Grooming Hacks
No matter how much you might spend on the latest designer threads or how buff that bod is underneath, fail to spend enough time on your personal hygiene and you will never look stylish. Johnny Depp might well be able to pull off the dragged through a hedge backward look with finesse but’s face it, you’re probably more Johnny English! Thankfully there has been a real influx of high-quality male-specific grooming brands coming onto the market, so you really have no excuse not to look and smell in tip-top condition. Thanks in no short part to there being a bit of hipster resurgence too, facial hair has once again garnered great popularity, and we are not talking in a Grizzly Adams or Scandinavian Viking way. It’s never been a better time to be a bearded bloke with so many grooming products out there that will have you looking seriously dapper like the fine dude that you are. From beard oil to face moisturizer, body lotions to hair oil, men are spoilt for choice these days when it comes to the new wave of products created specifically for them.
It’s not all about skincare and facial hair maintenance though. There’s a lot that goes into perfecting that morning (and evening) grooming routine, and it can become addictive once you get started. Who can deny after all loving the compliments that will surely be coming your way on account of your new found diligence to your daily hygiene! As if the ladies didn’t love you enough already! Imagine how much more you’ll catch their eye when you invest in a body groomer and ditch the monobrow and the unsightly nasal and sprouting ear hair!! With a few wise investment products to bolster up your male grooming kit and armed with our top 10 Grooming Hacks, you can confidently seize the day, every day! So let’s take a look at the 10 Grooming Hacks that will have you looking like a super fly guy and some of the products you need in your kit bag.
1. Leave It To Shave Until After You’ve Showered
We know how tempting it might be to take care of all the days essential grooming business before you jump into a warm shower, shaving, flossing and trimming all that straggly facial hair first to get it out of the way. However, if you save the important job of shaving until after you’ve showered, you will be doing yourself and your skin a huge favor. Being in a warm shower first will really help to open up the skin’s follicles which will make perfecting that close shave even easier. Especially if you are one of the millions honoring the time old tradition of a traditional razor shave, you will avoid unwanted nicks and cuts if you wait till your face’s bristles are softer.
2. Take Good Care Of All Your Hair; Love And Groom Your Beard And Beyond
We mentioned above about waiting until after you’ve showered to perform a traditional wet shave, however, don’t neglect the rest of your facial and bodily hair either. Nobody looks good with a monobrow. No, not even Noel Gallagher and there is absolutely no excuse for having nasal or ear hair. You’re not a hobbit! Invest in a good waterproof body groomer and get all these important jobs done while you are in the shower. While you’re at it, you might want to tidy up downstairs too and sort out that shag pile carpet you’ve developed on your back and chest. Again, you might think you look manly with a rug poking out of the top of your t-shirt but honestly, you don’t! So sort it out! A quick hack here, especially if you are taking to task your hairy nether regions, is to swap your usual cool mint shaving cream for your hair conditioner instead. An icy blast might be great for your face and really wake you up, but it might be a tingle too much for your more delicate areas! Think about it. You use hair conditioner on your head because it’s moisturizing and gentle so stands to reason this would work well down below too.
3. Use A Lip Balm Or Some Vaseline To Treat Any Shaving Nicks
If you haven’t taken heed of our advice and you’ve gone ahead and grabbed the safety razor without properly preparing your skin first, then chances are you are in for a couple of nasty nicks. Heading out of the door with toilet paper on your cuts is so not a good look and topping up on alum black and styptic pencils probably isn’t something that regularly crosses your mind. There are however a couple of really useful home remedies you can deploy to help soothe those shaving woes. Lip balm works like a treat, as does Vaseline. The waxy texture helps to create a seal which allows the blood to clot and stems the flow. Quick and easy and pretty much everyone has at least three lip balms dotted around the house right?
4. Make Your Toothbrush Your New Best Friend. Your Lips Will Thank You Later!
You probably spend lots of time on your dental hygiene and rightly so! You don’t need us to tell you how important it is to brush your teeth twice daily and to always ensure that you floss too! If you haven’t already invested in one, an electric toothbrush really should be the next purchase on your list. Honestly, those things work miracles. Coming back to the humble manual toothbrush though, it is useful for more than just keeping your breath fresh and no, we don’t mean cleaning under the rim of the toilet seat either! Did you know that your toothbrush is a great exfoliator for your lips? Straight up. Simply rub your toothbrush all over your lips after you’ve cleaned your teeth and you will slough away the dead skin cells. You probably already exfoliate the rest of your face but have been neglecting your lips. Just imagine how much softer and more kissable they are going to be afterward! Just think of us are your relationship counselor. This is one hack that you will definitely be coming back to thank us for! Your welcome.
