Welcome back to the Gentleman’s Gazette.
In today’s video,
We talk about 15 men’s grooming mistakes and how we can avoid them.
One, using inferior products.
What you put in your skin has a direct effect on it and a cheap product doesn’t necessarily
mean it’s a bad product.
However, a product is inferior if one, it doesn’t do what it says.
Two, it causes skin reaction or three it contains chemicals that concern you or should concern you.
Of course the list of bad ingredients is endless.
But as a general overview, alcohols, fragrances, parabens and phthalates are four ingredients
that you should try to stay clear off because they are simply bad for your skin.
Even if the product comes highly recommended.
But your skin shows a reaction.
You should stop using it and go for an alternative because at the end of the day you are the
person and it’s your skin that has to work with the product and it doesn’t matter if
it has a five star Amazon product rating or not.
That aside if you have a hair gel or a hair spray that doesn’t hold or a cream that
doesn’t keep your skin oil free, even though it promises it, just stop using it.
Two is unsightly nails.
There are a number of things that you could have on your hands that just look like you
are not well taken care off.
That includes dirt underneath your nails, cuticles that are dry and split or if someone
is biting their fingernails.
It looks very unsightly and people may judge you.
If you work outside a lot and you have difficulties with getting dirty nails, make sure to have
a little nail brush handy in the bathroom so you can regularly make sure your nails
are clean.
It just gives you a well groomed and polished look.
Even an old toothbrush will do the job because you can really go underneath the nails and
make sure everything is clean.
If you find yourself biting nails a lot.
One way to stop that is to use insect repellant on your hand because it tastes bitter but
it’s not bad for your body and you’ll likely stop chewing.
To make it really easy for men to keep their nails groomed, I designed a little kit with
four essential tools for gentlemen.
It has a nail clipper, cuticle clipper, file and a pair of tweezers.
All made in Germany steel so it will last you for a long time.
When clipping your nails, you don’t want to clip so far that you can’t see any white
anymore.
Ideally you keep a little edge of white and then you use the file to round out your nail
and that way you aren’t under any pain because you cut too far and they will grow out nicely.
One area men don’t often think about are the cuticles, but if you are like me and you
have troubles with them growing out and becoming dry.
You really need to use the clipper to trim them and it looks much more well groomed.
A good hand cream will also help you to keep your cuticles moist especially in the winter.
Three, ungroomed body hair.
Whether it’s your nose hair, your chest hair or your eye brows or even stray hairs.
Having all the hair in all places can be quite unsightly.
If you have long nose hair, get a nose hair trimmer or a little pair of scissors and cut
them.
If you have a lot of back hair or chest hair, consider waxing and maybe even a laser therapy.
And to keep your eyebrows groomed you should use a pair of nice tweezers that really grip
the hair and pull it out.
While some can have hair like a bear others barely have any.
When it comes to body hair, it’s really a matter of personal preference if you like
it or not.
But in any case, there should a clear distinction between your face and your neckline and the
rest of your body.
If you like to wear a shirt with an open collar and you have a lot of hair poking through.
Maybe you want to consider using a laser treatment or waxing.
If you’re happy with it and you like the look, go for it.
Four, using canned shaving cream.
At the end of the day, all you pay for is air and chemical stabilisers so you get less
soap which is less lubricating and your skin is more easily irritated.
For in depth guide for what shaving creams you should use, please check out this guide.
If you want to learn how to get the very best shave for your face and type of skin, please
check out our ultimate shaving guide here.
Five, looking like an oil slick.
Not all skin is created equal and some men have much more oily and greasy skin than others.
If you suffer form greasy skin, make sure to wash you face with a dedicated face wash
in the morning and in the evening and use a moisturiser afterwards to keep your skin
hydrated.
Six, overtanning and burning.
Looking overly red in your face or roasted is not attractive.
Moreover, it can cause skin cancer.
To prevent that, use a high SPF product regularly and your skin will remain more wrinkle free
and it will look healthy and you will look attractive.
Seven, ignoring the signs of aging.
We all age and whether we want it or not our skin gets worse.
It gets more wrinkly.
Our hair gets gray, and the good thing for men is, it often times can look quite dignified
if you maintain yourself well.
You don’t want to look like a dry apricot.
And therefore, it is good to develop a facial routine that helps your skin remain fresh
and youthful.
A good routine includes a moisturiser.
And if you want to go a step further, you can use something like a serum for your eyes
because the area around your eyes is particularly prone to wrinkles and needs special treatment.
As you age, it’s very important that your skin cells are taken off and renewed as often
as possible.
For that reason you should seek out products that contain retinol, AHA’s, BHA’s or
glycolic acid.
