Cleanse, moisturise, protect. Morning and evening, two minutes each, three products from a pharmacy. Everything else is marketing or medicine.
Men’s skin care is sold in two ways: as a battle to be fought with ten products, or as something a real man does not bother with. Both are wrong. A face washed properly, kept moist and protected from the sun ages slower, looks better and needs less from a barber, a doctor or a mirror. It takes two minutes, twice a day, and about €15 a month.
Morning
Cleanse. Lukewarm water and a gentle, non-foaming cleanser, or just water if your skin is dry. Bar soap strips the skin and makes it produce more oil. Moisturise and protect. A moisturiser with SPF 30 or higher, broad spectrum, applied to the face, neck and ears every day of the year, including in Düsseldorf in November. This is the one product with forty years of evidence behind it: it prevents most of what men think of as ageing, which is sun damage. If you spend money anywhere, spend it here, on a texture you will actually use.
Evening
Cleanse again, properly this time, to remove the day and the sunscreen. Moisturise with a plain night cream, or the same one without SPF. If you are over thirty-five, retinol two or three nights a week, starting at a low concentration, on dry skin, before the moisturiser. It is the second product with genuine evidence: it thickens the skin, evens tone and softens lines over months. It makes skin sun-sensitive, which is another reason for the morning SPF.
Sunscreen is the only anti-ageing product that works. Everything else is a footnote, and the expensive footnotes work no better than the cheap ones.
By skin type
Oily and prone to spots: a gel cleanser with salicylic acid, a light gel moisturiser, a matte fluid sunscreen. Dry and tight after washing: a cream cleanser, a richer moisturiser with ceramides, a cream sunscreen. Red and reactive: fragrance-free everything, a mineral sunscreen, nothing with alcohol, and a dermatologist if it persists. Normal: anything sensible from the pharmacy shelf.
What to ignore
Toners, unless you enjoy them. Eye creams, which are moisturiser in a smaller jar at three times the price. Face masks, scrubs, serums with ingredients you cannot pronounce, anything with gold in it, anything sold on an aeroplane. The luxury brands make pleasant textures and beautiful jars; the pharmacy brands, La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, Eucerin, Avène, make the same actives at a fraction of the price and are what dermatologists use themselves.
The rest of the body
Hands: the same sunscreen when you drive. Lips: a balm with SPF. Body: a moisturiser after the shower in winter if the skin itches. Scalp: whatever shampoo you like, twice a week rather than daily. A yearly visit to a dermatologist after forty for a mole check, which takes ten minutes and is the single most useful appointment in this whole department.
Questions we get asked
Does a man need different products from a woman?
No. Skin is skin. Men’s ranges are the same formulas in grey packaging with a higher price and a woodier smell.
How much should I spend?
Around €40 to €50 for three months of the three products. If you are spending more than €100 a quarter, you are paying for the jar.
What about a beard?
Wash it with the cleanser, oil it lightly if the skin underneath is dry, and comb it. Beard-specific products are largely hair conditioner with a different label.
