If you're anything like us, New Years always rolls around replete with good intentions that fizzle out before we've figured out where to begin. But if there's one thing we know how to get right, it's good grooming habits. At Mankind, we're firm believers that impeccable grooming is not a difficult thing to master, and with a few tweaks to your existing routine, virtually anybody can scrub up extraordinarily well. In this blog, we're going to set the grooming agenda for 2019. With these 5 changes to your grooming routine, you can guarantee to be looking and feeling your best year round.
1. Take your skincare seriously
Perhaps the most common story that plays out when it comes to failed attempts to take care of your skin goes as follows. A wrinkle is spotted, and panic sets in. Cleansers, moisturisers, anti-ageing creams and face masks are purchased and deployed, used with an almost frenzied intensity for a week. You begin to feel great, and your skin looks incredible. This fortnight of hard work and dedication seems to really be paying off. Your body is a temple. Everybody, meet the new you. You can hardly believe how good you feel, and really can't remember why you were worried in the first place. Your routine slips, and before you know it, you're back to square zero.
If this sounds at all familiar, you're definitely not alone. You might be tempted to call this a case of lack of willpower, but we pin the responsibility squarely on misdirected energy. Skincare is a marathon, not a sprint. The little and often approach is much more fruitful in the long term than going hell-for-leather once every six months.
Building a quick, easy, daily skincare routine, couldn't be any simpler. Getting into the habit of devoting a mere handful of minutes every day to cleansing, moisturising, and nourishing your skin will deliver huge benefits over time. Throw in a scrub and a night time-treatment, as well as a face mask once or twice a month, and your complexion will be extremely thankful.
2. Save your skin, shave with care
We've covered razor bumps in plenty of detail alreadyhere, and if you suffer from them yourself, you definitely know what a major inconvenience they can be. Razor rash looks unsightly, feels unpleasant, and everybody wants to avoid it. Vast swathes of men, who, based on the patchiness of their beards, should probably leave facial hair well alone, keep their puny attempts at designer stubble in an effort to sidestep ingrown hairs and rashes breaking out. We cannot stress enough how unnecessary this is.
With enough practice, employing traditional barbershop shaving methods is a surefire way to avoid getting razor bumps. The use of a straight razor, or the slightly more beginner-friendly safety razor, gives maximum control over the angle of cutting. Combine this with exfoliating before shaving, and using a shaving brush to apply a quality shaving cream, and you'll get the shave of your life without irritation and ingrown hairs.
3. Future Proof Your Hair
Men pretend not to be vain, but we all know for a fact that they love their hair. If its thick and healthy, they can't do enough to show it off, whereas if its receding or thinning, they pull out all the stops to make sure it sticks around. And who can blame them?
We'd all like to think we're doing everything we can to keep our hair in the best condition, but for most of us, that's simply not the case. Hair masks are perhaps the number one addition to your grooming routine that we'd recommend to promote scalp health, and the fact is that not enough men make use of them. A supplementary hair treatment, when used a handful of times each month to support your regular hair care routine, hair masks thicken your hair at the shaft, cleanse away dirt and impurities, and ensure the skin of your scalp is in the best health possible. Building this into your grooming routine will have huge payoffs in the form of thicker, healthier hair.
4. Fend off the elements
The next few months are crucial when it comes to skincare. The cold is one of the biggest causes of nightmare skincare mishaps, dehydrating the skin and wreaking havoc on its outermost barrier. When the cold dries out your skin, you're not only vulnerable to flakiness, pain, and in some cases, cracking, but it can lead to an increased likelihood of developing blemishes, and can cause an acceleration of the skin ageing process.
For these reasons, combating the cold is absolutely crucial. Make sure you regularly apply an emollient rich facial moisturiser, hand cream, and lip balm to get the maximum protection.
The battle against the elements doesn't stop when the sun is shining, however. Sun damage is the number one cause of ageing, and plays a huge role in causing skin cancer to develop. Of any recommendation we make in this article, the one we'd stress is the most important is to get into the habit of applying sun protection. Every day.
It's now easier than ever to do this: simply switch out your daily moisturiser for one containing SPF, and within a couple of weeks it'll be second nature.
5. Mix it up
It's a little bit complicated to wrap your head around, but the best look isn't necessarily always the best look. Let us explain.
Imagine the scenario: one day, you put together a fantastic outfit. You're impressed, if you do say so yourself. You wear it to the office, and people can't stop complimenting you. You're finally getting the recognition you've deserved. This is without question the best outfit you've ever worn. But what if you wore it every day?
The truth is that even a 10/10 look can grow stale. Once you've nailed down the basics of your look, by ensuring your hair, facial hair, and skin are as healthy as they can be, your best look becomes your next look.
You can achieve this in your grooming routine in a few ways. When it comes to the hair, if you've got the thickness and volume on top to do so, try a versatile haircut like a high contrast short back and sides. Ask for an undercut on the sides, with a good amount of length left on the top. With this cut, you can achieve a number of different hair styles, which means you can frequently change it up without too much difficulty. Modern pompadours, neatly brushed back styles, textured quiffs, and much more can all be at your disposal, and all it takes is having the styling tools at hand to do so.
If for any reason you can't achieve this, then there are other ways you can change up your look to keep things fresh. If you're the guy with the perennial Ivy-League cut, you can quickly and easily transform your look by getting a buzz cut. This is a great way to drastically change up your style and be seen in a new light. Daunting though this may sound, growing your beard out for 3-4 weeks beforehand will make your transition to bald-headedness virtually risk-free.