These chemicals help exfoliate and renew your skin so you look fresher and younger.
Eight, untrimmed nose and ear hairs.
As men get older they often develop very long nose and ear hairs and they immediately make
you look 20 years older.
Therefore, you should always remove them using a pair of tweezers or a nose hair trimmer.
If you are uncomfortable doing it yourself, just have your barber do it.
Nine, rough feet or hands.
If you work a lot with your hands, you are prone to getting calluses or dead skin.
So, it’s important to get rid of that regularly.
It’s much easier to do so with hot water and a proper file.
If you walk a lot or if you have shoes that don’t fit perfectly, you will quickly get
a build up of calluses on your feet and you should use a pumice stone and water maybe
at the end of your shower.
And, you’ll easily get rid of that excess dead skin.
Once you use your pumice stone and your skin is dry, you can use a file to get a smooth
finish so you don’t rip your socks or have any other issues with your skin on your feet.
Ten, forgetting what goes in comes out.
Whatever you put in your body or whatever you put on your skin is something that is
reflected in you after a while.
It can take about six to eight weeks before you see a reaction after you use a skin product.
And, it is the same thing when you eat unhealthily, when you eat all the processed foods.
Your body ages in a different way and eventually it will show.
Eating healthy will give you mostly healthier skin and hair and you’ll just look younger
and more revitalised.
Eleven, body odor.
You should’t have it.
Deodorant is not optional.
If you don’t use it, basically, the bacteria of your sweat decomposes and creates bad odor.
Worst thing is people will find you smelly won’t tell you, they will just stay clear
of you and maybe talk about you behind your back which is terrible.
Most deodorants works effectively because they contain an aluminum oxide, if you are
concern about that, either talk to your doctor.
You can use a crytalized deodorant, without aluminium oxide.
With my experience, they are often not as effective.
If you wan to go all natural, you can try to use lime juice.
Though personally I haven’t tested that.
If you have a problem with body odor, just adding cologne or scented spray on top of
it is not the solution.
You basically have to wipe out the source of the odor.
If you are prone to sweating, an undershirt might be right thing for you to wear and you
can learn more about what you should look for a great undershirt in our Undershirt Guide
here.
If you have problems with smelly feet.
use a baby powder or put deodorant on that should help you deal with the problem.
Of course, after you wash them thoroughly with soap.
Twelve, wearing too much cologne.
Jus like having bad body odor.
It’s also bad to have a lot of cologne.
You don’t want to smell because it’s a nuisance to other people.
And, they will think less highly of you.
And, they don’t want to be around you.
If you get an eau de cologne, make sure to use one spritz and don’t over do it with
two or three because it is just over the top.
A subtle signature scent is wonderful but anything more than that is excessive and negative.
Thirteen, grown out haircuts.
You hair grows by about half an inch a month.
And, if you don’t go and see your barber for eight weeks, it just looks unsightly.
Ideally, you should have your hair trimmed at least 3 or 4 weeks.
If you can’t do that or if it’s inconvenient, make sure to trim the side of your head as
well as the neckline.
Of course, it always helps to have someone do it for you because you can’t see the
back of your neck.
Fourteen, cracked or flaking lips.
Especially during the winter, it is very easy to get dry lips and then they get flaky and
sometimes even split.
Not only does it look bad but also nobody want to kiss you that way.
Therefore you should use a lip balm which hydrates your lips and provides a balm that
protects it from the cold and it balances out the dryness of the cold air which your
lips really need to nourish it and look healthy.
Sometimes people over do it.
They grease the lips so much that the lips start producing their own hydration and they
almost get addicted to it.
So, that’s not good either.
You want to achieve a balance and have lips that look healthy.
Fifteen, eyebrows.
Having a unibrow or very long eyebrow hairs makes you look much older and not well groomed.
Therefore it is good to have an eyebrow grooming routine.
In terms of eyebrow grooming, you want to make sure not to remove too much hair or too
little hair. Ideally you take a file, and it should be around the line here where your
nose ends.
And the part in between should be clear of hair.
What you need is basically a pair of tweezers.
First, remove the hair in this area on your nose.
You can also use the file pushed agains your nose on either side.
Then you can remove the hair in between.
Also, if you have stray hairs that fall outside your natural line, you can remove them with
a pair of tweezers, If you have hair on your eyebrows that is particularly long, you can
take a pair of scissors and cut it off.
If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, go to your barber.
You should avoid shaving your eyebrows because it is very easy to cut too much and then it
just look unnatural.
What are the grooming mistakes you think men should’t make?
Let us know in the comments.
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