Teeanime put together a list of the best skin care products for men in 15 different categories. This is because GQ talks about every skin care topic under the sun. We’ve looked closely at ingredients like hydrating hyaluronic acid, complexion-smoothing niacinamide, and salicylic acid, which gets rid of clogged pores. We’ve talked about specific categories (like the best serums) and given advice on how to solve specific problems (like the best cleansers for sensitive skin and the best aftershaves). We also have a guide to SPF and suggestions for the best sunscreens for your face. In this case, literally everything under the sun.
But we wanted to put all the information in one place: the best skin care for men. A routine that you can use for the rest of your life to get better skin, or maybe just a new product or brand to add to a routine you already love. Here are some of our new and old favorites that will almost certainly make you look a little bit better.
1. The Best Moisturizer with SPF
If you’re going to drink water every day—which you should—it might as well have SPF, right? Dermatologists all agree that you should choose one with SPF30+.
2. The Best Moisturizer without SPF
It’s fine if your moisturizer doesn’t have SPF in it. Then, make sure to use a face SPF with it. And, if you have oily or acne-prone skin, you might as well choose one that doesn’t contain oil.
3. The Best Face Sunscreen
It’s fine if your moisturizer doesn’t have SPF in it. Then, make sure to use a face SPF with it. And, if you have oily or acne-prone skin, you might as well choose one that doesn’t contain oil.
4. The Best Recovery Night Cream
A thick night cream speeds up healing and the turnover of cells while you sleep. It’s probably too thick to wear during the day, which is exactly why you should use it at night, when your skin is also more likely to dry out (particularly in the winter or in an air-conditioned room).
5. The Best Retinol Night Cream
Retinoids come from Vitamin A and are loved for their ability to smooth skin, fight acne, and make pores smaller. Retinol is the over-the-counter version that can be found in many night creams and serums. Sunlight cancels it out, so you should only use it at night and wear SPF during the day, since retinoids can also make your skin more sensitive to UV rays. Ask your board-certified dermatologist about tretinoin if you want a high-quality retinoid.
6. The Best Eye Cream
This part of the face has the thinnest skin, so it wrinkles, sags, gets darker, and puffs up easily. Eye creams have specific ingredients, like caffeine, which improves blood flow, and peptides, which strengthen the skin.
7. The Best Cleanser
This one should be more gentle. If it’s hot or you work out, you might have to wash your mug three or four times in a day. Even when you wash your face twice a day, in the morning and at night, you don’t want to use a harsh cleanser that dries out your skin.
8. The Best Chemical Exfoliator
Chemical exfoliants use alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) or poly hydroxy acids (PHAs) to dissolve dead skin cells on the surface and keep the skin smooth. They may also use beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) to help dissolve dead skin cells and dirt stuck in the pores. The result is less acne and a clearer, brighter skin tone. Use them twice or three times a week, or as the instructions say.
9. The Best Physical Exfoliant
Some people like to exfoliate with physical scrubs, which use a little bit of grit to rub away dead skin cells and keep the skin healthy, bright, and clear. Use them twice or three times a week, or as directed, just like you would with chemical exfoliants. You don’t need to do both chemical and physical; just choose one. (If you did, you’d hurt skin cells that were otherwise healthy and alive.)
10. The Best Hydrating Serum
The best way to get results is to put serums on under your moisturizer. Plus, since a moisturizer is mostly defensive (it keeps moisture in the skin and keeps toxins and UV rays out), you can add a hydrating serum to keep your dermis nourished and cared for.
11. The Best Corrective Serum
Some serums, like chemical exfoliants, have ingredients that remove dead skin cells and stop signs of aging. A repair or regeneration cream, on the other hand, works well overnight to help the skin heal faster and reverse these signs of aging. This is why we like this skin care with retinol.
12. The Best Brightening Serum
Vitamin C is often paired with the word “brightening” because it helps fight toxins that age the skin and reverses discoloration and hyperpigmentation in the skin. For that, people will notice that your skin looks “brighter.”
13. The Best Shaving Brand
Shaving is such a big part of skin care that we have whole roundups and tutorials about it. But this shaving cream is a good starting point.
14. The Best Toner
Toner brings your pH levels back to normal and helps stop your skin from making too much oil. Use it after cleansing oily skin or if your routine is making your skin look bad.
15. The Best Spot Treatment
A spot treatment can be many different things. It can be used to treat both new pimples and dark spots left behind by old ones. Or, it could be a kind of hyperpigmentation (like from the sun) that won’t go away. This group of products meets those different needs, so choose one that helps you reach your goal (which is, more or less, crystal clear skin). It usually starts with a key ingredient, such as tea tree oil or salicylic acid (for acne) or niacinamide or mandelic acid (for hyperpigmentation).
16. The Best Cleansing Mask
A deep-cleansing mask you use once a week is like a vacuum for your pores. Use it to clean your skin and stop pimples.
17. The Best Hydrating Mask
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In the same way, a hydrating mask once a week can really help dry, irritated skin, like after traveling or in the middle of winter. It can be a mask you leave on, one you wash off, or a sheet mask.
