If you’re all over this men’s skincare caper then you already know how important it is for men to moisturise. But if you’re still on the learning curve I’m here to give you a bit of insight into your body’s largest organ. If you want to keep it in good shape, moisturising is something you shouldn’t skimp on.
Your lifestyle, the environment, and the climate all take moisture out of your skin. That snowboarding trip. That beer. That wind. That close shave. The list goes on. All of these things contribute to your skin losing moisture.
Now, when I talk about moisture, I’m not just talking about water. I’m talking about water and oils (the good kind). These good oils are called lipids. Your skin has a protective barrier called your lipid barrier and it’s this barrier that holds the water in.
All those things I mentioned before break down your skin’s protective barrier meaning water gets out, your skin becomes dry, and then (more often than not) this opens the door for other skin problems too, like rashes and irritation.
If you want to prevent these kinds of skin conditions from triggering, you’ll want to be moisturising once or twice a day. Agood moisturiser will help keep that lipid barrier intact and restore calmness to your skin.
Attention: Shavers
If you shave then you need a moisturiser more than our bearded friends. Your razor shaves the top layers of skin cells off your skin’s surface, removing your natural oily protective layer (the lipid barrier, the good oils).
Then when you throw soap-based shaving creams (usually with a high pH) into the mix, your skin (which has no protective barrier at this point) has its pH levels are thrown right out the window. This all means that dry skin, shaving rash, and irritation are more likely. Not a pretty picture.
By using asoap-free shave product (like this one), restoring pH balance after shaving with anaftershave, and following up with a good moisturiser you’ll make sure that shaving doesn’t rob your skin of moisture or its protective barrier.
Choosing your moisturiser
Don’t just use any old moisturiser you can find in the bathroom cupboard. While any moisturiser is probably better than no moisturiser at all, if you want the best results, it's worth looking at one that’s made specifically for men’s skin.
This is because a man’s skin *usually* gets the best results when your moisturiser has a higher amount of humectants (the ingredients that draw water in) and lower amount of lipids (the good oils) than women’s moisturisers. You still need both of these types of ingredients in there, but just at different ratios.
To toot my own horn for a minute, theHESO Moisturiser was a finalist in the Best Moisturiser category in the 2019 Beauty Shortlist Awards, so if a moisturiser is lacking from your skincare routine,start here.
