Do you wish your boyfriend or husband would moisturize or take better care of his hair?
Then you’ve come to the right place. Getting your guy to groom may seem like an impossible task, but we assure you it’s not.
In the U.S., as well as in many other countries, there’s this widespread belief that taking care of your skin and general appearance is something only women do. When you combine this with the average guy’s lack of knowledge about skincare and resistance to spending time and money on something they don’t see the value of, it’s no surprise that most guys don’t do anything beyond showering and shaving.
And when you think about it, making sure that your skin is clean and moisturized isn’t something inherently feminine. It’s the same as brushing your teeth. We mostly brush and take care of our teeth because they’re useful, and we want to keep them healthy. Sure, if you take good care of them, they’ll also look nice, so you’ll have a more attractive and confident smile.
It’s the same with skincare. No one can deny that skin is a useful organ, so of course, you want to keep it healthy. The fact that healthy skin makes you more attractive and confident is a nice bonus.
However, as much as these arguments make sense, it’s a bit like preaching to the choir because you already know these things. What you want to know is how to convince your guy. Well, without further ado, here are our tips.
Check Your Expectations
Before you start telling him to do this and that, you should check your expectations. If your partner gets the impression that you’re trying to change them to fit your ideal, it makes them feel like you don’t consider them good enough for you, which can cause problems in your relationship.
So instead of signing them up for a gym membership, changing the clothes in their closet, and replacing all their products with your choices, consider their wishes and interest. It’s important that they make these changes for themselves, and they can see that you’re encouraging them out of love and not because you want to impose your point of view.
Ease Into It – Find Some Good Products for Them
Most men don’t know what products best suit their skin type. Actually, there’s a good chance your guy doesn’t even know what type of skin he has. That’s something you can help him out with.
Pick out a few products that will work well for them. And here we need to stress “a few.” As we said in our previous tip, you need to check your expectations. If he’s used to washing his face in the shower because it saves time, he’s not going to want to go from that to using a dozen different products. It’s better to ease him into it with some essentials like a cleanser, good shaving cream, and a moisturizer with SPF.
That’s not very far from what he was doing, and it won’t take long until he sees that his skin feels and looks better, so he’ll want to continue. In a few months, he’ll be looking for the best back shaver to buy for himself.
Remember to pay attention to the packaging. It might seem silly to you, but there’s a reason why skincare companies invest in “manly” packaging. They’re well aware of current cultural norms and how they make men less likely to buy their products.
Take a Solution-Oriented Approach
When you give your guy the products you bought for them, it might work better if you take a solution-oriented approach. For example, you can say that you’ve noticed that his skin gets irritated after he shaves, and these products will help with that.
You can even explain the science behind it. He might not care about beauty, but nobody likes the feeling of irritated skin, so he’ll definitely want to feel more comfortable. Plus, you already bought the products, and he sees you did it because you care about him and want him to feel more comfortable, so it would be rude not to try them at least. After he sees that it does make his skin feel better, he won’t want to go back to how it felt before. It wouldn’t make sense.
Compliment Him
Everyone enjoys compliments, but guys usually don’t get as many, especially not about their appearance. After he uses the products you bought him for a while and maybe makes some other changes on his own because he decides that taking care of your health and appearance isn’t that bad, you can compliment him on the results.
For example, you can tell him that his skin looks and feels great. If he makes changes to his wardrobe, tell him that this or that article of clothing really suits him. You get the idea. This will work much better than if you keep prompting him to make more changes because it doesn’t feel like you’re telling him what to do, and it encourages him to focus on the benefits.
Capsule Wardrobe
Most men are not very open to the idea of changing the way they dress, and even if they were, they might also not know how to mix colours and fabrics or how to choose clothes that fit them properly. However, most are interested in buying the right clothes for work or job interviews. If you offer to help them with that, you’ll probably not meet any resistance.
This means you can start by going shopping with him so you can put together a capsule wardrobe for work. It’s best to stick to a limited colour palette so he can mix and match easily. Also, make sure you compliment him on how great the clothes look on him, how handsome he is, and so on. He might also get compliments from other people, but they’re always better if they come from you.
You can also give him clothes as presents from time to time, but they should match his style. If he usually wears casual clothes, your presents should match that style and maybe even be in colors and fabrics that he likes, so he’s more likely to wear them.