subject: Skin Care For Men [print this page] It is obvious that male acceptance of the requirement to care for one's skin is becoming more widespread. A quick glance in the mirror soon shows the shocking truth that men also come covered in a flexible and tight layer of skin, and it makes perfect sense that it might be a good idea to look after it. Quite why the male half of humanity came to the decision that cleansing and moisturising the skin was not required is difficult to fathom. But in some ways it is even more important that men have some kind of skin care routine because they do something that women don't: they shave.
Beards are not overly popular with men in western communities and will shave daily, or sometimes at the least every few days (because stubble is a trendy look now). But how does skin cope with this treatment? Whatever the razor manufacturers tell you, it scratches, tugs, cuts and dries the skin, and many of the effects are too small to see but have a cumulative effect. Of course, men were meant to have beards it is the shaven face which is the unnatural state of affairs so shaving is unnatural.
But even if the act of shaving could be made perfectly free of side effects, men would still be left with exactly the same problems as women again skin, dry skin, oilyness, and dead skin cells covering the surface. So what can be done about it?
We shouldn't be too surprised to find out that the cures are suited to both men and women equally. Men need to man up and learn to moisturise, look after their skin hotspots and exfoliate if they want to keep their young appearance as they grow older. If anything, the beardless state makes it more important as men's skin is there for all to see.
The cosmetics companies have at last started to take on men's reluctance to be kind to their skin, and products are emerging aimed squarely at men's specific needs. Take Guinot, as a guideline, with their facial cleansing foam, which is designed for men and is supposed to be put on immediately before shaving to prepare it for the onslaught of blades. Aftershave is usually worn for its aromatic effect (and is many men's sole use of cosmetics if you ignore deodorant), but using before shaving begins? Perhaps if men have the bottle to hand and understand the original purpose of it, they might be swayed. In this situation it is a general deep cleanser that has a soothing effect on the skin, and what more could the modern man want than that combination?
So we have a perfect example of a cosmetics firm becoming more aware that the industry as a whole has been pretty much ignoring half the population for most of its history, and finding success with a relevant product. In most cases the products designed for men are very similar to the designs made for women, the primary change being perhaps the the fragrance and the packaging. But if it reallt is that easy to get into men's cosmetics then we can expect many more products to be along soon.
