Does your grooming routine take forever? Wait – do you even HAVE a grooming routine?
While dressing well is obviously important, it’s equally as important to have a good grooming routine. Y’know – styling your hair, trimming your nails, washing your face… stuff like that.
The best outfits in the world won’t help if your hair looks like sh*t, your nails are scraggly and overgrown, and your skin is oily.
So if you could use a few tweaks to improve that grooming routine, you’re gonna love this article and its three men’s grooming tips!
Thanks to our partners, Tiege Hanley, for sponsoring this article.
Take 20% off your first box of incredible skincare products with an easy-to-follow routine using code effortlessgent20
Watch the video on EGTV, our YouTube channel!
I put together a video to show you the 3 grooming routine tips / tweaks I mention in this article. Check it out below.
Tip 1: Need more volume? Blow dry your hair the opposite direction
Does your hair fall flat when you brush it after the shower?
Maybe you don’t really have a hairstyle that you like. Or if you try to pull one off—maybe the classic side part, or a brushed back style—it doesn’t look how you imagined. At least not like the “mens hairstyle inspiration” images you pulled off Pinterest or Google?
There’s a good chance you just need a bit of volume.
Having a bit of volume, body, height (whatever you want to call it) to your hair adds that extra life and makes styling into that finished look easier.
Here’s what I do to add more volume to my hair and get a better end result when I style it:
- Towel dry your hair so it’s not soaking wet, just damp.
- Add a bit of pre-styler (optional, but helps shield your hair from heat damage, here’s what I use).
- Brush your hair in the general style you’re going for. In my case, a side part, but swept back more than to the side.
- Start to blow dry your sides (optional, assuming you have hair there) down and back so it’s closer to the scalp.
- Blow dry the hair on top of your head in the direction you have it brushed.
- Also blow dry in an upwards motion, brushing your hair upwards and running the hair dryer parallel to it. This locks it in place more (optional, but helps with creating volume).
- HERE’S THE TWEAK: When your hair is about 80% dry, switch hands and start brushing and blow drying the opposite direction. So if your part is on the right side and you brush from right to left, now you’re brushing and blow drying from left to right. If you have a swept back style, blow dry from the back to the front.
- Finish by brushing your hair in the correct direction, adding your finishing product, and styling like normal.
See Tip 1 in action here (1:18) »
Tip 2: Have an easy-to-follow skincare routine (so you stick to it daily)
I see two big problems when it comes to guys and skincare:
- Not knowing what products to buy – are they good, OK, not great?
- Not knowing HOW to use them, in what order, and how much to use.
Because of this, it takes forever to wash, moisturize, and take care of your skin. Or worse, you do nothing (which is what I used to do).
In the video, I mention how I sometimes accompany my wife, Kate, to Sephora. I wander over to the men’s section just to check out what they have.
Even though it’s this tiny section tucked waaay in the back of the store, there are still hundreds of products. And it’s really confusing as to what I should buy if I wanted to take care of my skin.
HERE’S THE TWEAK: Have a simple, easy-to-follow skincare routine so you’re consistently washing and moisturizing your face. That’s how you’ll get the best results!
If you’re unsure where to start, grab yourself a box from Tiege Hanley. One of the best things about Tiege is their simple routine. Once you receive the package, you know exactly what to do and how many times to use each product in their line.
Level 1 comes with an everyday face wash, an exfoliating face wash, and two moisturizers: one for the AM (with sunscreen, always a good thing) and one for the PM, right before you hit the hay.
You have upgrade options as well. Level 2 and Level 3 come with a firming serum (helps tighten and firm up your skin) and an eye cream (aids in the bagginess, puffiness, and dark under eye circles).
I personally need all the help I can get and want to look as youthful as possible for as long as possible haha, so I’m on that Level 3 situation. You can upgrade or downgrade as you see fit, too.
Check out how I use Tiege in the video (3:58) »
Give Tiege a try!
They’re hooking Effortless Gent readers up with 20% off the first box. Just use code “effortlessgent20” (no quotes) at checkout.
Tip 3: Don’t just clip your nails! Here’s a quick file / buff routine
If you clip your nails regularly, that’s great. Trust me, there are guys out there who don’t… I see you! You can’t hide!
(If you don’t already trim your nails on the reg, start doing so. Please.)
I encourage you to take it one step further and do a quick file and buff right after trimming those nails. It doesn’t take that much more time (I’d say 6 minutes for both hands, tops) and your nails will look so much better.
So here’s what I suggest:
- Trim your nails like normal. You basically want to cut them straight across, with a slight curve at both edges (though be careful to not cut at too drastic of an angle at the edges)
- HERE’S THE TWEAK, pt 1: Hold your nail file perpendicular to the edge of your freshly cut nail and go back and forth to smooth out any rough edges
- TWEAK pt 2: Take a 3-sided buffer to your nail bed. Your goal is to smooth out those ridges that appear (look closely and you’ll see them). The buffer is to your nails what sandpaper is to wood; they help smoothen the surface. Start with the more rough and abrasive side, then the side with medium grit, and finally, the finely-textured side to finish it off.
Want to see this tweak in action? Check out the video (7:21) »
Are these helpful?
There are so many improvements you can make to your daily or weekly grooming routine. Of course, the above tweaks and men’s grooming tips aren’t the only things you can do!
What else would you want to know about grooming? What’s YOUR typical routine like? I’d love to know in the comments.
When it comes to skincare, I’ve been using Tiege Hanley for the past couple months and it’s been awesome. I was never consistent with washing and moisturizing my face until now. Because before using Tiege’s system, I had no system… while Tiege has an easy-to-follow one built right in.
Depending on which level you choose, you can also get a firming serum and eye cream (both of which I’m most excited about… I explain why in the video).
Give Tiege Hanley a try! When you’re ready to check out, use code effortlessgent20 and you’ll get 20% off your first order.
