Why Use a Men’s Moisturizer Regularly?
Skincare is something that’s marketed almost exclusively to women, which is something that fundamentally makes no sense. Everyone has skin, and everyone’s skin needs certain things to maintain its health. Men are often under-equipped with skincare knowledge because advertising leads them to believe that it isn’t as necessary for them. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Moisturizer is essential for men. So are cleansers, serum, and sunscreen. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and it often takes a lot of abuse. Taking care of your skin will improve the way you look, but more importantly, it will help promote your skin’s health.
What Does a Moisturizer Do?
Moisturizer can do a lot of different things, depending on its formula and ingredients. Most of the time, moisturizer is designed to provide hydration and protection to the skin.
SPF moisturizers are essentially sunscreens that do a little more than the average spray-on sport sunblock. Antioxidant moisturizers protect the skin from free radicals.
How is Moisturizer Different from Lotion?
The skin on your face is a lot different from the skin on your body. Moisturizers are the right consistency for your face and are supposed to incorporate the right ingredients to benefit your face. Lotions are typically thinner in consistency and contain fewer, gentler ingredients that don’t address the same skincare concerns you may have for your face.
You shouldn’t use the two products interchangeably.
Lotion isn’t designed to be used on your face. It may contain fragrance ingredients or other potential irritants that may not negatively affect the skin on other parts of your body but will usually cause sensitivity in your face.
Moisturizer shouldn’t typically be used on your body, but there are times where applying moisturizer to a small spot may make sense. If your moisturizer is designed to help even your skin tone, you might choose to put a small amount on a new scar or a freshly healed wound to help improve its appearance.
Do I Really Need a Moisturizer?
Yes, you really need a moisturizer. It’s extremely rare to have innately perfectly balanced skin, and even if you do, environmental stressors can work against your skin. Moisturizer helps to balance, nourish, and hydrate your skin. Everyone needs these three benefits, although every skin type will need them in varying amounts.
One of the most important functions of a moisturizer is its ability to act as a skin protectant. Everything from the weather to the quality of the air around you can impact your skin, and this impact is almost always negative.
Moisturizer is thick. Its hydrating ingredients are absorbed and sit at the skin’s surface. They form a shield between your skin and the outside world. If your moisturizer is fortified with protective ingredients like antioxidants, it may be able to prevent damage that would otherwise directly impact your skin.
What if I Have Oily Skin?
Men with oily skin are usually reluctant to use a moisturizer because it doesn’t make sense. If your skin is already too oily, putting more oil or similar moisturizing ingredients on top of that feels counterintuitive.
People with oily or acne-prone skin need moisturizers as much as dry skin -- even if the reasons aren’t as apparent.
Dryness can occur when the skin isn’t producing enough oil. Oily skin occurs when the skin is producing too much oil. In both cases, the skin would benefit from the regulation of oil production.
When you use skincare products to adequately supply your skin with hydration, vitamins, minerals, and protection from the elements, your skin may balance itself as a result. It won’t feel the need to overproduce oil if it's receiving enough moisture from an outside source.
How to Choose a Moisturizer
Moisturizers may make different claims on the packaging regarding their potential benefits. A solid moisturizer will do three things: hydrate your skin, protect your skin, and nourish your skin. This is what Caldera + Lab’s The Base Layer brings to the table.
Protection
Your skin and the air around you are fundamentally incompatible. Free radicals in the form of air pollution land on the surface of your skin, stealing electrons from healthy cells and causing skin damage.
Antioxidants provide protection against free radical damage. The antioxidants that occur naturally in things like leafy green plants, flowers, fruits, and berries are naturally perfect for mitigating the damaging effects of pollutants and environmental stressors.
These antioxidants rest on the surface of your skin and give away their own electrons, preventing free radicals from stealing them from your healthy skin cells.
Hydration
While there’s a difference between moisture and hydration, your skin can be both oily and dehydrated.
Dehydrated skin needs a watery substance it can absorb. Moisture comes in the form of oil, and it works from the surface of the skin.
The Base Layer addresses both concerns simultaneously. Glacial mineral water soaks into the skin, hydrating it while providing it with more than 60 different minerals. Ingredients like rainforest bacuri butter provide moisture to the surface of the skin.
Hydration and moisture go hand in hand. Once your skin drinks up the hydrating ingredients, the moisturizing ingredients work to keep your skin hydrated by sealing them in at the surface. They create a soft, gentle barrier that locks in water and skin healthy ingredients that have penetrated the surface, allowing them to work for longer.
Nourishment
The nourishing ingredients in a moisturizer are responsible for providing the benefits. Moisturizers are generally marketed as brightening, anti-aging, skin tone evening, or soothing. They’ll focus on a particular skincare concern. The Base Layer is well-rounded, helping to promote the appearance and health of the skin in several ways.
Ingredients like elkhorn sea moss and immortelle flower can help inhibit melanin production, promote even skin tone, and help to reduce the appearance of dark spots. Encapsulated microalgae can also help the skin to appear smoother and firmer.
Moisturizer is the Last Step
While moisturizer serves an essential purpose in protecting your skin, it’s the last of three steps in a comprehensive skincare routine. The first step is washing your face with a cleanser like The Clean Slate. The Clean Slate removes dirt and debris without damaging the skin’s microbiome.
The second step, serum, is designed to provide the bulk of the skincare benefits in your routine. Serums are highly concentrated and thin in their consistency. They’re deeply hydrating and nourishing to the skin.
Your skin soaks up The Good, and the active botanicals work from within the skin to improve its health and appearance. Moisturizer completes the routine.
If you’re looking to make a meaningful difference in the way your skin looks and feels, commit to a three-part routine. It only takes a few minutes, and you’ll start to notice a significant difference within a few weeks. It’s worth taking a few extra minutes after shaving or brushing your teeth to take better care of yourself.
Caldera + Lab makes it easy.
Sources:
The Importance of Moisturizing | University of Tennessee Medical Center
Moisturizer: Why you may need it if you have acne | American Academy of Dermatology