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The 10 Best Skincare Brands for Men
Feeling overwhelmed? Turn to one of these top options to improve your skin without smoke and mirrors.
We know you, dear Esquire reader, are a savvy shopper. But even the savviest shopper or grooming enthusiast is bound to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of brands and products available these days. Hell, we’re overwhelmed—and it’s our job to know about this stuff. It seems like there’s a new men’s grooming brand coming out every day or a new product that claims to solve all of our skincare problems. Some of them are great; many of them are…not. That’s where we come in (remember, it’s our job). We try everything—seriously—but these are the brands we keep coming back to over and over again. Some you may know, some you may not, but they’re all going to improve your skin and change your grooming game for good.
Atwater
Founder Chris Salgardo, the former longtime president of Kiehl’s, knows a thing or two about men’s skincare. He’s taken his decades of knowledge and personal passion and translated them into Atwater—intuitive, innovative products specifically designed for men and their skincare needs. The deceptively simple products like bars, cleansers, scrubs, and moisturizers work on multiple levels and are packed with proven ingredients to improve your skin without the need for a thousand steps in your routine.
We’re especially fond of the line’s moisturizers like Skin Armor, an all-around perfect lightweight moisturizer for most skin types, and Oil Regulator, which is tailored for guys with oily skin and leaves a natural-looking matte finish. Don’t sleep on Eye Armor Eye Moisturizer either, a deeply nourishing eye cream that not only improves the look of dark circles and puffiness, but also helps prevent signs of aging. If you aren’t sure what products are right for you, head over to the brand’s handy Skin Diagnostic test to get paired with your perfect routine.
Augustinus Bader
Yes, status skincare is a thing and while Augustinus Bader didn’t invent it, the brand has certainly taken it to a new level. What was the one product Kendall Roy had on his bathroom counter? Bader. Enough said. With a cadre of celebrity fans and backed by some serious science, these luxury products have reached cult status. The main story here is a patented ingredient called TFC8, which was developed from the decades of wound healing and regenerative research of Dr. Bader, and targets all areas of skin health, but most especially signs of aging, through cellular repair. Every product in the line contains TFC8 and they are developed to work synergistically to not only reduce signs of aging but also strengthen skin and protect it from external stressors.
The first product, and still the most popular, is The Cream, a rich moisturizer packed with the all-important TFC8. Personally, we like The Light Cream, which we find is better suited for most men’s skin. We’re also fans of the concentrated Serum and Eye Patches for a quick morning pick-me-up.
Necessaire
Necessaire was founded by industry veterans on one simple idea: The skin on your body should be treated with the same care (and ingredients) as the skin on your face. It might seem like a no-brainer, but back when Necessaire hit the market, it was a novel concept. By formulating things like body wash and body lotion with the same ingredients you’ll find in your facial skincare (we’re talking hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, alpha hydroxy acids, and other vitamins and minerals), Necessaire not only changed the idea of how to take care of all your skin, but elevated the body care category in the process.
We’re big fans of classic products like The Body Wash (in the eucalyptus scent) and The Body Lotion (fragrance-free), but lately have been reaching more and more for some of the more targeted and advanced products. We can’t stop using The Body Retinol, a retinol/alpha hydroxy acid comb that smooths and exfoliates skin, and The Body Acne Solution, a 2% salicylic acid spray that stops and heals body breakouts with lightning speed.
Malin + Goetz
Founders Matthew Malin and Andrew Goetz started their namesake brand in a tiny New York City storefront twenty years ago with the goal of making easy-to-use and easy-to-understand products using simple, high-quality, and often natural ingredients. Their idea struck a cord; the brand has since ballooned into one of the most well-known and sought-after grooming brands on the market. You’ll find its products in not only the best stores in the world, but also luxury hotels, spas, and gyms. Everything it makes is rooted in natural ingredients and it hardly ever uses added fragrance, instead letting the natural scents of the ingredients take center stage.
We’ve been using Malin + Goetz products for years and consider some of them, like the Eucalyptus Deodorant, Sage Styling Cream, and Grapefruit Face Cleanser, essential to our grooming regimens (seriously, just try prying the Eucalyptus Deodorant out of the hands of one particular Esquire staffer). Some of the newer, more advanced skincare products have quickly earned places in our medicine cabinets, too, like the Brightening Enzyme Mask, a deep cleaning gel mask, and the Resurfacing Glycolic Pads, gentle chemical exfoliating wipes that help to brighten and even skin.
Jack Black
One of the OG men’s grooming companies, Jack Black makes pretty much anything a guy could need to take care of his skin—and more. The high-quality products could be priced way higher, in our opinion, because they’re not only effective, but use proven ingredients and elevated fragrances to take your grooming game to the next level. And it’s not just about 3-in-1s with this brand (though, yes, it does have those if it’s your thing). Look for the more advanced skincare products like serums, exfoliators, scrubs, and sunscreens to trick out your grooming routine and make it really work for you. Thanks to the breadth of the offering, you’ll find something for every skin type and concern.
