Forget what that Beckham bloke’s trying to sell you, men don’t need much to look good and feel even better. Be a Macgyver in the bathroom with these five grooming tools:
Moisturiser
Don’t want to end up looking like a shriveled prune? Then you need to moisturise. Yes, men age better than women but even Mother Nature needs a helping hand sometimes. Buy a tub and don’t be shy, slap that youth juice on every morning and night – at 50 you’ll appear 40, and by 60 you’ll look 30. Well, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but moisturiser will keep your skin feeling soft and smooth.
Cologne
My first cologne was Old Spice. Not even joking. Dad was given a bottle every Christmas and each year he’d palm them off to me until a female friend confessed I smelled like a cheap male stripper. Drakkar Noir is another one to avoid; it died with the ‘90s. At a pinch, stick to the classics – you’ll never go wrong with these proven panty-droppers: Acqua Di Gio (Giorgio Armani), Eternity (Calvin Klein), and, if you’re feeling adventurous, Fahrenheit (Christian Dior).
Shaving kit
Should be pretty foolproof, right? We’ve all been shaving since we were sixteen (unless you’re my Macedonian friend George, who started when he was five). But what to use: a cream? A foam? A gel? Or that weird oil stuff that comes in those tiny eye-drop bottles? Forget anything that foams up, what you want is a rich lather. Go for something with a high concentration of lubricants. A personal favourite of mine is Nivea’s Sensitive Shaving Gel for men.
Hair product
Mud, clay, shaper, gel, putty, cement, gum, mousse, fudge, dough, fibre, paste, pomade, glue, salt spray . . . hair care is harder than astrophysics these days. It was simpler when everyone just used Brylcreem. Rocking limp, thin hair like Gollum? Hit up something goopy to give you body. Got a stubborn ‘fro? Wrestle it into shape with some hardcore wax. The trick is to experiment and see what works for you.
bh’s Carli gives the lowdown on difference between a gel and a wax here
Deodorant
As tempting as it is to run around basking in your own natural man-musk, the old underarm spray is pretty important. But as Will from The In-Betweeners puts it, you don’t want to smell like an industrial accident at the Lynx factory. So go easy, big guy. And for the love of god, avoiding the shower and trying to cover up not bathing by spraying excessive amounts of deodorant will only make you smell worse.
This is my first post for beauty heaven so let me know what you think of my blog below. What products do you think every man needs? Is there anything you would add to the list?
