Discover effective ways to care for men’s dry skin. In this post, I will show you how to prevent and repair moisture loss caused by environmental factors and aging.

What Causes Dry Skin of the Face?

Low humidity through cold weather, central heating, air conditioning, and excessive sun exposure are to blame for loss of skin moisture, as are hot showers and harsh ingredients in skincare products.

If you’re young and your skin is healthy, moisture loss is easily remedied, although it will probably go unnoticed.

But if your skin barrier is compromised through a condition such as dermatitis or psoriasis, or as a result of aging, dryness will be a chronic plight needing constant care. 

For those suffering from a skin condition, please follow the advice of your dermatologist. This post centers mostly around dry skin as a result of aging and periodic dryness through environmental factors.

Loss of Sebum

Sebum is a natural moisturizer that protects the skin while enabling it to retain water. For this reason, it is the part of the skin barrier with which we should be most concerned.

Unfortunately, we produce less sebum as we age, which can lead to transepidermal water loss if our skin care is inadequate.

This will also occur if you strip your skin of sebum by taking hot showers or using skincare products with harsh ingredients.

Why Your Skin Stings When Applying Moisturizer

If your skin begins to feel taut, it has lost too much moisture. Another indication is redness and itching.

The obvious thing to do is apply moisturizer, but this will only worsen the problem if you choose the wrong product.

A damaged skin barrier will be more sensitive to preservatives, fragrances, and other irritants, which will cause a stinging or burning sensation. You may even experience inflammation.

You’ll notice this mostly with light moisturizers that absorb quickly. If you continue with these in spite of irritations, your skin may bloat and eventually crack, making it vulnerable to bacteria and breakouts.

To remedy this, I use a cream containing ceramides, which are fats or lipids that keep the skin barrier intact. As a preventative measure in winter, I wear a serum with ceramides under my day and night creams.

Look into skincare products by CeraVe.

The Best Moisturizer to Care for Men’s Dry Skin

First off, do not to use moisturizers formulated for men. Intended to smell masculine and appear matte, they are mostly scented and too light-textured.

This is because many men still believe that such cosmetics are about vanity and unmanly behavior rather than good personal maintenance.

I use fragrance-free, unisex products.

The Right Texture

Whether you want to prevent or repair dry skin, you need a rich-textured cream that doesn’t absorb completely. The idea is not only to moisturize but also to protect and seal in moisture.

This is where men’s skin care becomes problematic, especially if the skin is dry; richer moisturizers leave the face too shiny for daytime use.

Therefore, make sure it is a day cream and not a night cream, and apply only a thin layer, which you should leave to absorb for at least 10 minutes. If your skin still appears shiny, blot with a tissue.

During winter, you may need to wear an extra barrier cream, which should be applied in the same way.

To enhance skin regeneration, always apply a night cream before going to bed.

Night creams are richer than day creams and don’t need a sun protection factor.

Urea

Skin that is prone to dryness may be lacking in hygroscopic substances, like urea.

A cream containing at least five percent urea can restore the skin’s moisture balance within just three days. After 14 days, even the roughest skin should feel smooth and supple again.

I use urea-based products for my face and body during the day, applying directly after my morning shower while my skin is still damp. This allows them to act as a sealant and plump the skin.

Almond Oil

Almond oil is renowned for its ability to repair and imitate the skin’s natural barrier.

It is the basis of my night cream, but if I’m particularly dry during the winter, I mix almond oil with classic Nivea cream, which I find to be even more effective.

If you’re acne-prone but suffer dryness due to topical medications, do this with jojoba oil. This is noncomedogenic, meaning it won’t clog pores or exacerbate the condition. The same goes for Nivea cream, believe it or not.

Slugging

At night, I also do what is called “slugging.” I apply either petroleum jelly or beef tallow balm over my night cream, which results in more intense hydration.

Do You Need Eye Cream?

The skin around the eyes is a little different to that of the rest of the face. It’s thinner and doesn’t have the same elasticity, which is why it is tends to wrinkle, crepe, and sag more easily.

But whether an extra cream is necessary for the eye area is controversial. It’s probably a good idea if you want to deal with a specific problem, like dark circles or puffiness, but adding a protective layer should be your main objective.

