I’m Hannah, Natural Skincare Therapist at Southsea Bathing Hut.  I’ll be sharing weekly wellness tips to lift the mind and spirit as we all stay safe, stay well and stay home.

This week’s instalment is something for the fellas!

Plenty of the tips below are perfect for clean-shaven guys, but lockdown is the prime opportunity to grow facial hair. Let it grow, find your style, and experiment!

But when those whiskers get scratchy, itchy and/or patchy, it’s easy to feel a bit disheartened with your beard growth. So there’s lots of special advice for those with beards, ‘taches, stubble and everything in-between below.

At Southsea Bathing Hut we want you to embrace your natural facial hair, through a little taming and styling with these simple tips. (If you’re a facial hair hater who just wants to keep things clean, exfoliated, neatly shaved and moisturised, just skip the beardy bits below).

FACE CARE FOR FELLAS

For optimum healthy beard growth, it’s important to take care of your skin!

 CLEANSE

Ensure your skin is kept clean and fresh by cleansing morning and evening.

Keeping your skin clean will help to prevent daily dirt, sweat and pollutants blocking pores and causing breakouts.

Cleansing will also help to nourish and soften the skin, so hair growth can penetrate to the surface without becoming trapped, ingrown and itchy.

Here’s two of our products we particularly recommend:

• Foaming Facial Cleanser: Great for use in the shower as a quick skincare fix, made with locally picked blackberries, rich in vitamin A and C to boost collagen production and improve skin elasticity, while providing anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant properties
• A Lovely Pot Of Coconuts: Can be used as a nourishing cleansing balm. Take a small amount from the pot, melt through the palms, apply to the entire face and remove with a damp face cloth. This simple product is packed with proteins, vitamins and antioxidants. It’s not the same as the Coconut Oil you can pick up in the supermarket. It’s cosmetic grade, so specially refined for use on the skin, leaving no heavy residue but a soft and supple feel.

EXFOLIATE

For men, who tend to have more oily skin than women, we’d recommend exfoliating twice weekly.

So why should you be exfoliating?

• Banish in-grown hairs: If you suffer from ingrown hairs, exfoliating is a must! It’ll help soften the skin so hair grows healthily. It will also remove the top, dead layer of skin, releasing trapped hairs and encouraging them to continue to grow healthily.
• Thicker hair growth: Exfoliating will encourage new hair growth, helping to create a denser appearance.
• Reduce signs of premature aging: Regular exfoliation will boost collagen and elastin production. It will also stimulate cell renewal, so that fresh, plump and firm cells are revealed on the surface of the skin, giving a radiant complexion.

Here’s two of our products we particularly recommend for men:

• Charcoal Konjac Facial Sponge: Once wet, this vegetable fibre sponge is an excellent gentle-but-effective facial exfoliator. Charcoal is very effective at drawing out impurities, absorbing excess oils and detoxifying the skin.
• Bamboo Facial Cloth: Use this simple and gently exfoliating facial cloth with one of the cleansing products recommended above.

SHAVE

Whether you’re a daily shaver, mane tamer or style experimenter, there’s never been a more perfect time to turn back to traditional method of shaving. When it comes to creating your look, shaving should be smooth, simple and comfortable.

All the men in my family are now complete coverts of using a traditional brush and shaving soap. They say there’s nothing quite like the lather the amazing SBH Shaving Soap brings!

Handmade with a careful blend of Butters and Rich Oils rich in Vitamins A, D, E and F, our traditional Shaving Soaps moisturise, repair and regenerate skin cells. They’re also very high in antioxidants which help to neutralise the pollutants your skin is exposed to daily.

It’s really easy to use a traditional Shaving Soap:

Step One: Simply wet your shaving brush under the tap and stir up a lather in the pot using your wet brush.

Step Two: Brush this lather onto your skin before using your razor.

There are two Shaving Soap options to choose from at Southsea Bathing Hut:

• Mint Overboard: For a refreshing and cooling effect with Peppermint Oil and French Green Clay to soothe the skin and draw out deep impurities for a clearer complexion. This option is more suited to a normal-to-oily skin type.
• Almonds Ahoy: Made with Shea Butter and Sweet Almond Oil, this product is suited to a dry and sensitive skin type. It more deeply moisturises and nurtures irritated skin.

MOISTURISE

Use the SBH Face & Beard Oil after cleansing and/or shaving, morning and evening.

This 100% natural facial oil specially formulated for male skin soothes, softens and repairs dry skin and facial hair.  It also stimulates healthy hair growth!

A super simple all-rounder. You may be thinking that an oil would make skin look greasy or facial hair shiny, but this product has been cleverly formulated to absorb quickly and leave the skin and hair noticeably softer, without a greasy residue.

It’s handmade with mineral-rich Apricot Kernel Oil, Avocado Oil and Sweet Almond Oil, which encourages new hair growth whilst repairing dry hair and skin. Jojoba Oil is a liquid form wax which helps to keep facial hair in place too!

There are two SBH Face & Beard Oils to choose from:

• Headsail: Gently scented with Black Pepper and Lime, giving a fresh and masculine scent.
• Shipshape: Unscented (essential oil-free) and most suited to a dry, damaged and sensitive skin type

And that’s it! 4 simple steps for your skin and facial hair. Experiment and if you’re not happy with the results, just shave it off and start again... it’ll grow back, right?

We’d love to hear your success stories and see your experiments.

Shop our full range for men here.

Good luck and have fun!

Hannah x