It’s been some time now since men were considered effeminate or ‘pooftas’ for paying attention to their looks and there are some excellent products on the market today that have been formulated specifically for mens skin.

Skin care is a complex business. Most of us have combination skin that needs sensitive treatment if it is to last us a life time. Luckily there are now some very effective skin care products for men that really work.

The mens skincare range from Elemis provides some truly effective treatments that have been designed specifically for mens skin and male lifestyles. My personal favourite is the Elemis SOS survival cream. This is what you want to apply to your face the morning after a late night. Fantastic.

Another of my faves is the Phytomer Homme Exfoliating Oxygenating Face Care. This is what I use before a night out to give my skin a fresh almost youthful glow.

There are some truly remarkable products available today for men so why not treat yourself.

You know what it is like when you’re packing your things to go on holiday. You can’t take all of your beauty products, lotions and potions. You have to be selective.

What I do these days is I limit myself to what I can get into one bag. And my beauty bag of choice is the Roxy Discovery Bag. With a capacity of 10L it’s big enough for nearly everything I need while I’m away, and I generally use it as hand luggage when I fly.

Its also a very practical day bag and it looks great. It’s funny how we all become attached to certain ‘things’ and I have to say I am very attached to my Roxy Discovery Bag. It’s getting a bit scuffed now so I may need to treat myself to a new one this year.

The growth in the mens grooming product market in recent years has been staggering and looks set to continue as the US begins to catch up with Europe. This amazing growth has been driven by many factors including various high profile role models from the world of sports and media.

Men no longer rely upon their partners to provide them with a few toiletries at Christmas. They want to look and feel as good as their favourite sports or film personality and so they are now buying around around £400 million worth of mens grooming products each year.

Boots have enjoyed a 25% increase in sales of mens skincare products in just one year and they now command a 20% share of this particular market. Boots predict that they will be allocating the same amount of shop-floor space to mens toiletries, skincare and grooming products as they do for womens.

So what are the products that the well-groomed metrosexual man of the 21st century can’t do without? Here are just a few recommendations from my bathroom:

Hair

For a good shampoo you can’t go wrong with Paul Mitchell and my favourite, well priced shampoo for men is the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Shampoo. This refreshing shampoo contains a moisturising and shining blend of natural ingredients including Aloe Vera, Jojoba and Chamomile that will not only clean the hair but stimulate the scalp and leave your hair manageable and soft.

Pair this excellent shampoo with the Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Special Conditioner and you can be sure that your hair is tangle-free, easy to style and full of vitality.

For styling and finishing I can recommend the American Crew Citrus Mint Clay. This is a low shine application that may not be suitable for all hair types so you may want to take a look at the other hair styling and finishing products available from American Crew.

Face

Shaving is much more bearable and even pleasurable with a good shaving gel. My love for tea tree based products means that I tend to choose the excellent Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shave Gel. This is an amazingly refreshing, foaming gel that contains lavender and peppermint alongside the tea tree oil creating a remarkably refreshing and fragrant shave.

For other facial skincare products I tend to choose from the excellent Clarins or Decleor ranges as these were recommended by my sister, and she is never wrong!

The Clarins Mens Active Face Wash will clean and revitalise your face, reviving skin and removing dead skin cells. For a little colour, particularly during the winter months, I use the Self Tanning Gel for Face from the Clarins Men range. Non-oily and easy to apply your healthy looking tanned appearance will make people think you’ve had a weekend in the sun. And for my eyes (always the give-away after a late night) I use the Under Eye Serum, again from the excellent Clarins Mens range.

Body

I’ve tried a lot of shower gels and body washes for men and my favourite, by far, is another excellent mens product from American Crew. Their Citrus Mint Refreshing Body Wash is an invigorating, stimulating body soap that is great for that early morning wake up shower.

For protection from the sun I’ve started to use the Decleor Protective Hydrating Spray SPF20. This is from the Aroma Sun range of Decleor sun care products which use a cocktail of essential oils to increase the skins natural defence against sun damage.

After Shave

Everybody likes to smell good and what I like to do is combine a great fragrance with a cooling, refreshing balm. The Aveda Shave Balm does exactly what I want and it smells absolutely fantastic. It contains soothing Lavender, Aloe and Chamomile extracts that will sooth those minor skin irritations and razor burns without stinging and it is a great moisturiser.

Gone are the days when men might worry that they would be considered effeminate if they paid attention to their appearance by using skincare and grooming products. There are some great mens toiletries on the market today so why not try a few for yourself.