>
0

« The Lowdown on Do-It-Yourself Waxing Options | Main | When to Repair vs. Retire a High-End Handbag »

Shaving Skincare 101: Guy Edition

Published 02.02.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (20)

Dear Amalah,

You've been awesome with the ladies, I'm hoping you can use those powers of good to help out a man, my man to be exact. My husband has, as he puts it, 'terrible skin'. His biggest issue is due to shaving and ingrown hairs. He uses an electric razor because it gives a less close shave, and a straight razor (like a plain ol' Bic) will turn his entire beard area into a minefield of pimple like ingrown hairs. Even with the electric razor he still suffers on a daily basis, mainly on the neck. He's the usual kind of tough guy and washes his face with the same Dove soap he uses on his body - despite my offers of my own simple face wash, because apparently he's tried stuff like that and it doesn't help - and Nieva sensitive skin aftershave. He doesn't want to take the time (or money) to go to a dermitologist. He's willing to try some products, but doesn't want to spend a ton of money on a whole list of things that won't due anything more but turn money into bathroom clutter (also, smelling like a girl is not acceptable). I'm a fairly simple woman myself (I admit I buy my beauty care products at Walmart and only wear makeup on special occasions. I'm a computer programmer people, looking like a nerd is practically part of my job) so I'm not a lot of help. So I turn to you, great skin guru, for your most awesome advice.

-Navigating the minefield for her man

So I sent your question to my own husband, who also at one time had that exact same variety of Terrible Skin. For years! And guess what! He doesn't anymore! And he has Things To Say and Opinions and if he had his own Advice Smackdown he'd probably talk about shaving regimen mistakes the way I talk about primer. And those electric razors with the built-in shaving cream dispensers would be his own personal Bare Escentuals. (For those of you just joining in: I am not a fan of Bare Escentuals.)

Jason's skin is on the dry side and super-sensitive, but breaks out whenever it gets even slightly irritated. And then his facial hair is dark and coarse and thick and EXACTLY the kind hair that someone with super-sensitive skin shouldn't have. For years he did things just like your husband: inexpensive body washes or bar soaps (including Dove) on his face, shaving with whatever cream or gel was on sale, and a drugstore-caliber aftershave.

Now he washes his face AND neck with my Purity face wash (we buy the biggest bottles for maximum value, and they last us quite a few months), shaves with either an electric razor (WITHOUT the built-in gel -- he found it made a mess and required more strokes, and led to irritation and break-outs) or a three-blade style razor by Gillette and Aveeno's shaving gel for sensitive skin. A few times a week he follows up with my Hope in a Jar moisturizer all over his face and neck. NO AFTERSHAVE. I'm not gonna lie, he agreed to change things up after watching a lot of Queer Eye For the Straight Guy. Thank you, Kyan!

(He also does not smell like a girl. At all. Philosophy products are mercifully free of perfumes and strong scents.)

Here's why this regimen works for HIM (your mileage may vary, as always): first, fragrance. The bane of my advice-giving existence. Not really great for anybody's skin, but it's the absolute WORST for sensitive skin. And your husband's ingrown hairs? That's irritation. Which is leading to clogged pores and those pimple-like things. Eliminating fragrance could potentially be a huge help for him. Yes, regular Dove bars have it. The sensitive skin version does not, so if your husband hasn't tried switching, that might be a decent start.

Jason did switch to the sensitive version, but unfortunately it was still too drying. Which is the second points: men need to moisturize too. Dryness leads to (say it with me) irritation, especially if you're SHAVING that sensitive skin. And then putting aftershave on it! (You know, there's a reason women don't use aftershave. Because it's an insane idea. Oooh, burning and bracing! My skin just LOVES when I go all masochistic.)

So. Bar soaps are inherently drying. Liquid face washes are much better. I know your husband says they didn't help him in the past but, well. Try again, dude! There's always going to be a little trial-and-error with skincare, and few of us stumble upon the perfect solution with the first product we try. (ESPECIALLY if the face washes he tried were anything from any of the "man-branded" skincare lines you find at the drugstore. They are loaded with manly musky fragrances, which: NOT GOOD.)

He should look for a liquid face wash for normal or sensitive skin. Fragrance-free for sure, hypo-allergenic for the bonus round. (Most drugstore brands offer at least one, usually labeled for sensitive skin, but you'll still need to check the ingredients for "Fragrance" and anything that sounds like artificial colors.) He should wash his face AND neck with this every morning before shaving. Jason loves the Philosophy wash, even though it took quite a bit of cajoling on my part to get him to try it. But once he saw how great it worked on my skin, he tried it, and now despite the price it's the one product he refuses to let me cut from our budget. I do not complain. But if YOU'RE not interested in upgrading your face wash, by all means stick to the drugstore brands -- just get really, really good at reading the ingredients instead of the marketing, you know? Go for unisex instead of the man-brands -- Jason tried all of them and none of them helped.

