Mindfully Masculine: Personal Growth and Mental Health for Men
Charles and Dan are just two guys talking about relationships, masculinity, and authenticity. Join them as they discuss books and media, as well as their (sometimes messy) personal stories, to encourage men to join the fight for their mental, physical, and emotional health--because a world of healthy, resilient men is a thriving and more secure world for everyone.
Mindfully Masculine: Personal Growth and Mental Health for Men
Winter Whiskers and Pretty Faces
Picture the scene: you're sidled up in the frosty pre-dawn of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, bundled up and brimming with excitement, awaiting the famous groundhog's springtime prophecy. It's almost Groundhog Day, and we're cracking the lid on this time-honored tradition, from securing the perfect spot to witness Phil's annual weather prediction to the history that burrows deep to its Germanic roots. Expect tales of camaraderie in the chills of February and the warm glow of a shared experience, as Charles and Dan chat about looking forward to this quirky day and the surprising trivia of a certain legendary movie.
Stepping out of the cold, let's turn up the heat on skincare. Our faces brave the elements, so they deserve a little pampering, right? This episode is packed with our personal grooming tips and product recommendations as we navigate the sea of facial cleansers and shower routines. I'll reveal why shower shaving is a game changer and how keeping duplicate grooming items in strategic places saves your skin and your sanity. Dive into our journey with various under-eye creams, including the battle between high-end luxury and budget-friendly options, and learn how to weave a night cream practice into your nightly rituals.
But it's not just about keeping our skin in check; it's also about understanding and supporting each other. Acne can be a formidable foe, and as we share our own skin struggles, we unpack the importance of a consistent skincare routine and the value of expert advice. We attempt to bring all our insights to the table, making this episode a heartfelt blend of practical tips and empathetic conversation. Whether you're a Groundhog Day enthusiast, a skincare novice, or simply on the hunt for some cozy camaraderie, join us for an episode that digs beneath the surface and nurtures both tradition and personal care.
The referenced Orca hat:
https://a.co/d/4dO8VbR
Hey there, Charles. Here In this week's episode, Dan and I will continue discussing self-care for men by Garrett Munz and share some pre-Groundhog Day thoughts. This was recorded before my trip to Punxsutawney. Dan and I will share and discuss what products and practices that we use to keep our faces looking the way they look. I'd encourage everyone to check out the YouTube video for this episode so you can decide if our skincare advice is actually worth following. Just visit mindfullymasculinecom slash YouTube and you can see full episodes, short videos, everything video that we post. It's there. Enjoy the show.
Charles:Good afternoon, Charles. Oh well, yes, just about. We're almost there. So how are you? I'm well. How are you Good? Just exhausted after that 25-minute episode on spas? No, I'm doing well. This is I hope you can't tell this is the second episode that we're recording, but there will be a whole week in between when you guys hear it. Yeah, I'm just trying to think of what else I want to talk about before we jump straight into the material, because I think this is going to be another short one, have you?
Dan:talked about your trip to go see the little Groundhog already, I'm sure.
Charles:I don't know if we've talked about it on the show or not, but yeah, tomorrow I fly up to Pittsburgh and then drive to Punxsutawney, pennsylvania, for the annual Groundhog Day festivities, apparently that's quite a to-do.
Dan:What kind of festivities do they have before they actually rip the best from his home?
Charles:They will have well, at the actual field, which for a front row seat you want to show up around 3 am and the ceremony does take place till like 7.20.
Charles:So like you do it for 4.5 hours. 4.5 hours, I guess. Yeah, 4.5 hours. Well, I don't know. I don't know that I'm going to show up quite that early, I don't know that I care about being in the front row. One YouTube video I watched of a guy who brought his daughter. They wanted to go see it, so he said basically, if you show up by 5, you can get a pretty good spot. The problem is, this year it's on a weekend, so the ceremony is a Friday morning, and so they're probably going to get a bigger crowd than they would if it was in on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
Dan:All right, this princess needs to dig in. Are there seats or you have to stand the whole time.
Charles:No, there's a VIP tent that sells out like well over six months in advance, so I'm not going to be participating in that. So you're asking did you look at the cost? I'm just curious. It wasn't that expensive, it was under $100.
