E-Paper
Men’s Style & Grooming by Yatan Ahluwalia: Autumn grooming
Decoding the lead look Hair: Short and faded on the sides, long and textured on top
Decoding the lead look
Hair: Short and faded on the sides, long and textured on top.
Brows: Very thick, bushy, and long.
Face: Four-day shadow stubble.
Lips: Fresh, buffed, and clean.
As the weather turns, your grooming regime needs to be modified. Your skincare and haircare routine are where you need to make the biggest seasonal changes.
The trend
While the idea of grooming trends may sound ridiculous but, as with fashion, they very much exist and change all the time.
As this is a short season, you must focus on preparing yourself for what lies ahead – a cold and harsh winter, which normally plays havoc with both your skin and hair.
Key trends this year are hydration for the skin and care for the scalp. If you get this right, the next few weeks and months are likely to be an easy sail.
New products
Take my word for it, ‘anti-pollution’ products are more than just a buzzword, with everything from creams to serums now being made to form an invisible shield between the toxic air, your skin and hair. Use them over your regular and conventional products. You will still be fighting the traffic on the commute every morning, but at least you will end up feeling fresher while you are at it.
Ditto for anti-ageing products. We live in a society where everyone wants to look (and feel) at least ten years younger. This brings the focus to products that help us diminish wrinkles, reduce signs of ageing, improve hair density, and make us forget about how old we are getting or are going to be.
Skin
Colder weather can dry your skin out, leaving it feeling tight and brittle. Flaky skin can lead to a build-up of dead cells that can block your pores or make it look dull and tired.
Dry skin can lead to it ageing early and results in fine lines and wrinkles, so hydration is key in autumn.
My tip: Wear your sunscreen, even if you don’t feel like it’s sunny.
This is the regime to follow:
Exfoliate: Try exfoliating more regularly to ditch flaky skin. You might consider using a heavy-duty exfoliator or a scrub as they gently lift dead skin and reveal a texture that is smooth, clean, and buffed.
Hydrate your skin: As cold winds can make the skin look weather beaten, ensure to keep your skin well hydrated. A rich moisturiser with hydrating ingredients or a night cream and body oil can add an extra boost of hydration. Face masks are great for adding moisture and glow to your skin. Face oils help to seal in moisture. To prevent flaky skin, fine wrinkles and reduce visible signs of ageing, you need to moisturise and nourish your skin, more so in autumn than summer. As they can attract dust, dirt particles and soak up the sun, moisturisers should as a rule, always be used on a clean face at night.
Nourish: Chapped lips are more common in autumn, so use a lip balm daily. A gentle lip scrub can work well on flaky lips and will result in more supple and kissable lips.
My tip: Splash some room temperature water, twice or thrice daily to moisten and refresh the skin.
Beards
Like your skin and hair, changes to the weather could leave your beard feeling dried out. Adding a beard oil into your routine more regularly can help your beard look healthier and stay styled.
A beard balm helps hydrate both your skin and your beard hair at the same time. Trim your beard down to about a three or four-day stubble. This will allow it to breathe and stay much cleaner.
My tip: Keep your beard clean with a shampoo.
Hair
The change in weather will make your hair feel dry and harder to style. If you aren’t already using a conditioner or hair mask, autumn is a good place to start using one alongside your shampoo. It will make your hair easier to style and look better.
Continue to follow your regular shampooing and conditioning regime. If anything, you may reduce the frequency from daily, to about three times a week. Cold air can make the hair go brittle, resulting in unwanted hair fall. It is therefore important to indulge in some deep conditioning treatments that add moisture to the hair, especially if you have hair with a very rough or dry texture or live in a pace where the quality isn’t good.
For styling, heavy-duty products will help your hair stay in place, as well as protect it from the elements.
Body
Autumn weather can leave the skin on your body feeling dry and looking dull. Staying under your thicker or layered autumn wardrobe might mean more ingrown hair or blocked pores on your body. Regularly exfoliating your body will help. A body scrub, exfoliating body wash, loofah or body brush will do the trick.
Make sure you moisturise the skin on your entire body through autumn / fall and winter, especially areas that are generally drier such as your elbows, knees, and legs. You might want to try a richer body moisturiser too. This is the perfect time to change your scent too. Move away from the light, fresh and citrus scents you used in summer and go for warmer, spicier scents in the colder months.
My tip: Avoid super-hot showers, however tempting, as this can dry your skin out even more.
The best Autumn grooming products
Hair
Cleaning & Conditioning
The concern: Removing dirt and grime from dry hair.
What to do: Use a moisturising shampoo and conditioner, a minimum of thrice a week for cleaning both the scalp and hair. Apply (and leave) on the roots before rinsing.
Styling
The concern: Poor quality products which damage hair.
What to do: Never put your scalp and hair at risk by using sub-standard styling products. Pick a good quality product based on your hair type, length and how you want to style it.
Hair Growth
The concern: Thinning of hair and no new growth.
What to do: Use a serum that’s power packed with strength building ingredients that work on the scalp and follicles to promote growth and density.
Nourishment
The concern: Dry, damaged, and brittle hair.
What to do: Use a traditional and time tested, herbal or organic hair oil. Apply once weekly for a few hours.
Skin
Anti-Pollution
The concern: The skin gets damaged by pollution and the pores get clogged.
What to do: Use cleansing and hydrating products that have been formulated with natural ingredients to reverse the extreme damage caused by pollution.
Anti – Ageing
The concern: Visible signs of ageing
What to do: Use products which have been scientifically designed to make the skin look as well as feel younger and slow down the skins natural degenerative process.
Facial Care
The concern: Nourishing & Cleansing
What to do: Use a deep cleansing face wash instead of soap, especially after being outdoors. Apply a cream, just before bedtime to nourish and condition the skin.
Shaving
The concern: A close shave with weather beaten skin
What to do: Avoid chemical based shaving creams. Use products that nourish, condition and sooth the skin. Always shave after a bath when the hair and skin are both softer.
The Body
Hydration
The concern: Dehydration
What to do: Drink plenty of water and fluids, even though you may not feel as thirsty as you did in summer. And no, tea, coffee and beer does not add to your intake of fluids, and do not substitute the body’s need of fresh (and clean) water.
Smoothness
The concern: Skin looks dull & lifeless
What to do: Avoid products that contain harsh chemicals. Switch to using only organic and natural products for your skin and body (both internally and externally).
Moisture
The concern: Dry skin
What to do: Apply a cold pressed and organic oil on the body before your last rinse in the shower. Allow it to coat the skin and seep into it before you get dressed. This will nourish and condition the skin and lock in moisture to get it winter ready.
The author is an image, style, grooming and etiquette consultant and trainer.
From HT Brunch, September 10, 2022
Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch
Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
