There’s no lotion or moisturizer on this list. No exfoliators or anti-aging blends. (We’ll share those recipes in others posts, because they definitely have their place.)
This post is all about convenience, comfort, and health.
Not to mention, these 3 natural skin care products help you look groomed and smell great. (Why take extra steps for that?)
We’ll walk you through making:
- Citrus IPA lip balm (This stuff is awesome. We love it!)
- Frankincense aftershave (This soothes abraded skin and reduces irritation.)
- Hard-working hand salve (This helps heal small cuts and scrapes, and moisturizes dry skin.)
We’re only going to use all-natural ingredients in our skin care for men. That’s important, because exposing your skin to chemicals or synthetics can actually cause irritation, or stir up issues like allergies. Your skin care products should support your health, not challenge it. So these DIY skin care products for men are 100% organic, sustainable, or wildcrafted. The ingredients are raw, as unprocessed as possible, and full of rich fatty acids, vitamins, and natural plant-based components that help cells heal and even support immunity.
That’s a great thing about using aromatherapy—essential oils are “multi-purpose.” A single oil can have a variety of beneficial effects. For example, when you use your Hard-Working Hand Salve, you’re helping small cuts and scrapes heal faster, and you’re also reducing germs and moisturizing your hands. Your Citrus IPA Lip Balm can also help boost your immunity. Your Frankincense Aftershave reduces the risk of infection and calms irritation.
1. Citrus IPA Lip Balm
This is one of the top DIY natural skin care products men love from our site! It’s made with essential oil of hops. At Aromatics, we have several varieties of hops essential oil.
One of our most popular essential oils for men is hops oil juicy fruitbomb. It has the rich aroma of a woodsy, hoppy IPA craft beer . . . with a touch of fruitiness.
This essential oil is distilled from five varieties of fresh hops flowers from the Northwestern region of the United States. We like to use it in recipes meant to reduce germs.
Sweet orange essential oil complements the hops oil like a slice of orange on a glass of ale. It smells and tastes great—and adds even more germ-reducing benefits to this DIY lip balm. (There’s a reason so many natural cleaning products are made with orange oil.) We've included jojoba oil in this recipe because it is highly penetrating and contains powerful antioxidants, which means it moisturizes and heals deeply. It's the perfect addition to this lip balm because it will keep your lips smooth, unchapped, and attractive for hours on end.
What if . . .
Your DIY lip balm starts to harden before you have it all in the tubes?
Simply put your Pyrex back into the simmering water, and let it re-melt.
What if . . .
Pouring from your Pyrex measuring cup into your lip balm tubes is too messy?
You can use a plastic pipette (the kind you might remember from chemistry class.) It takes longer, but it’s a lot more precise . . . and an easier cleanup!
2. Frankincense Aftershave Spray
Using some kind of aftershave lotion, oil, or spray is an important aspect of skin care for men, especially if you’re not using an electric shaver on your face. You want to reduce the chances for infection in small cuts or irritated pores, and soothe abraded, irritated skin. This DIY aftershave recipe includes several ingredients for men that accomplish that.
This recipe combines two varieties of Frankincense blended in a base of deep healing aloe vera gel to create an aftershave that will soothe and refresh your face. If you have sensitive skin, you might also want to keep a little bottle of hydrosol with you to use throughout the day. We like to use our myrrh hydrosol as a facial spritz! Use the hydrosol if your skin starts itching, if you feel overheated, or if you want to be sure you smell great without cologne.
3. Hard-Working Hand Salve
This salve is perfect for hard-working hands, because it’s pretty hard-working itself. It smells sharp and fresh, with heavy hints of pine. Keeping a small jar of this hand salve in your bag, car, or desk means you’ll be able to apply it as needed to help heal small cuts, scrapes, and bruises. It has lavender and helichrysum essential oils, which are a dynamic pair for caring for damaged skin. In fact, helichrysum is such a powerful healer that we don’t recommend using it around puncture wounds. You don’t want a wound like that to seal up too quickly—punctures need to close up slowly (from the inside out) so there’s no chance of infection getting trapped under the skin.
The essential oils in this salve also reduce the risk of infection—especially the eucalyptus (which includes a natural component called 1,8 cineole, famous for calming infections) and ponderosa pine (which is a popular essential oil for men—and we also like to use in natural cleaning recipes because it’s so efficient at getting rid of germs). Thanks to the beeswax, jojoba oil, and tamanu oil, this salve is great for torn cuticles and dry, cracked knuckles. If your hands don’t tend to get scraped up too often, this salve still makes a great germ-reducing moisturizer.
Before we wrap things up, we’d like to share . . .
Ten earthy, woodsy or spicy essential oils for men
Of course, you can use any essential oils you want. It’s just been our experience that guys gravitate more towards aromas like these. So we thought we’d share some popular essential oils men tend to choose for themselves. Some of these essential oils appeared in the recipes above. Others are showing up for the first time.
How should you use these?
We know we said we wouldn’t give you a moisturizer recipe in this post . . . but we’re going to suggest using some natural unscented lotion, and blending a total of 15 drops into it. (That’s not a recipe, right?)
You don’t have to add essential oil to your lotion at all—the unscented natural stuff is perfect, scent-free skin care for men. Essential oils are useful if you want a touch of scent in your skin care products, or if you’re trying to get a certain therapeutic effect (like boosting immunity or sore muscle relief—some of these oils are even great for repelling bugs).
You can also make your own cologne. Start with 1 oz of jojoba oil (Simmondsia chinensis), and add a total of 18 drops of essential oil.
We suggest only putting in one drop of essential oil at a time. (That way when you take a whiff of your final product you’ll say, “Yeah, that’s nice.” Instead of, “What have I done . . . ?”)
This oil smells deep, earthy, and sweet. It’s a popular cologne all by itself. It’s compelling, relaxing, and releases tension.
A rich, smoky, sweet aroma that’s become quite trendy.
Frankincense’s fresh, unique, balsamic scent makes it stand out. (A lot of men say this is their favorite essential oil of all!)
The essential oil’s scent is different than the incense you might be familiar with. It’s great for skin . . . and insects tend to hate it.
Another essential oil distilled from a resin (like frankincense), but this one has a deeper, resinous aroma. Oils distilled from resins are often used in natural skin care for men.
Adds a fresh, bright pop of citrus to any blend! It’s also useful for reducing inflammation and supporting immunity.
One of the most popular essential oils for men! But be careful with this one, it’s strong—a single drop goes a long way.
Fresh, woodsy, and pinaceous. Use it in a cologne and smell like you’ve been in the forest even if you’re stuck in the office all day.
Another woodsy oil, with a slightly smokier scent than Black Spruce.
Fresh, bright, minty, and energizing! This is another strong oil. Make sure to add just one drop at a time to whatever product you’re making.
Guys don’t need a shelf full of fancy skin care products to have healthy, attractive skin.
Skin care for men can be summed up pretty simply: Make sure your lips don’t crack. Take care of your skin after you shave it. Keep your hands healthy and germ-free. If your skin feels dry and itchy, put some lotion on it.
Yes, there are other steps you can take—like conditioning your beard, getting rid of foot fungus (naturally), caring for tattoos—but those are topics for another post.
The natural DIY skin care for men you’ve learned here should set you up with everything you need for effective, no-fuss men’s skin care.