Charles:Oh all right, yeah, it wasn't like ridiculous, but it's basically just a tent with some of those like space heaters that bars, outdoor dining have, or restaurants without outdoor dining, so it I think maybe a private set of porta-potties. Oh yeah, fancy. So yeah, I will not be doing that, I'll be. And the other thing is, when you're traveling alone, you either make friends who are willing to hold your spot if you have to go to the bathroom or you lose your spot if you have to go to the bathroom. So that's part of the other reason, like when I'm going to show up at three o'clock, get in the front and then, oh, charles has been pounding the coffee, now he has to go use the porta-pot. Okay, now you're at the back of the field. So I'm not going to do that. I'm going to show up around five, maybe even a little later than five, because I just I don't want a spot that I'm so tied to that I want to feel like, oh, I can't go to the bathroom because I'm going to lose it. What's the weather look like? Uh, pretty for for for there at this time of year. Pretty warm, like 34, 35 degrees. It's reasonable. Yeah, I can handle 34, 35 degrees, that's not a problem.
Charles:And plus, I did order my uh variety pack of uh hand warmers. So I got the ones with the hand, the toe and the body. Oh, so you basically just pack yourself with those. And uh, I was talking to some of the ladies I worked with yesterday, uh, and their experiences. They say that those things last for like 10 hours. But the uh, the seasoned users of those hand warmers were saying after about three they're not really hot anymore. That's been my experience. Yeah, so it's probably. You know, in their lab somewhere they basically put a heat gun on it and 10 hours later it still said it was registering something above ambient and so they were able to say heats for 10 hours. But yeah, they said basically if, especially if, there's rain or snow, then you're looking at three hours. If it's dry, then you can get you know closer to six. But after six you're going to you're going to want to swap them out for some new ones.
Dan:So my suggestion is you don't bury them so that you can't get them out or adjust them very quickly, because they can get actually pretty hot Depending on the location. I felt in certain spots interesting in my hands or on my feet, For whatever reason. Me my skin was a little more sensitive there it it got really hot and I need to make an adjustment. So, depending on how much you're bundling up, I would say just be yeah, you ready to make an adjustment?
Charles:My plan is to where you know again, living in Florida, we don't have a ton of experience. I mean, you grew up in New Jersey, so you know what it's like to layer in the in the cold better than I do, because I only go to cold places for vacations. I'm gonna do a. My base layer is a merino wool long sleeve crew neck that. On top of that I'm gonna have a. I got this Sort of Columbia knockoff fleece zip-up jacket. It's Amazon's brand instead of Columbia. $7.50 on Amazon. Wow, it feels. It feels exactly the same decent, quality zipper. It's got the elastic around the sleeves, you know, so that it closes at your wrist 750. So yeah, it was on sale, but still that's an amazing price.
Charles:Children did it take to make that thing? I mean, it could take all of them for all I care, as long as it keeps me warm. So yeah, that's. I'm gonna wear that over my my merino wool base layer. And then on top of that I've got a synthetic down jacket from LL bean. Oh, you'll be, you'll be sad. And then I'll also have a Sort of a fleece or, you know, fake fleece scarf that I wear.
Charles:And then my favorite part of the whole ensemble is the. I Love the winter hat that I bought a couple years ago when I went to Chicago for Christmas. Okay, it's got Orcas on it, it's it's red, it's red and blue, and then there are orcas on it. So it is, it's really cool. Look it. I'll share a picture, okay a link to it at the show notes, because I love that hat and, yeah, it's my favorite winter hat that I've ever owned, so I'll wear that as well too. And I wasn't gonna bring a shell for Waterproof, but it's, it's gonna be clear, so I don't need to worry about that. So I'm pretty excited it sounds good.
Dan:I can't wait for some pictures.
Charles:Yeah, they, they say that it's. It's not that hard to go up for a selfie with Phil After the ceremonies over, because everybody else is booking it, trying to get back to the buses, get back to town, because it takes place like two hour, two, two hours, two miles away from downtown Punctutani, and so you can choose to either Park as I understand you park at the Walmart and take like shuttle buses, or there's a closer parking lot that does not have shuttle service, so it's like 1.3 miles. So if you park there, I think you're you're committed to walking and Tell you, if it's mid 30s and there's no rain, I'm definitely walking. I'm not gonna mess with shuttles as long as and I was gonna say, the only concern I have is walking on a street that you share with cars, but that time of the morning, with that day, with that, there's gonna be plenty of people walking. I'm not gonna be just one person walking on a dark road who's gonna get hit by a truck. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna walk it.
Dan:What did you know the story? Why is this town the town for groundhogs? I can't imagine that this would been the only place that celebrates in this way.
Charles:I don't know. I mean, I do know that, I knew, I do know that the lore is Apparently it's a German thing the idea of magical animals who can predict the weather, which I mean for all the things Germans could be known for. I suppose that's not at the bottom of the list.
Dan:So yeah, that's yeah, I guess you know snow, no, you know BMW, or you know yeah.
