Looking specifically for men but I’m open to all opinions. I’ve been doing some experimenting over the last 2 and a bit years, trying to find what works best for me. I’d love to get some opinions on what has worked for others.
stuff I’ve tried:
- L’Oréal Men Expert (no complaints)
- Bull Dog (not the biggest fan)
- Neutrogena (no complaints either)
- SkinCeuticals (borrowed from my partner who got some as a gift)
I’m in Europe if it helps
Paula’s Choice for liquid or gel exfoliant and sunscreen moisturiser - personally I prefer the ultra sheer SPF 15 as the mineral based one feels rough on my skin. I’ll then top up with a higher SPF face sunscreen if necessary, as it usually is in Australia.
I also use Clinique’s All About Eyes cream, All About Clean 2-in-1 Cleansing + Exfoliating Jelly as my daily scrub, and Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion+ if I want a moisturiser without sunscreen.
If you try Paula’s Choice, give the routine finder a go to find the right fit for your skin type.
Soap
unscented bar soap. For my body and hair.
At first I was worried that ditching shampoo and other products with moisturizers would leave me feeling flaky and dry, but it was surprisingly easy.
I’ve shifted to the opinion that the overwhelming majority of beauty products are unnecessary and are just a market in search of a problem.
I have dry skin and eczema. Using bar soap on just my hands equals cracking and bleeding. Let alone attempting it on my body or scalp.
Also I have fine, coloured treated hair.
I use pretty standard supermarket brand body wash on my skin and somewhat expensive shampoos on my hair. I use mid range moisturisers. They’re all enough to keep my skin in good condition. I’m not prone to breakout though, so my body doesn’t need too much intervention.
My point is to say that I need that level of care in my products. Not at huge expense, but some. Your suggestion would have me literally itching and bleeding all over.
Everyone is different but there is a market for a spectrum of products. Bar soap is very unlikely to be the answer for most people.
Soap. Two thumbs up. Less drying, less packaging, good for everything.
Same here. Most if not all the moisturiser marketing is complete and utter bullshit.
Also btw soap isnt actually that good at cleaning u (it is effective at killing bacteria tho) most of the cleaning comes from the fact that after u put soap on something it feels gross till you wash it all off with water.
You use straight up bar soap on your hair? I feel like that would just end up stripping most people’s hair of all needed oils. Unless you have very naturally oily hair I guess.
I’ve shifted to the opinion that the overwhelming majority of beauty products are unnecessary and are just a market in search of a problem.
I’m with you on this part though
What do u think shampoo is its soap with a liquifaction agent it does the exact same thing just with double the price and fancy marketing.
While true, there’s different types of soaps. If you put something like laundry soap or dish soap on your hair, it’s incredibly harsh and you’re going to have a bad time. I feel like laundry soap has a chance to even chemically burn your skin.
Plus, I use conditioner afterwards to put some of those oils back in there so I don’t think I could give that up. Whenever I skip the conditioner, my hair seems to suffer a bit.
But then I probably wash my hair too often.
I usually recommend the cerave / cetaphil stuff, especially if your skin is harder to take care of.
Otherwise I refer to the CDA list to double check if it’s recommended. It covers the following
- Fragrance-free or unscented
- Gentle on skin to avoid skin irritation
- Do not contain common allergens
- Do not clog pores
Cerave’s great for eczema!
Vouching for Cerave too, got a liter of their moisturizer here, does no leave my skin oily and feels great.
I also use La Roche-Posay exfoliant and anti-sebum cream to combat my forever acne (actually seems like one of the only things that work for me).
I work construction and live in an area with high winds pretty regularly (always getting blasted by dirt). I use the CeraVe face wash and moisturizer. It’s great and really helped my face.
I got cerave as a face lotion, my husband uses it maybe more than I do.
I struggled with adult acne for a long time. Currently I use:
Toner my aunt makes (it’s basic, she owns a soap business, so it’s not sketchy ha); Some sort of eye cream because I’m getting crows feet, but I haven’t found one yet that I feel does anything at all (taking recs, but I don’t like spending a lot on this stuff; maybe that’s why it’s all been useless so far!); Neutrogena sensitive skin moisturizer; Australian Gold tinted sunscreen.
My skin has changed a lot over time. It got a lot better (less oily) post-kids, but I don’t know if it was baby hormones or age, or if by then I had just gotten the routine down and was no longer super drying it out, which lead to lots of oil.
