15 Steps For Men To Get Clear Skin!

Have you ever found yourself wondering how to get clear skin? You are not alone. Clear and flawless skin is just as much of a concern among men as it is for women.

While good food habits and a healthy lifestyle can help you achieve a healthy glow, external care is equally important if you want to avoid acne breakouts, pigmentation and other skin issues.

So how can men achieve their clear skin goals? We have compiled the best tips for men looking to have flawless skin with little effort.

What Expert Says

“Exfoliating, cleansing and moisturizing are the most important steps to include in any skincare routine. To achieve healthy and glowing skin, men must use a broad-spectrum sunscreen to avoid sun damage. Harmful UV rays can severely damage your skin and cause umpteen number of skin problems.”

Abhisikta Hati, Senior Product Development Executive, SkinKraft

 Ways To Get Clear Skin For Men 

The first and foremost rule of achieving clear skin is to evaluate your current skin condition. Once you know your skin type, texture and problems, it becomes a lot easier to build a perfect skincare routine that would cater to your skin needs.

While analysing your skin condition, take into account your daily lifestyle, sleeping patterns, food habits, etc. No matter how trivial it sounds, these tiny aspects of your life affect your skin to a large extent. Your regular food intake should be filled with a sufficient amount of vitamins, proteins, minerals etc. A minimum of 8 hours of sleep a day is recommended to have flawless skin. The more you take care of your skin internally, the better it will get.

Along with improving your lifestyle, adding a well-built skincare routine is also important. Our senior product development executive, Abhisikta Hati says, “Exfoliating, cleansing and moisturizing are the most important steps to include in any skincare routine. To achieve healthy and glowing skin, men must use a broad-spectrum sunscreen to avoid sun damage. Harmful UV rays can severely damage your skin and cause umpteen number of skin problems.”

Here we are listing ways in which men can get clear skin.

1. Cleanse

Cleansing your skin effectively is the first step to get healthy skin. A lot of men, however, do this the wrong way.

Men have more active sebaceous glands in their skin, which produce double the quantity of sebum (oil) as compared to women. When your glands produce excessive sebum, environmental dirt and pollutants stick to your face very easily.

Hence, it is important to cleanse your face twice - morning and night - to avoid flaking, itchiness, dryness, or prolonged acne.

After using a cleanser, if your skin feels uncomfortable, squeaky, or tight, you might be using the wrong cleanser. It’s vital to pick and use a mild cleanser that suits your skin type. Look for a product that restores the moisture in your skin and controls its sebum production.

Note:

The pH balance of your skin is around 4.5 to 5.5 . Your skin will break out and feel irritated if your product has a higher pH than the required amount.

2. Exfoliate

Did you know exfoliation is a step that assists in unclogging your pores? It also plays a significant role in preventing ingrown hair while shaving.

Exfoliating is important to remove your skin’s dead cells. This will ensure that your skin feels smooth, fresh and healthy.

For starters, exfoliating your skin once a week serves the purpose. Depending on how your skin reacts, you can exfoliate your skin twice a week or more. If your skin feels dull or gets red and irritated easily, stop exfoliating for a week or so to let your skin recover.

There are several physical exfoliators and scrubbers available in the market. However, face scrubs are not suitable for sensitive skin and may lead to scars. Thus, you can try chemical exfoliation with AHAs and BHAs as most alpha-hydroxy acids and beta-hydroxy acids are derived from plants and are considered safe for your skin.

3. Moisturize

A common misconception among men is that they can clear their skin by laying off the moisturizer. The truth is, your skin needs the right quantity of hydration. Moisturization hydrates your skin and leaves it feeling soft throughout the day.

While harsh cleansers and exfoliators can strip off your skin’s natural oils, a good moisturizer helps to retain the moisture that’s already in your skin.

Tip:

If you are someone with oily skin, water-based, oil-free moisturizers are the best. Those with sensitive skin can use gel moisturizers to boost hydration.

4. Use Sunscreen

Sunscreen isn’t exclusive to those hot and sweltering summer days. You need protection from the sun all through the year.

Use a generous amount of broad-spectrum sunscreen daily that protects your skin against both UVA and UVB rays. Choose a water-resistant sunscreen that has an SPF of 30 or more.

To prevent sun damage, wrinkles, dark spots and even skin cancer, apply sunscreen to all exposed areas of the skin, including your ears, neck and lips. [1]

In addition to wearing long-sleeves and applying sunscreen, wearing a hat outdoors is a great way to protect yourself from the harmful UV rays.

Pick a wide-brimmed hat. The wide brim effortlessly and effectively covers your face, neck, and ears. If you’re looking for serious protection, it’s better to avoid hats with straw holes or baseball hats. They simply don’t serve the purpose of protecting you in the sunny outdoors.

SkinKraft Tip:

Reapply sunscreen every two hours when you are outdoors. Apply every hour if you are sweating a lot or swimming.

5. Stay Hydrated

Not only does water play an important role in digestion and proper blood circulation, but it also contributes to your skin’s health and glow.

