John BenosSo you’re setting out on a new chapter in your life and want to know if there’s anything you can do to groom yourself better? Maybe you’ve just graduated college and are looking for that first step to a new career or have a date with that girl you’ve been chatting to for weeks now and really need to make a great impression.
Regardless of your reasons, every man needs to ensure his grooming game is strong as he enters adulthood. You need to keep in mind the essentials of grooming for men and avoid some of the most common mistakes guys make while maintaining their looks.
Here’s a list of the top ten common grooming mistakes most guys make and how you can avoid them.
1. Applying Too Much Perfume
I know it’s tempting to spray just one more time. We ‘ve all been there and we ‘ve all got those strange looks from strangers who turn their heads towards us, as if Pepé Le Pew was walking by. Moderation is always the key when it comes to personal grooming. Too much of a good thing is not always better. This is especially true for your favorite perfume.
As said, we’ve all been there. We’ve been told a particular fragrance smells amazing on us and we stick to that brand with loyalty throughout our life. Finding what suits you in terms of fragrances is a good thing but a lot of men tend to over do it. Applying too much cologne is an absolute turn off and could arguably be as bad as no cologne at all. You don’t need more than a couple of sprays on the pulse points of your body.
Next time you’re getting ready to go out, apply a diligent amount to your neck, wrists and behind the ears. This should be more than enough for the whole day -or night.
2. Not Using Moisturizer
I know that you are a manly man and you don’t want to wear anything besides you clothes. Think about your skin a bit.
Men tend to have fickle skin and a need to appear masculine by limiting as much product as possible. This habit of not maintaining your skin with the right amount of quality products could backfire in the long run as wrinkles and fine lines begin to appear on the skin as you age. Even tough looking skin will succumb to dryness and irritability after a hot water shower or a shave.
The best way to protect your skin from the elements that it comes into contact with daily is to use a simple and effective moisturizing lotion every day. This protects the skin, soothes it and replenishes water content.
3. Dirty Uncut Nails
Img: Ponsulak
Dirty, uneven, uncut nails could spoil everything for an otherwise well groomed man. Make an effort to cut your nails and file then properly at regular intervals depending on how fast your nails grow. Cut your nails short but not so short that your nail bed is seen as this could be extremely painful.
Let go of any preconceived notions you might have about manicures and pedicures being exclusively for girls. Every guy needs his nails properly clipped and filed by a professional at least once or twice a year. This will help avoid uneven growth of nails. Also, improve your diet so you can maintain healthier nails which don’t chip as easily.
4. Dry Shaving
Dry shaving is a trend which has grown leaps and bounds since the advent of electric razors. The technology has enabled men around the world to shave without first wetting their hair. But this could lead to a lot of irritable skin and razor burns if the skin has not been exfoliated or properly lubricated.
Sometimes, you may experience ingrown hairs or a shave that’s not close enough if you dry shave.
Avoid all this trouble by shaving right after you shower with the necessary wet shaving products. Use hot water to open up the pores in your skin and apply generous amounts of shaving gel before you start shaving. Also, don’t forget to exfoliate.
5. Using Blunt & Old Razors
If you’ve made it a habit of using disposable razors since you started shaving pay attention to the word ‘disposable’ next time you decide to shave with one. The cartridges in these razors are meant to only last a week of shaving at most if not less.
Do not try to push the razor blades further than that. A worn out, old and rusty blade could be the worst thing to use on your delicate facial skin. The hairs on your face could be violently ripped out by such razors causing bleeding and burns. A good, fresh blade is meant to glide over the skin.
Your shave should be smooth and painless.
Tip: Try to buy razor blades which come with an indicator strip along the top which lets you know when to dispose off the blades.
6. Applying Too Much Hair Gel
Here’s another aspect of personal grooming which requires moderation.
Keeping your hair without any styling product may not be as bad as piling on so much that your hair looks like a cardboard cutout. Crunchy, unmovable hair has never been attractive and its best to style your hair in a way that looks as natural as possible.
Try to experiment with alternatives to hair gel such as wax or paste since they tend to look better on most hairs.
Go, wash you hair! Now!
7. Not Paying Attention to Hair That’s Thinning
Male Pattern Baldness is an ugly truth that a lot of men start facing in their 20’s or 30’s. The cause of baldness is primarily hereditary and hair loss can grow at a rate of 4% annually till you’re left with only a few patches of hair. Talk to your dermatologist about the treatment options available to you to recover from this sort of baldness.
If it’s early days and you haven’t started losing that much hair yet try over the counter solutions which contain Minoxidil to counteract the effects of this condition and regenerate hair.
If you’ve tried and failed at all these options, keep yourself looking sharp by shaving or trimming the hair on your head regularly.
8. Ignoring Nose and Ear Hair
Img: flickr.com/mazakar
Nose and ear hair do obviously serve a purpose by filtering dirt and debris from the air and keeping it out of your body. But overgrown nose or ear hair is a very unappealing thing to see on a person’s face.
Try using a nose trimmer (amazon link) to cut the hair down and minimise their appearance outside the orifices.
9. Unkempt Facial Hair
Beards have made a definite come back and a lot of women find a man with a beard genuinely attractive. But what women mean when they say they like men with beards is that a well maintained, groomed beard is attractive not one that was born out of laziness and makes you look homeless.
A well groomed and good looking beard requires patience and time which a lot of men lack. Avoid growing one altogether if time is an asset you lack.
If you are serious about growing a beard invest in the proper tools to help you trim it regularly, maintain a shave till the jawline and appear as if its effortless. Tricky but doable.
The fact that you decide to grow a beard it doesn’t mean that you throw away the razor. You will be surprised that shaving, for beard shaping purposes, needs to happen more frequently than when you were maintaining a clean shaven look.
10. Not Trimming Body Hair
Body hair is an expression of masculinity and is often liked by a lot of women. But letting your hair grow uncontrollably could lead you to looking more like a caveman than a suave heartthrob.
Trim your body hair regularly, especially in your armpits and pubic region. This may take a bit of practice but getting the right shape, size and thickness of body hair is very important to look both masculine and well groomed.
It doesn’t mean that you need to shave your entire body with a razor blade. Just a bit of short hair on your body is more than enough to look well groomed.
All guys make grooming mistakes. Time to make less
By making less grooming mistakes is not only about looking better for your girlfriend, wife or family and friends. It’s also about feeling good about yourself and be proud and happy of what you see in the mirror.
Everything you try to make your appearance look better, you should aim doing it for yourself first. When you are well groomed and tidy, you feel more confident and you reflect this feeling to others.
Hopefully you got an idea of typical grooming mistakes most guys tend to make. As always, I would like to hear your thoughts.
What is most common grooming mistakes you are making and want to stop or already did stop?
Image Courtesy: graphicphoto/Bigstock.com
