This photo resembles how scary I look when I wake up in the morning.
I grew up with the idea that "real" men shit, shave and shower in the morning. Of course you brush your teeth, but then you run out the door to start your day.
I guess men have notoriously been seen as minimalists when it come to spending quality time with themselves in the bathroom. Which makes me wonder, am I the weird guy with hundreds of beauty products, spending over a hour to get ready every morning?
On recent trips to Chicago, I noticed my brothers have a 1/4 of the amount of beauty supplies I have in the bathroom. The amount of lotions, cologne, creams, scrubs, soaps, toners, etc. is doubled in my house because John has just as much, if not more, than I have.
I thought it would be fun to outline my very detailed beauty routine. Show the world how much effort I put into clean skin. If you think I'm doing something wrong, let me know! I will probably disagree with you, but I would enjoy having an open line of communication when it comes to healthy skin care and what works for you.
RIGHT AFTER I WAKE UP...
I have been told that the first thing you should do when you wake up is have an 8 ounce glass of water to rehydrate from your 7-8 hours of slumber - I think I found this fact in Men's Health - my Bible when it comes to keeping my body in tip-top shape (wish I followed this Bible more often, but that is an entirely different story). I tend to skip the water and start by running the shower and hopefully squeezing a few turtles (tootsie rolls, Lincoln logs, poo poo platter - you get the picture) out into the toilet.
SHOWER
I jump into the shower, rinse my entire body - then rinse my hair. I wash my hair every 2 days. I have curly hair and if I washed my hair everyday I would have a large birds nest on my head, dried and frizzy is a hard way to wear a curly head of hair. So, if I wash my hair I apply a nickel sized amount of shampoo on my hand, lather and let sit for a few minutes on my head. I use a bar of soap and make sure to get all of those nooks and crevasses, including behind my ears, use a wash cloth to rub the soap in and rinse soap off my body and shampoo - if it is hair washing day of course - wash my hair. I then wash my face in the shower. If I am shaving that day - I shave every other day - I used a face wash that is more of a scrub with a sand like texture that will help bring the hairs out of my face. This is an effort to minimize in grown facial hair - which is a hard part of having curly hair. If it's not a shave day, a cleanser is more appropriate. I condition every other time I shampoo. So usually while I have face cleaning going on I will condition my hair - if it is the correct day. Rinse face an hair again.
SINK
I dry off with the great big soft towels John bought - a nice soft towel is important to my happiness, I think once you go soft towel you can't go back to the ruff inexpensive kind. If I am shaving I squeeze a nickel sized amount of my special shaving cream with benzol peroxide in it. It helps with ingrown facial hair. I then let the cream set on my skin for a few minutes. I use a Q-Tip to clean out my ear...making sure to just wipe out, not dig in the ear. I use Listerine mouth wash - the regular flavor. It is that intense clean I need in the morning and my mouth doesn't feel clean unless I use this kind of mouth wash. I then carefully shave my face using a disposable Bic Sensitive single blade razor. You shave with the grain - down and always pull through softly enough to get the hair off your face but not too hard pressing against the skin - pressing too hard produces ingrown hair. The goal isn't to take off a layer of skin. If you have an ingrown hair, gently pull one end out with a v-shaped tweezers and shave the hair off. I then use my imitation Proactive called Acne Free. You can get it at Target and Costco. I lay out circular cotton pads and squeeze out toner on one and benzol cream on the other. First wipe face, neck, shoulders, chest with the toner, then do the same with the benzol cream. If I shave I use a SPF 15 Cetiphil skin moisturiser. If I don't shave I usually have enough oil on my skin and don't need the moisturiser. I place a small amount of eye cream under my eyes - just dabbing gently under my eyes. I apply a lip balm with SPF 15.
HAIR
I have long curly hair and it is a major ordeal to keep up. When it looks great it is all worth it but when you have a few bad hair days in a row you want to shave it all off! Since John likes my hair long, I go through the ordeal of keeping it up. I use a KMS curly paste in the fro. I have used so many types of hair product, most make it look wet and greasy and they often break out my forehead, so I found something that works and I am sticking to it. I apply a nickel sized amount and apply to front to back of head. Then another nickel amount for my sides. My hair is wet at this point, especially with the product in it, so I pull out the hair dryer with a diffuser attached. I blow dry it till it is almost dry and then scrunch till I get desired shape.
OTHER HAIR
I make sure there are no errant hairs between my eye brows - I hate the uni brow look. Make sure to keep up with the ear hair, nose hair and neck hair. Use the tweezers to make sure my eyelashes aren't clumped together.
SOME DAYS...
Not everyday but at least once a week or once every other week I exfoliate or deep clean my face. I switch these processes or do it when I feel like my skin needs it. Mudd masks for when my skin looks too oily and needs a deep clean to clear away the dirt in my skin. And a peel away mask can be used to exfoliate. The ideal time to do these is right after a shave. I also have a product I apply every few weeks that rejuvenates my skin. After I shave I apply this clear cream on my face and neck. I let it set a minute or two, then use a cotton circle to wipe off my face. I pull out so much dirt and grime off my face and my skin feels super smooth.
Brush teeth, floss teeth, use a tongue cleaner, cologne on wrists and neck, Vaseline on the lips and out the door.
This was too long. I need to simplify!