Charles:so I was thinking so the yeah, the, the fairy tales and the background and stuff like that. I guess it's a it was. The area was settled by German Americans and they decided that Some, some guy, who was either on alcohol or some hallucinogen, decided that a groundhog told him too much eager myster, something told him what the, what the weather was gonna be, and that he told somebody and that gullible person believed him. And then you know stuff, just Myth rolls downhill, as they say, went viral. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, I'm hoping that it's gonna be very crowded. It's like a town of five or six thousand people in like thirty thousand plus. Come in for the.
Dan:I'm surprised it's only thirty thousand that come in, because it was on ever.
Charles:It's been on every news channel since we were kids, true, yeah, and then it's only three thousand to a whole another level, right yeah, which was not even shot in Puxikani, by the way. The Harold Ramis the director, who was also Egon in Ghostbusters. He basically was like I'm not gonna, I'm not going to Pennsylvania, your rural Pennsylvania, for a few months. I like my house in Chicago, I want to go, I want to be in my own bed every night. So they shot outside of Chicago.
Charles:I mean, if you can do it, you know yeah, when you're we've got that level of power and influence, you can you call the shots. So that's what he did, but yeah, and it in the movie.
Dan:Well, that makes sense why Bill Murray was in it. Exactly, I didn't think about that.
Charles:Yeah, and in the movie all coming together. In the movie they make it seem like it happens in downtown Punks a ton, oh it's, it's out, and it's out in a field two miles outside of town, oh yeah, but they do have a lot of the parties and the balls and the gallows and Food trucks, balls and gallows what food trucks? And polka bands and yeah, all kinds of like big, big celebrations that happen over the Few days before, a few days after. I'm not gonna be doing any of those, except for, you know, the food trucks and you know if there's life, they do live music and like there are festivities and performers on the stage leading up to the, the actual ceremony. So I'll get to Like I saw some video from one year where the two emcees were up there in the dumb and dumber tuxedos, the the powder blue and the in the orange tuxedos, at least having fun with it.
Charles:That's great. Yes, well, apparently a few years ago it was not the family friendly event that it is now. Now you cannot have alcohol on the festivity grounds like you could before and yeah, like I think as recently as a decade ago, people would show up at like seven o'clock the night before and start drinking. I mean, people love their tailgates, yeah, exactly, and I Think I will have more fun with it the way that it is now, as opposed to being a Around a bunch of people who've been drinking for 12 hours, those that's not really my vibe, never was, even when I myself was a a moderate drinker. Yeah, but yeah being, and they even had, like some of the guys up on the stage in tuxedos that would like Take the grout hog out and talk to the grout, like some of them were like barely able to stand up because they were so drunk. Yeah, well, we'll see what it's like this. I mean you can still show up drunk.
Dan:I mean nobody's gonna sound like some YouTube being to find some of those clips. That sounds great.
Charles:Yeah, there's, there's some, there's ample stuff out there, but yeah. So I fly up tomorrow, think around 9 20, so not my usual uncomfortably early flight, but I am flying on spirit and I think it costs me $91 for the round trip. Oh, and then, no, no hostels around Punxsutawdi, pennsylvania, so I'm staying in just a cheap hotel room by myself and and gonna try to eat some good, good local diners and places like that. That's my, my favorite thing to do and and try to, I'm sure you'll find some delicious. Yeah, I think so.
Charles:I'm hoping again, with the big crowds, I'm hoping that, since I'm single, just a single traveler, you know, if it diners got a counter, there's always. You usually find one, one seat squished in. Yeah, so that's the plan anyway, I'm I'm looking forward, I'm gonna. I know I'm gonna drink a lot of coffee and Eat, hopefully, a lot of. I'm gonna try to find some real good German food for dinner tomorrow night and then go to sleep, probably around six or seven, so that you know when I, when I wake up at four, because the hotel I'm staying at is like 40 minutes away from Punxsutawdi, so I'm gonna wake up, maybe find, you know, a 24-hour Dunkin Donuts or something to get some kind of a breakfast on the drive over there, and then I won't be. There'll be second breakfast, probably around eight or nine in the morning.
Dan:Sounds good. Sounds like it's gonna be great trip man.
Charles:I'm looking forward to it. I think it's gonna be a unique experience that will hopefully lead to some good pictures, good videos and good stories. So that's that's what I'm hoping to get out of it, and it is one of those things like for whatever reason, time Square, new York City and on New Year's does not appeal to me whatsoever, but this kind of thing absolutely does well, the other thing I was like dip your toe in the water, maybe, maybe.
Dan:Next stop is Times Square.
