Stay-at-home measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have kept many people indoors for weeks at a time. And as you continue to spend most of your days doing the same routine without meeting your friends, an air of lethargy inevitably sets in. This makes it easy to let go of your tidy appearance and usual grooming habits. It also becomes even more challenging when you don’t have access to barbershops during the long days of quarantine.
However, quarantines should not keep you from practicing proper hygiene and grooming. Though you might feel lazy to shave and wash your face, you should prioritize keeping your appearance neat and clean. Proper grooming does not only make you look and feel good, but it also helps lower your chances of catching infections during these anxious times.
To strengthen your resolve to keep to your grooming habits, here are five men’s personal grooming tips that you can take into consideration. May they help you maintain your appearance and keep you healthy even under lockdown.
Bathe and Change Your Clothes Daily
First and foremost, you must make it a habit to take a bath and to change your clothes every day. Though this is the most basic hygiene rule, when you’re home most of the time, you’re probably tempted not to take a bath at all. You might even think of wearing the same shirt and pants for days. If you’re doing this, we have to stop you right there. We’re here to remind you to bathe and to wear clean garments even if you don’t have to go out. Establishing this habit keeps your body clean and helps lessens your risk of getting ill due to colds or flu—very important at a time when everyone should be doing their best to keep their respiratory health in tiptop shape..
How Long You Should Take a Shower
Five to ten minutes is enough to cleanse your entire body. Make sure to lather soap suds all over your skin, including your back, armpits, thigh, and groin area, as well as the skin between your toes. Once you’re done, dry off with a clean towel. After bathing, you can use a moisturizer to keep your skin hydrated if it tends to get dry.
Maintain Proper Foot Hygiene
You might not pay attention to your feet, but it takes on a lot of weight daily when you’re doing household chores or working out. After a while, your feet might also start to smell and get sweatier than usual. These are signs you should practice proper foot hygiene, such as changing your socks every day. You should also consider wearing men’s antimicrobial socks for added protection to help keep your feet odor-free for longer.
What Causes Foot Odor
When your feet start to smell, it’s primarily caused by accumulated sweat and bacteria on your feet. The more sweat your feet produce, the more bacteria thrive in it. Thus, it’s best to wash your feet daily with soap and water and change your socks often. It’s also important to dry your feet completely before wearing your socks. Practicing proper foot hygiene does not only stop foot odor. It also helps prevent athlete’s foot, which is a fungal skin condition that originates between the toes and causes scaly rashes.
Take Care of Your Teeth
Another important part of personal grooming is oral hygiene. Being stuck at home, you might ignore brushing your teeth and flossing daily. You may sometimes snack or drink at night and neglect to brush your teeth before going to bed. Don’t get used to these unhealthy habits. Over time, lack of proper oral hygiene can lead to plaque buildup that will eventually eat away at your teeth’s enamel.
To take care of your oral health, it’s best to brush your teeth twice a day and floss at least once a day. Dental professionals also recommend using mouthwash twice daily, preferably with an oral antiseptic that does not contain alcohol. If you practice these proper oral habits every day, you should be able to prevent plaque buildup and avoid painful tooth problems.
Avoid Mouthwash with Alcohol
While alcohol-based mouthwash kills harmful oral bacteria, it can also cause burning sensation and irritation in the mouth, which is bad news for many people, especially those experiecing dry mouth syndrome. As an alternative, alcohol-free mouthwash is something you might want to consider to keep your pearly whites healthy without compromising the health of the rest of your oral cavity.
Keep Your Hair Trim and Tidy
When barbershops are closed during quarantines, it’s understandable if your hair grows out a little longer. However, it’s still important to groom your hair and keep it clean even when you’re indoors. Make sure to comb your hair daily to get rid of tangles and keep your hair smooth. If your mane is long enough, it’s a good idea to start using hair ties to keep loose strands away from your face while you’re doing work and other physical activities.
If You Need a Trim
You can give yourself a trim to get rid of loose hair and dry ends. However, if you’re planning on getting a completely new hairstyle, it’s best to leave that sort of barber work to the pros. You don’t want to end up with a haircut that you’ll regret after all.
To trim your hair, face the mirror and start by cutting the hair on the sides of your head. Stylists suggest using nail scissors that are easy to grip and move around. Cut just a little bit when you snip to avoid removing too much hair. Removing hair little by little helps thin out thick hair growth to make your tresses more manageable.
Groom Your Facial Hair
Many men have opted to grow their facial hair during the pandemic. It became a trendy quarantine look sported by men until they could go back to work. But whether you decide to grow your beard or shave during a lockdown, it’s important to know how to groom your facial hair properly.
A Clean Shave
If you want a clean shave, the number one rule is to use a sharp razor. Blunt and dirty razors can cause facial irritation and may even result in infection if you get cuts. So, if you haven’t used your razor in a while, it’s best to buy a new one for safety purposes. Next, remember to shave carefully along the direction of your hair growth. This will help minimize ingrown hair and razor burns that will look very unsightly on your skin.
Grooming a Beard
You can trim your beard every three to four weeks to maintain its length. To groom your beard, start by brushing down your mustache and using scissors to cut loose hairs dangling over your lip. Next, make sure to use a clipper that is appropriate for your beard’s length. For instance, if you have a medium-length beard, it’s ideal to use a number three clipper. Once you have your clipper, shave your cheeks and neck while defining the beard. Then, trim around the beard’s edges to give it a more refined look.
Once you’re done shaving, be sure to rinse your face thoroughly. Pat your face dry with a towel and be careful not to rub your face. Rubbing will make your beard coarse and dry. Once your face is dry, use moisturizer to hydrate your skin. And for a more defined look, use beard oil to moisturize your newly trimmed beard edges.
Dealing with quarantines can really be challenging for anyone. But with a health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we are constantly reminded to maintain proper hygiene for everyone’s health and safety. We hope the tips above help get your personal grooming habits back on track.
