A Cut Above
This month, Ian Harrold ponders the importance of a skincare regime that lasts longer than your New Year’s resolutions
Words by Ian HARROLD
It’s a time honoured tradition: You’re little over a week into the New Year; the seemingly endless, end-of-year binge drinking has well and truly chewed you up and spat you out. You’re pre-Christmas haircut is growing out fast and you’ve noticed the vague outline of a new chin that you swear wasn’t there a few weeks ago. In short: You’re a mess and resolutions are in order.
The problem is that, despite our new-year-new-me zeal, most resolutions are likely to burn out before the month is through. This is particularly true of any skin care regimes you might have decided to put in place to fix the corpse-like complexion that last year has left you with.
The way I see it, there are two big reasons for this. For starters, most men limit their skincare repertoire to whatever they happen to be gifted over Christmas. Once that’s ran out and they’ve weighed up the cost of the whole thing themselves, the routine becomes a little less appealing. In this respect, any good skin regimen is subject to budgeting, but a little education goes a long way, too.
My advice? Buy better, buy less. You don’t have to go in for the whole range; just pick and choose what you need. But know this: What a lot of people fail to realise is that price is, more often than not, a good indication of the quality of the ingredients in the mix. More expensive brands are packed full of richer ingredients that will nourish the skin over time. Cheaper options have a habit of filling things out with alcohol and surfactants that can often irritate more than soothe. Find a balance, learn what works for you, and budget accordingly.
‘My advice? Buy better, buy less. You don’t have to go in for the whole range; just pick and choose what you need. But know this: What a lot of people fail to realise is that price is, more often than not, a good indication of the quality of the ingredients in the mix.’
The second big reason is a general lack of patience: We don’t see the effects quickly enough. That’s understandable: When you’re forking out on expensive products you want to see a difference pretty sharpish. Many of these regimes have a cumulative effect that’s often hard to see at first, and it’s easy to forget that it takes time for your skin to adjust to the extra help.
This is especially true in the winter, when your skin is faced with a constant barrage of environmental stresses. This plays a bigger part in skin issues than you’d expect. Not only is the cold sure to give your face a beating, but so will the measures you take to keep warm. Things like electric heaters and you car’s air con are notorious for drying your skin out. Those hitting the gym more over the next few months will find also their skin in extra need of hydration. It’s winter, the cards are stacked against you as it is, so be patient.
So in short: Happy New Year. Make good on your New Year’s resolutions for as long as you can, be kind to your skin and patient with whatever you use to protect it, and above all, get a bloody haircut. IH
