10 Men's Skincare Myths Busted: What's True And What's A Waste Of Money

Now that men have finally started using skincare (thank god for that!), there comes to the inevitable next hurdle: the myths around it all. Thanks to the internet & social media, while there’s a lot of credible information around men and skincare products, there’s also a whole lot of unwanted chatter that’s leading to unnecessary confusion. Men are being sold myths as facts, to ensure they’re buying what they don’t need, instead of focusing on the products that they actually do. But we’re here to bust those myths and state facts because someone had to do it, after all.

This is definitely not true. Just because a man’s skin is thicker than that of a woman, doesn’t mean it isn’t prone to irritation. Using harsher products will only disrupt and destroy his skin barrier – men, just like women, need gentler products, depending on their skin type. 

Everyone, irrespective of their gender, must use sunscreen every day, and not just when they’re on the beach. Men’s skin is certainly not immune to the sun’s harmful UV rays. Whoever says otherwise has no idea how things work. 

This has long been a myth even for women, and now it’s made its way into men’s skincare as well. It’s not true for women and it’s not true for men. In fact, men with oily skin must also use a moisturiser – the idea is to nourish your skin with the right kind of product instead. If your skin is oily, use a moisturiser that’s water or gel base, but use it for sure.

We’ve lost track of the number of years this myth has been around for – why do men still believe it to be true? The blunt tip of shaved hair feels coarser when it grows back, giving the impression that it’s thicker – it's not! Shaving in no way changes facial hair’s thickness or speed of growth.  

For this myth, skincare ‘influencers’ are to be blamed – they're the ones putting up videos using 8-10 products on their face, urging the rest of us to follow suit. The fact remains that a good skincare regimen isn’t about quantity but the quality of the products you’re using. For most people, a simple cleanser-toner-serum-moisturiser routine is good enough, with sunscreen added during the day.

This myth is a marketing gimmick, nothing else. Companies making these expensive products would like you to believe it’s true, but it isn’t. In India, in particular, there are loads of homegrown, not-so-expensive skincare brands making incredible products that could rival any international brand. Expensive products do work, yes, but so do the affordable ones.

Another marketing gimmick to sell you a separate ‘men’s range’! No, they don’t. Men just need to use skincare products designed for their skin type. Anything that’s packaged as ‘for men’ isn’t going to have any ingredient that women can’t use and vice versa.  

This one stems from an earlier myth we’ve discussed that men somehow is harsher so needs to not be handled gently. If you scrub too hard, you’re only going to damage your skin barrier and cause unwanted irritation. Please don’t do any such thing! 

Ideally, men & women both should start using anti-ageing products post 25, and definitely after they turn 30. The idea is to prevent ageing, right? Once you’ve got wrinkles and fine lines, there’s no going back – anti-ageing is preventative, not corrective.

Just like their non-organic counterparts, organic products too can trigger irritation and/or not work on certain people. When looking for skincare, look for products & ingredients that’ll work, whether or not they’re organic. Organic isn’t always better – some are, some aren’t. Different people, different strokes, remember?