Charles:I doubt it. The other thing I want to tell you about was we do have a pretty good Mardi Gras parade and Mardi Gras sort of party festival in Lake Wales, which is where I grew up, and that's gonna be, I think, the weekend of the 9th and 10th. Hmm, so, if you and your lady don't have plans, it's, it's not that long with drive and they've been doing it for maybe 30 or 40 years and it's, it's one of the bigger I think it might be the second biggest Mardi Gras parade after New Orleans, holy cow. It's, it's a big deal. February, yeah, february 9th and 10th, okay, thanks. Well, yeah, I was thinking that I haven't been back to Lake Wales since, geez, since I left for college. I mean, I've driven through it, but I haven't, like, gone to any of an event there and I was thinking about maybe going this year as well. So we'll see.
Charles:Anyway, okay, let's, let's get into our chapter on your face. Well, face is in general, but we'll talk about ours specifically, the important thing. I mean, you know, your, your face is kind of your calling card. It's what people see, and so there's a good reason for keeping it looking as good as you can, and it also feels good to take care of your face, and you and I are gonna explain what we do and the products that we use, excuse me, to Keep this youthful visage. I mean, despite my 46 years. I've been told that I look like a 30 year old baseball glove that's been left out in the rain.
Charles:Wrote me in there. Yeah, so, yeah, the. I don't do everything that I should as consistently as I should, but there are a few things that I definitely do. Which is in my shower I keep a, a face wash specifically for washing my face, instead of using my 18 and one Irish spring. I don't, I don't, I don't use that anymore eyebrow wash.
Charles:Yeah, mustache wash generally your hair while the only time I use that is Like in the case of your house where I occasionally shower. Here I've got a three and one that I keep in your shower. That is not fragrance free but it's good enough. And then if I'm, you know, if I'm seeing somebody where I might be Occasionally showering at her house, then I'll I'll leave some sort of a three and one. Irish spring did make a five and one that I use a couple times and I like the smell of it, as smells go. But, as I said from our one of our past episodes, if I'm going to use the Irish spring five and one, then I'm only gonna smell like Irish spring. I'm not gonna use any other fragrance, it's gonna be all Irish spring all the way. And so, yeah, that these that I use that it kind of takes using my clone off the table Right again, cuz I don't like. I don't like the combined sense. Yeah, so anyway, but definitely I would not use a five and one or three and 18 and one to wash your face.
Charles:Your face, your face skin deserves some special treatment. So what I use for washing my face and I've got the Dan and I went through our own list I use a face wash from clean and clear. It's called morning burst and so this one. They have a couple of. I didn't know they had multiple scents. The one I'd been using Was Like orange in color and color smelled like an orange. There's another one that I just saw on Amazon that when, when I buy so there's a Fragrance free option, that I like is the Neutrogena Ultra gentle. That's pretty good too, mm-hmm, but yeah, I like the morning burst has the clean, clear morning burst has these little beads that pop on your face.
Dan:And I'll zits great. Yeah, no, don't be dope, don't be gross, it feels good old morning burst, and you just talked about these little things exploding on your face.
Charles:There are other things that burst by besides zits and the other thing that you're thinking of, that you're not gonna say, yeah, the little beads like, yeah, it feels good, because I guess they can't have just a little plastic micro beads anymore because that was destroying everything.
Dan:From from what I hear, you some products actually had plastic, yeah, yeah.
Charles:I didn't know. Yeah yeah, stives used to have some scrubs that had little like little tiny plastic.
Dan:So that's one I used to use, but it was, yeah, made from ground peaches and it would actually dissolve and that was that was pretty sure they had some that they're all about the.
Charles:Yeah, there were a lot of company that had little plastic micro beads that, yeah, when those got flushed out to the ocean, you know, then nothing good was happening. So they it was during the Obama administration. He said you know more of this.
Dan:Yeah.
Charles:So, yeah, so the, the Neutrogena has an ultra Like sort of clear for sensitive skin that I like. But yeah, if I'm willing to break my no fragrance rule, the cleaning clear morning burst is pretty great. So their new one is lemon and papaya and it also has caffeine, which caffeine is good for, you know, tighten up your face skin so great. When I run out, I'm gonna get that and it's 17 dollars on Amazon, so pretty, pretty good. Yeah, it's a lot of cheese. I would say Add a minimum three months, probably closer to six. Okay, I just do one pump and then, yeah, you know that. And yeah, I would say pretty close to six months for one bottle of that stuff. I don't have to buy very frequently at all and I do use it. That fruit.