(Jason, by the way, would like to interject and say all kinds of nasty stuff about the Nieva products. I will not repeat the nasty stuff, but will say that the products he tried -- which were shave gel and aftershave for sensitive skin -- made him break out and also CONTAIN ARTIFICIAL FRAGRANCE. WHAT IN THE WORLD. GOODNESS.)

And on that note, toss the aftershave. It's NOT helping his skin. Imagine shaving your armpits and then...like...splashing some alcohol-laden astringent on them immediately afterwards. Or not even giving the skin a few minutes to breathe before applying your deodorant. You'd get pimple-like ingrown hairs too. Get him a good neutral moisturizer instead, and have him use that a couple times a week. I know for a lot of guys it seems counterintuitive to put moisturizer on skin that's breaking out, or skin that they think needs "toughening up," but moisturizer is more about keeping skin HEALTHY, not just soft and supple and baby-bottom or whatever. It helps tone and fight sun damage and all sorts of not-just-for-girls benefits.

Oh, and the Aveeno shave gel. It's great. It's probably not enough on its own, unless your husband changes his pre- and post-shave habits, but if he's using some manly-smelling foaming cream, I'd say that's a must-switch situation.

« Older | Newer »

Comments (20):

Anonymous said:

We had this problem at my house. My husband's neck would get all ingrown hairs, infected, red, just kind of yucky. Finally went to a dermatologist who cultured some of the pus (yuck, I know) and found that it was staph. The derm said that is actually quite common and a good thing- as insurance covers laser hair removal treatments for staph. He had 3 treatments- hair was gone for about 3,4 months then his neck hair grew in less coarse with NO ingrowns and insurance covered it! The derm said the thick dark hair with my husband's fair skin is the perfect combo for laser treatment. Good luck.

Posted on February 2, 2009 11:19

Heather said:

I adore that Aveeno shave gel. That is all.

Posted on February 2, 2009 11:27

NGS said:

My husband has declared an all out war on electric razors. None of that for my husband. He has incredibly coarse facial hair and an electric razor does nothing but increase ingrown hairs. He also has exceptionally oily skin (a bit of a strange phenomenon to me as I have the driest skin ever) and so his shaving ritual takes him almost 20 minutes every morning. It includes a safety razor (a straight razor with less chance of death), a shaving brush, lots of Aveda products, and Nivea Extra Soothing Shave Balm. It works, peeps!! Handsome face on that one.

Posted on February 2, 2009 11:47

cindy said:

I can relate to this one! My husband gets ingrown hairs like crazy, and to top it off, he shaves his head and gets ingrown hairs there too sometimes. I catch him washing his face every so often with our liquid hand soap!!! I can NOT get him to try my Purity face wash. I yell at him every time I see him using the hand soap on his face, but it does no good.

Posted on February 2, 2009 12:01

Bekki said:

I'll throw a suggestion out there for the Kiehl's shave line. My husband had some simlar problems, and was wholly uninterested in "products." I sort of forced him to start using the Ultimate Brushless Shave cream (the blue eagle one, for sensitive skin), and he LOVES LOVES LOVES it. You only need a little so a tube last quite a while. And it seems to have solved most of his shave problems. You can find them at pretty much any Nordstroms or just buy it online.

I haven't quite gotten him to sign on to follow up with a lotion of some variety, but in the winter months, he does occasionally use my Hope in a Jar.

Posted on February 2, 2009 12:17

caleal said:

I never, ever understood after shave. It always seemed counterintuitive to me. How did it get so popular?

Posted on February 2, 2009 14:02

Kristen said:

I use the Aveeno shave gel because of your recommendation and I love it! I use it only on my armpits because I would get terrible ingrown hairs and the skin was just generally red and irritated. Also, try Tend skin products. They help in preventing ingrown hairs.

Posted on February 2, 2009 14:30

Daisy said:

Ugh, that is describing my boyfriend. He refuses to use any "products" so I finally took away his Edge shaving gel (dude, no) and started giving him tubes of high end sensitive skin shaving cream. After trial & error he decided he loves the Kiehl's in the blue tube for sensitive skin. He insists on washing his face with his bar soap so I then threw out the Zest & Dial bar soaps and replaced them with the Molton Brown "brown bar" and the Bliss Blue Bar.

Don't even get me started on the Pert Plus........

Posted on February 2, 2009 15:04

Becca said:

Ugh, dudes washing their faces with regular soap. So wrong. I recommend Cetaphil's cleanser for anyone, including the sensitive-skinned. The packaging is nice and gender-neutral. I got my boyfriend to use it, and he liked it so much he has moved on to buying his own marketed-to-men skin products.

Posted on February 2, 2009 16:54

mantic59 said:

You folks may want to look at some of my 'how to shave properly' videos on youtube (at URL link). Traditional shaving lather applied with a shaving brush can really make a huge difference, compared to goo coming out of a pressurized can. To cut down on ingrowns and bumps, try finishing up with a hot water rinse then soaking a cotton pad in witch hazel and gently wiping it over the face. Works pretty well.

