Guys get gunk too. They clog as well. It’s just not the girls who are obsessed with their pores. Women don’t own a monopoly on cotton pads, wipe-off milk, exfoliating masks, and pre-, pro- and post-biotic face washes.
Men are foaming and frothing up as well and just as into high-performance, pro-clean, pro-planet, pro-science bio-nutritional skincare.
Times have changed. Some men used to undress in the dark. Now, many insist on lights off when they go to bed. So they can wear night cream.
Men are into the latest poly-hydroxy acids and squalene as well. Maybe more so. Males mattify. No longer are they ashamed of their active wrinkle correction difficulties. They have always been fussy about their complexions and always will be. The Alpha Male now indulges in face scrubs and takes an interest in natural solubilizers and concealers.
Men are investing heavily in skincare bundles. Once he would experiment only privately with resurfacing cleansers and only secretly behind locked doors with AHAS, Japanese charcoal, and other exfoliating actives.
These days more and more men have shared their bathroom rituals with Horace and an Anthony or two. No man likes too much sebum.
More men go into the bathroom with Idris Elba, as well as other African-inspired skincare treatments the British actor’s S’ABLE brand, founded with his wife Sabina, offers Qasil Cleanser made from the Somalian Tree of Gob.
Founded in 2020, S’ABLE Labs create conscious products for “all hue-mans”. It’s a core collection of vegan genderless skincare products that feature responsibly sourced ingredients in collaboration with smallholder farmers, with high-performance, environmentally conscious formulations that highlight powerful ingredients found throughout the African continent.
“We created S’ABLE LABS because we felt there was a space in the market for a brand that not only provided solutions for under-served skin concerns but could shed light on ingredients celebrated throughout the African continent. Said the co-founders.
There are two faces of men’s grooming. The new and the old. The new is represented by the likes of Daimon Barber with its Age Defence Shaving Cream, Texture Clay Yuku Paste, and ultimate beard care essentials; and Sicily-born Valentino La Ciura, the 35-year-old founder of London-based Valuxxo.
“Our appearance is a true reflection of ourselves. It’s the foundation of self-respect and self-love that builds confidence and happiness in each of us.”
The brand’s precision grooming products, which are made in Italy and the Netherlands, include Matrixyl UltraSmooth Serum, Ultra Smooth Collagen Eye, Salicylic Pore Cleanser, 24 Smart Cream, Skin Revive Face Scrub, Detox Dual Clay Face Mask and Regenesis range B-Tox Infusion Bio and Eye Contour Ampoule Bio.
“The brand doesn’t just stand for self-care and self-love, but for self-identity, too. It’s a message of hope that’s been helping men stay true to themselves and be who they really are. Valuxxo is a brand that’s rooted in self-respect. Self-care is the language of self-worth.”
Even alpha male sportsmen are designing their own skincare products. International cricketer Dion Nash founded his own male grooming brand and “natural skincare foundry” as well as created his own commercially successful antiperspirant.
To know what New Zealanders think is good for your hair and skin, you only need to check out Triumph & Disaster. Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If”, which Nash’s father quoted to him as a child growing up in Auckland, the Triumph & Disaster range comprises Dichotomy Eye Cream Serum, Shearer’s Soap with poppyseed, and the Doctor Beard Balm, named after the famous long-bearded cricketer, WG Grace. Nash’s Ponsonby Pomade, named after his flagship store address in Auckland, North Island was voted GQ’s best Pomade For Damaged Hair.
Gameface hydrating cream, is a unique formulation of Jojoba extract, Horopito oil, Ponga fern (Cumingii), and Vitamin E, combined with a subtle infusion of essential oils to deliver a smoke and wood aroma.
Says Nash: “Found in New Zealand’s backcountry, Horopito is one of the world’s oldest flowering plants, having been around for over 65 million years due in large part to its amazing chemical defense system. Horopito works as a fantastic antioxidant and conditioning agent in Gameface.
“Ponga is an amazing species of fern that grows right down at the bottom of the world in New Zealand. It has natural properties that are proven to deliver lift, reduce wrinkles, and deliver a natural toning and tightening effect on your skin.”
Triumph & Disaster products also use volcanic ash, phorbium, and lanolin. Adds the cricketer-turned-“sweat scientist”: “I remember watching an ad for a massive antiperspirant brand in the early 2000s that showed arrows pointing the sweat back into the body and the spray blocking off the armpits. It always occurred to me this should be the very worst depiction, not something to advertise – we are designed to sweat and excrete toxins, not recirculate them.”
Horopito remains the brand’s hero ingredient. Traditionally, it was used by early New Zealanders as a treatment for cuts, bruises, wounds, chaffing on the skin as well as skin diseases such as ringworm, candida albicans, or even for STIs. Horopito was also reportedly used to help with ailments of the gut and pain, earning it the nickname “Maori Painkiller”.
Continues Nash: “Horopito’s intense selection pressure evolved a broad set of antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, and anti-parasitic defense properties. The main biologically-active chemical component isolated from Horopito is polygodial which coincidentally tastes like delicious hot pepper as well as works as a fantastic antioxidant and conditioning agent in our Gameface Moisturiser.
To get the benefits of Horopito, leaves may be crushed or bruised then applied directly to the skin, held inside the mouth, the leaf juice extracted then consumed directly, or leaves steeped in hot water and consumed as an extraction. Alternatively, try our Gameface Moisturizer.”
Men are learning about barriers. With high-brow luxury face care products like The Nue Co’s Barrier Culture Cleaner.
The self-consciousness has disappeared with the blackheads and breakouts thanks to an ever-increasing range of male/unisex facial cleansers, anti-dark circle serums, and deep pore-purgatives.
Such as Origins GinZing, IS Clinical, La Roche-Posay Toleriane Dermo-Cleaner.
Instagrammable skin is an asset.
These days we see ourselves in an entirely different complexion.
We are no longer ashamed of experimenting with Vida Glow Radiance capsules or the Medik8 Press & Glow Daily Exfoliating PHA tonic with enzyme activator.
Now, it’s not purely Kiehl’s facial Fuel or Pharrell’s human race.
It’s an all-inclusive world.
We don’t hide the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Gel Wash from our friends and family. And no one minds if we share their Clinique or help ourselves to the Augustinus Bader Rich Cream.
Pass the CeraVe, and the L’Occitane Immortelle Divine crème.