Anything Burts Bees, I use deep cleansing pore scrub with peach and willow bark. Use it everyday for face wash
I use differin gel for individual breakouts
That looks quite interesting! Unfortunately they only have a limited selection in the UK - I didn’t find an EU store on my phone.
Dr bronners for skin and hair (I have very thick indian hair in jata style dreadlocks down to my knees). For a long time I used a charcoal based face wash (lush until they changed their formula for coal face, then some similar brand I found on amazon) but for whatever odd reason after a few years my skin stopped tolerating it and kept breaking out, so I switched to Kate Somerville’s sulfur face wash which works wonders (but does have a bit of a smell to it unfortunately).
For my face i use Cerave daily moisturizing lotion. If you don’t have that in europe look for anything that says “non comedogenic” and bonud points for salycic acid. These are really good if you suffer from acne, blotchy skin, or big ugly pores. Avoid scented stuff too, but as you said mens stuff that shouldn’t be hard.
For body I use Vaseline Advanced Repair lotion, which is strong stuff and really good for eczema or garden variety dry skin.
Ursa Major
That looks brilliant, thank you! Any particular product that you recommend?
I use all their products and love them all. They actually work, and make my skin look, feel, and smell great. The branding is sharp too. First time I’ve felt this way about a skincare line. They have different uses so it’ll be hard for me to recommend just one. See if you can find some samples at Sephora or something. You won’t regret your purchase.
- Some organic face soap
- some organic shaving soap (lasts forever, mix with water or use these fancy brushes)
- organic basic cream (afterwards)
- sometimes peeling containing clay
Gentle exfoliation with a foaming cleanser that won’t dry your skin out and a soft wash rag. A retinoid (adapaline) nightly or every other night, and a moisturizer 2x a day. Use sunscreen and re-apply every 2 hours to reduce sun damage.
This can all be cheap and have good data behind them.
Looking specifically for men but I’m open to all opinions
Pay attention to what women are using, aside from dealing with make up the skin care routine isn’t that different.
In the shower I use a daily foaming face cleanser. Using soap is worse on facial skin (ends up causing more breakouts, etc.).
I use bar soap for the rest of my shower routine.
In the mornings and evenings I moisturize dry skin areas (mainly hands and lips).
Before shaving I always exfoliate.
In the U.S. I tend to use Aveeno products for that stuff but you should be able to find equivalents of those things in Europe.
Aveeno is widely available in the UK, don’t know about the rest of Europe.
We’ve got loads here in Ireland
TIL :)
Did a quick google search before commenting & saw people talking about not being able to find Aveeno in Europe so wasn’t too sure. Maybe that just applies to other countries beyond the Ireland / UK area.
Fellow guy here.I use CeraVe foaming face wash followed with Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizing gel for oily skin.
I also use CeraVe moisturizer in the big tub for my hands and skin when they’re dry. I dare not use that stuff of my face, as it’s too greasy and makes me break out.
I’ve also got some CORSX AHA 7 Liquid for exfoliating with some cotton swabs.
And finally just some proraso for shaving.
But yeah, you really gotta figure out what kinda skin type you’ve got so you can better match up what products you really need, or see a dermatologist to get a regimen figured out, of you even need one. Like if you’ve got dry skin, oily skin, or combination, etc.
I just got some moisturizer with Retinol to firm my skin up a bit. Seems to be working.
Retinol can work wonders. Just two things: you probably don’t need it before turning 30, and you should stay out of the sun or wear good sunscreen if you can’t, when you have recently used it. I only apply it once a week in the evening.
Yeah, I’m 41. You probably wouldn’t think I need it looking at me, but I’ve lost some weight, and it’s all a bit looser than I’d like. Hoping this will tighten it up some. I live in Arizona and didn’t know that about the sun, so thanks for the tip :)
Sunscreen
I did kinda take that song to heart.
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Our family have always stuck with using Honey, for area as with really bdad skin. Honey is so natural and sweet, for us this has worked wonders. Highly recommend giving it a try. If not pure honey, there are more and more skin care products with honey in it. Thank you wonderful bees 🍯
I would’ve thought it would leave you feeling sticky?
Well yes, but it’s the sorta thing you would apply onto your skin when at home, leave it on for a couple of hours, then wash off again.
