The 10 most common skincare questions from men (with short answers and data)
THE QUICK ANSWER
Looking after your face takes about a minute a day and starts with two products: a gentle face cleanser and a moisturizer. If you'll be out in the sun during the day, add sunscreen.
When you'll see it: hydration, the same day. Texture and shine, in about 4 weeks, which is how long the top layer of your skin takes to renew itself. Fine lines, from around 12 weeks and with actives like retinol.
Does it have to be "for men"? Not necessarily. Men's skin is, on average, oilier and thicker, and it gets shaved, so it does better with light textures that don't leave it greasy. Below are the 10 questions you ask us most, each with a short answer and the data behind it.
How they break the ice, how they slide into our DMs, what they write the first time... We're not showing off or bragging about the super likes people waste on us. It's just that we've got a few dozen DMs under our belt and the same topics keep coming up. Out of pure curiosity (we're nosy like that), want to know what we get asked most about creams?
HERE THEY ARE:
The 10 most common questions men ask about skincare
IN THIS ARTICLE
- 1. Why should I take care of my face?
- 2. Will I see any changes?
- 3. Isn't it complicated and time-consuming?
- 4. Aren't supermarket creams good enough?
- 5. Do I really need products made for men?
- 6. Other brands with actives did nothing for me. Why?
- 7. What makes you different?
- 8. What are the basic products?
- 9. How do I fight oily skin without drying it out?
- 10. How do I prevent and treat wrinkles and dark circles?
- More questions: order, age, sunscreen, beard…
For beginners, lazy ones and the undecided
1. Why should I take care of my face?
Because a good-looking face is waaaay easier to get, and more attractive, than killer abs or a knockout personality. Do you have to "put in the work"? Well, yes. Same as when you decide to eat healthy, sleep more on weeknights or hit the gym. But it's much more #easypeasy and a lot more rewarding in the mirror.
The data
The skin on your face is a barrier: it keeps water in and irritants out. Taking care of it comes down to three things: cleanse it without drying it out, give it water with a moisturizer and protect it from the sun.
The sun matters more than you'd think. A study of 298 fair-skinned women, comparing those who got a lot of sun with those who avoided it, attributed around 80% of the visible signs of facial aging to UV rays. It was done on women, but the mechanism is the same in a man's skin.
And you don't need to wait for summer. In much of Europe, the midday UV index already reaches moderate or high levels in spring, even when it doesn't feel hot: infrared is what you feel as heat, ultraviolet is what does the damage.
Ideally: sunscreen all year round, every day, and reapplied. The realistic minimum: a cream with sun protection that doesn't feel greasy whenever you've got plans in the sun.
2. Will I see any changes?
If you use effective ingredients, at the concentrations tested in clinical studies and consistently… your skin will change and look better: younger, fitter, hotter, healthier, with fewer wrinkles, less puffiness and fewer breakouts or dry patches. Because science WORKS.
The data: how long a cream takes to work
It depends on what you want to change. The top layer of your skin renews itself roughly every 4 weeks (more slowly as you get older), so almost nothing can be judged before a month.
| What changes | When you'll see it | With what |
|---|---|---|
| Tightness and dryness | The same day | Moisturizer with humectants (hyaluronic acid, glycerin) |
| Shine | From the first use, for as long as the cream lasts on your skin | Mattifying moisturizer (silica, nylon-12) |
| Blackheads | Less visible within a few days. Keeping it that way is down to consistency | Salicylic acid exfoliant, twice a week |
| Texture and breakouts | 4 to 8 weeks | Daily cleansing and a salicylic acid exfoliant |
| Fine lines and expression lines | From 12 weeks | Retinol at night, consistently |
If you've been using a cream for a month and see nothing, before you bin it read why it might not be working.
3. Isn't all this hassle complicated and time-consuming?
We're asking for less time than your toothbrush, less commitment than your dentist and less focus than making your morning espresso. 30 seconds in the morning (tops), 30 seconds at night. Done.
