Photos by: Don Hansen (IG: @_donhansen)

There comes a time in every man’s life where you have to be real with yourself and simply say, “Do Better!”.

I’m gonna talk about my experience as it is the one I’m most familiar with, but I hope that some of what I’m about to say resonates with you.

Growing up my mom always told me three things:

1. Never leave the house with dirty draws on, you never know what could happen.
2. Be conscious of your appearance because it is the first impression that you make.
3. The first thing a woman looks at is your shoes (This explains my obnoxious shoe collection)

For the purpose of this discussion, we will focus on point number two.

Regardless of if you are clean cut or rocking the heavy with a fade, grooming comes into play. Here are my thoughts.

Oral hygiene is really important and brushing your teeth is simple. For my baseline, I go to the dentist twice per year, floss regularly and brush 1.5 times per day (.5 because it should really be 2 but I skip some nights). I must say, women appreciate when your breath is not tart and it gives you the confidence to have an intimate conversation if the opportunity is presented.

BUT… you will never make it to the intimate conversation if your face is not taken care of. I was recently having a conversation with a group of friends and the sentiment across the board was that there is not enough discussion about men and skin care. So here goes…

When I was 18 and in the Naval ROTC program I was forced to shave to adhere to military standards and I very quickly found out that this would be the bane of my existence. I tried shaving with my clippers, but I wasn’t getting a close enough shave and I was not consistent with managing that process. I tried switching over to a razor and I immediately found out what razor bumps were. My face was inflamed for multiple weeks and I knew this could not be life. Then I tried switching to the electric shaver and that still bumped me up.

I resolved that I have sensitive skin and I needed to be really intentional about my face washing process.

As a precursor to my next steps, I must say that I’m not sold on my products so if you have a better solution please let me know.

I wash my face with Noxzema and lord…for the moment I swear by it. It gets your face clean and gives you a tingly feeling because of the eucalyptus in it. Generally, I prep my face in warm water to open my pores, apply the Noxzema, let it sit for 15-20 seconds, then rinse with warm to remove the excess, followed by a cold rinse to close my pores. For my neckline, I am intentional about applying an astringent (a liquid meant to “contract skin cells – Bump Patrol) to be sure that there is as little dirt as possible in an effort to prevent hair bumps.

Which leads me to the discussion around beards. They are a gift and a curse! I personally believe that a man with a beard holds a level of distinction that is unparalleled, but the upkeep of said beard is tasking. My facial hair grows fast and choppy which is not great for keeping a clean look. I literally look like Patches O’Hoolihan when I try to grow it out. Which means keeping it low is best. And with that, any additional hairs outside of the intended line take away from the clean look. My best advice for those who have similar sentiments is to get nice with an edger.

My edger of choice is the Andis Slim line Pro because I travel pretty frequently and it is wireless, thus chargeable and you have to worry less about plug ratings. It’s small so it can reach the tough spots and its lightweight which works perfectly for those who have not cut before. Its a lot like drawing with a pencil. The set actually comes with guards so you can manage the weight of your facial hair as well. Long story short, IT IS THE WAY TO GO!

The summary is simple:

It is not metro to take care of yourself, and men should not be stigmatized for having conversations about it!

To a Life Worth Living,

The Wkender.