If you feel the need for an additional eye product, apply an appropriate eye serum beneath the cream you use on the rest of your face, which should be rich enough to protect and seal in moisture.

I personally do not use an extra product and still have fewer crow’s feet and creping than my peers—male and female. But this could be down to genetics.

Keeping Your Lips Moisturized

Regardless of skin type, dry or otherwise, lip care is essential for all men.

Because lips have no sebaceous glands and only a thin subcorneal layer, they’re very prone to dryness and cracking. This is why you need to protect them at all times.

For damaged lips, wear lip balm during the day to seal cracks and lock in moisture. Organic products with beeswax and castor oil work best.

To speed up the healing process, smother your lips with castor oil or petroleum jelly before going to bed.

No matter how tempting it may be, never pick or bite chapped lips.

Source: Pixabay

Shaving and Cleansing

There’s more to caring for dry skin than slapping on serums and creams, especially for men; we also have to shave our faces.

Shaving Dry Skin

Fragranced, soap-based shaving lubricants, such as gels, foams, and gels, will aggravate any skin problem. On the other hand, lathering up is the fun part of the shaving process.

Pre-shave oils solve the dilemma, acting as a barrier between the lubricant and your skin. But you don’t need to buy a product labeled as such. You can use the same almond or jojoba oil mentioned above to moisturize the face.

How to Use Pre-Shave Oil

1. Wet your face. I use cold water throughout my shave.
2. Massage the oil into the beard area.
3. Apply your shaving lubricant.
4. Shave as usual, but keep the razor wet at all times.
5. Rinse your face.

I always shower directly afterward to ensure that every trace of shaving soap is removed.

Cleansing Dry Skin

Cleanse your face mornings and evenings, but be gentle. It’s important to preserve your skin’s natural barrier.

In the morning, I shower cold using a superfatted curd soap on my face, body, and head. I don’t have much in the way of hair, but it has a great effect on my mustache, keeping it thick and healthy-looking.

If you don’t like the idea of soap, I previously used a soap-free, pH-neutral cleansing lotion, but it didn’t lather well in cold water.

In the evening, I cleanse with micellar water, which can be used by both sexes regardless of how it is marketed. It’s fast and thorough, which is ideal when we’re tired.

But if my skin is particularly dry, I cleanse with oil and water—the same almond or jojoba oil you use for moisturizing and shaving.

How to Cleanse with Oil and Water

1. Take two teaspoons of almond or jojoba oil and massage over your face and neck.
2. Add a little lukewarm water and work up to an emulsion. This dissolves all grime, including any cosmetic you may have used to cover broken capillaries or pimples, for example.
3. Rinse thoroughly.
4. Dry your face.
5. Apply your moisturizing product.

Source: pixabay

Exfoliating Dry Skin

Because they’re likely to make things worse, scrubs and peels are not a good idea if your skin is rough and/or sore. Exfoliate only if there is no discomfort.

The Best Facial Scrub

The best facial scrub, no matter what your skin type, is the sort that contains jojoba beads rather than solid granules. Jojoba beads are substantial enough to slough off dead cells but too soft to cause damage.

Use no more than once a week.

Chemical Peels

Alternatively, try a chemical exfoliator.

About once every two or three weeks, I use The Ordinary’s AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution, the basis of which is alpha and beta hydroxy acids.

Dry Skin Under Your Beard or Mustache

Beards and mustaches are very good at protecting against the elements. But the skin beneath them could still become dry through harsh or inappropriate skincare products, the use of which you should discontinue.

You can get rid of flakiness with a weekly facial scrub (see above) and daily brushing with a beard brush; this could be made with boar or sisal bristles.

There is no need to buy a special beard oil. I massage non-greasy argan oil into my mustache by day, and almond oil at night. Vitamin E oil is another well-publicized possibility in spite of its being controversial.

If flaking and/or itching is caused by a skin condition or dandruff, consult a dermatologist

Drink Plenty

This, too, is controversial. Experts cannot agree on whether drinking four pints of water a day is really necessary, nor if it helps to retain a healthy moisture balance in the skin.

I use common sense: no more than two cups of unsweetened black coffee a day, zero alcohol, and plain water or unsweetened herb tea whenever I feel thirsty.

© 2024, J. Richardson. All rights reserved.