Are You Making These 7 Horrible Skin Care Mistakes (That Other Men Make)? (Akshay Dhiman)

This is a guest post by  Akshay Dhiman, the founder of Easique. He shows men how to get the life they want using real life experiences and studies with his actionable advice and guides, like these 2 bonus mistakes that he didn’t talk about in this post. If you are interested in your self-development and getting the most out of life I highly encourage you to check out his site. In this post Ashkay is going to give men’s grooming tips to improve our look. Enjoy!

If a fairy showed up and asked a guy – “Do you want to look 10 years younger?” He must be a total jackass to refuse that offer. “Hell yeah” – would be my answer.

To be honest, there’s no guy who does not want to look younger. In fact, it is every guy’s dream. I don’t believe that only women have the right to look beautiful. Men can take care of their skin too. There’s no problem with that.

Pat yourself on the back if you’re already on the path of skin care, but I see, some of you are doing a few things wrong.

Well, it is good to take care of your skin, while avoiding some mistakes that I’m going to talk about right now.

Let’s dive in.

1. Using a Moisturizer Without SPF

Before talking about moisturizing your skin, I’d assume you wash your skin twice daily using a face wash.

As you may already know, drinking water regularly is essential for your body and also keeping your skin hydrated from inside. But, from the outside, your skin needs some hydration too.

After washing your face, it feels dry, like a sandpaper. To avoid that, hydrate your skin using a moisturizer. It will keep your skin hydrated and fresh all day.

Now, the main issue – not using a moisturizer with an SPF.

What To Do Instead?

So many products are available in the market that have an SPF of at least 15. They keep your skin protected from harmful sun rays and minimize skin damage.

Regardless of the skin type, every guy should moisturize, even if you have a super oily skin, your skin needs it more than anyone.

2. Not Exfoliating or Over Exfoliating

Exfoliation is a process that removes the dead cells from your skin. It can:

• Get rid of whiteheads and blackheads
• Smoothen your skin
• Add texture to your skin
• Increase blood flow
• Make you look younger

So it is a good thing to do for your skin, but some people always try to go overboard with this kind of stuff. They do it more than advised. They don’t realize that over exfoliation is highly damaging to the top layer of skin.

See, the top layer acts like a protective layer. When cleared too much, the skin is then exposed to environmental toxins and sun damage, causing aging.

What To Do Instead?

For normal skin, exfoliating twice a week is fine. Thrice is max. But, if your skin is super sensitive, you should do it once.

Use a good scrub, get a tablespoon of it and gently massage in a circular motion for about 30 seconds. Do not overdo and make it hard. Let the scrub do its job.

3. Using Products With Too Much Fragrance

Generally speaking, too much fragrance in skin care products means too much of unnecessary (and harmful) chemicals. They make the nose happy, but not skin.

(By the way, people who think – “Who the hell are you talking about chemicals and stuff?” I’m a pharmacist.)

The fragrance obtained from your product is nothing but aromatic alcohols like Benzyl Alcohol. You should know that alcohols, in general, are harmful for the skin.

Nowadays, the fragrance is often derived from complexes of alcohols, and are generally written as “Frangrances included” in the composition section of a product. No cosmetic authority asks them to mention which fragrance they are using, so they get away with it.

So, how bad they are?

They cause a sensitizing reaction on the skin, which is not visible, but it aggravates over time. All the damage takes place silently. Bad effects included: allergies, skin cancer and other long time effects.

So, it is important for consumers to understand that having fragrance is not a necessity. Good smell should never compromise with someone’s health.

What To Do Instead?

Use products that:

• Have a light smell, and fades away in a few minutes
• Don’t have a very strong smell
• Fragrance derived from natural sources like rose water, lemon, peppermint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, etc. (Natural ingredients usually fades away faster because of the volatile oils present)

4. Showering For a Long Time With Hot Water

Though it feels relaxing and amazing staying for long in warm water or showering for a long time, but it has its consequences.

Long & hot showers do this:

• Strips away body oils
• Leave your skin burned and irritated (sometimes you may not feel, but it does)
• Dry out your skin

What To Do Instead?

Two things:

1. Take less time – Not more than 5 to 10 minutes, will benefit your skin and save water.
2. Decrease the water temperature – It should be close to body temperature. This will keep your skin hydrated and prevent rashes.

Moreover, bathing with cold water prevents loosing natural oils, also keeping you cool, calm and energetic.

5. Shaving With Multiple Blade Razors

Nowadays, multiple blade razors are advertised in such a way that they appear better than the single blade one.

Sure, as they have multiple blades, they give you a deeper cut. So deep that it hurts your skin! As it cuts beneath the skin, you are more likely to cause harm than a good ol’ razor.

There is no doubt that they are more popular because of low production costs and higher margins. Due to such low amount of research data available, the companies have more freedom to advertise and sell.

So, how bad is it?

A multiple blade razor pass over your skin several times, which ends up pulling your hair and cutting underneath the skin. This increases the chances of having ingrown hair (especially with curly hair) and skin irritation.

What To Do Instead?

So, using a traditional razor happens to be a better option for your skin. A single blade (double-edge safety) razor can cut facial hair without hurting much.

6. Shaving Against The Grain

In simple words, shaving against the grain (opposite direction of hair growth) is not good for your skin.

Now, let me explain why.

Obviously, shaving against the grain would cut deeper and would seem a better method for many people. But, the razor goes beneath the skin, and instead of cutting, it pulls away the hair.

This damages your skin, and thus causes inflammation, irritation and scratches.

What To Do Instead?

Shave (and trim) with the grain. This will keep your facial skin healthy.

There are other ways to have a good close shave without affecting your skin health. Wash your face with warm water to open the pores. You can also apply a pre-shave oil, which softens the hair and provide lubrication for smoother shave. Then shave and wash out with cold water.

7. Using Alcohol Based Aftershave

Like I said a moment ago, alcohol is not good for your skin. You might not know, but most of the aftershave products available in the market are alcohol based and they aren’t doing anything better than bad.

An ideal aftershave is supposed to repair any cuts and bruises, kill bacteria and provide hydration.

Indeed, an alcohol based aftershave kills bacteria, but it further dry out the skin. All of the hydration is taken away when your facial skin needs it the most.

What To Do Instead?

Use moisturizer based aftershave. They are able to sterilize and provide hydration which is required for your facial skin, leaving it smooth and soft.

There You Have It

Some of the most common skin care mistakes men make and what to do instead.

There is absolutely nothing that drives me crazy about men thinking that they can’t use skin care products and take care of themselves. As some of the mistakes are covered here, but there is obviously more to learn about men’s skin care.

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