Skin Care Tips For Short Men

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Remember this - As a man, your face is the first thing people will see. Your height is the first thing people will notice. Your height is an attribute completely out of your control (among other physical attributes for which we as men are routinely judged). The condition of your face on the other hand, barring the most extreme of cases, is something you have direct influence over and is thus without question your responsibility. No blame-shifting allowed.

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In this article, I will share with you some tips, routines, products, dos and don'ts - many of which should find their way into your daily and long-term skin care regiment. Remember, as shorter men we must always bring our A-game.

Pimples/Acne

I won't bore you with the science behind acne. Do a google search if you're interested in that. However, two causes of adult acne which can be fixed without setting foot in a doctor's office are poor hygiene and diet. I'll give a few anecdotes.

Your Diet Can Affect The Appearance Of Your Skin | Source: Simpsons

I had severe acne when I was a teen and as an adult still suffer from it. However, my face now is almost always clear. Why? As a teenager, a visit to the Dermatologist lead to the inquiring of my dietary habits. Like most teens, chocolate was one of my best friends. I asked the doctor, "Does chocolate make you break out?" He replied, "Chocolate doesn't make you break out, but chocolate makes you break out". From there I gave up chocolate and the severity of my acne diminished significantly. It took several years of investigating and tweaking my diet to rid my face of acne completely.

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What's the takeaway? Your skin may not react well to certain foods. By removing items from your diet one by one you may be able to find the source of your breakouts. This is not for the impatient. It could take months. In my case, I figured out that anything with processed sugars (almost all candies and some juices), certain types of oils and products high in sodium made me break out. Did meals become boring? At first, you betchya! However, as I learned which ingredients worked, I was able to find plenty of substitutes to make my meals just as tasty. 

• Identify possible dietary triggers
• Remove suspected foods one by one
• Minimize or avoid the identified foods or ingredients altogether

Figure out what works best for you and run with it. For me it also meant staying away from certain workout supplements. The brand of creatine I was using had high amounts of sugar, not to mention the high boosts of testosterone which resulted from consuming it.

Many People Report Workout Supplements Triggering Acne | Source: Muscle Tech

Both of these triggered breakouts. By finding substitutes, I was able to have my acne under complete control. Make no mistake. I have adult acne, but you'd never know.

Hygiene

Some skin types are oily. Others are dry. Are you aware of which skin type you have? Either way, you should avoid touching your face and it should always be clean. For oily skin, many dermatologists recommend "Oil-Free Acne Wash" by Neutrogena. I've been using it for close to 20 years and swear by it. It's active ingredient Salicylic Acid is said to be effective at unclogging pores and removing excess oil on the face. For me, it leaves my face feeling nice, smooth and clean. 

Oil Free Acne Wash Is Inexpensive And Dermatologist Recommended

My Dermatologist prescribes me Tretinoin, a topical cream which speeds up the growth of skin cells, decreases the number and severity of pimples and also helps with wrinkles in the long term and brightens the skin. As I entered my 30s, I found myself forgoing the use of it and using something which can be found in any pharmacy for relatively cheap - Cocoa Butter. The Palmer's brand is available as a lotion, face cream and swivel stick for travel. Take your pick.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Does Wonders For Skin Care And Is Afforable

In the event that I do get a pimple, applying it to the affected area helps it to go down rather quickly and disappear if I catch it early enough. In fact, whenever I wash my face now, I rub a small amount of Cocoa Butter all over my face afterwards (around the size of a dime). While I cannot say with full certainty that it will work for you, for me it helps to keep my face smooth, moisturized and pimple-free. Also, gently using a face scrubber post-wash before putting on any face cream will help expedite exfoliation and leave your skin feeling nice and smooth.

The most important takeaways are:

• Wash your face
• Refrain from touching your face
• Keep it moisturized.
• Using a face scrubber can help with exfoliation 

Ingrown Hairs

They can be hideous, unsightly and completely ruin facial aesthetics. The good thing is that they really can be prevented if you're proactive. No matter your race or ethnicity, if you have curly or kinky hair, your chances of being affected by it increases by 80%. I received my first ingrown hairs when attempting to remove stubborn hairs with a tweezer.

Difference Between Razor Bumps and Ingrown Hairs

The hair grew back underneath the skin causing the ingrown hair. Before you knew it, I had several. If you're like me and prefer a closer shave with a straight edge, you will get them, a lot of men just accept that they have them and do nothing about it. It doesn't have to be this way. Part of it has to do with poor shaving routines.

Tend Skin is just one of many products on the market used to eliminate razor bumps and ingrown hairs but is probably the most effective. After doing research on other products like chemical shaves (which can burn the skin), I decided to give Tend Skin a try.

Tend Skin Is One Of The Most Effective Products On The Market For Ingrown Hairs

Since then, 10 years on, Tend Skin has been a life saver. Applying it to affected area will get rid of the unpleasant anomalies within 28-48 hours with the most severe ones taking a bit longer than that. It's almost magical.

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Speaking of shaving. I prefer straight edge razors because I can get a closer shave. Going softly (and I mean very softly) against the grain post-shave helps with exfoliating and leaves me with a bit of a glow.

Stainless Steel Straight Edge Razor - Far More Effective Shaving Tool

Doing this I can also carefully remove stubborn hairs, particularly razor bumps. Because I apply tend skin to where facial hair grows (I have a lined beard which means that I do not remove my bead completely, just the areas around the lined part), I rarely if ever get razor bumps now.

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Most important takeaways:

• Learn best shaving practices
• Straight Edge razors are far more effective shaving tools
• If you are prone to ingrown hairs, use preventative products

Your Best Face

Looking your best involves ongoing maintenance. There is no "set it and forget it" solution unless you don't care about how you look. As always, it is best to speak with a doctor before using any product to determine whether it is best for you. We do not purport the delivery of any type medical advice with this writing. 

There is a stereotype that women spend a lot of time in front of a mirror. If there is any truth to that, it is mostly likely because they aim to look their best. That is a page us men should take from their book. Now more than ever, looking your best as a should be a priority. After all, your face is the first thing people see. Leave them with best impression. 

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