Charles:We talked about not using soap and shampoo every single time we we shower and some people are leaving comments like you guys should use soap. But like, listen, I do use soap more than half the time, but especially on a day where I'm taking two showers in a day. I'm not soaping up now both times when you know Unless, unless I did something really sweaty or whatever, but if it's just, I want my skin in my hair to look like I've taken a shower before I go out for the night. There's no reason to you know, and I've just been sitting in my desk chair under the air conditioner all day. I'm not gonna use soap and shampoo on that second shower. I'm just not gonna do it. Neither do I, so you can take your judgment. You can shove it Now you damn. Talking to the listeners that were well, I could shove my judge, you can, and anybody, anybody who judges me for anything.
Dan:All the judges.
Charles:Okay. What do you use to wash your face?
Dan:So I like all my products from this place called the ordinary calm and okay. Basically what I use is this thing. It's a squalene cleanser, very inexpensive all the stuff from here are range between like eight dollars to fifteen dollars Okay item. This basically is a little bit of a moisturizing cleanser, so it doesn't dry out your skin and it's made for your face. Okay, I like it because it's got a lot of just pure, clean ingredients in it and they don't spend a lot of money on advertiser manufacturing.
Dan:You can go to the ordinary calm and say build my regimen and ask walks you through like a ten-question quiz about what your skin is like. Okay, would you like gels or do you like lotions or do you like oily or do you like water? And it will recommend products for you based on your skin type, what kind of Material, that were or substance you like to put on your skin, and it will kind of walk you through a regimen where it's anywhere from Three items to four or five items but each one of them is like less than $20 easy, okay, the last three to six months.
Charles:Yeah, and it is important to remember. You know, if, if you think it's time to Take on a skincare routine, you know, avoid the go bigger, go home mentality. Don't go out and buy you know some expensive ten, ten step process because you're you're not gonna end up using it, you're not gonna stick with it and you're gonna waste a bunch of time and a bunch of money and then also feel like, hey, I'm somebody who can't make a plan and stick to it, which is the worst, that's the most expensive part to see.
Dan:You know this goes back to again. Everything goes back to habits, right? So if you're gonna implement this stuff, I would say take one or two things and try to find a specific spot in your daily routine when you're gonna be able to use them. So like I keep the moisturizer or the facial moisturizer cream in, you know, in the shower so it's the cleansing cream, I should say and After I shampoo my my hair I twinned the conditioner and then I use that the thing on my face. So then I know every time I'm done with the conditioner I pick up the cleanser, right, I don't have to think about it anymore. Same thing with the other products there. I've got a moisturizer and I've got something that actually kind of clear. It cleanses the skin a little bit as well for acne and I Use those after brush my teeth and it's just become part of my routine again. I'm not perfect with it, but if I didn't have that in a set order, I Wouldn't be doing it at all.
Charles:Yeah, I use a similar order. I, I wash. The first thing I do in the shower after I've gotten wet and warm is I wash my hair. And then, right after I wash my hair, that's when I wash my face, hmm, and then, after my face is when I brush my teeth. Because I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste both in my shower and it at my sink, because in my RV I only got one sink, it's a sink in the kitchen and for the most part I do my.
Charles:I've got the, the Things that I need to brush my teeth and shave at the sink, but I also keep a full set of a toothbrush, toothpaste and shaving stuff. That's smart in the shower, yeah well, and I find shower shaving in the shower is way better for me. Now, I always keep stubble on my cheeks and in my you know goatee area and all I really have to shave is my upper cheeks and my, my, my neck. But doing it in the shower after I've been in there with hot water for Five, six minutes, it's such a better experience than when I just try to shave at the at the sink. So I I always I would say 90% of the time I do my shaving in the shower.
Dan:And it makes sense to have the tools in the right spot where you're gonna actually use them. Yeah, same thing. I've got a Version of all of these you know, little products, smaller versions, for my travels kit and.
Dan:I keep it in there. I don't move the stuff from the shower, well, from my sink, into the travel kit anymore and I try to get that as set as possible so I don't have to think about it. I pick up my, my, my dot bag for traveling and I pack that in regular and just go. And again, it's just trying to remove those obstacles and try to make that as smooth of a process as possible so that when I'm packing all my other stuff, this is another thing that's just stressing me out.
Charles:Yeah, I actually have three. I own three of the little tubes of eye cream or under eye cream. I Keep one here, I keep one in my little TSA travel pouch and I keep one in my refrigerator at home, and so, wherever I am, I don't have to, I don't have to remember To pack something or bring something. I just I mean these things. I mean my oldest tube of eye cream is Literally it's got to be close to ten years old and I'm still.
