Men’s skincare isn’t particularly different to women, however they look for and find solutions in different ways.
A woman has dry skin, she talks to her friends, she ways up all the varied solutions she’s been told and makes a decision – right or wrong. A man with dry skin, is not likely to talk to his mates about it, he might discuss it with his girl, he might google it or pinch some of the moisturiser sitting on his partners bedside table, but most likely he thinks it’s normal and continues (suffering) on his way. In this way Men’s skincare often lacks the depth of care it needs to stay youthful and healthy.
We’ve been celebrating men’s skincare this month and been receiving many questions from them, both on-line and in clinic; thought you’d like to hear some with our solutions.
Office Worker – Men’s skincare Q&A
Harry, 34, who works in an office, but loves his vegie garden and bush walking, has only used water to wash his face. He came to us as he didn’t like the way his face was ageing. We suggested a program consisting of a cleanser, a nourishing antioxidant serum, a Vitamin A serum and a physical sunblock; a nice and simple regime. He was quite sceptical about the need for a cleanser – until after the first time…..
“I washed my face with the cleanser, rinsed my face well, and used a white towel to dry. OMG the colour on the towel was amazing – and revolting!”
He has obviously done an about-turn on water alone for washing!
All our cleansers are based on lactic acid. It heals cell walls, helping to hydrate the skin by reducing water loss. It also gives a smooth, radiant finish to the skin as it reorganises the surface cells. Both these things mean it is easier for the skin to function properly and assists with the penetration of other serums.
He is thrilled with the results in 2 weeks.
Outdoorsy – Men’s skincare Q&A
Mark refuses to wear a sun block. He is 40, is sun damaged, as he has sailed most of his life and enjoyed the great outdoors to the fullest. His reasoning has been that the creams make his skin feel horrible and they run into your eyes and sting, especially with salt spray. Now that his Doctor tells him he must start to protect his skin, to avoid the inevitable skin cancers, he cannot find one that he likes, that doesn’t actually hurt his skin.
Poor Mark is so sun-damaged that the immunity of his skin is suffering. Before he can begin to “like” any UV protectant he needs to strengthen his skin and de-sensitise it. Luckily for him, his gorgeous wife suggested he talk to us.
Again, a nice simple regime.
Once a day, a gentle lactic acid based cleanser, an anti-inflammatory serum with Trioxolane (Osmosis MD Rescue serum) followed by a healing, hydrating spray (Infuse) and a hydrating moisturiser filled with fatty acids (Immerse). He needed to have UV protection so we gave him what his wife and daughters use – the Sunforgettable mineral SPF 30 powder. He can keep it in a pocket and during the day, (hiding behind his desk) he can top up his protection. It is waterproof for 80 minutes under running water and so it is great for all his outdoor pursuits, including the sailing!
“The brush is so easy to use, and easy to conceal. It’s a powder but doesn’t feel like anything on my skin and no one can see I’m wearing it. After the initial shock of seeing me with a powder brush, my mates were actually impressed – and wanted to use it too”!
Somehow I can’t see him every giving up the brush and returning to a cream sunblock!
He has also continued to use all the products and says his skin feels great and the regime is straight forward. He cleanses in the shower, only one pump, rinses off, dries his face, applies one pump of the Rescue serum, sprays his face with Clear and applies Immerse whilst is face is still wet. Easy! After breakfast and teeth cleaning he applies his Sunforgettable SPF and pops it in his pocket for use in the day.
He and his GP are happy with the results; early stages yet!
Youthful – Men’s skincare Q&A
Sarah’s son: Matt is 14 and hates the blackheads on his nose and chin. These worry him more than the occasional pimple he gets as he feels they make his face look dirty.
Sarah, thought a supermarket teen cleanser and toner would do the trick and they did for a while, however his skin became drier and drier which exacerbated the “dirty” look to his face and didn’t help the blackheads or pimples at all. The ingredients were too strong for his skin and the products contained some quite inflammatory nasty’s.
What he needed to do was keep his skin clean which included using a nasty’s free, milder cleanser twice daily, and timing the cleansing to be as soon as possible after his sporting activities.
We started him on a low dose Retinaldehyde (Vitamin A) serum specifically for acneic skins, but he was only to use this over the affected blackhead areas (Osmosis MD Clarify) and for all over his face we gave him a general antioxidant serum full of vitamin C and B and the hydrating, anti-inflammatory Sea-Buck thorn (Aspect Dr Redless.)
He needed to cut down his long hot showers as these were dehydrating his skin.
We also looked at his diet and discussed the influence of sugars, including in sports drinks and processed foods. We stressed the importance of drinking lots of water to flush out the toxins and help with his hydration. His poor mum was a little horrified when all the insidious sugars he ingested in a week were added up. She had no idea!
He also had to stop trying to squeeze out the blackheads!! As an aside, this is something we often find well meaning mothers do for their children – trying to help in this way just makes the problem worse. A safer, more healing method is to weekly enjoy drawing out the blackheads with the Aspect Exfoliating Clay mask; a much better idea!
His skin, in 4 weeks was remarkably different and he, and his mum were thrilled.
Acne – Men’s skincare Q&A
28 year old Richard and 30 year old Dave don’t know each-other, but have the same problem. Just a few pimples on varying areas of their face every now and then. They are frustrated and don’t understand why, at their age they should get pimples – STILL!!
Both are busy with all that life offers them: work, mates, keeping fit, an active social life and steady relationships. They both had what they call “pretty good skin” as teens and have never specifically cared for their skin. Their girlfriends have tried to get them to use their cleansers, and sometimes they admit to trying. They see no result after one or two goes so they stop.
Their skin has begun to age, the stress of a busy life, though good, takes its toll on the skin.
When we felt their skin and stretched it out we could feel and see all the congestion they had in the area. Although they only had occasional pimples, their skin felt bumpy and coarse. They needed to change a few things and it was likely that they would have a time when their skin purged – we expected their skin to be worse before it was better.
And that is what happened, however over 3 months of regular treatments (Lactobotanical and Dermafrac) their skin not only looked clearer and was pimple free it felt smoother and they were really happy. The regime we put both these boys on was the Osmosis MD Men’s skin kit with the addition of Clarify at night. They had to use a UV protectant every day and they liked the Protect from the kit which was an added advantage as it is so easy to use and feels like nothing on their skin. We liked its moisturising abilities as well for these skins.
We also discussed the usual lifestyle and dietary changes. Dave in particular changed his drinking habit from beer and cider to wine and decreased the volume overall of his alcohol.
Both increased their water intake as well as their green vegetables!!
It is interesting that none of these skin concerns are “male-only”. Girls and women suffer the same. We just approach the solution differently. Skin care to most men is a female domain, they are fairly sceptical of expected results, and yet when the logic and proven science is shown, we find that they embrace the care, treatments and products on offer. It is pleasing that we are seeing more and more men, both in our clinic and online asking questions and acting positively to solve their skin concerns. Men’s skincare routines really can make a different, both now and later in life.
Our real life “Macho Blokes” stories and photos will be in next week’s news – watch out for them too!
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