Posted on February 2, 2009 18:46

mim said:

in addition to the Philosophy line, I actually have face wash and moisturizer from acne.org (http://www.danielkern.com/), which my husband likes. They're ph balanced, fragrance free, and work pretty good, I alternate between them and Philosophy (product slut:p). Also, the moisturizer is light and absorbs fast, which was really important cos he doesn't like feeling like he has lotion on. It's weird, but whatcha gonna do? :p

Posted on February 2, 2009 18:49

suziwon said:

I know it's a little high in cost, but my husband finally found relief from the exact same problem when he hooked up with stuff from The Art of Shaving http://www.theartofshaving.com/taos6/home.php

Outside of the Art of Shaving products, he's found that avoiding everything with alcohol, and always using a badger hair brush with the shaving cream to "loosen" the hairs helps tremendously. Also, he shaves with the hair growth the first time, and *lathers a second time* before shaving against the grain. He said the second lathering is critical to keeping the irritation to a minimum.

Posted on February 2, 2009 20:43

heels said:

My husband has fair, slightly oily skin and wickedly bad in-grown hairs. One thing that has made a huge difference (because I had already won the proper face-wash battle and he NEVER used aftershave) was taking his shower first and letting his skin get really nice and worm before starting to shave. He shaves (with a nice razor) and then hops in the shower for another minute after just to get all of the gunk off. Then he uses a very light moisturizer.

Posted on February 3, 2009 11:58

bella said:

This might sound strange, but it works for me and helps my boyfriend too. I have super sensitive legs--shaving can be a nightmare. Aside from using fragrance free shaving cream, I've found that putting conditioner on my legs for a few minutes before I shave softens the hair and makes it 'pull' less when I shave, thus lessening the irritation. My boyfriend does the same thing before shaving his face and it helps a great deal. Might be worth a try--make sure to rinse off the conditioner before actually shaving as it likely has fragrance.

Posted on February 3, 2009 12:50

Ang said:

My husband has had the same problems, but he also gets dry skin in the winter. He finally broke down and bought a nice electric razor (Braun, I think) and I talked him into using my Purity face wash and moisturizing twice a day. His skin is smooth as a baby's bottom now.

Posted on February 3, 2009 13:12

Jen said:

A badger hair brush and higher-end shaving cream will change his world. Gifted to my boyfriend last christmas and he will never go back.
(He uses Musgo Real, bought it on Amazon)

Posted on February 3, 2009 13:24

Corinne said:

My husband always had a terrible time shaving (before he was my husband) Dry skin in some places, super oily in others, prone to breakouts, really fast growing hair, and a very bumpy chin. He decided just to grow a beard. I know this won't work for all guys, but he really likes it, his morning routine is much easier and I don't have to deal with stubble at night anymore.

Posted on February 3, 2009 22:48

Sharla said:

I have it on good authority from a good friend of mine that he got rid of all of his razor bumps/ingrown hairs from shaving when he starting using the Mary Kay MK Shave foam for men. Worth a try!

Posted on February 5, 2009 23:26

Eris said:

TendSkin

It is a product sold at Sephora, Ulta, and for much cheaper at Amazon. You swipe it on after you shave when the skin is dry. It may take a week or two to kick in but it is the only thing that has ever helped my bikini line and I tried EVERYTHING. Please let him try it, it should really make a difference.

Posted on February 6, 2009 18:22

Calee said:

Oh, if only my husband would listen. When he does shave, it's with a Gillette in the shower--no cream! He uses old spice body wash for his head to his toes. Most of the time he has a beard, but oh how I've tried to get him to use any product what so ever.

Thanks for all the info. I'll file it away in case he ever changes his mind or gets a facial hair free job.

Posted on February 7, 2009 23:47

Post a comment




Remember me?


Find Us!
Via RSS Feed
Subscribe by Email
On Twitter
On Facebook
Recent Posts
The Second-Baby Baby Shower Question
Changing Time Zones with a Baby
Pregnant Princess Seeks Knight In Shining Armor
Baby & The Beach
Can These Friendships Be Saved?
Categories
Archives


alphamomlabs

About

Amalah is a pseudonym of Amy Corbett Storch. A Washington D.C.-based freelance writer. The Smackdown is published on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. You can follow Amy's daily mothering adventures at www.amalah.com. Also, it's pronounced AIM-ah-lah.

Amy also documented her second pregnancy in a Weekly Pregnancy Calendar, Zero to Forty.

Amy is mother to delicious preschooler Noah and baby Ezra. NomNomNom.

Submit a Question

If you would like to submit a question, email Amalah at amyadvice@gmail.com. By submitting a question, you agree to allow us to post your question here.

Disclaimer

This column is only for entertainment purposes. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.


© Alpha Mom, Inc. All rights reserved. | Legal | Privacy