Somewhere around the late 2000s, when you ask any men what men’s grooming is, they might ask, “What is it?” They might haven’t heard of it because men’s grooming is into people after the 2010s.
What! Before that, men’s grooming didn’t exist. Not entirely, it exists, but only celebrities and VIPs are aware of grooming and spend money on it.
This is because technology was not that advanced at the time. Now, things have changed—technology has advanced, everyone has access to smartphones, and people are more aware of Grooming.
Nowadays, people even know what kind of grooming routine celebrities follow. This is due to many social media influencers educating men about Grooming.
So, in this context, let’s understand what men’s grooming is about, and why we need to Groom as a man.
By the end of this blog post, you will be able to understand Grooming and the basics that we need to know to start grooming.
What is Men’s Grooming:
If you are someone who wants to start Grooming, this surface-level explanation is a very good start. Men’s grooming means taking care of your whole body by following some kind of routine.
Which includes personal hygiene, health, fitness, and overall appearance of the body, this is what men’s grooming is.
This includes taking care of your skin, hair, body, face, feet, beard, etc your entire body can be groomed.
So, Grooming is a very vast topic, every man needs to be groomed for the reasons I mentioned below.
Why Men Need to Groom:
There are many reasons for men to Groom. Our body tends to change numerous cells on our body born and die in a single day. Your skin loses its elasticity while you age and your hair undergoes graying.
Your body loses its shape, and many other environmental changes that affect us in our day-to-day life. To tackle all this and to lead a healthy and happy life we need Grooming. One thing to keep in mind, some of the health tips also come under men’s grooming.
This all boils down to one thing, we need to Groom to look good physically.
Be confident, smell nice, and be healthy as well, these are the main reasons for men to Groom.
Does Grooming Cost Money:
Let’s just say you want to take care of your body and want to start grooming, and you might be thinking, oh! That product might be costly! Maybe I can’t afford the grooming products? Don’t worry. Grooming can be done with little to less money.
If you are thinking that way then you may need to change your thought. What if I say you can do it without any money then I would be lying. Most of your grooming can be done with less money.
So, just start your grooming journey and spend some time understanding it then you’ll find it very easy and with minimal cost.
What Comes Under Men’s Grooming:
As I mentioned earlier, the whole body can be groomed, and products with a wide range of usage, starting from head to toe.
There are several products for hair alone, and for the face, there will be even more.
Not only that, there are different products for oral hygiene, as this is also an integral part of grooming.
For example, Dental flossing and perfume might fall under oral hygiene which is also a subcategory to men’s grooming.
What You Need to Know:
Until now we talked about several aspects of men’s grooming like what is it and all, now let’s talk about the things that you need to know to follow men’s grooming in the first place.
These I consider as basics for Grooming, if you are a newbie who doesn’t like your appearance, and you want to practice grooming and look good, this is what you want to know.
So, let’s start with skin types, then we continue with hair types, after that scalp types, body types, moisturizing and we finally end our blog post with Exfoliation.
5 Skin Types in Men:
There are 5 skin types in human beings, namely Dry, oily, combination, sensitive, and Normal skin. Let’s understand briefly about these skin types.
By the way, I’ve written a dedicated blog post on skin types do check it out here.
Oily Skin:
As the name suggests your skin looks oily no matter what you do, this is due to the high production of sebum, produced by sebaceous glands.
These glands are responsible for oil production. So you need to use products that stabilize the oil production.
Dry Skin:
In this skin type, skin looks dull and without any shine, the good way to identify this skin type is, when you pinch with your fingers on the skin, that area appears white then you have dry skin. Moisturizing is the best way to tackle dry skin.
So, use products that have high moisture content.
Combination Skin:
This skin type is likely a mixture of both oily and dry skin types, in other words, your skin looks oily in some places, and dry in other places.
The best way to identify combination skin is by looking at the part of the face where the skin looks oily.
This part is often referred to as T-Zone which includes the forehead, nose, and chin, the cheeks are drier. This is due to the uneven distribution of sebaceous glands.
Sensitive Skin:
Sensitive skin is the most difficult skin type to maintain, often prone to irritation, redness, and discomfort compared to other skin types. People with this skin type experience reactions toward grooming products.
So, maintaining this skin type is quite a hard task. But with a disciplined skincare routine, you can have good skin health.
Normal Skin:
Everything about the normal skin type is right, and it is the best skin type of all. Because it is very easy to maintain this skin type. People with this skin type can use and even experiment with a wide variety of products.
The skin looks just right like it’s not too oily and not too dry, but, just enough to get protected. This is also due to the equal distribution and production of sebum.
This is about skin types, next, we’ll be looking at Hair types.
Hair Types in Men:
credits: coolmenshair.com
We also have 4 hair types Straight, curly, coily, and wavy hair types.
Straight Hair:
In straight hair, the hair strands are straight, and without any curves, the strands are very smooth. Hair looks shiny and without any volume doesn’t matter what you do your hair is always flat.
So, you need to use hair products that add volume to your hair and take care accordingly.
Curly Hair:
The hair strands of a curly hair type look almost like a loop that makes them what it is. Curly hair is somewhat hard to maintain, there are different types of curls in curly hair types as well, based on how much curl the hair strands have.
We’ll talk about hair types in another blog post.