The data: the minimum routine, timed
A basic men's skincare routine is two steps in the morning and two at night. One minute a day in total.
| When | What you do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Morning | Cleanser in the shower and moisturizer. If you'll be in the sun, make sure the cream has sunscreen or put some on top. | 30 seconds |
| Night | Cleanser and cream. When you level up, this is where your treatment (retinol) goes. | 30 seconds |
The order, if you use more than one product: lightest to richest. Cleanser first, then eye cream or treatment, then moisturizer and, during the day, sunscreen always goes last.
4. Aren't supermarket creams good enough?
They're good enough… for "supermarket" results. If you've got a friend who's a pharmacist, dermatologist, cosmetic chemist or beautician, ask them where they buy their creams and why. Supermarket creams usually use cheaper ingredients at low concentrations. Otherwise they couldn't hit those prices.
The data: how to tell what's in a cream (wherever you buy it)
Price alone tells you nothing. What matters is which active it has, at what concentration and in what formula.
- Read the ingredient list (INCI). In the European Union, ingredients are listed from most to least abundant down to 1%. Below 1% they can appear in any order (Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, Article 19).
- The order is a guide, not a verdict. Some actives work at small doses: retinol has a legal limit of 0.3% in face creams in the EU. What gives a cream away is a brand that won't tell you the concentration.
- You don't need to spend a fortune to moisturize. A simple cream with glycerin hydrates. The difference shows in treatment actives (retinol, niacinamide, vitamin C), which need a minimum concentration and cost more to formulate.
- Check how long it lasts once opened, too. Creams don't work like yogurt. On the pack there's a little drawing of an open jar with a number and an M. It's called the PAO, and the M stands for the months it stays in good condition after you open it. Handsomefyer, for example, says 6M: six months. If it changes smell, color or texture before then, bin it.
To read labels without getting fooled: the beauty-ad words that mean nothing and our A to Z ingredient dictionary.
For those who want a cream... but aren't sure about ours
5. But do I really need products made specifically for men?
Get the product you like best and find easiest to keep buying. Ours are designed for skin that gets shaved, that grows a beard, that tends to get shiny and oily, thick skin with enlarged pores and built-up layers of keratinocytes. If, on top of that, you like good smells, citrusy without being sickly, and light textures that feel like splashing on water, give us a shot.
The data: how men's skin is different
A review of 57 studies comparing men's and women's skin found that, on average, men have:
- More sebum. Hence the shine and more visible pores.
- More thickness. Men's skin is thicker and has more collagen at every age.
- More water loss through the skin, even when it looks shiny.
- A slightly more acidic pH than women's skin.
Add shaving, which irritates the top layer several times a week.
In practice: you don't need the bottle to say "for men". You need a light texture that doesn't add oil and a formula that won't irritate skin that gets shaved. If a "women's" cream does that, it works just the same.
6. I've tried other brands that claimed to have active ingredients and they did nothing for me... why would yours work?
My friend, it's like love or your favorite pizza... you've got no choice but to keep trying until you find the one. We're not the only brand out there using active ingredients at the right concentrations, but 3 things set us apart: our textures, our scents and our customer service... which talks to you straight, no beating around the bush. Like your best friend over a couple of beers. Sugarcoats it when needed and also tells you what you should do to level up, no excuses.
The data: 5 reasons a cream "with actives" did nothing for you
- You didn't give it enough time. Less than 4 weeks for texture or 12 for wrinkles isn't a test.
- The active was there for show. It's on the label, but at a concentration nobody tells you.
- You used it every other day, whenever you remembered. Consistency matters more than the brand.
- It wasn't for your skin. A rich cream made for dry skin on oily skin ends in shine and breakouts.
- You asked it for something it can't do. A cosmetic improves how your skin looks. Deep wrinkles, acne with painful spots or marks that change are a job for a dermatologist.
We go through it properly in why isn't that cream working for me?
7. But there are other brands that also say they're designed for men's skin. What makes you different?
We're anything but objective, but we've got over 50,000 satisfied guys and more than 4 years OBSESSED with asking and interviewing dozens of men every week so they can tell us first-hand about their little traumas, needs, lifestyle... and we've worn our own faces out testing everything out there to make it better. We did the dirty work so all you have to do is enjoy the result.
