The Basic Men’s Skincare Routine To Follow Every Day

Beginner’s Essentials

Ease yourself into a routine with a simple three-step skincare plan which is the basis of any skincare regime; Cleanse, Exfoliate and Moisturise. Follow all three steps day and night and your skin will thank you in a matter of weeks.

1. Cleanse: Twice a day, am and pm. Experiment with different cleansing textures. Balms and lotions have a thicker consistency to wash off formulas, but they more or less all do the same thing – remove all the dirt, sweat, and dead skin.

2. Exfoliate: Exfoliating helps to brighten your complexion, improve the appearance of your skin, prevent pore clogging, acne spots, blackheads, and whiteheads. You can exfoliate on either wet or dry skin and not more than twice a week, as your skin needs time to recover.

3. Moisturise: The golden rule to skincare is to hydrate skin to keep moisture levels high and to protect your skin from environmental aggressors such as the sun (always use an SPF in the day) and pollution. Invest in a moisturiser with added SPF for the day and a nourishing formula specific for the night.

Intermediate Must-Haves

Once you have the basics in place, you can take your skincare up a notch with add-ons such as face serums and eye creams that go that extra mile. You may prefer the more simplistic approach but it’s worth dedicating a couple more minutes to layer up your skin and give it that extra TLC, especially if you shave daily.

Serums: For added hydration and a bigger, more powerful dose of active ingredients, introduce a serum into your daily routine. Apply after your cleanser and before your moisturiser.

Eye Creams: Keep your eye area tight and bright with the addition of an eye cream. When this delicate skin loses its firmness and thickness, you start to notice things like puffy under eyes, crow’s feet, and dark circles more prominently. So be ahead of the game and introduce an eye cream sooner rather than later. Apply it once a day as your last step at night.

Face Masks: Not a necessity but a brilliant way to flood your skin with hydration and skin-nourishing ingredients in minimal time. Choose a moisturising mask to help revive dull, dehydrated, and tired complexions, while decongested skin should veer towards ‘deep cleansing’ formulas that tend to be clay-based or charcoal to suck out all the impurities such as excess sebum and daily grime that leads to oily and spot-prone skin. Use once a week, or at the most twice, if you feel your skin needs some extra TLC.

Advanced Add-Ons

If you’ve fully committed to your skincare routine and looking for more intense formulations and hardcore ingredients, then now is the time to introduce one or several of these actives for serious skincare. But always go slow and listen to your skin.

Retinol and Bakuchoil: Retinol, a Vitamin A derivative, is the super ingredient that is a gamechanger for ageing skin (and can also stop acne in its tracks). Often, it’s too harsh for sensitive skins, so Bakuchiol, the natural alternative to retinol is the next best choice. Only ever use at night unless the bottle says to the contrary.

Niacinamide: A true multitasker. From boosting hydration to protecting the skin from environmental damage. It’s a one stop shop of actives.

Ferulic Acid: The king of antioxidants. A must for fighting wrinkles and fine lines and protecting your skin barrier. It is the ultimate in skin protection. Use it every morning to create an invisible shield on your skin.

Vitamin C: Otherwise referred to as ascorbic acid, this is the number one skin brightener. A superb ingredient especially if you suffer from discolouration or pigmentation of the skin. Consider this your glow-getter in a bottle that boosts skin brightness and greatly reduces any discolouration and hyperpigmentation.