Wavy Hair:
Wavy hair type falls between straight and curly hair types, with very minimal curves of the hair strands. We know that there are different curl types in curly hair type likewise, there exist different curl types for wavy hair too.
Coily Hair:
In coilythe hair type, the hair strands have a Z-shaped pattern. The strands of hair have very sharp curves. Unlike in curly hair types, where the curls are very small and thick, makes it very hard to maintain.
So, selecting hair products that complement your hair type is the best way to style and maintain it.
I hope you know about hair types, we’re gonna be talking about Scalp types next.
Scalp Types:
Like Skin types, there are 4 scalp types – dry, oily, normal, and Combination scalp types.
Dry Scalp:
When you have a dry scalp your scalp becomes dry, flaky, and itchy. This is due to less sebum production by sebaceous glands which we talked about earlier.
People with dry scalp need to wash their hair less(about once a week), dry scalp requires more moisturizing. So, you need to select hair products that are high in moisture content.
Oily Scalp:
In contrast to a dry scalp, an oily scalp produces more oil due to more sebum production. Oily scalp leads to greasy hair and flaking and people with oily scalps need to wash their hair frequently(about 1-3 times a week).
Normal Scalp:
Just like in normal skin type, normal scalp type is also a combination of dry and oily scalp types. It has a normal sebum production which is not too oily or not too dry.
People with normal scalp types need to wash their hair 1-2 times a week for better scalp maintenance.
Combination Scalp:
A combination scalp type is a mixture of dry scalp and oily scalp. This is best explained this way, this scalp type has dry top layers and oily bottom layers of the scalp. You need to wash your hair 1-2 times a week with more care needs to be taken for the scalp.
Now we are going to talk about one of the interesting topics which is body types, some of us don’t know that body types exist.
Body Types:
Body types mean how your body looks, There are 5 body types in men. Understanding body types is, important for men to dress well and look good. In addition to this, it also helps in identifying the right color clothes for body type.
Triangle:
The shoulders are narrower than the chest, waist, and Hips giving it an identical triangle appearance. You Need to wear well-fitted clothes to elevate your look.
Inverted Triangle:
This body type is the counterpart to the triangle body type, in this, the shoulder is wider than the chest, waist, and hips. Giving you the most masculine look that every man desires and well-fitted clothes are a must
Trapezoid:
Trapezoid is said to be the most common body type in men, in which your shoulder is of normal width, masculine chest, slimmer waist, and wider hips.
It is quite easy to buy clothes for this type of body type because almost every cloth manufacturing company produces clothes with this body type in mind.
Rectangle:
The rectangular body type has equal measurements of shoulders, chest, waist, and hips. Generally, tall, leaner guys will have this type of body type. So, wear lighter-colored clothes to look bulkier.
Oval:
In this body type, the shoulders, and waist are of the same width, and the hips are leaner making an oval-shaped body.
Complementing their dressing is a very important aspect while dressing for oval shaped body.
Well-fitted clothes with medium to dark colors look good for an oval body shape.
The next topic is the most important if you were to take good care of your skin, that is moisturizing.
Moisturizing:
Moisturizing is probably the best thing you do to your skin, it’ll make your skin glow and regain elasticity. Not only this there are numerous benefits, it helps in repairing your skin which undergoes wear and tear due to atmospheric conditions and harsh weather.
Another important aspect that you need to know if you want to have great skin is Exfoliation.
Exfoliation:
A very important aspect of grooming is Exfoliation, which means removing dead skin cells from the outer layers of the body. This is again based on your skin type in other words, you need to follow different exfoliating routines for different skin types.
There are two ways to Exfoliate – Physical exfoliation and chemical exfoliation, which we’re gonna be talking about later.
There is a slightly advanced topic in grooming that is related to dressing well which is Color contrast.
Color Contrast:
Color contrast means differentiating between two colors like the difference between dark color and light color. When we apply this concept to our skin color, hair color, and eye color, then we have color contrast in men.
There are 3 color contrasts for men.
- High contrast men: Men whose hair color contrasts with their skin color are said to fall under High contrast men.
- Low-contrast light-colored men: Men with light-colored hair and light-colored skin fall under low-contrast men.
- Medium contrast men: Men with either of the above-mentioned two categories fall under medium contrast men. That means dark-skinned men with dark colored skin or light-skinned men with white or gray color hair come under this category.
I’ve also written a separate blog post for color contrasts do check it out.
Once you’ve known about color contrast, then it’s time to mix and match colors for your outfits.
Mix and Match Colors:
You also need to know how to mix and match colors while dressing, like what color shirt goes well with what color pants. We’ll discuss mixing and matching clothes in another blog post.
When to Use What:
Let’s say you are thorough with the basics that we discussed above. Now, what? Knowing about Grooming products is also straightforward. But the real problem arrives when you want to select a particular product for your skin type, hair type, etc.
That is where we come into the picture. We, as a men’s grooming blog, aim to educate people about what kind of product suits their skin type. Understanding these basics well is crucial, as every man’s skin or body type is different.
Conclusion:
At any pointing this blog post, you may feel these topics as random but they are not this is everything you need to know, if you want to start grooming. Don’t worry if you find this information is not enough.
I have written individual blog posts for every topic, so please check them out.