Manly Moisturizing: Time to Start?

As a man, should you moisturize your face? A better question is, why wouldn’t you?

It’s no longer unmanly for a guy to break out a bottle of face moisturizer and slap it on after a shower, the gym, or when he wakes up. In fact, the men’s skin care and grooming market is one of the fastest growing segments of the beauty market, often called the “Men’s Grooming Boom.”

Men no longer have to resort to secretly using their wives’ or girlfriends’ face lotions, and can enjoy the benefits of a hydrated and better looking face.

But for some reason, many men still don’t take care of their faces. And this could be costing them big down the road.

Many guys are open to the idea of facial moisturizer, but just haven’t thought about what benefit it might bring them or which products to use.

Like it or not, your facial attractiveness plays a big part in not only how other people react to you (especially the opposite sex), but also how much money you make.

Attractive people have been found to make nearly 10% more than their plain counterparts, according to a study done by Yale University. This means by not taking care of your face on a basic level, you could be missing out on promotions and raises.

Men and Aging

Men usually start noticing lines, wrinkles, and crow’s feet at two different periods in their lives:

Late 20’s – early 30’s: You’re finally starting to make it in the world, but when you look in the mirror, the years of drinking with your buddies and being outside all day long without sunscreen are starting to show on your face.

Late 40’s – early 50’s: You’ve finally made it. A good career, a great life, but every morning in the mirror you see a man that looks 10 years older than you feel. On top of that, you’ve got younger guys eyeing your spot at work. You want to make sure you still look young and energized enough to stick it out in the tough business world.

As you get older, fine lines, wrinkles, and general signs of aging appear because your cells produce less collagen (the structural protein of the skin), causing your skin to appear thinner and looser. The less collagen your skin has, the less water it can retain, causing structural folds (wrinkles/lines) to form.

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid this. In fact, smoking, not getting enough sleep, not keeping up with basic facial moisturizing/grooming, or being in the sun without sunscreen can accelerate the aging process.

The Good News

The great thing about being a guy (well, one of the many) is that your skin is naturally 25% thicker than a woman’s. This means your underlying skin structure is better, meaning you’ll age better and can more easily turn back the years of neglect.

This means that using some type of face moisturizer, even on a basic daily level, will help you hydrate your face, preserving and enhancing your rugged good looks.

Should you go all out and use multiple toners, masks, serums, and all the other cosmetic wizardry women use? Of course not. The vast majority of that stuff is complete overkill. Most guys can reap benefits from following a basic, yet effective face routine:

Cleaning dead cells from your skin’s surface (also called exfoliating) by using men’s face wash or face scrub. I suggest using face wash daily, while only using a face scrub 1-2x a week as it can dry out/irritate your face if used more often.
Hydrating/moisturizing your skin 1-2 times daily (feeding your skin the essential vitamins, minerals, proteins, fatty acids, etc. it needs to function at its peak). This can be accomplished using a face moisturizer for men.

With both of these products, make sure they’re filled with natural and organic ingredients as opposed to synthetic ingredients, which may contain toxins and will only irritate your face/

Sorry guys, this means having to pay a little more—you usually can’t find a good product at a big box store.

Wrapping it Up

There is always more you can do. But by utilizing this easy, yet effective skin care regimen, you’ll see skin that is free of blocked pores, oily shine, and irritation. You should also see benefits of slowing down the signs of aging, and possibly slightly reversing them.

So go forth, be a man, and moisturize!