A Guide to Basic Men’s Skin Care Routines

Specialized Recommendations Designed for Men

Strength, resilience, power – these are words that many men would like to be able to associate with themselves and their self-image.

Do you know what isn’t resilient? Dry, troublesome skin that flakes, cracks, or leads to premature wrinkles. In many cases, men may not be as vocal about it as women, but we worry about looking older too.

Thankfully, as modern mentalities evolve and change, more men are realizing that there’s nothing ‘girly’ about taking care of your skin.

In fact, not only will it help keep your skin healthier, it will help you leave the house every morning looking good and feeling ready to take on the world.

But a basic men’s skincare routine could look a lot different than elaborate Asian skincare routines, or complex, problem-focused dermatologist-recommended routines.

With that in mind, we’ve got a few suggestions that you should keep in mind as you start your own basic men’s skincare routine. These will help set you up for success, particularly if you’re a man who’s never considered skin care regimens in the past.

However, before we get to our tips, let’s talk a bit about what makes a basic men’s skincare routine unique, its benefits, and some products you should consider trying.

What is a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine?

A basic men’s skincare routine, at its core, it’s a lot like many of the other best skin care routines. The only major difference is that products tend to focus on products geared towards, well, men.

This often involves certain types of fragrances or ingredients meant to appeal to the male mentality – wood scents, more natural ingredients, and treatments specific to facial hair.

Apart from those potential qualifiers, there really aren’t any hard rules about the specifications required for a skin care regimen to apply to men in particular.

If you’re a man that’s found products that you enjoy using, and which work to benefit the health of your skin, then you’re already on the right track.

What are the Benefits of a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine?

As the largest organ in your body, your skin is essential to take care of. As we age, our skin can actually help tell us about other underlying issues that our bodies might be experiencing, which we haven’t yet realized.

Things like liver disease, bleeding disorders, anemia, and others are commonly identified through changes in our skin.

Taking care of our skin helps address issues before they happen, and it makes it a lot easier for us to notice when something is wrong.

There are other huge benefits to starting a basic men’s skincare routine, such as better body temperature regulation, faster healing from superficial wounds, and of course, fewer major mental health triggers like acne breakouts, wrinkles, and dark spots.

When we take care of our skin, it takes care of us. We put a lot of stock in our self-image, and when we know that our skin looks healthy, vibrant, and lively, it makes us feel better about how we look. In turn, this helps improve confidence and reduce social anxieties.

What are the Best Products to Use for a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine?

Before you start your routine, you’ll need to find some products that ‘speak’ to you and your needs. This could involve spending some time learning about the different types of skin so that you can find products that are specific to your individual needs.

If you have really oily skin, you won’t want to find products that treat dry skin, as they could exacerbate existing issues. Vice versa could be said for those with dry skin.

For those that don’t have any major issues that need to be addressed right away, we’d suggest checking out this amazing men’s skincare system from Tiege Hanley.

Including a face wash, a face scrub, as well as two moisturizers, this is the perfect start to your basic men’s skincare routine.

Another factor that sets a basic men’s skincare routine apart from any other is that many men grow facial hair, which requires additional treatments above skin-focused products.

For those with luscious mustaches or beards, we’d suggest checking out this beard grooming kit, which provides not only the tools you need to keep your facial hair looking slick, but it offers special beard oils and conditioners that you can use to keep your beard silky soft.

How to Plan for a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine

A big part of any basic men’s skincare routine is taking the time to properly research your needs, and then find the right kinds of products to get started.

It’s essential to make sure you’re buying products suited to your skin type, and if you have any major issues that need to be addressed, you may want to talk to your doctor before you start making product choices.

They may have suggestions for specific product lines that will effectively treat your skin issues so that you can focus the rest of your routine on maintaining general skin health.

Once you have all of those things, be sure to organize your mornings in a way that leaves you enough time for your basic men’s skincare routine.

Without enough time to actually perform your routine properly in the mornings, there’s no way you’ll be able to stay consistent with it, which means you’ll have difficulty getting the results you need.

How to Stay Consistent with a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine

We may not like to admit it, but men and women alike have a difficult time setting aside enough time in the mornings for self-care and healthy habits.

Many of us (not all), jump out of bed every morning after hitting the snooze button a few times, only to find ourselves scrambling to get ready for the day. Add other responsibilities like pets or children into the mix, and it gets even more complicated.

It doesn’t have to be that way, though. There are things that we can do to improve our health in the mornings, without having to get up at the crack of dawn.

Setting alarms is one tactic that can help many people stay on task once they’re out of bed, especially if you’re someone who has a hard time waking up until you’ve had your coffee.

This involves more than just an alarm to wake you up. It means setting alarms throughout the morning to remind you when you should be switching from one task to another.

This will prevent you from taking too much time on some steps, and then rushing through others. With an evenly arranged routine, you’ll achieve the most consistent long-term results.

7 Steps to a Basic Men’s Skin Care Routine:

1.) Start by Giving Your Skin a Wash

You shouldn’t start applying any kind of skin care products until you’ve ensured that all the sweat, oil, and dirt that’s still on your skin from the night before (and overnight – let’s be fair, many of us sweat in our sleep).

Part of this step involves also knowing what kind of skin type you’ve got. With oily skin, you’ll want oil-based cleansers. Dry skin may want water-based cleansers, which are gentler and more hydrating.

Once your skin is thoroughly cleaned, you’ll be ready to start the rest of your routine.

Think of it like an artist starting a new painting. You wouldn’t start a new painting on a dirty canvas, would you?

2.) Exfoliate Your Skin

We all shed skin daily, and men are no exception to this, so if you’re trying to establish a strong basic men’s skincare routine, be sure to include exfoliating before you jump into the rest of your routine.

Exfoliating before you start your shaving in the morning will actually give you the best, smoothest shave possible, and you’ll have less of a chance of developing irritation or ingrown hairs afterward.

Be sure to exfoliate using gentle, circular motions on your skin, and you’ll start to notice an immediate difference.

3.) Time to Shave

Not all men shave every morning, but many of us do. If you’re going to shave in the morning, immediately after exfoliating is the right time to do it.

Be sure to find shaving creams/gels that are designed to encourage hydrating and are gentle on your skin. Don’t buy the cheap stuff.

It’s not just the quality and sharpness of your razor that impacts how your skin feels after you finish shaving, both the quality of your skin before you start and the shaving product you choose will help determine the result.

Good razors + high-quality shaving gel + exfoliation = maximum results.

If you’re not shaving, but trimming instead, this would be a great place to break out the beard trimming kit we suggested earlier.

4.) Choose Good Post-Shave Products

Many men fall back on the old habits of using aftershave liquid once they’ve finished shaving, but the truth of the matter is that many of these products are actually alcohol-based, which isn’t good for your skin.

Alcohol can leave your skin dry, taking away from some of the hydration added by high-quality shaving gels. The last thing you want is to start drying out your skin in the middle of your routine.