Men

We’re all familiar with hyped skin care ingredients that promise the moon—or at least subliminally suggest that we’ll look as if constantly bathed in moonlight with regular usage. Of course, some superhero ingredients, like retinol, stand the test of time. Others, like vitamin C derivatives SAP and MAP, have improved tremendously over their earlier versions thanks to excellent research and development. And others, like peptides, excited formulators at first, then disappointed once it became obvious that they weren’t living up to their original promise. Still others, like plant stem cells, were silly from the get-go—we are not plants, so it’s unclear how plant stem cells (undifferentiated cells that foster new cell growth) are supposed to improve mammalian skin. Plants and animals don’t even belong to the same Kingdom, so it’s a stretch.

Over the years we’ve had countless women shopping for the men in their lives (and even the occasional man) inquire about which of our regimens are best suited to male skin. It seems that men’s skin care options remain limited to chemical-laden products and higher-end products with questionable efficaciousness. Somewhere between a lack of products designed to fit into a man’s lifestyle and an absence of education around men’s skin health, most men either don’t know—or think they’re not supposed to care—about their skin.

There is no denying that climate change affects every aspect of our lives—even skin care. At some point in the upward trajectory of levels of heat, pollution and UV emissions, protective skin care will transition from a cosmetic option to a health necessity. And because we aren’t used to thinking of skin care in that way, it will be a non-trivial leap.