Facial care for men?

BetterThanThou

Hi, I'd like to start a facial care regimen, as my skin is quite bumpy in some parts. I also have an occasional few spots, but nothing too bad. I also feel my skin is somewhat pasty, I'd like to be able to make my skin glow, and even darken a bit if that's possible, but not to the point where it would be a tan.
Has anyone got any suggestions? I'm totally open to using women's products as I feel they're the same. I'm open to anything, washes, facial masks, really anything that people have found works well. Thank you.

Twee.

There's not a whole lot of difference between "mens'" and "women's" products, usually just the colour of the packaging! You're more likely to see good offers on the women's stuff in Boots though, 3 for 2 and that kind of thing.

A good skin care routine will make your skin glow. If you want colour, there's tinted moisturiser, but you'd need to be careful selecting the right shade so it doesn't look unnatural.

There's a few basic things you can use to get started:

- Exfoliator. I use the St Ives range of scrubs, find them very good. They are a kind of grainy face wash that you massage in and rinse off that will remove any dead skin and deeper dirt from your skin. You'd only use this once a week or thereabouts. You can get daily ones but personally I find them still a bit harsh for every day.

- Cleansing face wash. This can be used at the end of the day to clean your face. Rub in, rinse off with cool water, pat skin dry with a towel. Again, some face washes can be harsh every day, some people find they do more damage than they're worth. Depends on your skin. Another option here is just to rinse your skin with warm water, no products, and use a soft flannel to do the cleaning. Finish with some moisturiser

- SPF Moisturiser. Essential every single day product! Even on our dark, rainy days, you should still wear SPF on your face. Most day moisturisers (as opposed to thicker, night time specific ones) have at least SPF 15, but try get higher. This will keep your skin smooth and in good shape.

Once a month or so I do a Boots Botanics clay face mask that leaves my skin super soft and bright. Comes in a tube and lasts ages.

Above all... Diet! For a clear complexion drink lots and lots of water, and eat tons of fruit and veg. Vitamin E is good for skin repair.

When starting a new regime, your skin can "purge" so you might see some breakouts but generally that's just short term, gets worse before it gets better kind of thing.

Check out the shaving forum too, many men can suffer from poor skim due to their shaving technique http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1103

In Boots, look out for Botanics, Garnier and Nivea. Higher end, Lancome, Kiehls, Nuxe, Clarins, Clinique.

BetterThanThou

Fantastic suggestions, will definitely try all of that, everything seems great, doesn't break the bank either! My diet is already quite good and I consume quite a lot of fruit and vegetables, don't pay attention to vitamin E though, will definitely eat some stuff to bump up my vitamin E intake. Thanks!