Some men probably know it. Dry, tight, itchy skin that is sensitive to every stimulus and almost every ingredient. Awkward and uncomfortable. In addition, it often just doesn't look healthy. Like women, we suffer from it, only we are often a little more "lost" in this area than women. We often think with our practical brain: a day cream will solve it. Nope, wrong. How you treat your skin and what products you use for it: that makes all the difference. So of course we're going to tell you more about that.
How do I know if I have dry skin?
Look, let's be clear about this. Every skin is different. That's why it's useful to know for sure what type of skin you have. Do 1 of these tests and you'll know once and for all what skin type you have.
Bare face method
- Wash your face with a mild facial cleanser and then gently pat your face dry. Wait about 30 minutes and then look in the mirror to see what you see.
- Has your skin started to shine around your forehead, nose and cheeks? Then chances are you have oily skin.
- Does your skin feel tight and have spots or flakes appeared? Chances are your skin is dry.
- If your skin has different characteristics such as dry and oily areas, chances are you have combination skin.
- Did your skin turn red after using the cleanser and feel burning? Or is your skin in general a bit red and blotchy? Then you probably have sensitive skin.
- Does your skin look fresh and healthy, and doesn't bother you at all? Congratulations! You are blessed with "normal skin.
Blotting Paper Method
- Cleanse your face and take out a sheet of kitchen roll or a tissue. Press it firmly on your face half an hour after cleansing and wait a while before removing it from your face again.
- Has the tissue become very greasy? Then chances are you have oily skin.
- Is there no greasiness in sight? Then you can label your skin type as dry.
- If you have normal or combination skin, you will see a small amount of greasiness on the towel.
Do you have dry or dehydrated skin?
To make it even easier (ahem) for you, there is another difference between dry and dehydrated skin. The difference is that anyone can get dehydrated skin and this often goes away on its own.
Dehydration can be caused by your body's moisture levels not being optimal. This happens when you drink too little, eat too many salty bami slices (or just eat unhealthy food in general) or because of a big hangover. Too much sun, a strong wind or dry air (from the central heating, for example), too hot a shower or using the wrong soap can also affect it. As your skin ages, it loses more moisture anyway, so you are more likely to have dehydrated skin. So it's not always "your own fault. Except for that hangover.
Dry skin, on the other hand, is hereditary and occurs because the skin does not naturally produce enough sebum (natural skin fat). A typical dry skin has small pores, is prone to wrinkles and flakiness, but not acne or blackheads and has never been very prone to them, even in youth. That, in turn, is a plus!
When skin lacks sufficient fat, it is difficult for it to retain moisture. The result then is often skin that is both dry (low in fat) and low in moisture. But, there is also good news! In fact, there are ways for men to treat dry skin.
The disadvantages of dry skin
If you suffer from dry skin, you also know that there are often some unpleasant features around the corner. We're going to sum it up for you. Dry skin often suffers from the following:
- Uncomfortable tightness of the skin
- A chapped feeling of the skin
- More prone to irritation
- More often known to experience redness
- Sometimes the skin tends to flake
- More prone to facial hair irritation
- More susceptible to premature aging
- More susceptible to weather conditions
- More vulnerable to dirt or moisture
In exceptional cases, germs can enter your body more easily. After all, excessively dry skin cannot optimally fulfill its role as a barrier between your body and the outside world. But, we wouldn't be us if we didn't give you some good tips!
Tips for men with dry skin
- When your skin suffers from dryness, avoid contact with hot water. This dries out your skin and affects your skin flora. Soap is also too aggressive for facial skin. This is because the Ph value of soap is high (that means soap is alkaline, the opposite of acidic) while your skin is slightly acidic: Ph-skin neutral. Water is Ph neutral and therefore more alkaline than your skin. Contact with tepid or lukewarm water does no harm, but should not last too long. Because then water can dry out your skin.
- Beware of cheap cleansing lotions and after shave, especially if they contain alcohol! Alcohol dries out your skin and can also irritate it considerably.
- Use good sun protection. This will keep the sun's harmful rays from drying out your skin further.
- Don't use a die-hard facial cleanser. Go for the mild ones. A vigorous facial cleanser will cause your sebum to be stripped from your skin even more. While you already don't have much of that.... avoid that!
- Make sure you find the right skin care routine for your skin. This is where we'll go into more detail below and explain it step by step.
How do you care for dry skin?
1. Cleanse with a mild cleanser
Face care for men always starts with cleansing the skin. This is because cleansing is also important for dry skin. Choosing a facial cleanser is an important choice. Many cleansers have the property of stripping the skin too much of its own skin oils. So go for a cleanser without sulfates, silicones, parabens and lots of perfumes.
Tip: Everything with dry skin is about caution. Therefore, always cleanse your face in the following way:
- Cleanse with lukewarm water.
- Gently massage the face with the cleanser.
- Rinse with lukewarm water.
- Gently pat the face dry, try not to rub.
2. Use a serum
After cleansing, it is important to moisturize the face. You want to provide the face with sufficient moisture. A serum is great for this. Especially one that contains hyaluronic acid. A serum with hyaluronic acid sucks moisture into the skin and retains it. This restores moisture, which is very low in dry skin due to evaporation. Sounds very crazy, isn't it.
Hyaluronic acid is a sugar molecule that is naturally stored in our connective tissue. It binds to collagen and water. It keeps skin hydrated and joints supple. These molecules can each hold 1,000 times their own weight in water within skin cells. So it is a powerful building block to keep our body hydrated and flexible. So a great ingredient!
3. Using a day cream for men
Dry skin does not have a strong enough skin barrier which results in moisture loss. This skin barrier is normally formed by skin fats in the top layer of the skin. These protect the skin from the outside and ensure that moisture is not lost. To provide this to a man's dry face, you want to use a face cream that contains a lot of oils and butters. These will put a good layer over the skin to protect the skin and ensure that moisture is not lost.
4. Exfoliate dry skin
Exfoliating is actually a gentle way of exfoliating. Something many men with dry facial skin actually want to avoid. Yet it is actually necessary! With dry skin, there is an accumulation of dead skin cells. Sometimes this is accompanied by flaking. When you use an exfoliator to remove these dead skin cells, the skin can absorb all the active ingredients much better. So all the products you use can do their job much better. Cell renewal is also stimulated, giving you a fresh new skin very quickly. Truly a must!
The best products for men with dry skin
Then we come to the part that very many men find difficult. We get a lot of questions about this. How do you choose the best product with all the choice these days? For this we have come up with a solution. Together with our beauticians, we have put together a package of top products that best suit dry skin. A suitable skincare routine for men in one set. We call it the skincare routine kit.
Skincare Routine Kit - Dry skin
Of course, we also have an extensive range of facial care for dry skin with everything you need! Facial cleansers, toners, serums, day creams, scrubs and exfoliators and much more. If you still have questions about products, your skin type or other issues? Feel free to contact us. We would love to help you! You know where to find us.
Good luck!
Your friends, The Alpha Men