For the ones going all in 😏
8. What are the basic products I should have in my men's grooming arsenal?
Let's start with the MEGA basics. To begin with, you need a gentle face cleanser to remove dirt, excess oil and the regrets of the day. Then, a good face moisturizer. Once you've got that down… we level up.
The data: what goes in each level
A man needs two basic skincare products: a cleanser and a moisturizer. Everything else gets added only once those two are a habit.
| Level | Product | What it's for | From Siwon |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Mega basics | Gentle face cleanser | Removing oil, sweat and dirt without leaving skin tight | Splash Foam Party, a foam you use in the shower |
| 1 · Mega basics | Moisturizer | Giving skin water and, if you get shiny, mattifying | Dragon Shot, anti-shine water cream |
| 2 · Daytime in the sun | Face sunscreen | Protecting skin from the sun, the external factor behind most wrinkles and dark spots | Handsomefyer Sun, all-in-one with broad-spectrum SPF 50 |
| 3 · Level up | Eye cream | Dark circles, puffiness and crow's feet | Banzeye |
| 3 · Level up | Night cream with retinol | Fine lines and expression lines | Wow Young, cream-gel with 0.3% retinol |
| 3 · Level up | Exfoliant, twice a week | Clogged pores and blackheads | Coffee Crush (currently out of stock) |
Want it ready-made? Check out our men's skincare kits and packs.
9. How can I fight oily skin without drying it out too much?
Back to the mega basics: cleanse without drying and moisturize. I don't care if you have sensitive skin: you wash it. I couldn't care less if you have oily skin: you moisturize it. Grab a gentle face cleanser like this one and an oil-free water-cream moisturizer like this one, and forget about it. Bonus round? Add oil-regulating actives like the salicylic acid in our Coffee Crush (currently out of stock).
The data
Oily skin needs moisturizing too. Sebum is oil and hydration is water: they run on separate tracks, so you can have a shiny forehead and dehydrated skin at the same time.
And scrubbing harder doesn't switch the gland off: sebum production depends mostly on hormones. Washing twice a day with a gentle cleanser is more than enough.
What about blackheads on the nose? They're pores filled with sebum and dead cells that turn dark when exposed to air. Squeezing them inflames the pore and leaves a mark. What works is salicylic acid (no, not the one in aspirin): it dissolves in oil, gets into the pore and clears it. Twice a week, on wet skin.
10. What's the best way to prevent and treat wrinkles, expression lines and dark circles?
On the surface, hydrated skin looks smoother, plumper, firmer and less wrinkled. So don't leave the house without putting on a good moisturizer. But the real game is stimulating collagen production which, in the factory that is your skin, starts slowing down from your 20s. You prevent that with sunscreen and antioxidants. You fight it with vitamin A and its derivatives (like retinol) and peptides (like the ones in this eye cream).
The data: what prevents and what treats
Preventing and treating are two different jobs, and each one has its product.
So how does an eye cream work? It does two things. One is instant and temporary: it visibly blurs dark circles, puffiness and crow's feet (the flash effect). The other is slow: it contains actives that deliver results with continued use. In Banzeye those are peptides, caffeine, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and ginkgo.
| Goal | What works | The fine print |
|---|---|---|
| Prevent wrinkles and dark spots | Sunscreen every day. In a study of 903 adults followed for four and a half years, those who used it daily showed 24% less skin aging than those who used it whenever they remembered. | It has to be broad-spectrum and actually used every day there's sun. |
| Back up your prevention | Antioxidants during the day, like vitamin C or vitamin E. | They go with sunscreen. They don't replace it. |
| Treat fine lines | Retinol at night. The EU caps it at 0.3% in face creams. | Results from 12 weeks. It can irritate at first: start slowly. |
| Dark circles, puffiness and crow's feet | An eye cream with peptides and caffeine, made for skin that's thinner than on the rest of your face. | It depends on the type of dark circles. Genetic ones, or those caused by bone structure, won't go away with a cream. |
| Deep wrinkles | Aesthetic medicine, with a doctor. | No cream does this. Any cream that promises it is lying. |
No further questions, Your Honor
There you go, boss.
