Table of contents
Contrary to popular belief, your skin’s aged appearance is only 20% due to hereditary factors. That means-yep, you guessed it-you actually have control over the other 80%.
Many men don’t think twice about their skin. That is, until, they find years of bad habits catching up with them. At that point, you’re working against the clock trying to undo sun damage, poor hydration and lack of TLC.
The good news? There are several very simple habits and non-surgical anti-aging procedures you can adopt to whip your skin into shape before it’s too late. But consistency and compliance matter.
Before you go out and buy a bunch of fancy products with ingredient names you can’t pronounce, check out these tips for the easiest and most sure-fire ways to bring your skin back online.
Photo : Bastien Treiber
1. Routine Matters, first Skincare Tips for Men !
There’s a reason why step-focused skincare regimens are all the rage right now. They work. You don’t need to go and buy the fanciest, most expensive ones available, either. What you do need to do is to upgrade from your daily shower being the only attention your face receives.
Most skincare is targeted towards your skin type. Once you’ve determined whether you trend oily or dry, are prone to acne breakouts, and/or sensitivity to harsher products, you can select products that will work with your skin type.
Don’t overcomplicate it; a solid face wash, followed by SPF in the morning like the product Particle Face Cream (sun damage being a major contributor to the aging process), and an overnight cream for evening will do wonders for your product, deprived skin. As you become accustomed to the new habit you’re forming, you can experiment with adding in adjunct products later on.
2. Bring Back the Moisture
Dehydrated skin appears older, plain and simple. For this reason, simply moisturizing your skin on a daily basis with quality ingredients can go a long way. Especially now that you’re taking the time to properly wash your face. For daytime use, chose a moisturizer with SPF.
Working sun protection into your daily routine ensures that you will comply every day-rain or shine, winter or summer. It’s often the small exposures to the sun that add up to stubborn wrinkles and dullness, rather than that epic sunburn you got last summer.
At night, you’ll want to apply a solid overnight moisturizer. Again, depending on your skin type, these creams can work double-duty by delivering hydration to parched skin and working on a skin concern-like acne- too. For example, you can use the french brand product Clinique Turnaround Overnight Revitalizing Moisturizer.
3. Ingredients List for Skincare Tips for Men
Although there’s much to be said on this subject, the best anti-aging ingredients can generally be narrowed down into three top contenders: retinol, hyaluronic acid, and vitamin C.
After the age of 30 our skin begins to slow it’s production of collagen-basically the scaffolding in your skin that hold its shape. Then gravity and expression lines take over, giving you an aged appearance. Sun exposure accelerates this.
Retinol works to stimulate collagen, as well as increase your skin cell turnover. When combined with vitamin C, it does this even more efficiently. Plus the Vitamin C will do wonders to brighten up dull skin.
Lastly, hyaluronic acid is a super-moisturizer. Capable of drawing water from both the air and your skin’s deeper layers, it provides softening to fine lines and over time, works to semi-permanently correct moisture imbalances, too. These ingredients are best applied at night, and can often be found in the same product.
4. Exfoliate
Okay, we know this word conjures up images of spa sessions and cucumber-laden eyes. But what it really comes down to is making your skin more receptive to those fancy skincare products you’re now consistently using.
Think of it this way-if you were to fertilize your front lawn, you’d first rake up any leaves and debris, right? Otherwise, whatever you’re applying will just sit on that top layer, never reaching the grass below. Exfoliation follows the sample principle.
Elect to go with one that has ingredients ending in “acid,” like glycolic acid, for example. Having a bit of grit in the product is key too. You’ll save money in the long run by exfoliating, because after clearing away rough and dead skin, you’ll need less of your other products to achieve their same effect.
5. Maintain healthy habits
So, this should come as no surprise, but maintaining healthy lifestyle habits is so often overlooked that it bears mentioning. Plus, it just makes sense…why go to all the trouble of the above steps to improve your outer self if you’re undoing it on a daily basis from within? Your skin is your body’s largest organ, so treat it as such.
Need more convincing? Lack of sleep is the fastest way to look haggard in the morning, eating junk and avoiding water will lead to acne and/or dry and dull skin, and skipping daily sunscreen will age you faster than the other two combined.
Like the rest of your body, prevention is key to keeping your skin in tip-top shape for as long as possible. Now you know all my Skincare Tips for Men, you don’t have any excuse to not look better !
