Guys like to pretend they don’t care about how they look. Sure, there are those who spend more time on their hair than I do and are on a first-name basis with the salesperson at the men’s products department-store counter. But being a mother and aunt of so many of them, I can tell you boys usually don’t ask beauty questions. Or grooming questions. Or hygiene questions. Or fashion questions.
Caring about your appearance is not just for girls. It’s important that boys know how to shave the right way—by lathering up the area with a bar of soap (rather than shaving cream) to soften the hair follicles so they don’t get a rash and ingrowns. They also need to pay attention to cutting their nails. There’s nothing worse than looking at a cute guy and seeing he has awful nails. Those things do matter. And why are boys so afraid of lotion?
If you have a boyfriend, brother, or best friend who could use a little help with his routine, my advice is to nudge him gently. Don’t nag. Offer these tips in a cool, laid-back way. And if he takes your advice, follow it up by telling him how good he looks. That gets them every time.
He shaves his face like he’s clearing a forest. He’s so rough with the razor that angry red bumps rise up almost immediately when he’s done.
The first mistake most guys make is using the same razor for months (yuck). The razor blade should be changed after five to seven uses, or when the blade begins to pull on the skin. The shower—with shaving cream or soap, please!—is the best place for shaving because the steam opens up the pores and plumps the hair. This makes for a smoother shave and reduces the chances of nicks. He shouldn’t forget to check his work. You can buy him a fog-free mirror that works in a steamy place to avoid the dreaded patch of hair left after a shave. Buy him aftershave or face cream specially designed to soothe the face after a shave. This will help a lot with razor burn and smells nice. If you are having a hard time convincing him of the benefits of a shave done right, take him to a pro. Once he feels his smooth face after the work of hot steam and a sharp razor, he won’t go back to his brutal ways.
He uses harsh bar soap to wash his face. The formula and heavy deodorants in those soaps, created to fight the heaviest dirt and grime, strip skin of necessary oils. They leave his skin so tight he can hardly crack a smile.
Offer him a lathering cleanser that’s specially created for the face but has the same suds as his old bar of soap. Put it in the shower for him; otherwise, trust me, he’ll never use it.
He’s got an out-of-control unibrow.
Nobody likes a unibrow, not even guys. Get a pair of sturdy tweezers into his hands and tell him to pluck only the hairs in-between his brows (believe it or not, boys can over-tweeze, too). Make sure the tweezers have a flat slanted edge, not pointed, for easier plucking.
He’s had the same haircut since he was seven years old.
It’s hard to wean guys away from the corner barber, who shears their hair like they are a bunch of sheep. And just when it’s grown in and looking cute again, they head right back to that barber chair. Try luring your guy to a salon. If yours is too over-the-top or feminine, find a cool, low-key place that has a lot of male clients. At first he might be embarrassed, but the luxury of having his hair washed will surely win him over. Just make sure the salon isn’t super-pricey. There’s nothing guys like to spend less on than hair.
His feet smell so bad that when he takes his shoes off, you almost pass out.
Smelly feet come from sweat, which creates bacteria with bad odors. Feet get sweaty when guys are active or wear thick sports socks or shoes in materials that don’t breathe. Not wearing socks with shoes and wearing the same pair of shoes every day are two big culprits behind stinky feet. Encourage him to put away his favorite sneaks for a day and rotate his shoes. Putting powder in sneakers and shoes is also a good way to absorb odor. Every once in a while, he should wash his sneakers with cold water (don’t put them in the dryer, or they’ll shrink). Some dry-cleaners also have sneaker cleaners. If the bad foot smell persists, he should see a doctor because some foot odors are caused by a fungus that needs to be treated with prescription medicine.
His idea of moisturizing his lips is to lick them when they are dry.
Spit is not a product, OK? Licking your lips actually dries them out. When saliva evaporates, it strips the lips’ natural oils, leaving them even more chapped. Buy your guy a clear, unscented lip balm that’s small enough for him to stick in his jeans pocket.
He gets pimples on his chest and back that he loves to make a hobby out of picking.
Although it’s tempting, picking often leads to infection and sometimes, even worse, scarring. The best way to keep him from picking is to keep the pimples from arising in the first place. Have him try a body wash with salicylic acid, which gets rid of the dead skin cells that clog pores and cause pimples.
He’s really careless about his sunscreen. At the beach, he slaps a palm or two of sunblock on his back and cheeks so that at the end of the day, he looks like a patchwork quilt of color.
For beach days or outdoor sports, get him a spray-on waterproof sunscreen. The spray formula is easy to apply. Add a daily face moisturizer with sunscreen to protect against the majority of UVA and UVB exposure that he’ll get.
He bites his nails until they are a jagged mess.
Try treating him to a real manicure. I’m not talking red polish here. Lots of men get manicures at salons—hold the polish. If he has neatly trimmed nails, there won’t be anything to bite. Plus, he’ll love the feeling of the hand massage that usually comes with the manicure.
His locker smells like something died in it.
Check to see if it’s last year’s tuna sandwich causing the smell. Then get him some fabric softener sheets to put in his locker, or a box of baking soda. Both will absorb odors (the fabric conditioner has the bonus of a scent that can mask almost anything).
