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If you’re old enough to be looking for skincare tips (although skincare should be a priority at every age), you’re probably old enough to remember when the internet was a very creepy place.
The dodgiest early internet interactions usually happened in chatrooms and forums—message boards where one could post their thoughts and queries to be discussed with faceless strangers across the globe.
Reddit is the closest thing we’ve got these days for folks who weren’t “lucky enough” to experience the “magic” of those early forums. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Reddit is a gigantic website of forums, hosting thousands of specialized chats called subreddits for any question or interest that could ever possibly cross your handsome little mind.
As a men’s skincare company, we were curious to see what kinds of discussions blokes might be having on Reddit about skincare, to see if perhaps there might even emerge a Reddit skincare routine for men.
We found some great subreddits where you could spend hours learning all about what works for other people when it comes to skincare and men’s grooming.
But what we really wanted to see were the random, potentially embarrassing skincare questions being cyberwhispered in the darkest corners of Reddit.
The “r/NoStupidQuestions” subreddit discusses skincare routines
We first stumbled upon r/NoStupidQuestions, which was full of exactly what we were looking for.
Right off the bat we found a question asking whether gorillas, chimps, and orangutans get chapped lips or have been observed performing skincare routines. Unfortunately this user only got one unrelated answer about the people at Chapstick being “money hungry dkheads.”
We don’t know anything about that, but we do know that every ape we’ve ever kissed has had soft luscious lips. Could it be from the potassium in all those bananas? More research and monkey smoochin’ may be needed.
The next thing we found was a slightly more serious question about whether it is best to use skincare products before or after a shower.
Five of the six answers agreed that one should use skincare right after showering to lock in moisture and because, obviously, using it before would just result in washing all the products off your skin and down the drain.
The sixth answer, written by user reply_with_a_lie, wisely said, “I've read the comments, and tbh I get an overwhelming sense that the general opinion is that no one really knows.” So we reckon the jury is still out on that one (just kidding, dudes - obviously it makes no earthly sense to put your products on and wash them off fifteen seconds later).
Do men need skincare and the difference between male and female skin
Next, we encountered the rather existential question of whether male skin care is even a thing and should people be doing it. The author of the post had seen a “post somewhere” saying that everyone, regardless of gender, should have a skincare routine.
He brought his query to r/NoStupidQuestions because he knew if he googled it or went to a skincare-specific subreddit that of course the answer would be yes, so he wanted to just ask some guys who had no skin in the game (yes we’re very pleased with punny little selves).
All of the answers were in the affirmative, that yes, male skincare is a thing and yes, men should be taking care of their skin. Most answers mentioned moisturizer and sunscreen as a bare minimum, but one helpful gentleman named Fishbuilder reassured the original poster that his sister dates plenty of big manly men who not only use skincare products but also have experimented with foundation to cover blemishes. Phew, what a relief!
Another interesting question was by user snorkleboy who pondered if women have naturally smoother skin or if they just have healthier lifestyles and better skincare routines.
The other redditors seemed to think it was mostly due to lifestyle and routine, but one did mention that estrogen might give women softer skin. There is some truth to that, but it is more related to testosterone making men's skin 25% thicker and tougher in general.
Men’s 5-in-1 skincare products versus women’s specialized skincare products
This next question is a pervasive one amongst men in general. User tflightz wanted to know the difference between men's 5-in-1 soaps and women's multiple skincare products.
This makes us here at VITAMAN cringe because we know so many men have been brought up in the habit of blasting their faces and bodies with some industrial-grade green goo that cost less than a can of soda and purports to clean, condition, moisturize, sanitize, and jazzercise.
The redditors on this thread were divided. Some, such as ManualPancake, claimed that all products were the same and the difference was all in the marketing. Another guy said he’d really recommend a “cleanser” for making your face soft and nice to touch (perhaps he was talking about our natural face and body wash that removes dirt and oil without drying your skin like soap).
But the best answer was by a bloke named Mrp3anut who went into how women’s products are often highly specialized and used for different skin types and purposes.
He also went into how men can often get away with these cheap harsh all-in-one shampoos because they frequently have shorter hair which doesn’t get damaged by terrible products as easily. The original poster thanked Mrp3anut for his elaborate explanation and claimed satisfaction.
Skincare routines from r/AskMen on Reddit
Finally, we reluctantly made our exit from r/NoStupidQuestions and moved on to r/AskMen to find a long thread asking the men of Reddit what is their "no bs" skincare routine.
There are A LOT of answers here, including some from women (shocking!), but what kept coming up over and over was the need to exfoliate, use a good cleanser, moisturize, and protect your skin from the sun.
And wow, look at that, we gave you that same advice with our basic 4-step skincare routine (without having to waste all that time digging through reddit threads).
And alongside the basic 4-step skincare routine, you can grab our essential skincare kit for men and you can begin your skincare journey!
Okay, that’s enough Reddit for now. While we’re on this creepy internet nostalgia kick, we’re going to go try to find a chatroom where we can give our a/s/l.