Water helps to flush out toxins from your body and skin. Adequate intake of water helps to renew your skin and maintain optimum skin moisture. With dehydration, your skin becomes prone to skin disorders and wrinkling.

Ideally, drinking 8-10 glasses of water everyday keeps your skin hydrated, makes your skin soft and glowing by keeping skin disorders at bay. [2]

6. Establish A Proper Skincare Routine

Building a proper skincare regimen [3] from ground zero is extremely important to achieve healthy and glowing skin.

The right approach to skincare is not one-size-fits-all! Your skincare routine should be personalized based on your skin type and texture. It should consist of the right cleansers, actives for skin concerns, moisturizers, sunscreen, and weekly exfoliation and masks for optimum results.

Follow a regular skincare routine to improve the health and appearance of your skin.

7. Avoid Touching Your Skin

It is important to resist the habit of touching your face for the sake of your skin’s health. Touching your face can transfer dirt, oil and bacteria from your hands onto your face skin and can cause clogged pores and acne breakouts.

Avoid pimple popping too. Popping a pimple exposes the pore to more bacteria that might come from your hands. It can result in permanent scars on your face. [4]

Use tissues to wipe off dirt and sweat on your face to avoid touching your face.

8. Reduce Smoking And Alcohol Consumption

Men, you need to ditch the smokes to get clear skin! Smoking makes your skin age prematurely. Conditions such as hidradenitis suppurativa and psoriasis may get worse with smoking.

Quitting smoking is believed to slow facial ageing and delay the appearance of wrinkles. That’s why a non-smoker’s skin gets more nutrients, including oxygen.

Alcohol too has an effect on hormonal levels, which dehydrates your skin, causes acne and accelerates signs of aging. Giving up alcohol will make your skin clearer and more natural. [5]

9. Follow A Healthy Diet

Your skin constantly sheds and replaces older cells with younger ones. A healthy diet ensures your skin receives essential nutrients to support this growth. A balanced diet will help you achieve blemish-free, supple, and soft skin. [6]

Treat your skin by eating fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants, healthy fats like nuts and other nutritious foods rich in beta carotene, vitamins C and E, zinc and selenium.

10. Exercise Regularly

Regular exercise gives you healthy and glowing skin. It strengthens your skin to protect itself against ageing and other damages.

Working out helps improve the flow of blood, flushes out toxins, supplies essential nutrients to the skin, and supports the production of collagen. Working out can also help you in reducing stress, which will ultimately reflect on your skin. [7]

SkinKraft Tip:

After breaking out a sweat, it’s important to cleanse your skin to avoid the buildup of dirt, sweat, and bacteria. Follow up with a moisturizer to restore the lost moisture.

11. Get Enough Sleep

Sleeping your way to healthier and brighter skin is a wise thing to do! You need to maximise your snooze time for a healthier, more youthful complexion.

When you sleep, your skin goes into repair and regeneration mode. At this time, your body increases its blood flow and produces new skin cells. You disrupt the skin’s healing process without proper sleep.

The lack of sleep can make your dark circles worse and aggravate blemishes. Not just that. It can also increase the level of cortisol, which triggers your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep will ensure you wake up with glowing skin. [8]

12. Don’t Forget Lip Care

Just like the rest of your body, your lips need care too. The skin on your lip is much thinner and more delicate than the skin on your face. It is important to keep them nourished, so that they feel soft, healthy and supple.

Not many of you would know that lips are the only part of our bodies that do not have pores and therefore, require hydration and nourishing.

Dry lips is one of the major skin concerns that many of you may have. Regular use of lip balm can help you get rid of dry and chapped lips. Keep a small lip balm handy to keep your lips hydrated and moisturized.

13. Avoid Dairy And Sugar

Overindulgence of sugar or your favourite sugary sweets can cause major skin concerns. Refined carbs like sugar have poor nutritional value.

With excess consumption of sugar, insulin levels rise and subsequently increase skin inflammation. Too much sugar can also aggravate other skin conditions such as rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis.

Pro-inflammatory foods like dairy products also aggravate or worsen existing inflammatory skin conditions. You can easily swap out regular dairy with unsweetened nut milk like almond milk or coconut milk.

14. Shave Once Or Twice A Week

With your skincare game on point, a proper shaving routine can help improve your skin’s barrier function and improve the look and feel of your skin.

Before you pull out the razor, cleanse your face and splash some warm water to open up the pores. Pre-shaving mousse, gel, or cream helps keep your skin warm and moist. The smoother the skin, the closer the shave.

15. Reduce Stress

Unmanaged and intense stress can take a toll on your skin and cause irritation and breakouts. Effective stress-relieving activities can help control lower cortisol and adrenaline levels in your body. This helps create more peace and calm.

Relieving stress relaxes your hormonal fluctuations with your feel-good hormones and lessens oil production. Thus, it keeps your skin clear and glowing.

Wrapping Up

Good skincare is a part of a healthy lifestyle. The methods for getting clear skin vary, depending on the person’s skin type. However, an effective routine can help you prevent acne, treat wrinkles, and help keep your skin looking its best.

Begin By Knowing Your Skin