Going the Distance To Premium Grooming Products Is Worth The Extra Effort

Could you tell the difference between drugstore grooming products and the more carefully engineered "premium" men's skin, hair, and grooming materials? Do you think you can feel it? The modern hair and skin market has become cluttered with products that are heavily marketed as "balanced" or "custom designed" but that actually fall short of building a healthy balance for your body. The right products will preserve your body's natural defenses while cleansing it of unwanted buildup from environmental pollutants, allergens, and toxins.

The State of the Men's Grooming Market Today

Look, man-made chemicals are great, and many of the basic drugstore varieties of cleansers do a bang up job in getting your skin clean. But most of them do this at the expense of what your body's already got working to protect and cleanse itself. Because they're made for mass market, wide consumption, they're made as cheaply as possible. And cheaply means chemicals that don't work very well or do a good job in preserving your body. The chemicals in your basic over-the-counter stuff strip away the good and the bad alike. Healthy oils that moisturize the skin, emollients and liquids that help the hair keep its body, natural defense systems against rashes and abrasions - all of these things gets stripped by your drugstore brands. If you're serious about getting your skin and hair to look their best, you can't cut corners. Premium cleansers cost more because their ingredients are on a whole other level of sophistication and quality. Think about it this way: you probably don't drink bottom shelf liquor or beer if you can avoid it, right? The cheap stuff makes you sick and leaves you feeling worse off than before. The same is true with grooming products: you want the best stuff, because it works the best with the minimum of side effects later.

Hair Care

Left unwashed, your hair feels oily because your hair and scalp secrete oils to protect it from the elements. They're working all the time to reinforce the hair and keep it smooth and shiny. It's a convention of society that oily hair is unattractive (emo brats notwithstanding), so shampoos work to remove oily buildup. The problem is that without the natural oils that are scrubbed away, your hair and scalp dry out and itch. A premium cleanser, such as made by Baxter's of California or Sharp's, cleans the hair but coats the hair oil-producing hair follicles with nutrients that strengthen their natural defenses. The result is clean hair that doesn't look oily but that's not in danger of drying out.

Skin Care

Your skin, like your hair, has its own defense systems. Lying beneath the epidermis (your skin's outer layer) is a whole network or pores and glands whose only purpose is keeping the skin moisturized and smooth. But chemical soaps, like you get in the drugstore, strip away the good oils from the bad as well as dirt and dust. The result is skin that's clean - but naked too, defenseless against whatever hits it next. Premium brands, like Maxwell's Apothecary and Baxter's, are able to pick up the dirt and bad stuff without stripping the helpful oils and moisturizers off the skin's surface. In other words, it acts smart to clean the skin without debilitating it. A healthy skin and hair means you'll feel better and look better - it also invariably means fewer trips to the drugstore.
Article written by Lee Wood.

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