Speaking of serums, we personally like the Protein Booster Skin Serum, an all-around serum packed with peptides, antioxidants, and omega-3’s to help strengthen your skin and make it more resilient, and the Nighttime BAK-up Retinol Alternative, a gentle anti-aging serum that uses plant-based bakuchiol instead of retinol to help smooth lines. There’s also the essential Oil-Free Sun Guard SPF 45, a handy daily sunscreen that doesn’t feel greasy or heavy on your skin.
Bravo Sierra
The idea behind Bravo Sierra is that grooming products need to work. And who better to know what actually works than people who demand high performance in a variety of settings—members of the military? From day one, the company tapped active military personnel as its testing pool; they helped develop a range of products that hold up to demanding, active lifestyles, harsh climates, and even harsher demands put on body. The results speak for themselves. These products, while simple, get the job done very, very well. From long-lasting natural deodorants to deep-cleaning body soaps and moisturizer that doesn’t melt into your eyes, you can be sure that these products are going to stand up. Plus they use natural ingredients and sustainable and/or recyclable packaging on top of it all.
In addition to the pretty much perfect natural Deodorant (some of the best we’ve ever tried), we stock our dopp kit with the lightweight and non-greasy Face Moisturizer, the multi-use Hair/Body Wash + Shave, and the Face Sunscreen SPF 30, which doesn’t leave a white cast and doesn’t feel goopy on your skin.
Scotch Porter
Developed by and for men of color, Scotch Porter is all about high-quality yet accessible products that fill a need in your grooming routine. Most of the products lean toward the unique skin and hair needs of men of color, like deeper moisturization, ingrown hair prevention, and strengthening and restoring hair, but they’re also suitable for all men, particularly men with dry skin or beards. Utilizing natural ingredients and fine fragrance-like scents, Scotch Porter provides innovative products that take your grooming game to the next level.
We love the ultra moisturizing skincare products in the line, like the Face Lotion that contains turmeric, meadowsweet, and peony extracts to soothe and protect blemish-prone skin. But definitely don’t forget the beard products like the Leave-In Beard Conditioner and Smoothing Beard Serum that help to fight frizz and keep whiskers hydrated but never greasy. And even though it looks strange, we’re converts to the Nourishing Beard Mask, a sheet mask for your beard that leaves it so incredibly smooth and soft, you’ll wonder why no one thought of it before.
Dr. Barbara Sturm
In the world of luxury skin care, things can skew overly fragranced, overly heavy and, well, overly old lady. You won’t find an old lady cream in Dr. Barbara Sturm’s extensive—and we mean extensive—list of products. Since the brand launched with a single cream, the offerings have ballooned into one of the widest ranges of skincare (and now hair and body care) out there. Yes, there is a men’s range, but we find that everything the brand offers is unisex and can be suitable for a guy. We recommend shopping it by skin concern rather than get bogged down with gender (in fact, we recommend that for every brand). You won’t find harsh products that strip your skin in this range; instead, everything is gentle and gives your skin just what it needs.
There are a few OG products that we keep coming back to, like the Hyaluronic Acid Serum, the Calming Serum, and the Face Cream, all of which are luxury upgrades to moisturizing and soothing products you may already be familiar with. We also can’t get enough of the niacinamide-packed Better B serum and the easy-to-apply Sun Drops SPF50. Really, all of the serums are winners and there’s rarely a product in the line at all that we haven’t used and loved at some point.
Horace
Horace is the grooming equivalent of a cool-guy French designer like Ami Paris or Officine Générale. The Parisian-born brand is all about bringing a French sensibility of using high-quality (often natural) ingredients and simple-yet-effective formulas to your medicine cabinet. What started as a skincare line now includes everything—like hair and beard care—so you can trick out your bathroom the French way, especially since the brand is newly (finally) available stateside. The products are easy to understand and even easier to use and the results are visible almost immediately. To that, we say oui oui.
In our medicine cabinets, you’ll find the Purifying Facial Cleanser, the deep cleaning Purifying Face Mask, the Mattifying Face Moisturizer, and the Moisturizing Eye Cream, all of which work together to create a pretty damn good routine if you ask us. Add in some of the serums and the Anti-Fatigue Eye Patches as needed and you’re good to go.
Jaxon Lane
What we love most about Jaxon Lane is that it doesn’t just create products for the hell of it. Everything the brand develops has a purpose and is intended to solve an issue. Case in point: its very first product, the Bro Mask. It’s a silly name for one of the best sheet masks for men we’ve ever used, mainly because it actually seems to be developed with men in mind (it’s a larger size, can be used even if you have facial hair, and hydrates your skin better than most others). Inspired by Korean skincare, Jaxon Lane’s products are innovative and utilize cutting-edge skin science to actually improve your skin without smoke and mirrors.
Apart from the Bro Mask, which we honestly can’t get enough of, we love Rain Or Shine, a daily moisturizer/sunscreen combo, and the all-around skin-improving Super Serum, which is packed with ingredients like antioxidants and botanicals that work for every skin type. The line itself isn’t extensive, but we’ve honestly never tried a product without loving it.
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