Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Macho Versus Your Own Skin
I've come across so many male in my life, from strangers to a close one; young and old; straight and gay; tall and short; fat and thin... Most of them have a problematic perception about skin care, you didn't get it wrong, even gay men have a wrong concept about it. Why? because they are being so damn macho, think ignoring their skin is so kool and attractive that can score lots of chica/chico. 'Men don't use skin product, that's for chicks' is usually what I would heard after giving out a suggestion of skin care. Dude, I don't hate you as a macho man, but what kind of excuse is that? It doesn't even make sense.
I am not here to strike the masculinity and support feminism, since I'm not interested in this issue here. Help is what I wanna do, so listen up, having a good skin care won't make you become a homosexual/ a woman, but a better looking gentleman. I'm doing you a favor to help, if you don't give a shit coz you have big balls, I do you a favor to let you go on your lonely macho life. OK, I don't wanna go too harsh, coz I consider you, who reading this, are a good friend of mine.
Rashes, Acne problem, oily skin, big pores, skin peeling...etc. are most of the men skin problems. Why? coz you didn't clean your skin right, here are the general problem that you might have:
Rub your face - some girls do that too, but big mistake! rubbing your face will create big pores that cause oily face, blackheads and even wrinkles. Even using scrub cleanser, you don't rub! you use your finger tips to GENTLE massage it. (Gentle like moving your fingers on your face without seeing your face skin moving up and down dramatically)
Use water only - OK, you think water is pure, huh? think about those chemical in the water, why the government spent so much money on filtering water and suggest boiling water? By the way, you think water can really clean those dirt inside your skin pores? PH 5.5 doesn't mean it can clean your skin, it means that water doesn't dry your skin too much.
Using body soap - I know I know, there are millions of skin products in the shop, and busy man like you just can't be bother to look at them. But think about it, why are they so specific to have body soap and facial product? coz they are different! why do they have so many kind of cleansers? coz they are different! Now imagine using shampoo to clean your skin, you are basically doing this on your face now.
No toner, no cream - cleansing, toner and cream is the golden 3 steps of skin care, you did the first step, might no even in a proper way, and you totally neglect the 2nd as well as the 3rd steps, now stop whining your mom inherited you bad skin.
BASIC 3 STEPS OF SKIN CARE
I know you don't like to spend too much time on your face, but at least stick with these 3 steps, just THREE, take you only 3 mins! Here I help you to choose the right product easily.
Most of the men have oily face, I used to have oily face too. But I was wrong thinking I have oily type of skin, usually (esp cases in Australia) is because of DRY weather. Dry skin creates oil to moisturize itself, then oil becomes dirt, which your skin can get infected and form pimples/blackheads.
Step 1. Cleansing: To remove dirt from your face. I like to use nourishing cleanser in winter and deep skin cleanser in summer. If you don't know what product to choose, they have cleanser for men, start with it. If you wanna use Scrub cleanser, it is important to only use it 1-2 per week.
Step 2. Toner: To wipe off the remained dirt, to refine skin pores and to balance your skin tone (back to PH 5.5=water=purify). Skip it if you think it's not important at all, but I won't if I were you. bigger pores = bad oily skin = more dirt, so refining pores give you better skin. If you ar using a cheap cleansing product/ body soap, it could make your skin go dry, toner is to insert water inside your skin before you moisturize your skin by cream. Use non-alcohol toner please.
Step 3. Facial Cream: To moisturize your dry skin. This is a very important step that many men just literally omit it. Look, keep it simple, get the Nivea Men Cream, put it on every morning and before sleep. avoid eyes area (or you will get greasy spot). If you are more fuzzy and would like to take more time for this step, good on you, read the next paragragh, otherwise just skip it.
You may notice there're day cream and nite cream in the market. Day cream is usually to protect your from the sun while moisturizing your skin, and not too greasy in case it clogs the pores when you sweat. Night cream is to recover your skin's elasticity and firmness, it's more nourishing coz skin can absorb it better while you're asleep. My personally opinion - Don't get greasy cream, use something waterish but deeply moisturizing. Our skin needs water back in, not oil.
Don't say I didn't warn you. Sun is not really skin-friendly. Not that you shouldn't get some nice sunshine, but it can damage your skin structure (collagen breakdown) and dry out your skin. You think asian's skin look so young, coz they don't stay under the sun all day, also they put SUNBLOCK. Sunblock always being misunderstood that it's for people who like pale skin, actually you will still get your tan if you choose a lower SPF sunblock. Sunblock can protect your skin structure by blocking out strong UVA and UVB. If you are a Mr. surfer, get the waterproof one.
OK, here is the main part for all the men, Shaving. Shaving balm is nescessary because when you shave, the blade just scratch through your face, if you scratch your hand, it goes white (aka. dry), and you do know that your face skin is more sensitive than your hand skin, don't ya? That's why it can hurt you when you shave.
Two shaving tips just for you amigo:
1. shaving skill: DO NOT pull your razor all the way down to the chin, I know you are so macho and so busy, but that can cut your face in any second (have you seen 'Face-Off'?). Do me a favor, shave it bit by bit.
2. shave after shower: This HELPS when shaving is so mothefucking hurt to you, because it softens your mustache as well as expand the pores.
Other tips for your macho skin: Drink more water is good too, 8 glasses per day if you can. Plus, good diet and good sleep help you acquire a better skin for sure. So don't be like me, staying up here so late just to watch the Wayne Brady show.
Now I can go to sleep... Good Night.
