This is a guest post from Josh Meyer, co-founder of Brickell Men’s Products.

Every man needs a skin care routine – there’s no debate. Follow this simple, yet effective routine to keep your skin looking healthy and energized for decades to come.

Part 1: Cleanse

The base of a solid men’s skin care routine begins with clear skin. Clear skin is accomplished by using a men’s face wash upon waking up and at night before you go to sleep. Using in the morning will clear your skin and refresh your skin, making you look energized for the day, while using before bed will prevent oil and impurities from sitting in your pores while you sleep.

Make sure you learn your skin type before buying a face wash, as different face washes are built for different types of skin.

Face Wash as a basic skin care routine for men

Image Courtesy: flickr.com/gagilas

Before washing your face, open up the pores by rinsing your face with warm water. This will allow better penetration of the face wash into your pores to clean out oil and any bacteria. Gently rub the face wash into your skin for about 30 seconds using circular motions. Whatever you do, don’t pull down on the skin or rub vigorously – this only encourages stretching of the skin.

Once you’ve finished washing your face, rinse with cool water to have the pores close, preventing any new oil or impurities from entering. After you’ve pat your face dry, you’re done with this step. Your face should feel clean, but not too clean.

Drugstore brands have programmed you to think a tight, dry face equals a clean face. This is not true. In fact, excessively dry skin can cause breakouts, excess oil production, and dull, lifeless skin.

Part 2: Exfoliate

Exfoliate (scrub) your face three to four times a week. Exfoliation removes dead skin which can cause your face to look dull, as well as removing any deep down impurities within the pores. In a perfect world, you’ll exfoliate your skin before you shave. This will do the above mentioned, as well as loosen up facial hair, allowing the blade to cut the whiskers closer to the skin – resulting in a better shave.

If you have sensitive skin, we recommend only scrubbing one to two times a week as exfoliating can irritate sensitive skin.

Exfoliate your face after washing it by applying a small amount of men’s face scrub into your hands and working gently into your skin. Don’t rub the face scrub into your skin too hard; the skin on the face is extremely delicate. Focus on the areas of the face where scrub is needed most – the nose, neck, and forehead. If you’re scrubbing before a shave, make sure to give extra attention to the areas of your face you will be shaving.

Rinse the face with cool water after you’re finished exfoliating.

Part 3: Moisturizing

After cleaning and scrubbing your face, you need to moisturize the skin. A moisturizer will provide hydration to your skin cells, keeping the face looking firm and healthy.

Make sure to find a lightweight face moisturizer for men and apply all over your face, gently rubbing into the skin. If you have dry skin, you may need to reapply a one to two times a day, while guys with oily skin most likely only need to apply once a day. If you do have oily skin, remember that moisturizing is still an important step for you as well. Your skin, if excessively dried out, will actually start to produce excess oil in order to compensate for the lack of oil on the face. Keeping it hydrated is still important.

Part 4: Prevention

Preventing aging is essential in any man’s skin care routine and preventing aging starts with reducing your skin’s exposure to the skin. In general, you should reduce your exposure to the sun as much as possible. If it’s impossible to avoid the sun, then liberally apply SPF and reapply every 30 minutes to all areas of the skin that are exposed. Make sure to use at least SPF 30. Once out of the sun, we recommend showering as soon as possible since SPF consists of a lot of toxic chemicals and you don’t want them sitting your skin all day.

If you don’t think you could ever get skin care, we suggest you take a look at the facts.

In addition to reducing your skin’s exposure to the sun, you’ll want to use two key products to fight off the effects of aging:

1. A men’s eye cream

The area around the eyes is the first part of the face to show signs of aging, so making sure you’re using a men’s eye cream every day is paramount. Apply a thin layer each morning around the eye socket as a good eye cream will contain caffeine which helps alleviate dark circles and eye puffiness, while using at night will help restore hydration to tired skin around the eyes.

2. An anti-aging cream for men

Will an anti aging cream magically remove all your fine lines and wrinkles? No. It will however, help to decrease the prominence of these wrinkles and also feed the necessary nutrients into the skin that help keep the skin looking firm over time.

To use a men’s anti aging cream, apply a thin layer of the cream before you go to bed as it will help your body regenerate skin cells while you sleep. In addition, it will help your skin look full and hydrated upon waking up. Make sure to gently rub the cream into areas of the face that start to age first, including the forehead and around the eyes.

 

joshJosh Meyer is the co-founder of Brickell Men’s Products. They make high performing, natural skin care and grooming products for men. You can follow Brickell Men’s Products for regular updates on Instagram and Facebook.

 

Image Courtesy: flickr.com/light_seeker