Health: Proper Skin Care for Men Can Help You Look, Feel Younger after Divorce
A typical guy will shave more than 20,000 times during his lifetime. For decades, men have had many choices when it comes to the products they can use to achieve a close, razor burn-free shave. What many guys don’t realize is that the majority of the shaving products sold in supermarkets may include ingredients, like alcohol, which damage and dry out skin.
If you’re recently divorced and looking for new love, you may want to look and feel younger, plus have smoother and healthier-looking skin. Because more men are taking a keen interest in using better quality shaving products, several companies, including Zirh, The Art of Shaving and Truefitt & Hill, now specialize in offering top-quality shaving products formulated exclusively for men. These products include premium shaving creams, as well as perfectly balanced, ergonomic shaver handles.
Today, getting the perfect shave at home takes just minutes. If you begin using better quality shaving products, within a few short weeks, you’ll notice vast improvements to your skin. Plus, recurring problems, such as razor burn and ingrown hairs, will be eliminated.
THE PERFECT SHAVE
According to the master barbers at Truefitt & Hill, the perfect shave can be achieved in three steps:
Step 1: Pre-Shave Preparation.
The best time to shave is during or after a hot shower, when your skin’s pores are clean and open, plus your whiskers are softer. This allows for the closest shave. If a hot shower isn’t possible, soak a towel in hot water, than place it on your face for several minutes prior to shaving. Also, before shaving, apply a small amount of quality pre-shave oil to your skin.The oil will protect your skin from the harshness of the blade. Massage the oil around where you’ll be shaving. Next, apply shaving cream, foam or gel. During this step (when using shaving cream or foam), it’s important to work up a good lather. This can be done using your fingers, or you can use a badger hair shaving brush to create an even lather. A quality shaving brush will cost $50 to $200, but can last for decades.
Step 2: Shaving with a Manual Razor.
If you’re using a manual razor (such as Gillette’s five-blade Fusion razor), make sure you’re using a new, clean blade cartridge in order to get the closest shave, without unnecessarily damaging your skin. Replace your razor blade cartridge as recommended by the manufacturer. Gillette’s blades have a color-changing strip on the cartridges that let you know when it needs to be replaced.When you begin shaving, use short, smooth strokes that follow the grain of your whiskers. Shaving against the grain will cause razor burn and irritation. There’s no need to press the blade into your skin as you shave.
Step 3: Apply After Shave.
To maintain youthful skin, apply cold water to your face immediately after shaving. You can either splash cold water onto your face, or hold a wet washcloth up to your face that has been dipped in clean, cold water. Doing this removes excess shaving cream and closes the pores of your skin. It also helps to heal tiny cuts on your face that have been created from shaving. After drying your face, immediately apply quality aftershave balm. This, too, will help heal cuts, plus moisturize your skin and help it look younger and healthier over time. Once the aftershave dries (allow two to three minutes), many men opt to use a separate moisturizer on their entire face and neck areas. Your shaving balm should not contain alcohol or any ingredients that will dry out or burn your skin. Look for ingredients like aloe, plus natural extracts and oils, which have healing properties.
DON’T FORGET THE RAZOR
The latest generation of five blade disposable razors from Gillette include the manual Fusion and the battery-powered Fusion Power Phantom, which uses micro pulses to massage the skin as you’re shaving. These disposable razors (priced under $20 each) come with reusable, plastic, ergonomic handles. Both The Art of Shaving and Truefitt & Hill, however, offer enhanced shaver handles with patented designs. These non-disposable shaver handles work with Gillette’s Mach3, Fusion or Fusion Power Phantom blade cartridges, and range in price from $100 to $150 each.
The Art of Shaving’s new Fusion Chrome Collection of razor handles blend style and performance. Handcrafted and constructed from polished chrome, these shavers offer a sleek and contemporary design which are perfectly balanced, with a micro-textured grip surface. The Fusion Chrome Power Razor ($150) is waterproof, so it can be used in the shower, and even has a built in spotlight so you can see exactly where you’re shaving. By providing the same micro pulses as the Gillette Power Phantom, the Fusion Chrome Power Razor reduces friction on your skin and enhances razor glide.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT SHAVING PRODUCTS
Everyone has a slightly different skin type, such as dry skin, oily skin or combination skin. Choose skin care and shaving products formulated for your specific skin type. Also, look carefully at the ingredients used to manufacture the products. Pollution and exposure to sun does damage to your skin. Using skin care products can help counteract that damage and offer added protection, explained Brian Robinson, president of Zirh, which offers a quality line of men’s shaving and skin care products.
If someone uses Zirh skin care products regularly, they can expect a nicer, healthier glow to their skin. “Our products focus on exfoliating the skin, which means getting rid of the dead skin cells on the surface, allowing for healthier looking skin to show,” added Robinson.
Before using any skin care products, take a piece of clear tape and put it on your face for a few seconds, then remove it. You’ll see dirt, oil and dead skin cells from your face sticking to the tape. Removing dirt, oil and dead skin cells is what exfoliation is all about. If you do this test again after using Zirh’s Clean, Correct and Protect products, you’ll discover that the tape will be totally clean when you remove it. “Our men’s skin care products also help control the skins pH levels, to better control problems resulting from dryness or oily skin,” said Robinson.
For shaving, Zirh offers its Prepare (pre-shave oil), Shave Cream, Shave Foam or Shave Gel, as well as its Soothe aftershave. For daily skin care, Zirh offers a three-step program, which includes using its Clean, Correct and Protect products. Additional products, such as Zirh’s Scrub, can help with twice weekly exfoliation, while the Restore under-eye product will help reduce dark circles and puffiness.
All of the quality shaving and skin care products offered by Zirh, The Art of Shaving and Truefitt & Hill use only quality ingredients that are hypoallergenic. What’s purposefully missing is synthetic perfumes and other unnatural ingredients. Unscented products are available (which is what guys typically prefer), however, a line of scented products is also available from these companies. The masculine scents are created using natural oils, such as lavender, lemon and sandalwood, and often eliminate the need to apply cologne.
According to The Art of Shaving’s cofounder, Myriam Zaoui, We formulate our products using high quality botanical ingredients and 100 percent pure essential oils. “These ingredients provide therapeutic properties to the skin and mean that razor burn and ingrown hairs are avoided, while nicks and cuts are prevented and healed. We are committed to eliminating even a trace of alcohol, synthetic dyes, synthetic fragrances or other ingredients that can be harmful when absorbed into the skin. I’m committed to creating products that promote health and wellbeing.”
The Art of Shaving (which has about 40 retail stores nationwide), as well as Truefitt & Hill (which has retail locations in London, Las Vegas, Toronto and Chicago), each offer several different product lines (scented and unscented) containing pre-shave oil, shaving cream and after-shave balm. Zirh’s shaving and men’s skin care products are sold through upscale major department stores. All three companies have web sites from which its products can be ordered directly.
“Spending just three to five minutes each day properly caring for your skin will make a dramatic difference in your skin’s appearance in as little as two to three weeks. For someone who is first starting to use these types of products, I suggest trying a single product line for several weeks to determine what works best for you. Go to a store and have a specialist demonstrate how the products work. Also, have the salesperson explain what each product does,” said Robinson. “Avoid mixing and matching products from different manufactures, because you don’t know how the ingredients will interact.”
Finally, using the best skin care and shaving products will help your skin, but in conjunction with these products, drink plenty of water, maintain a healthy diet, take vitamins, and avoid excessive exposure to sunlight without proper protection.