[[audio: Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty]]
I've come across so many male in my life, from strangers to a close one; young and old; straight and gay; tall and short; fat and thin... Most of them have a problematic perception about skin care, you didn't get it wrong, even gay men have a wrong concept about it. Why? because they are being so damn macho, think ignoring their skin is so kool and attractive that can score lots of chica/chico. 'Men don't use skin product, that's for chicks' is usually what I would heard after giving out a suggestion of skin care. Dude, I don't hate you as a macho man, but what kind of excuse is that? It doesn't even make sense.
I am not here to strike the masculinity and support feminism, since I'm not interested in this issue here. Help is what I wanna do, so listen up, having a good skin care won't make you become a homosexual/ a woman, but a better looking gentleman. I'm doing you a favor to help, if you don't give a shit coz you have big balls, I do you a favor to let you go on your lonely macho life. OK, I don't wanna go too harsh, coz I consider you, who reading this, are a good friend of mine.
Rashes, Acne problem, oily skin, big pores, skin peeling...etc. are most of the men skin problems. Why? coz you didn't clean your skin right, here are the general problem that you might have:
Rub your face - some girls do that too, but big mistake! rubbing your face will create big pores that cause oily face, blackheads and even wrinkles. Even using scrub cleanser, you don't rub! you use your finger tips to GENTLE massage it. (Gentle like moving your fingers on your face without seeing your face skin moving up and down dramatically)
Use water only - OK, you think water is pure, huh? think about those chemical in the water, why the government spent so much money on filtering water and suggest boiling water? By the way, you think water can really clean those dirt inside your skin pores? PH 5.5 doesn't mean it can clean your skin, it means that water doesn't dry your skin too much.
Using body soap - I know I know, there are millions of skin products in the shop, and busy man like you just can't be bother to look at them. But think about it, why are they so specific to have body soap and facial product? coz they are different! why do they have so many kind of cleansers? coz they are different! Now imagine using shampoo to clean your skin, you are basically doing this on your face now.
No toner, no cream - cleansing, toner and cream is the golden 3 steps of skin care, you did the first step, might no even in a proper way, and you totally neglect the 2nd as well as the 3rd steps, now stop whining your mom inherited you bad skin.
BASIC 3 STEPS OF SKIN CARE
I know you don't like to spend too much time on your face, but at least stick with these 3 steps, just THREE, take you only 3 mins! Here I help you to choose the right product easily.
Most of the men have oily face, I used to have oily face too. But I was wrong thinking I have oily type of skin, usually (esp cases in Australia) is because of DRY weather. Dry skin creates oil to moisturize itself, then oil becomes dirt, which your skin can get infected and form pimples/blackheads.
Step 1. Cleansing: To remove dirt from your face. I like to use nourishing cleanser in winter and deep skin cleanser in summer. If you don't know what product to choose, they have cleanser for men, start with it. If you wanna use Scrub cleanser, it is important to only use it 1-2 per week.
Step 2. Toner: To wipe off the remained dirt, to refine skin pores and to balance your skin tone (back to PH 5.5=water=purify). Skip it if you think it's not important at all, but I won't if I were you. bigger pores = bad oily skin = more dirt, so refining pores give you better skin. If you ar using a cheap cleansing product/ body soap, it could make your skin go dry, toner is to insert water inside your skin before you moisturize your skin by cream. Use non-alcohol toner please.
Step 3. Facial Cream: To moisturize your dry skin. This is a very important step that many men just literally omit it. Look, keep it simple, get the Nivea Men Cream, put it on every morning and before sleep. avoid eyes area (or you will get greasy spot). If you are more fuzzy and would like to take more time for this step, good on you, read the next paragragh, otherwise just skip it.
You may notice there're day cream and nite cream in the market. Day cream is usually to protect your from the sun while moisturizing your skin, and not too greasy in case it clogs the pores when you sweat. Night cream is to recover your skin's elasticity and firmness, it's more nourishing coz skin can absorb it better while you're asleep. My personally opinion - Don't get greasy cream, use something waterish but deeply moisturizing. Our skin needs water back in, not oil.
Don't say I didn't warn you. Sun is not really skin-friendly. Not that you shouldn't get some nice sunshine, but it can damage your skin structure (collagen breakdown) and dry out your skin. You think asian's skin look so young, coz they don't stay under the sun all day, also they put SUNBLOCK. Sunblock always being misunderstood that it's for people who like pale skin, actually you will still get your tan if you choose a lower SPF sunblock. Sunblock can protect your skin structure by blocking out strong UVA and UVB. If you are a Mr. surfer, get the waterproof one.
OK, here is the main part for all the men, Shaving. Shaving balm is nescessary because when you shave, the blade just scratch through your face, if you scratch your hand, it goes white (aka. dry), and you do know that your face skin is more sensitive than your hand skin, don't ya? That's why it can hurt you when you shave.
Two shaving tips just for you amigo:
1. shaving skill: DO NOT pull your razor all the way down to the chin, I know you are so macho and so busy, but that can cut your face in any second (have you seen 'Face-Off'?). Do me a favor, shave it bit by bit.
2. shave after shower: This HELPS when shaving is so mothefucking hurt to you, because it softens your mustache as well as expand the pores.
Other tips for your macho skin: Drink more water is good too, 8 glasses per day if you can. Plus, good diet and good sleep help you acquire a better skin for sure. So don't be like me, staying up here so late just to watch the Wayne Brady show.
Now I can go to sleep... Good Night.
[[audio: Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty]]