Charles:I still haven't used all of it, because you use just such, I mean a less than a pea size for each of your eyes and it lasts forever. And so, really, regardless of how much it costs, when something lasts that long, it, it almost doesn't matter how much it costs. You know, I mean it does, but sure, I mean I would say, let's see, I've got the two that I know what they. I bought recently ROC or rock retinol under eye cream is $22 and then the Neutrogena hydro boost eye cream is $13, nice. So again, if these are lasting multiple years, then yeah, that is, that is almost nothing. So, yeah, that would be other than and we're just gonna go down the list of the things that I do use.
Charles:He talks about some stuff that I probably don't use, but I definitely recommend using a face wash for your face. And then, guys, especially as you're getting older, that area underneath your eyes is gonna depending on how much water you drink and how much sleep you're getting and how well you're eating, it could look. It could look bad or it could look really bad. I mean, some people looks great.
Dan:But sleeping is the biggest difference maker for me, yeah, whether I have bags or not. And then the ordinary also has this multi peptide caffeine serum here that I will use and just kind of dab under my eyes when I when I feel like I'm a little puffy.
Charles:Yeah, and he he mentions caffeine and peptide specifically is something that you want to look for in your, in your eye cream to take care of the puffiness. And there's also I've tried one, I forget, I think lumen's the name of the company. They have an, an eye cream that is tinted yellow, that is supposed to offset, offset the sort of bluish, purple color of eye bags, and the idea is, you know, you rub, you rub that in and the the light tinting will yes, there's a little yellow tint to it.
Dan:Oh guys, that's what it's for, yeah okay, so yeah.
Charles:And then the, the other. Let me look up the other kind of eye cream, the third one of that I have for like 10 years. I remember it's lab series for men under eye cream or eye cream. Let me see what it's called. You still use that, I do, even even as old as it is. It's still. It still feels good and seems to look good. That's the most expensive one that one looks like. It's like $67 or the little tube of it. But again, if something lasts you for five plus years, I mean if it works, that's yeah, break it down, but yeah, that's the thing. So I've got three price levels like $67, $22 and $17. I can't tell a dag unbitted difference between all three.
Dan:I've dabbled in the really expensive eye creams too, and I haven't seen much of an effect from those.
Charles:Yeah, so it actually I would say the new trajina one that was only like $12. I picked that one up at a Like a Walgreens or CVS on one of my trips to DC because I just I didn't, I only had the one and I didn't pack it. I was like, okay, I'm gonna use this and it actually feels the best of all three of them, the cheapest one. I don't know if it looks the best. I haven't done like one eye with one, one eye with another to sort of evaluate. Well, you see a difference, yeah, yeah. So anything versus nothing, I definitely see a difference.
Charles:Yeah and feel difference too.
Dan:And I would I kind of go down that path to is look for the you know more generic or the drugstore brands. Try that, yeah, start cheap, absolutely, and see if it works for you.
Charles:Yeah, start, start cheap and then work your way up thinking into expensive.
Charles:I think the expensive one I got I just. I just asked some lady at Dillard's or something like, hey, I think I want to start using some eye cream, and she's like I got the perfect thing for you. And you know, perfect thing was like almost $70. Yeah, cuz she's a saleswoman and that's what they, that's what they sell. She's not gonna say well, I think the best thing for you to do would be leave here and go to that drugstore, yeah, so yeah, be careful when you ask sales people for advice, because somehow they always have the right thing that you need. Okay, so, in addition to that, I Use a facial moisturizer lotion with SPF 30 and we were talking about a couple episodes ago I didn't remember what level of SPF it had, but it was 30 and the one I uses Cera V AM facial moisturizing lotion, and that goes for about 15 bucks. That's another thing. I bought two. I've got one that I leave here and I've got one that I have at my house.
Dan:So I don't do the whole SPF thing because I'm not like out in the sun, working out in the sun all the time, and I think it's also important for us to get a little bit of vitamin D from the the sun that we do expose our skin to. So I use one that basically it's got hyaluronic acid as a moisturizer again from the ordinary, and this is fairly inexpensive as well I mean maybe 10 to 12 dollars. Need different sizes of this. That's what's nice, as you get travel sizes and maybe just Start out with the travel sizes, see if you like it and then, if if so, then go ahead and upgrade to the larger size.
Charles:Okay, I just looked up instead of listening to what you're saying. I was worried about this proving something. You said yeah, because I'm a terrible friend and listener. Study this is from the skincare foundation.
Charles:Studies have never found that everyday sunscreen uses use leads to vitamin D and sufficiency. In fact, people who use sunscreen daily maintain their vitamin D levels. Interesting, there's reasons that you don't. I mean use SPF if you want to and don't if you don't. But Don't not use it because you're worried that you're not gonna get vitamin D. It looks like the vitamin D production is able to make it. They happen.
