skin has a natural shine to it and oily residue throughout the day, with or without exposure to heat. You may also have certain spots of acne throughout your face.
- Dry: Your skin feels dry or flakey, and might be more sensitive. You may be prone to redness and inflammation.
- Aging: Your skin is showing signs of aging, such as wrinkles, sun damage, and age spots.
- Combination: You might have both oily and dry skin on your face. Known as “the T-Zone,” the forehead, nose, mouth, and chin areas may be oily, while the rest of your face is dry.
Once you’ve identified what kind of skin you have, you can tailor the products you search for so that it fits the needs of your skin. Many men’s skin care brands such as those from letsdisco.co offer science-backed skin care formula with simple products that you can integrate into your day-to-day so you can spend less time worrying about complicated grooming routines.
Creating The Best Men’s Skin Care Routine
Step 1: Cleanse Your Skin
Your skin is a barrier that blocks out the harsh elements of the environment, thus taking the brunt of all the dirt, grime, and daily stress you experience. Sweat and oil naturally produced by your body, as well as bacteria, can linger in your skin’s pores and lead to acne. That’s why cleansing your face with a formula based on your skin type during mornings and evenings is an important first step in your routine.
Splash your face with warm water and apply your cleanser, rubbing and massaging in small circles throughout your face. Take care to avoid getting cleanser in your eyes and rubbing your skin too vigorously. Rinse your face and dry with a face towel.
Step 2: Scrub And Exfoliate
After cleansing your skin, you also need to remove layers of dead skin and build up that tend to remain on the surface. However, you only want to exfoliate 1-3 times a week, as over-exfoliating can irritate skin if done too frequently. When considering which face scrub to use and how often, it’s again important to consider which skin type you have. For instance, if you have dry skin, you may want to choose a face scrub that’s a little gentler, and one that you only use once or twice a week. Men with oily skin might want to exfoliate more often as dead skin cells can also contribute to clogged pores and acne.
Using a face scrub is a lot like using a face wash—splash your face with warm water before rubbing the scrub in throughout your face in small circles. You don’t have to rub too vigorously, as face scrubs tend to have tiny particles that will easily slough off the dead skin as you go. Rinse and pat to dry.
Step 3: Moisturize
Now that you’ve cleansed and scrubbed your squeaky-clean face, it’s time to moisturize. Applying a moisturizer every day is essential to help hydrate and nourish your skin. You should also choose a moisturizer that best fits your skin type. Dryer skin will need moisturizers that have extra ingredients to help with hydration, such as hyaluronic acid or aloe vera. Oily skin may need moisturizers that are more gel-based so they feel light but still provide ample hydration.
Once you’ve chosen your moisturizer, apply liberally on your face morning and night, after cleansing and exfoliating. Note that although you won’t exfoliate every day, you definitely should be cleansing and moisturizing twice a day.
Step 4: Protect Your Skin
The final step in your skin care routine is protecting your skin with sunscreen. There are a lot of different skincare for men products that help with various skin conditions like acne, wrinkles, discoloration, and more. But the most important skin concern that affects everyone is sun damage, which may also lead to skin cancer.
According to the World Cancer Research Fund, men in Australia had the highest rates of melanoma (a common skin cancer) in the world in 2018. Applying sunscreen daily helps your skin combat the harmful effects of ultraviolet rays from the sun, which can contribute to wrinkles, age spots, and other signs of aging, in addition to skin cancer. Luckily, some moisturizers have SPF already included in their ingredients, so you have two steps combined into one. Reach for a moisturizer that’s at least SPF 15 to get the best chance of protection.
Conclusion
Creating a men’s skin care routine doesn’t have to be complicated. The four simple steps you need to remember are: cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize, and protect. Following these steps every day will help protect your skin and keep it healthy for years to come.