Leaderboard Banner

Sustainable Personal Care Picks for Men (from my husband to yours)

by Karim Orange

image

Welcome to Better Organic Choice (BOC), a column focusing on makeup, skincare and beauty tips, tricks and product advice for the holistically hip. We cover the best in green glam, behind the scenes and in your face (not your traditional crunchy granola here). We are here to help you explore all the beauty treatments you adore! Do you often worry if your beauty products are dangerous to your health? Are you dizzy from analyzing ingredients? Guiding you is my pleasure.

My husband has been complaining that he feels left out in the green/organic product parade (which means my house, and the number of products it contains). So since we celebrate Father’s Day in June, I decided to have him help me give product advice to the men in our lives this month.

Most men have to think very little about personal-care products. I’m not saying all men, and at all stages in their lives, but I think it’s fair to say that for the most part, they think about personal-care products less than women. Take my husband, for instance. He can go for weeks without thinking about moisturizing his face (let alone his body).  He will be 40 next week, and has amazing skin that doesn’t need it (he just does it to please his organic-product junkie wife). He also explained to me that because he naturally sweats a lot it makes him a total greasy mess, especially when he uses moisturizers on his face. The only places he moisturizes are his legs, feet and hands. Why do men get all the breaks when it comes to aging naturally?  I feel like yelling at the top of my lungs, “This is so unfair!” Women give birth, we should have natural, wrinkle-free skin forever. That’s on my list of questions to ask God one day, but until that day arrives I decided to see if there are indeed scientific facts to support why men sometimes age better than women.

The following information is from the International Dermal Institute: The biggest difference between male and female skin is due to the male sex hormones known collectively as androgens, specifically testosterone. In addition to increased protection from collagen and elastin degradation, male skin can also thank androgens for its increased thickness. Androgens, including testosterone, yield a denser network of collagen fibers than that of female skin. The firm collagen and elastin network, coupled with the presence of terminal hair follicles, results in thick facial skin in men.

Whereas females may show and be concerned about the signs of photo-aging, males traditionally do not begin to show these signs until later in life. Therefore, men are not easily persuaded into using moisturizing creams early in life due to the nature of their thicker facial skin.

So I gave my husband some basic products to try and here is what he had to say. Let me also add that during this process he almost received bodily injury when he used my $65 bottle of Dr. Hauschka facial moisturizer on his feet! Here are his reviews, along with why these products make great gifts for Father’s Day.

Gabriel Organics Skincare  My husband actually used the entire normal to combination skincare set for a month and loved it. He liked the fact that it’s infused with sea minerals and that it was not highly fragranced.  He also liked the unisex blue and silver packaging.

Pangea Organics  Brazilian Brown Sugar with Cocoa Butter Body Polish. This was hard to get my husband to try at first, but now he loves it. The only issue is that he loves it so much he can use one per week. This brown-sugar scrub gently removes rough surface cells while nourishing cocoa and shea deeply condition the skin.

Maroma Ceder Lavender Soap and Oil  We collectively love everything by this company. We burn their incense in our house. He was so happy to use their soap and essential oil based fragrance.

Eco Armour Shave with Benefits in Mint and Eucalyptus  Hands down his best beard shave ever! Infused with essential oils of peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary, lemon, tea tree and lavender.

Indie Lee Hydrating Body Balm My husband is a martial artist and a bike rider, so sometimes his feet and hands need extra hydration. He loved this product for this rough areas.

Nubian Heritage Black Soap   This is a staple that he’s used for 20 years, even before he married the green beauty queen. It’s just pure and good. This traditional African Black Soap recipe contains palm ash, plantain peel extract and rosemary extract.

Ladies don’t forget, men need sustainable personal care products too! Until next time.

Tags: 

Related Articles:

7 GYM BAG GROOMING ESSENTIALS

WHAT’S THAT SMELL?

A CLOSE SHAVE

Karim Orange is a nationally known natural cosmetics expert, celebrity personal care products artist and two-time Emmy Award nominee whose work graces the faces of countless stars in television, music, movies and the theater. If you have specific questions about non-toxic beauty products and routines that you would like to see answered in this column, please email me at karim@betterorganicchoice.com. If you would like me to green your beauty routine please visit  www.betterorganicchoice.com.

You may also like