Forget about the ‘black don’t crack’ cliché, your skin always needs maintenance to keep it at its peak. Most men rarely do routine skincare. While it’s isn’t necessary for men to take as many steps as ladies do to maintain their skin, a simple skincare routine will keep your skin hydrated and looking good. Your skin needs effective cleansing, exfoliation, toning, and moisturizing. Using the below simple, short routine will keep your skin at its best.
Skincare Routine for Black Men
Understand your skin
The first step is understanding your type of skin. Your skin could be normal, dry, sensitive, or oily. Oily skin shines without artificial oil, dry skin has a tight feeling, sensitive skin breaks easily. You might have a combination of skin types on different parts of your body.
Study your current routine. The subsequent steps will help you analyze your current routine and adjust it for effective results.
Cleansing
Cleaning your face isn’t all about getting any cleanser, applying, and washing it away from your face. Rather, washing your face involves using the right cleanser for you and washing your face on a regular basis.
When buying a cleanser, check for labels like sulfate free and alcohol free if you have dry or sensitive skin as alcohol dries out your skin. For oily skin, you will need a deep pore cleanser to deep clean your pores of sebum (oil made within your pores) and a foaming cleanser to cut through oil on your skin - these can be one and the same cleanser.
For men with high levels of testosterone and facial hair, skin appears oily, and a foaming or gel cleanser works for oily skin. Men with dry skin should be careful not to wash away their natural facial oils, thick cream cleansers work well for dry skin.
It’s advisable that you wash your face at least twice a day, morning and evening. You can wash your face more than twice a day if you do sweat due to working out.
When washing your face, you can wash using your hands or a soft, silicone based scrubber. Wash for at least a minute before using clean water to rinse. Thorough washing helps your skin heal faster from breakouts by removing dead skin cells, look soft and silky and have less hyperpigmentation.
When choosing a cleanser, ensure that it is standardized and safe for use. Ensure that the cleanser you use is free from irritants and sulfates. Cleansers with too many perfumes and fragrances most at times cause irritation. Ensure the cleanser you choose has low alcohol content.
Exfoliation
Exfoliation might sound like complex skin care, but it's not. Black men’s skin is prone to hyperpigmentation, drying, and acne. The best solution to these issues is exfoliation. In order to soften your skin, and make it look healthier and younger, exfoliation is necessary. We recommend that you exfoliate your skin at least once a week to remove the dry dead layer accumulated on the surface of your skin.
Failing to exfoliate makes your skin look dull due to the build-up of dead skin. In fact men's skin is thicker, so the effects of not exfoliating are more intense in men than women. Exercise caution when exfoliating your skin, ensure you use a gentle scrub that will not damage your skin. Exfoliate at most twice a week as overdoing it might cause damage to your skin, allow some time for new skin to rebuild.
Tone your skin
Toning is usually taken to be optional, especially for men. However, men with dry and sensitive skin need to tone their skin to keep it hydrated. Toning sets a good base for your skin, so that additional products you use are effective. You can use a cotton pad or your hands to apply toner to your skin.
Moisturize your skin
Skin that appears dull and dry can easily be restored by moisturizing it. For men with oily skin, use a moisturizer that is oil-free. Moisturizers with oil clog your pores and make your already oily skin even oilier. Dry skin does well with a creamy moisturizer without the alcohol content. Skin hydration can also be affected by diet, drinking more water makes your skin hydrated naturally. Moisturize your skin at least twice a day for best results.
Prevent ingrown hairs
Razor bumps are a major issue for black men. Ingrown hairs can be prevented by shaving with the grain. It is also important that you prepare your skin before shaving, soften your beards by washing your face with warm water and apply a conditioning pre-shave cream and an aftershave afterward to calm your skin, soothe and prevent redness and irritation.
More tips for a great skincare routine for black men
If you spend most of your time out in the sun, it is important to wear sunscreen, no matter your skin color. According to myth and legend, black skin does not suffer sunburn. This is untrue, black skin as well as other skin types suffer from sunburn. It is necessary that you apply sunscreen.
Eat a balanced diet to maintain your skin and keep it healthy. The skin needs nutrients that help it heal and rebuild. You should avoid foods with too much sugar, alcohol, smoking and of course drugs, these degrade your skin, make it puffy, red and lack luster. As noted earlier, drink plenty of water since your skin needs it to keep hydrated.
Conclusion
A skincare routine for men is a must, as you’ve realized. To avoid common skin problems, an effective skin care routine has to be followed. The above simple, short routine for black men will ensure your skin looks fresh and stays healthy, giving you the confidence you need to put your best forward.
Oil Beard.
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