Men's Skincare : Scoring in your T-Zone

   Id have too say the lable  Metrosexual . Hit the lexicon hardcore about 5 years ago. It was made famous by the advent of men taking part in womens primping rituals . Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran (pictured here ) always seemed ahead of this curve way before its popularity , Ryan Seacrest and Bands like My Chemical Romance really seemed to set the trend a blaze . Men were wearing Guyliner on there eyes , getting spa treatments . Women started to notice this and liked there nice smelling well groomed men.(eyeliner on a man , makes me swoon) 

   Still the Metro male was confined to celebrities , hipsters , rockstars ,business men etc . Though in middle america the was a underground movement of men . Getting Spa treatments and using product in there hair. It was unspoken for a long time until now.The mens skincare and bodycare market has exploded in the last two years . Now instead of sending there lady in there life on a covert mission to the Clinique counter . They can belly up to the check out at any Drug or Grocery store .So now you have all these options so here are the simple facts about your skin . For the "GI JOE was not a doll, he's and action figure " faction .

Men's Skin Is Different From a Womens

• Thicker in texture , due to shaving  .
• Oiler with larger pores
• More resistant to sun
• Less prone to wrinkles

Yes this is all very nice , you still have to take care of your skin . So I'm going to give you a basic routine , I used to give to my male skincare clients.

Skin Type : You do indeed have a skin type . What is it ? I would say go to an esthetician and get a proper skin typing , if that isnt possible , here is a simple way to find out. This isnt acurate but consider it a close estimate

T-Zone : The center area of your face.coresponding to the forehead, nose and chin .Take your fingers and swipe them across the T-Zone area's make sure your hands are dry and clean. How do they feel to you Oily will feel slightly moist, it will feel oily  . Dry will feel flaky and rough . Normal will feel soft not moist . What I would say is go with your gut .

• Oily : If your prone to breakouts . If your T-Zone  feels oily most . Then type yourself as oily

• Combination : You feel two types or all three in your T-Zone .

• Normal : Skin feels soft and smooth

Products
 I loved Clinique 3 Step for men. The packaging is man friendly , the steps are easy . What I did for this post is went to the drug store . Asked men what they liked and from that impropt reasearch and years of calls from my friends husbands to help them. I compiled this basic regime.

Clensing ( washing your face ) 
Cleansers : Cethaphil , Phisoderm,

• Splash warm water on your face
• Dispense product on your palm
• With your finger tips , use upward and outward motions to apply product
• When you come to beard line , apply the product in direction of hair growth
• Once you scrubed your face . rinse it away with warm water
• Take a towel and pat face dry

Toner : Is debated in the beauty industry, I personally think it does a great job getting rid of excess dirt and restoring PH balance in your skin. If you want to skip it , Ill leave it up to you .
Burts Bee's Toner ,witch hazel ,

• Wet a cotton ball with warm water
• apply toner to cotton ball
• Using upward and outward motions apply above , beard line
• Avoid eye contact
• Apply in beard area in direction of hair growth

Exfoliate : This is extremly important , you only have to do it 2x's a week. Since you shave it is a form of exfoliation your doing it already . Exfoliation is extremly important if you suffer from Pseudofollicultis ( Razor Bumps ) This is caused by improper shaving . when you exfoliate it keeps the foliclels open . So it will keep your face from feeling tight and tender .
St Ives Apricot Scrub ,

• wet your face with warm water
• Take a quarter size amout of product
• apply it too yout finger tips
• in circle motions apply the exfoliant
• avoid eye area
• Take a warm wash cloth and remove the product
• Rinse face with warm water to get rid of grains
• On days you exfoliated do toner after

Moisturize : Very important , even if you have oily skin or acne .What happens is the sebaceous gland (gland that secrets oil and keep skin protected) sees that your skin is dry , goes in too panic mode producing more oil to protect your skin. I know if your skin is oily you want to dry it out . Its very important to moiturize . It keeps the gland at bay and my reduce your break outs or oily feeling.
Dispense product on your palm
Loreal's Mens Expert Hyra Power Infigurating moisturizer, Copertone light facial sunblock spf 30

• With your finger tips , use upward and outward motions to apply product

• When you come to beard line , apply the product in direction of hair growth

So this helps you get started or if you have gone pro a little brush up for you . If you have any questions or tips please send them to velvetbanana@gmail.com



Pop Trash Beauty by Tracey J Whitney is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Based on a work at poptrashbeauty.wordpress.com.