7 Men’s Beauty Tips Guys Need to Know But Are Too Embarrassed to Ask For

                             

Sometimes guys are a little shy about asking for men’s beauty tips. I get that they fear it will make them feel a little less manly to have a bathroom full of “beauty” products, but who doesn’t want to look their best?

Tip #1: Get a Safer Shave

Most men I know aren’t going to trade in the regular razor and shaving cream for an epilator (ouch!), and there’s probably not a depilatory cream on the market that I’d recommend even if it seemed like something men would want to use.

A lot of the ingredients in your typical drugstore shaving cream have been linked to cancer (like TEA and DEA) and hormone disruptions. You don’t have to give up the razor as your hair removal method of choice, but do choose safer, natural ingredients.

You could make your own shaving cream. For example:

• 4 Tbsp unrefined, raw shea butter
• 4 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp sweet almond oil or olive oil
• 6-7 drops of the essential oils of your choice (totally optional, but they smell great, and you could use a citrus or peppermint scent to help wake you up in the morning)

Melt the shea butter and coconut oil at a low temperature in a double-boiler, then add the sweet almond or olive oil and stir it up.

Pour it into a large bowl and let it firm up in the refrigerator. Then use a mixer to whip it up into a consistency more like that of a shaving cream. Store it in an airtight container.

If all that sounds like too much of a pain, there are some options you can buy: Dr. Bronner’s Shaving Gel or Pacific Shaving Company’s All Natural Shaving Cream.

Little House Living has a great recipe for a natural aftershave lotion that only calls for two ingredients, and her husband uses it, too.

Tip # 2: Heal Dry, Rough Skin

Okay, so maybe you love your “rugged” good looks, but you’d still like to find a safe and effective way to moisturize your dry, rough skin. You don’t need an elaborate skin care regimen for that. Just warm up a little unrefined coconut oil or jojoba oil in your hands and apply that anywhere you have dry skin.

                              

Give the absorption a boost by removing the top layer of dead, dry skin cells first. Sprinkle a little baking soda into your regular cleanser (add it to the washcloth or your hand each time instead of putting it directly into the bottle).

If you’d prefer to have a designated face cream, try Bubble & Bee’s Certified Organic Face Cream (for Men).

We have some more tips for getting great skin naturally here.

Tip #3: Minimize Wrinkles

Keeping your skin exfoliated and moisturized will do a lot to minimize and prevent wrinkles. The real key to youthful skin, though, is your diet (and hydration, of course).

What not to eat:

• Cut back on meat and dairy products, which can age your skin. If you don’t think you’ll ever completely give up your “meat and potatoes” type of diet, you don’t have to. Just eat less meat (no more than once per day), and look for grass-fed, organic options.
• Skip coffee and caffeinated tea because they can dehydrate your skin, among other problems.
• Sugar and artificial sweeteners. Use Stevia or raw honey instead.
• Fried foods (this one’s a no-brainer, right?)

What to eat more of:

• Cabbage. It contains tons of vitamin C and some vitamin A, too, both of which help erase lines. It also detoxifies the blood and the fiber helps push waste and toxins out of the body. Too many toxins in your body can actually show up on your face, making you look older than you are. Try eating some raw sauerkraut before dinner a few times per week.
• Eat (or drink, in your GGS) pears to get rid of nasolabial folds. Just be sure you use organic pears and eat the skin, since that’s where most of the anti-aging nutrients are.
• Watery vegetables or fruits help with hydration, which in turn will make your skin look more youthful and radiant.

                                       

Tip #4: Whiten Your Teeth Naturally

One of the biggest beauty concerns, right after smooth, clear skin, is a gorgeous bright smile. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female. Michelle Phan has a DIY recipe that uses strawberries to whiten teeth.

Here’s another reason to lay off the coffee and black tea. They stain. Avoiding them will help you maintain your bright smile.

Tip #5: Lose Weight with an Alkaline Diet

To lose weight, you need to give your body the best fuel and eat foods that will help push the toxins out. You could be walking around with pounds of “sludge” that latched on inside your body as a result of the Standard American Diet.

Avoiding the skin-wrecking foods I mentioned in the wrinkles section will help a lot because they’re clogging to the body. Once you start to focus on whole, cleansing foods, your body will begin letting go of the fat that’s there to protect you from the chemicals and toxic waste you’ve accumulated.

Eat more foods that steer your body into a more alkaline state, which will help you drop the pounds more rapidly. Be sure to get more of these in your diet:

• Leafy greens (including sea vegetables)
• Ripe fruits
• Sprouts
• Non-starchy vegetables
• Alkaline-forming grains, like quinoa and millet

You may also want to consider having a gravity-centered colonic to remove some of that old, acidic waste (never use laxatives for this purpose).

Tip #6: Dump the Baggage (Under Your Eyes, That Is)

Under eye problems can be a result of fluid retention or stress (in addition to the more obvious lack of sleep), so to flush out what you can, munch on celery. Celery works in two ways: it acts like a mild diuretic to encourage excess fluid to leave the body and it reduces stress hormones.

                         

To attack problems from the outside, you can freeze spoons overnight and then apply them to your eye area every morning. Chilled raw potato slices placed under the eyes for around 20 minutes can help reduce dark circles because they contain catecholase, a skin-lightening enzyme.

If you’re especially worried about aging and dry skin around your eyes, you can try an all-natural eye cream like Blissoma’s Lift Intelligent Energy Eye Cream.

Tip #7: Healthy Looking Skin Without Bronzer

This tip isn’t an instant fix, but it’s one of the perks of following the principles of Kimberly Snyder’s nutrition plan, The Beauty Detox Solution, and eating lots of vegetables that contain carotenoids. These foods, like carrots, cantaloupe, oranges, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and even dark, leafy greens, can give a “tan” appearance to lighter skin tones that makes you look and seem healthier (and honestly, with a diet focused on fruits and vegetables, it probably won’t all be an illusion).