| Could you tell the difference between drugstore | | | | worse off than before. The same is true with |
| grooming products and the more carefully | | | | grooming products: you want the best stuff, |
| engineered "premium" men's skin, hair, and | | | | because it works the best with the minimum of |
| grooming materials? Do you think you can feel it? | | | | side effects later. Hair Care Left unwashed, your |
| The modern hair and skin market has become | | | | hair feels oily because your hair and scalp secrete |
| cluttered with products that are heavily marketed | | | | oils to protect it from the elements. They're |
| as "balanced" or "custom designed" but that | | | | working all the time to reinforce the hair and keep |
| actually fall short of building a healthy balance for | | | | it smooth and shiny. It's a convention of society |
| your body. The right products will preserve your | | | | that oily hair is unattractive (emo brats |
| body's natural defenses while cleansing it of | | | | notwithstanding), so shampoos work to remove |
| unwanted buildup from environmental pollutants, | | | | oily buildup. The problem is that without the |
| allergens, and toxins. The State of the Men's | | | | natural oils that are scrubbed away, your hair and |
| Grooming Market Today Look, man-made | | | | scalp dry out and itch. A premium cleanser, such |
| chemicals are great, and many of the basic | | | | as made by Baxter's of California or Sharp's, |
| drugstore varieties of cleansers do a bang up job | | | | cleans the hair but coats the hair oil-producing hair |
| in getting your skin clean. But most of them do | | | | follicles with nutrients that strengthen their natural |
| this at the expense of what your body's already | | | | defenses. The result is clean hair that doesn't look |
| got working to protect and cleanse itself. Because | | | | oily but that's not in danger of drying out. Skin |
| they're made for mass market, wide | | | | Care Your skin, like your hair, has its own defense |
| consumption, they're made as cheaply as possible. | | | | systems. Lying beneath the epidermis (your skin's |
| And cheaply means chemicals that don't work | | | | outer layer) is a whole network or pores and |
| very well or do a good job in preserving your | | | | glands whose only purpose is keeping the skin |
| body. The chemicals in your basic | | | | moisturized and smooth. But chemical soaps, like |
| over-the-counter stuff strip away the good and | | | | you get in the drugstore, strip away the good oils |
| the bad alike. Healthy oils that moisturize the skin, | | | | from the bad as well as dirt and dust. The result |
| emollients and liquids that help the hair keep its | | | | is skin that's clean - but naked too, defenseless |
| body, natural defense systems against rashes and | | | | against whatever hits it next. Premium brands, like |
| abrasions - all of these things gets stripped by | | | | Maxwell's Apothecary and Baxter's, are able to |
| your drugstore brands. If you're serious about | | | | pick up the dirt and bad stuff without stripping the |
| getting your skin and hair to look their best, you | | | | helpful oils and moisturizers off the skin's surface. |
| can't cut corners. Premium cleansers cost more | | | | In other words, it acts smart to clean the skin |
| because their ingredients are on a whole other | | | | without debilitating it. A healthy skin and hair |
| level of sophistication and quality. Think about it | | | | means you'll feel better and look better - it also |
| this way: you probably don't drink bottom shelf | | | | invariably means fewer trips to the drugstore. |
| liquor or beer if you can avoid it, right? The cheap | | | | Article written by Lee Wood. |
| stuff makes you sick and leaves you feeling | | | | |