The Differences Between Male and Female Skin  

So, with such a strong growing market, i.e. 73% of men now use some skin care products in the 35-45 year old category, how do we create formulas that men are going to love? We first need to understand some of the key differences between male and female skin. You can’t formulate their products the same way that we’ve been formulating female skin care. Their products need to be adapted to their needs, which are very different from the female lines of skin care.   

Hormonal Differences  

First, hormonal differences mean they make a lot more sebum (oil) than women. They need to wash this off. It can also affect their hair.  Their products need to be foaming and need to be cleansing. But remember, he’s generally got shorter hair than women anyway, so we need to balance the amount of deep cleansing to remove excess oil but over a much smaller amount of hair.  

What this means for the skin is that men will tend to have oily and acne prone problems, along with larger pores, when they’re younger, but then as they age, they don’t develop wrinkles nearly as quickly as women. In fact, by the time a Caucasian woman is about 35 years old, she’s already looking for anti-aging skin care, whereas a man needs to be at least 55 if not older before he starts to be concerned about wrinkles and anti-aging skin care. So this concept needs to be clarified in your marketing approach.   

Collagen and Suppleness  

Another key difference between male and female skin is that their skin is a lot more supple than the female throughout their lifetime, and they also have a lot more collagen content. The collagen content also declines gradually as they age compared to women, where hormones can make it be quite abrupt once the woman reaches menopause. Men are going to look for suppleness in his product rather than anti-aging. He’s also going to be attracted by claims to help restore suppleness, energy and vibrancy to his skin because he will associate some of this loss of suppleness and elasticity with his age where his energy levels also start to decline. So that’s the type of message that will appeal to that consumer.  

How to Formulate Products for Men  

In terms of what we put into the products, remember his skin already has more sebum than a woman which means he’s less prone to trans-epidermal water loss, and he doesn’t want a greasy feeling product.   

All cleansing products need to be foaming to ensure an effective claim. And because he likes to keep his skin care routine simple, he’s probably going to want a product that cleans and exfoliates at the same time. And if that’s the case, then it needs to be an exfoliant that’s suitable to use on a daily or regular basis.  

As far as it goes for his creams and lotions, he’s only really going to want one moisturizing product. At most, he might use an aftershave serum with some herbal extracts and actives added to boost the marketing story, but he’s going to look for a moisturizer preferably with some SPF added again, another dual function product, and he’s going to want that to be in a gel-cream form rather than a traditional heavy cream.   

This product should be formulated with a relatively low input of lipids, and those lipids should be light skin feel esters or silicones. You should increase the amount of humectants you use in male skin care because they provide non-greasy hydration, and they’re also going to provide him with that suppleness he likes to see in his skin. Any actives you pick need to convey the message of energy and vibrancy because that’s what he’s looking to restore in his complexion.   

Pore Size  

Men have bigger pores than women and they get bigger as they get older. it’s a great idea to include some astringent or other actives that help to minimize or blur that pore size.   

Steer away from ethanol because he’s getting more savvy about his ingredient lists too, and he’s going to look for other options than ethanol because he doesn’t want to dry his skin out. He wants to leave it feeling hydrated and supple, but he also wants to minimize those pores.   

Cultural Differences  

Now, another thing you need to remember when formulating for male skin care is their cultural needs are very different around the globe.  

While Korean men and some other Asian countries may even give a little bit of subtle color a go, you won’t see a lot of western men applying too much color anytime soon.   

You will also find that western men tend to spend more time outdoors, so they’re going to look for SPF or after sun actives in their products.   

And the amount of hair a man grows differs around cultures too. Western men tend to grow more beards, so providing more beard grooming products is a great idea if you’re a brand in western countries.  Another problem men of darker ethnic background encounter is ingrown hair after shaving.

Marketing Skin Care Products to Men  

Here are some tips on how to create some great formulas, but then how do you market those products to a man effectively?   

#1:  keep the message simple.

 He’s relatively new to this whole skin care thing, so let’s not bombard him.

#2: men are looking for a product that works.   

While complicated and scientific messages are what women are looking for because there’s been so much competition in our sector for such a long time.   

#3: They want a product with a very simple message about hydrating, energizing, reviving their skin,
keeping it clean, minimizing pores. But that’s about it.   

#4: They’re also going to look at celebrity or sports people endorsements for their products or the types of products those celebrities and sports people use.   

#5: He’s also very specific about the type of fragrance or aroma that he likes in his product. He likes it to smell nice and masculine, so give him an aroma that’s going to really work for him.   

#6: Men also don’t like layering, they don’t want a lot of product.
And this goes with the whole “keep it simple” message as well.   

#7: Men will only want one product.
While women will typically use two or three types of cleansers every day and two or three types of moisturizers. Men will use a foaming cleanser. Don’t give them a cream cleanser. And they’ll probably want some sort of exfoliant or abrasive particles in that product so he can stick to one product only. If he’s going to use two, he might want a foaming cleanser daily and then a gentle exfoliant a couple of times a week. That’s about as much as he’s going to look for.   

#8: When it comes to moisturizing, he’d like to combine his aftershave product with his moisturizer if possible,or you may get him combining his aftershave product with a serum with actives to boost the energy and vibrancy of his skin, and then perhaps a lotion with SPF that doesn’t feel greasy.   

That’s about as much as you’re going to get him to use. Keep the message simple, keep the packaging and the product use simple. And remember to make it smell great for your specific age target market.   

Materials to Consider for Male Skin Care  

Some final points to remember. Hydration is key because he wants supple looking skin, and that’s best achieved with a high level of humectants or actives to give him that suppleness and hydration.   

Keep any emolliency low. And in any case, make sure it’s light esters, MCT oil and silicones to achieve that small amount of emolliency.   

Include some actives or astringents to help minimize pore size, and make sure the cleansers are foaming but not stripping to the skin and the hair.   

Any lotions or creams should be more of a serum or gel-cream type consistency with some energizing actives added as well as those humectants.   

Keep the message and the product use simple. And if you’re going to enter the field of color, keep it subtle. They might look for spot products, they might look for tinted moisturizers or similar, to help balance out their complexion. But most men don’t want you to know they’re using color cosmetics to enhance their complexion or hide a spot. Keep it subtle. And if you’re going to get adventurous, you might look at some subtle lip tints or eye pencils as well. 

The male skin care category represents and a great opportunity for brands to grow and extend their lines, and it’s what men want. So, formulate with their specific skin and hair needs in mind and what’s going to really attract them to purchase your product.   

 

Please contact us here at Private Label Skincare Florida, we would love to help you launch your men’s line and give men what they want in skincare, and high yield profit for you.