by Bruce Hollingdrake on July 30, 2010
More and more men are taking better care of their skin. It wasn’t that long ago that buying male exfoliating products was akin to sneaking into the adult section of the video store. A lot of guys did it but it wasn’t done in front of a crowd. Times they are a changin’ and the men’s section of the pharmacy keeps getting larger. There is now quite a large selection of moisturizers, exfoliating products, shaving creams etc…so much so that it can be hard to choose one.
If you’re a typical guy and just want to know which one I use, skipping all the details – it is Biotherm Homme – and I think it works great, but it’s pricey. Now, how about some details on why you should add an exfoliator to your arsenal of anti aging products.
First – what the hell is exfoliating? You can think of it like pruning a shrub (something else I did this afternoon). At times you need to get in there and prune away all the dead material so that the shrub has room for new growth coming in. Same thing with your face. Exfoliating is scrubbing away the dead skin and other junk that gets caked on your face. I would suggest doing this about once a week.
Is there a wrong way to do it? Well the main thing is to not over do it. Like I said, maybe once or twice a week – not every day and you also want to not be too rough on your face. Wash your face first then do the exfoliating. Doing it too aggressively could damage the healthy skin, you just want to scrub off the junk – so take it easy.
Don’t forget to add or two staple ingredients for a great, young looking face. We repeat these two things over and over – one of our Mantras – lots of rest/sleep and lots of water. The two keys that are also the easiest to do.
Back to the exfoliating products, the one I mentioned at the begining Biotherm Homme I find works very well. It costs about $30.00 here in Canada. Pricey but it should last quite a while as it is not used every day. I’ll put an amazon link down at the bottom in case you’d rather order it online.
How about some other exfoliating products – well you could take some sand and mix it up with a touch of shampoo…just kidding. There are a lot on the market and I may try a less expensive one next time. One cheap idea if you have a strict budget is pumice soap. This stuff has some little granules in it that give your face a good scrub but it’s a little old fashioned and doesn’t do the job as well and purpose made exfoliating products. Of course all the big companies have their own line now. Addidas, Nivea, O’Real. If you’re not too shy just ask the girl at the drugstore and if you are a little shy – try the stuff below…
by Bruce Hollingdrake on July 26, 2010
We are going to start a health series here at The Big Desk. Aging gracefully has for a few years now been a preoccupation of mine. Like many men my age I’ve been on a hunt for some of the best anti aging products that I could find. There are so many products that have come onto the market in the past few years that’s it is getting quite complicated to sift through them all. We’ll select a handful of the best anti aging products and tell you why you should consider using them.
There has never been a time like this for men. A time when we can start taking strides about looking our best, aging gracefully and ask a sales rep in a pharmacie about a wrinkle cream without sounding ‘womanly’. The best anti aging products are now easier to find, have come down in price and is being more frequently and openly (thanks to blogs and men’s web sites) discussed. I’m not too shy to say that I’m concerned about wrinkles and looking like old show leather. This article won’t concern hair (as I have none) but we will discuss options to include in your lifestyle other than the latest creams. Water and sleep for example are probably the two key elements that will pull your strategy together. Without these two lynch-pins the rest of your efforts will not get you the best results – we’ll explain why.
There has been a lot of study over the past decade and it all seems to point to a collection of easy to implement strategies, some products and some lifestyle related. The best anti aging products are simply moisturizers, exfoliating products and a water filter while the lifestyle items are stress management, sleep, exercise, water/good food/wine consumption. We’ll cover all of these in more detail.
Moisturizers for Men
There are two moisturizers that I keep reading about, it seems every time there is a Top 10 list of moisturizers these products keep making the grade. The first is MenScience Advanced face lotion which is non-oily, absorbs into the skin quickly, is made from the best ingredients and as mentioned – is on just about every list I’ve seen. The next is Maxwell’s Apothecary. They’ve been around since 1911 and really know their stuff. Never animal tested, only natural ingredients, custom designed for men – when looking for the best anti aging products, Maxwell’s could practically be a one stop solution.
Exfoliating
It’s not just a female thing. It’s important to exfoliate if you want to look your best. Exfoliating is simply removing dead skin from your face. The product you will use has a bit of grit in it to help rub off the skin and trust me – it feels great. A couple products we can easily recommend are Nivea and Clinique, both have a terrific line of men’s face care products. They aren’t exactly cheap but you do not need to do this every day, I only exfoliate a couple times a week. Give it a try, you’ll see an immediate improvement.
Pur or Brita On-Tap Filter
The last of our best anti aging products is a water filter. Water and sleep along with a good diet are far more important than any creams of exfoliators you’ll use. You need to have clean water. There are so many contaminates in the water today and it is so easy to improve this situation. An inexpensive on tap purifier will be a trouble free way of consuming cleaner water everyday. If you’ve ever read a book by Andrew Weil you’ll know how important this step is. Trust us – clean your water.
Sleep
Your body needs to be at it’s optimum if you want to be keeping as young and fit as you can. Sleeping well keeps all of your hormones in balance. Balance is really what we’re after. When you short change your sleep then all of your systems get out of whack. It’s like walking uphill all day long. Like any athlete, you want to get an edge where you can find it. Sleeping at least 7 hours a night will give you an edge in the fight against aging quickly.
Wine Consumption
Resveratrol – If you don’t know about this stuff you soon will. Over the past few years resveratrol has been shown in studies to be about the most potent chemical compound for fighting a pile of aging related diseases. The risk of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s has been reduced but this can be tricky to prove. One thing that seems easier to digest is its effects on the heart. Resveratrol is found primarily in red wine and the French drink the stuff more than anyone else. Guess who has amongst the lowest rates of heart ailments and obesety – the French. Many are calling it an anti aging wonder drug. More studies are being done but some already (like Harvard) are proving the positive effects of this stuff. And it shows little to no side effects. Of course we’re not recommending you have 2 bottles of wine a night but id you enjoy the stuff try to make it a regular part of your diet. Some pills and supplements are coming to market but I would wait until more studies are done on these. Stick to the natural stuff when you can.