5. While We Are On The Topic Of Hygiene, Here’s A Couple Of Fresh Breath Hacks For You Too
If you’ve run out of chewing gum and feel the need to freshen up that breath but don’t have time to head back upstairs to go through the rigmarole of getting the sonic toothbrush out, head into your kitchen instead and grab yourself either some parsley or lemon slices, both of which will naturally counteract the morning after effect of that garlic nan the night before. Parsley contains the active natural deodorizer chlorophyll while the acidity in lemon can help to neutralize garlic. It’s not all about being minty fresh. Zesty does the trick just as well too.
6. Vaseline Is Great For Extended The Lifespan Of Your Scent
Vaseline really is one of those fabulous multi-tasking products that is an absolute must in any grooming kit bag/dopp kit. We already discussed how it can help bind nips and tucks caused from shaving but did you know that it can also help hold substances, as a fragrance, onto the skin, increasing their longevity? Thought not! Well now you do, and it’s all down to the fact that it is occlusive which means it binds. You may have noticed a new trend towards solid cologne, and they work in much the same way by holding and binding the scent to the skin. If you’ve not yet tried out a solid cologne, you should check one out but in the meantime, if you are going to be out all day and night and don’t want the hassle of taking your favorite Tom Ford fragrance out with you, then our next hack should be right up your street. Rub a little, but if Vaseline into those key pulse points then Spritz on your favorite cologne and remember, less is more, especially if you are using this hack. Your scent should now linger and hold all day long. Another similar hack is to use a body lotion first before you spray your aftershave. Again, the lotion will act as a bond, ensuring that your skin is not only lovely and soft but also smells fresh and inviting all day long too.
7. Sort Out That Stinky Gym Back With A Bar Of Soap
There’s no polite way of putting this. Most gym bags even of the most polished preened and immaculately well-groomed among you smell like something has crept in and died. They’re foul. Fact! A great grooming hack is to pop a bar of soap inside your bag. Obviously and unused one right. Cool tar soap in particular works really well because of its invigorating aroma. Just grab yourself a porous bag, slot the soap inside and keep it stashed inside the main compartment of your bag. Guaranteed next time you open up your bag to grab those heinous smelling trainers, you won’t be in danger of passing out. No-one will think twice either about why you happen to have a bar of soap in your gym bag. Obviously, because you shower afterward right?
8. Hungover As Hell And Resembling Deputy Dog? You Need Ice Ice Baby
There’s no escaping the tell-tale signs of an all-night bender! They say the eyes are the windows to your soul and right now yours are taking you straight to hell! You’ve got a banging head, you’ve eye bags that are so puffy you’d give a Bassett hound a run for their money, and you are basically hanging. If you are a smart and exceptionally well-groomed guy, you will, of course, have already invested in an eye cream for men, the best ones containing actives like Retinol, Caffeine or Hyaluronic acid. However, for an instant pick me up that will have you looking bright eyed and bushy tailed in next to no time, then a bag of frozen peas or an ice pack really do work a complete treat. Ice is super anti-inflammatory. You’ve probably had a gym injury before now and used the RICE method; rest, ice, compression, and elevation. Ice is brilliant at reducing localized swelling so pop a pack on your head and over your eyes, and it will save you having to swerve the boss all day!
9. Tackle Rogue Hairs With Nail Clippers Or A Pair Of Tweezers
Back at number two on our list of 10 grooming hacks we talked about the importance of the body and facial grooming and recommended that you invested in a showerproof Body Groomer. If you don’t yet have on among your current arsenal of products, then you could try your nail clippers or a pair of tweezers instead. This hack comes with a cautionary note. It might make you cry like a baby girl! Tweezering is not for the faint hearted but then rogue sprouting ear, and nose hair is most definitely not for dapper gent’s like you lot all are. You have our permission to squeal!
10. In A Hurry And Need To Clean Up Your Razor Then Grab The Hairdryer
If you are in a rush and you don’t have time to thoroughly since your razor post shave then gives it a quick blast with your hairdryer instead. This will perform two important functions. First, it will blast away all of those little annoying hairs plus it will also prevent any unwanted rusting or oxidation from damaging your razor blades.
So there you have it. Hopefully, 10 Grooming Hacks that you can go away and incorporate into your own daily grooming routine.
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