Recently I made the conscious decision to start caring about my skin. As a 21 and 3/4 year old man, I have to face the fact that I’m not getting any younger, in fact just the other day I was told I’m too old to add fractions to my age, too old they called me. In addition, my Irish heritage has saddled me with the most sensitive of skin and a propensity to sunburn.

I’ve always had a healthy appreciation for experimentation, as long as nothing goes near my butt. So with an open mind and a series of manly synonyms I bring you Mitchell’s Discount Summer Skin Care Tips.

Firstly, this isn’t an advertisement for any specific product, in fact, budget concerns have limited product testing to single brands, often the cheapest in their category (hence “Discount”), so don’t put too much stock in any brands mentioned, what’s important is the product.

My main concern about my budget is that I don’t have one. I’m literally being paid for this article with Oreos.

We’ve been having a lovely summer this year, at least from where I’m sitting, namely: behind a desk in an air conditioned building. What I’m trying to say is that it has been an excessively hot summer and solar protection should be a high priority for your time spent outdoors. Sunscreen is a no-brainer, and you can find it at a pharmacy near you.

I also recommend looking for other common products that include a Solar Protection Factor, for instance my aftershave is SPF 15, which is perfect if you have sensitive skin as it both reduces irritation caused by shaving, and protects you from the sun. I use a specifically masculine product on my face, but as our target demographic is mostly women, I encourage you to explore your options. Other products with an SPF include lip balm, foundation and daily moisturizers.

While we’re on the topic, your choice in shaving cream is important, I advise against the generic. There are a wide variety of benefits you could be taking advantage of including creams specially formulated for sensitive skin, anti-wrinkle/ageing, moisturizing, etc. Shaving can be hard on your skin, especially sensitive types, but it doesn’t have to be. Where most gender specific products can be used by either men or women, shaving cream stands out, men and women have pretty different shaving habits, and the manufacturers have taken this into consideration, so buy for your gender.

Another of my focuses has been skin elasticity, I lost a lot of weight after high-school and I still have a little more skin than I should. While it’s a fun party trick to stretch my neck skin out so that I look like one of those frilly lizards that can run on their hind legs, I would quickly trade it away for firmer skin.

There are a few topical products designed specifically for this, I’ve been using blue-green algae intended specifically to treat cellulite. As cellulite is more drastic than my skin issues, the product should prove extra effective. However, since it is intended for spot treatment, using it all over will empty the bottle quicker than intended, and multiple bottles may be required for a complete treatment.

Just because you don’t have issues with sagging or loose skin is no reason not to use a skin firming product to reduce the effects of ageing. Exfoliating, or for the more masculine/self-conscious readers like myself “ex-Bro-liating”, is also good for boosting skin elasticity.

Most prominent, are exfoliating masks, but those have the disadvantages of only working on your face as well as terrifying your unsuspecting boyfriend with your deep green Martian face. I would recommend exfoliating body washes and soaps that contain different kinds of grit to help scrub off dead skin cells. I myself have been using a bar of soap that contains crushed almond shells, in addition to being a great exfoliant, it makes me feel fancy.

Beware of exfoliants with mystery ingredients. A lower end manufacturer will just mix sand into regular body wash, and that’s not an oversimplification, we’re talking average, garden variety sand. Despite my low budget this is one area where I splurged, and it was worth it, I dare you to shower with a 16 dollar bar of soap and not hold your head high when you leave the house.

Other than the soap/body wash, consider what you use to apply it, the majority of women use a loofah in the shower. While a loofah does help exfoliate, there are even better alternatives; the most highly lauded is natural sea-sponge. I picked one up for 5 dollars. It felt weird at first but that was because I was supposed to wet it thoroughly. After I started using it properly, I found it fairly effective, but it was less comfortable than a loofah so if you are already exfoliating in one way, don’t worry about the sea sponge, a loofah is enough.

Since I started exfoliating, I’ve had clearer skin as far as blemishes go and since my skin is renewing at a faster rate, I’ve had less defined tan lines, so no more farmer tan for me.

If you’re still not sold on exfoliating, it removes dead layers of skin from your body. You’re covered in dead skin, right now.

You should also consider a daily full body treatment, there are many different body butters to suit your personal preference. I’ve adopted cocoa butter as my daily treatment. Every morning when I get out of the shower, I apply my cocoa butter all over and since I started, I’ve noticed smoother skin, a more even skin tone – a big deal for me as I’m prone to freckling from sun exposure – and I smell fantastic.

One downside to the cocoa butter is that using too much can clog your pores, but that is true of any topical agent, so just apply a reasonable amount and you’re in the clear. Another one of the body butters I would recommend is shea butter. It boasts similar benefits as cocoa butter but with the added benefit of firming skin. However, I personally like the smell of cocoa butter better.

I should mention for any male readers that my delicious cocoa scent recently prompted a bar patron to tell me I smelled like a girl, though it’s worth noting that I was at said bar on a date with his ex, so the comment may have been influenced by more than my cocoa-y goodness.

Bonus: Any of our tattooed readers should be especially wary of the sun this summer, t’is the season to show your ink, but if your not protected the sun will cause your tattoos to fade and your colours to become less vibrant. With tattoos becoming more mainstream, there are products available to you to prevent fading. I use the Tattoo Stick from Australian Gold, essentially it is a roll on sun block with a high SPF (I use SPF 60 version). Even just applying a lotion with a higher SPF than that of the rest of your body to your tattooed regions will help prevent fading.