Charles:I'm open to being wrong. That's great, okay, and I think SPF 30 is is pretty low. I I mean, I think, for keeping your skin free of Probably cancer, but mostly wrinkles. I think some kind of an SPF is recommended for almost everyone, and especially as you get older. Yeah, it could be so. That's that's what I've heard and that's that's why I've opted for one that does have SPF. The only other piece of Skincare or facial skincare that I ever do and I gotta say this is very, very rare is I believe in the importance of putting on a night cream and that apparently it feels great when you wake up after you've gone to sleep with a Night cream on. I have some. I've got the Olay Regeneris retinol 24 max moisturizer that I spent $35 for this little okay, little yeah, and I never use it.
Dan:I mean, I almost never use it and the funny thing is I I have one. It's not his fancy, is inexpensive, but it's got a little vitamin C in it. It's a luminous night cream by andaloo and you can get them Whole foods. How?
Dan:often do you use it, and the thing is, I don't use it every night, okay, even though it's meant to be a night cream, and I end up using it when I feel overly dry, and a lot of times that's during the day, okay, and so I, you know, I don't really know if there's that much of a difference between Using a night cream at night or during the day. To be honest with you, I use it when I feel like I really am, yeah, overly dry, and the the other stuff that I'm using is a little thinner and a Little bit lighter. So when I really want to hydrate my skin, I'll use that, and so I'll use that Maybe four or five times a week. At most it is. It's usually during the day you usually believe it or not, because that's what I'm feeling it not at night.
Charles:Yeah, I think I mean the tried it. It looks like the biggest difference between night and day creams is whether they have SPF or not. Oh, interesting, yeah, where I know Sarah V, the company I use for my morning Facial moisturizing lotion, they have a PM version to it. It doesn't have SPF because they assume you're in a dark room laying in bed, got it, so you wouldn't need the SPF.
Dan:Yeah, but that, oh, and you know what, I think maybe some of them the night creams, might make your skin a Little bit more sensitive, and maybe no, the other, yeah, where the sun would might be bad, you might right, you might burn a little bit more easily. That makes so I think that's. That might be the case with.
Charles:Yeah, I guess if, yeah, if there's some sort of Oil or something that would interact with the ultraviolet light, that would be a good reason to not wear it outside. Yeah, interesting. Okay, all right, so let's, let's do this. If I decided I wanted to care about Using my night cream every night, let's brainstorm what would what would that habit generation look like if I wanted to start a new habit where I use it every night?
Dan:So my question is let's let's think about what you're already doing right before you go to bed. Oh boy, and where would it make sense to actually use that cream? Would it be in bed? Would it be at? If you're brushing your teeth before bed, would it be at the sink that you're brushing your teeth at?
Charles:Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, it's, a toothbrushing in the PM definitely does happen at the sink. Other things that I usually do every night is I give my cat some cat treats yeah, to get him to come to bed, because he won't just come when I call him. He means hates me. I Would not want to put the cream on in bed because I'm gonna want to wash my hands after I apply it.
Dan:And I think for me, I like washing my hands before I apply it, because I don't want that on my face. So maybe it's before you give the cat the treats. Yeah, if like so, you might need to actually have a couple of different behaviors in this habit. If you're not normally washing your hands right after you brush your teeth, maybe you might need to do that so that you've got clean hands before you put those brush, brush the teeth, wash my hands and then put on the night cream and then wash my hands again. Yeah, right, yeah potentially.
Charles:Yeah, I definitely would. Yeah, I don't want the. Yeah, I want the oil or whenever is on the, to be on my hands all night.
Dan:Well, if it's not, I mean usually the creams tend to rub in a little bit better. So sometimes, if I first of all using my fingertips Sometimes, you know, I was kind of, if there's a little bit left, my fingertips that kind of rub the rest of that into my hands. Yeah, I'll be honest again, I don't always wash my hands afterwards.
Charles:So yes, you might be. Any time that I use any kind of hair cream or moisturizer yeah, anything I always feel like my hands are like dirt's gonna stick to me, so I always have that's probably the best way to do it, for sure.
Charles:So okay. So I need to remember before I, before I feed the the cat, his Trina, after I brush my teeth, before I feed the cat, see if I can't Stick again I do. I do worry that my why is not strong enough to actually remember to do this, or so enough about doing it. So it's just one of those things I feel like I should do right. But there you know the results of not doing it Will only get worse years down the road.
Dan:So it's hard to you know it's hard to remember that it's valuable now.
