Men! Hear us out! We know your time is precious, and you prefer to avoid fuss around skincare routines. It’s also never too late to start a skincare routine, build it up from there and keep it consistent. Treat it like a daily exercise for your skin. While we know eating healthy, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, and getting plenty of sleep is essential, you can only get away from owning good skin with a proper daily skincare routine.
We would recommend sticking to a three-step process. The baseline regimen is to cleanse, exfoliate and moisturise, but not all three at once. We recommend cleansing your face twice daily – wash first thing in the morning to wash away any product applied the night prior and remove any sweat and bacteria accumulated during your sleep. Then, cleanse your face in the evening to kickstart your shuteye regimen.
Next, exfoliate twice a week, as this will remove dead skin cells and allow you to benefit from a brighter, smoother, and softer complexion while combating breakouts. Get a scrub or chemical exfoliant, but the latter is better when dealing with acne, removing dead skin cells and sebum trapped inside the pores. Get a product with salicylic acid. More exfoliation is never good, as your skin cells must regenerate faster to keep up with regular sloughing. A pro tip: it’s best to exfoliate in the evening (i.e. always after cleansing and before moisturising), as this will allow your skin to rest and recover. If you don’t, you might face the day with a reddened face.
Lastly, moisturise! Keep to a morning and night regimen. Get a moisturiser with SPF ingredients for your daytime activities where skin-ageing UV rays abound in our tropical climate. Moisturising in our humid environment is essential because hydrating your face preserves your skin’s natural moisture levels. We recommend one more moisturising session during the evening before bedtime.
An intermediate regimen means upping your skincare ante to progress from a baseline skin regimen to a more proactive level. Next, you can look at hydrating serums, eye creams, face masks, toners, and spot treatments. An excellent hydrating serum is skin-plumping hyaluronic acid, which actively pulls in moisture from deep within to nourish the skin. Eye creams target the delicate, thin skin around your eye area. You’ll have crow’s feet and dark circles once the thin skin loses its firmness and thickness. A good eye cream can fortify the skin and keep things bright, solid, and tight.
Next up, face masks. From “deep cleansing” to “deep nourishing”, there are plenty to choose from. Charcoal and clay can suck out excess sebum and grime from deep within. Hydrating masks can revive tired, dull or dry complexions. Use them once weekly at the most.
Spot treatments are essential for individuals prone to hyperpigmentation, acne, or both. Apply during the first signs of breakout. Toners benefit guys with oily skin and keep their skincare regimen simple. Toners aid in balancing your skin’s pH levels so your skin never gets overly dry or irritated. It keeps your skin’s natural sebum production in check, too. Apply toners after cleansing and exfoliation, then apply your serum or moisturiser afterwards.
The advanced level for men’s skincare regimen is “ingredient-focused” and includes retinol, vitamin C, niacinamide, alpha hydroxy acids, ceramides, and collagen. When you want to get more serious, it’s always advisable to consult a skincare specialist or any of our amberbeila therapists to step into the next phase of your skincare regimen.