I bet you've had a few of these too (or have one right now). You're not alone. There's a whole army of us who've felt lost at some point. You might end up buying from us, you might not, but when in doubt... ask 😉
P.S.: this week's post is brought to you by our Morning Glory Pack. It's got the essentials for a high-energy morning, zero shine and the urge to take on the world with your brand-new face. We have no proof you'll go crazy for it… but no doubts either. (It's currently out of stock. In the meantime, the Face Shot Pack has its two mega basics: foaming cleanser and anti-shine moisturizer.)
€49.99
Face Shot Pack
The two basics from questions 8 and 9 in one pack: foaming face cleanser and anti-shine water-cream moisturizer.
- Splash Foam Party + Dragon Shot
- The cleanser goes in the shower with you
- Hydrates without shine
- Bought separately: €53.98
€36.99
Handsomefyer Sun
All-in-one cream for sunny days: moisturizes, evens out skin tone and protects, in a single step.
- Broad-spectrum SPF 50, UVA + UVB
- Minimizes pores and evens out skin tone
- Moisturizer and sunscreen in one
- Matte finish
€54.99
Wow Young
Night cream-gel with retinol for when the basics are a habit and you want to go after wrinkles.
- 0.3% retinol, the EU legal maximum
- Fine lines and expression lines
- Helps with breakouts
- Night use only
More questions that land in our DMs
What order should I apply skincare products in?
Lightest to richest. Morning: cleanser, eye cream if you use one, moisturizer and, last, sunscreen. Night: cleanser, treatment (retinol) and moisturizer if you need it. If your day cream already has sunscreen, that's one step less.
How long does a cream last once opened?
Whatever the PAO symbol on the pack says: an open jar with a number and an M, which is the number of months it stays in good condition after opening. 6M means 6 months (that's what Handsomefyer has) and 12M means 12. In the European Union this symbol is mandatory on cosmetics that last more than 30 months unopened; the rest carry a best-before date. If the cream changes smell, color or texture before then, throw it out.
How do I get rid of blackheads on my nose?
Don't squeeze them. Wash your face morning and night with a gentle cleanser and, twice a week, use a salicylic acid exfoliant on wet skin: it dissolves in oil and clears the pore. They'll be less visible within a few days. The pore fills up again, so what counts is sticking with the habit.
At what age should men start taking care of their skin?
There's no official age. Cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen make sense from the moment you start shaving. Anti-wrinkle treatments like retinol usually come in when the first lines appear, for many guys in their late 20s or 30s.
Do I need to wear sunscreen every day?
Whenever you spend time outdoors, including in winter and on cloudy days, because UVA rays go through clouds. It's the step with the most evidence for preventing wrinkles and dark spots: in a four-and-a-half-year study, daily use was linked to 24% less skin aging.
Can I use my girlfriend's moisturizer?
Yes, if it works for you. Skin doesn't read labels. Men's skin tends to be oilier, so a very rich cream can leave you shiny. If it's light and doesn't sting after shaving, go for it.
Is natural skincare better?
Not by definition. Whether an ingredient comes from a plant or a lab doesn't tell you if it's safe or if it works: the dose and the studies do. Essential oils, for example, are natural and a common cause of allergies. We get into it in the unnatural side of natural cosmetics.
Why does my moisturizer make me break out?
It's almost always the texture: a rich cream made for dry skin on oily skin. Switch to a non-comedogenic gel or water cream and give it 3 to 4 weeks. If the spots hurt or don't improve, see a dermatologist.
How do I take care of my skin if I have a beard?
The same way, just get down to the skin. Wash your beard with your face cleanser, dry it well and work the moisturizer in with your fingers down to the skin underneath, which dries out too. Light textures are best, so the hair doesn't feel sticky.
Keep reading
- Cleansers: wax on, wax off: how to choose a face cleanser.
- Oily skin in men: why your forehead shines and which cream to use.
- Matte or glow finish: which one suits your face.
- Retinol for men: the no-nonsense guide.
- Why isn't that cream working for me?
Your question isn't here?
Slide into our DMs and we'll answer you straight. And if you'd rather we tell you where to start based on your skin, the quiz takes a minute.
Siwon
We do cool right!
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