Dan:My, my suggestion is that for any new bit behaviors that you want to turn into a habit, do it in the morning, when you've got the most energy and set up the environment, and then practice doing that habit a few times over and over again in In the morning, when you've got the most energy with your conscious brain, because it's our conscious brain that then programs our Habit side, our unconscious or subconscious brain, to get those habits in place. So don't try to do it when you're tired. I would say you know, put the. You know, put the moisturizer right there next to your, your toothbrush, and then During the day even though that's not when you normally go to bed Practice that a few times so that your brain starts linking.
Dan:You know, putting the, the, maybe drying your hands off from just washing your hands to Opening that jar of of moisturizer, and maybe that's that's what you practice. You know, okay, and maybe you know, if your hands are a little bit dry afterwards might be time for a hand lotion too. You could add that into the mix and use that right now. It's not a bad idea. Yeah, maybe I will look at. I like a hand lotion at night. My, for whatever reason, my hands just get drier at night for some reason, or I feel it at night. Well, if your world stops and I can notice it, I don't mean.
Charles:I mean, if your, if your AC has been running all day, it's probably been taken moisture out of the air your house. So good point. Yeah, that's. Yeah, I'll think about doing a little bit of comparison shopping for a hand lotion that I Don't hate the smell or the feel of. Which. That's been the the main thing that's been getting my way so far.
Dan:Yeah, I have. I have some gold bond. I can show you, if you it doesn't. It rubs in pretty well and doesn't have a strong smells.
Charles:I want to see if there's, because that that eye cream from Neutrogena is is more gel based than creamy, and so I'm gonna see, if there's, if I can find a hand lotion that is more gel than lotion. Oh, interesting, yeah, not a bad idea. See how that feels. Yeah, maybe, maybe I can. I can make do with that, all right. Well, thanks for the. The Real quick crash course on habitry. I appreciate you sharing that with us. Okay, anything else to say about your, your ritual? What are some of the things that that we don't do, that other people might do or or we could do? I think we covered. Exploitation is something that you get. Usually if you shave your face completely clean, then you're getting exfoliation every time you do that. But the other options are salicylic acid and Something with a texture or a coarseness to it will will help with your exfoliation as well. That's part of the reason I like that cleaning clear morning burst.
Dan:Yeah, and just, I made a mistake when I had acne as a kid and I would thought that I would exfoliate all the zits. Oh yeah, I was careful, yeah, and I used tea tree oil which dried it out and it just it made him so much worse. Let let let it be and just, you know, just reduce the inflammation and by scrubbing something, yeah, and, and putting drying stuff on it does not reduce the inflammation. I was you wouldn't do that on a wound. Don't do it on your face, which is basically that's what acne acne is a wounds, yeah, basically a bunch of wounds, right, yeah, yeah, that's, that's rust.
Charles:I know zone worse. I had a friend in high school with pretty bad acne and he got on the Accutane and that it works.
Charles:I mean it dries your skin up real bad, but it does what it's supposed to do and I'll you know, give some people some mental health issues as well, but it definitely it dries you out and makes acne go away. For sure, mm-hmm, yep does work. Yeah, what doesn't make the acne go away is Irritating it with either chemicals or Rough stuff or using your fingers to mess with it, and I would I would say, if you've got bad acne, also look at what you're eating.
Dan:A lot of a lot of Foods cause an inflammation in your body and that's also causes an inflammation that can that can lead to inflammation in your skin. So consider doing some sort of elimination diet and perhaps see if it. See, if it ever difference. There could be a food that your body is just reacting with. That's making things worse.
Charles:Yeah, and some of it is just a matter of your, your body's own hormone situation. Yeah, and the way, especially you know, as young men have that testosterone burst that happens at puberty and sometimes for the ten years following puberty, it's just enough to to run Mm-hmm, run a lot of havoc on your skin. And, yeah, talk to your dermatologist too, because they should be able to recommend both invasive, non-invasive, prescription, over-the-counter solutions for you, and there's probably there's, there's information to be found online to do your own research. Yeah, but be real careful and make sure you're listening to experts. Yeah, but that's that's. That's rough.
Charles:I'm glad that when, when I was a kid, I didn't have very bad acne, you know, through my high school years, but a lot of my friends did, and it's oh, yeah, it's a struggle, man, it is rough, yeah. So I, yeah, my heart does not anybody that has to to deal with that, okay. So, um, yeah, the the thing we recommend is keep your skin as clean and as moisturized as you can, and They'll keep you looking good as you get older. Sounds like a plan, all right. Thanks, dan, I appreciate it and we'll talk to you next time. All right, have everyone. You too. Wow, you made it through the whole thing, so you must like us at least a little bit, in which case you should definitely Follow or subscribe to our show in your chosen podcast app. Thanks, we'll talk to you next time.
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