It’s no secret that once you hit 40, everything starts to need a little more attention. Long gone are the days you could leap out of bed after 4 hours sleep, have a quick wash with your your shower gel (that is also somehow shampoo and face wash), and head of to a full shift at work looking as fresh as a daisy.
To be honest, the leaping out of bed phase probably disappeared before the ‘looking fresh’ phase did. Luckily, the ‘looking fresh’ phase can make a return with a few choice products (but I can’t make any promises about leaping out of bed).
When I talk about men’s grooming products, I know there are still a lot of men out there who are reluctant to add anything to their routine besides some 3-in-1 wash gel. Believe me when I say I was also one of them. Then I started getting the odd products for Christmas and birthday presents, and after some experimenting with them, I can vouch that they actually do something!
Below are the types of products I would suggest you add to your regular grooming routine. You don’t need to necessarily add them all at once, and you may only need a couple to address issues you’ve noticed, so treat it like a grooming pick ‘n’ mix.
Hand cream
Hands can dry out and start to feel rough an unpleasant, especially if you do a manual job. Rough and dry hands massively age you because dehydrated skin has a wrinkly appearance. So if you’re still getting by looking fresh in the face your hands will give you away the minute they’re on show.
You don’t have to make a big deal out of taking better care of your hands. You can switch to a moisturising hand wash, wear gloves in very cold weather and get some moisturising hand cream to stave off the dryness. Do all three and you’ll soon see a difference.
Day cream for men
If you’re starting to get fine lines and wrinkles, then your face is lacking moisture. The way to combat this is to buy moisturiser that has a specific job. For example, your day cream should ideally have an SPF in it. This will stop the sun’s harmful rays from ageing your skin and is a non-negotiable. It’s not just outdoor workers who will benefit, even if you ‘re just travelling to and from the office, a day cream with SPF will keep your face moisturised and slow any ageing signs caused by UV.
Night cream for men
This is a different type of moisturiser to your day cream. Night cream is often a thicker consistency and doesn’t need an SPF, since you’ll probably be wearing it well after the sun’s gone down and mostly just to sleep in. Night cream for men comes in a few forms – you can get some containing retinol – which has anti-aging properties (but ALWAYS requires an SPF when you’re out and about the next day), others contain hyaluronic acid – for extra hydration. You can also get some that just straight-up moisturise if you feel out of your depth with these multi-tasking night creams.
Face wash for men
Soap can dry the skin out on your face, and if hydration is key to avoiding those pesky wrinkles, then you don’t want to dehydrate your face any more than necessary. Instead, switch to a gentle face wash and use morning and night before you moisturise.
Depositing shampoo for men
If you’re starting to get greys but don’t want to get into DIY dye jobs, you can your hands on depositing shampoos that help cover greys. These are products that have a tiny bit of hair dye built in and every time you was your hair, they leave a little colour behind that covers the greys.
Beard dye
Much like the hair on your head, your beard can get greys too. If your beard is greying but your hair is still dark, then it’s time to get out the beard dye. It’s a very simple process of coming some specialist beard dye through your beard, letting it sit for a while so it can start working, then washing it off. If you don’t have many greys, you can get away with doing this once a month. In my opinion, it’s well worth it and instantly drops ten years off your age once you eliminate those greys.
Final thoughts on men’s grooming products for over 40s
As I mentioned above, these are only suggestions and don’t need to be implemented all at once. Simply integrating a night cream or a hand cream can make a difference. I’d buy something to combat the thing that bothers you most, and go from there. So if you’re dealing with fine lines on your face and a few grey hairs, you can get some depositing shampoo and a face cream.