Gary Thompson, from The Plastic Boy, is a male style, fashion, lifestyle and beauty blogger. Gary's main aim is to share his wealth of beauty and style knowledge across his blog and his YouTube channel, and he definitely succeeds. You may also recognise him from the recent L'Oreal True Match #YoursTruly campaign.
Whilst checking out Gary's blog, you'll quickly notice how passionate he is about the industry. Everything he writes about, is presented in a way that's easy to digest and written from a friendly perspective. It ensures you get the most out of the content and makes you feel as though you know Gary on a personal level, which is great.
Be careful when checking out his food photography though, because you'll get serious food envy. We got to ask him a couple of questions about how he got started with his grooming routine and any tips he has.
- Q Let’s start by telling us a bit more about you…
- A My name is Gary, I’m 26 and I’m a beauty/lifestyle blogger and makeup artist. I have always been into beauty and skincare since a young age, I believe if you take care of your skin from an early age it will pretty much be great all your life. I make YouTube videos twice a week and try to be up to date with everything that's coming out for the autumn months.
- Q When did you first start looking after your skin? And what caused you to consider it more?
- A I started looking after my skin when I got laser hair removal at 18. My skin was awful - ingrown hairs used to cause severe pigmentation, which got me so down. However, after I had laser treatments, my skin became better and better. I started using more products to help brighten my skin and help restore the youthful texture. When I saw results from different face washes and toners I just became skincare obsessed.
- Q What steps do you follow in your everyday skincare routine?
- A As soon as I get up I wash my face with luke-warm water and use a daily face wash. I love the Foreo Luna face brush, it's amazing! I then go in with a spray on toner and leave it for 3 minutes, then I follow this by using a light day serum to wake my skin up and then use a gel day cream so it's not to heavy for it to get oily through out the day. Plus I also use an eye cream just to prep my eye and pat it to make sure my under eye is moisturised.
- Q How did you discover your skin type and what products worked best for you?
- A Well I only got to know my skin type a few years ago. I have a very oily t-zone but the rest of my face is normal. I found that using a light day cream works the best for me. I love Aesop products, they are amazing. I love their Amazing Face Cleanser, it literally gives my skin LIFE! I think you go through trial and error I now think I know when a product won’t work for me just by feeling it on my hand. My skin tends to not love anything that has to many exfoliating beads or that is very concentrated.
- Q What challenges did you face when starting to look after your skin?
- A Looking after my skin hasn’t been easy. I think it's just remembering a routine and not drinking so much alcohol. Your skin is also reflected on what you eat, I had to cut sugary drinks out my life and really bring in a healthy high carb and high protein diet. I also think sometimes less is more; you don’t have to use 6 products to have amazing skin, just use the basics. Don’t over compensate because you see someone else use loads of products.
- Q What three products are staples in your skincare routine?
- A Aesop Amazing Face Cleanser - it literally leaves my skin feeling super clean and healthy without making it too dry. Foreo Luna 2 face brush - it's so cute and small and perfect for flying because I always cleanse my face when flying long haul flights because the air can become very dirty and I don’t want my skin to suffer. Elemis Ant-Fatigue Eye Serum - this stuff is amazing! It always helps with my dark circles and it gives my eye area the appearance of being more glowy and youthful.
- Q If you had one piece of advice to give to someone starting on their skincare journey, what would it be?
- A Start with the basics and know what your skin type is first then you cant go wrong. If you cant afford expensive products get something that's affordable and beneficial for you. All your skincare doesn’t need to be expensive just get what works for you. Read reviews off other guys and see what they are trying, sometimes you see patterns in reviews and you can really tell when a product is amazing.
I’m sure you’ll agree – Gary is passionate about the male grooming and beauty industry. Don’t forget to check out his blog online, ThePlasticBoy.com.
You can also check him out on Twitter (@ThePlasticBoy) and Instagram (@ThePlasticBoy).
