By Kate Sullivan, Allure
I love buying beauty products. Maybe too much. So when I read that women were saving time (and money!) by adopting their husband's or boyfriend's beauty routines, I decided to give it a go for a week. It was my own personal experiment to see what I really did --a nd didn't -- need after all.
Day One
I worship skin care, deep conditioners, and makeup. (I always know when party guests have spied in my bathroom cabinets because the gasps are audible. GlamGlow Supermud, Kérastase hair masks, Camellia Cleansing Oil, the Clarisonic Mia skin brush -- it's all there.) But here's a peek in one of Jason's cabinets: These are his washcloths. The dude is an odd and particular man. The tags all facing the same way is no accident. His washcloth and Dove Men + Care bar soap routine is pretty similar to my normal shower routine (swap in regular Dove or Shea Moisture Organic African Black Soap for Acne Prone Face & Body Bar), so the face-washing aspect of the week was 100 percent easy and great. And I've long sworn by a men's razor--Dollar Shave Club The 4X--and think the best shave gel is Edge, so I already had one foot in the men's grooming world.
I had fun choosing from the cornucopia of deodorants Jason rotates through, including an all-natural one that has a weird photo of a man and a woman, arms entangled, applying deodorant together. "Is this what you're into?" I asked. "Sensual couples deodorant?" "I don't even know how that got in there," he insisted. The crystal deodorant kept me odor-free, but my shirt had rings of sweat on it by the end of the day. Not cute. Over the course of the week, Dove Men + Care, Gillette, and Degree fared better but made me smell like a dude.
Day Two
By day two, I missed moisturizing my body. I'm one of those fancy body-oil broads--I like Neutrogena Body Oil--but I alternate with Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion, which is light and has no smell. I noticed a bottle of Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair on Jason's bedside table. ("For my hands!" he insisted. Sure, buddy.) And I used it on my entire body. Later, I went for a run, and the thick cream felt like I was wearing a wet suit. I was sweating so profusely that people around me began to look concerned. I spent the rest of the week lotion-less and dry, and my ashy elbows and matte legs told the tale.
Jason uses face wash, moisturizer with SPF 15, and at night, moisturizer without SPF. That may seem like a lot for a dude, but it is nothing compared to what I use. As a recovering zit-covered gargoyle, I've been on a serious anti-cystic acne regimen for more than half of my life. And thanks to both my Irish genes and my prescription acne meds (Tazorac and Clindamycin -- gifts from the gods!), I'm also very sensitive to the sun. When I'm not doing a self-destructive skin-care experiment, I wear a 30 to 50 SPF lotion on my face, plus a BB cream with SPF. And my regular night cream is luxe and thick. Jason's lotions felt great on my skin, but they didn't feel like they were doing much. Still, overall the skin care was fine. (Ha ha ha, oh Kate of day two, what little you knew!)
Day Three
Air-drying my hair ain't no thang. In fact, I prefer it so that I can keep my wavy texture and limit arm fatigue. But on day three, I went for a midday run, and before returning to my home office, I showered and threw my hair into a sopping wet bun. By 6 p.m. when I met my brother, my hair was still soaked. "This is the new style; this is how all women will be wearing their hair in three months," I prepared to say. But like a true brother, he noticed nothing different about me. I felt like a slob when he introduced me to a publicist. I was hyperaware of not only my wet hair and makeup-free face but my outfit. I'd actually dressed crappier than usual. Since I hadn't been dressing up my face in the morning, I hadn't really taken any care when choosing my clothes either. I was shyer than usual while chatting with this woman, eager to leave.
Day Four
The first time I used Jason's face wash, Nivea Men Moisturizing Face Wash (which smells strongly of aftershave), I felt like I should change into a silky button down that showed off my chest hair. But it had a nice tingling sensation, and after I rinsed and dried my face, the smell dissipated into a subtle, clean scent. For most of the week, my skin looked clear and felt great. Unfortunately, the face wash was no replacement for my anti-acne routine, and after four days, I developed a painful horn of a zit on the side of my face. I will never willingly give up my prescription acne meds again.
Day Five
By day five, it was obvious that my thick, coarse hair missed deep conditioner. Though he shaves his head bald, Jason still uses shampoo (Head & Shoulders 2 in 1 Shampoo and Conditioner) for scalp health -- or perhaps just out of nostalgia? -- so my hair was clean and flake-free. But the twofer just wasn't cutting it for my frizz. My hair was dry and huge -- a dusty tumbleweed -- and while it made for an impressively full-looking topknot (there's not even a donut in there!), no other hairstyle worked. I felt gross and made an excuse not to go out that evening; I worked instead.
Day Six
After a rough night of no sleep, my face looked sallow, my eyes tired. While checking out at the grocery store, I grabbed one of those 50 cent packets of Emergen-C, and the cashier said, "Feel better, honey." All week, I used Beard & Stache Bars Beard Wash on my armpits and legs. It was probably not necessary for me to soften my ankle hairs, but I liked the smell, so I did it anyway. When I actually shaved, I used Beard & Stache Bars Cream Shave, which is thick and provided a nice buffer between me and the worst razors that have ever touched my skin. Oh, the razors. Guess what someone is getting for our anniversary? Jason shaves his head with a pristine precision electric razor, but the blades he uses on his cheeks and neck are a flimsy plastic, disposable, and terrible. Still, I considered using one to shave my face, too, just because I was so desperate to exfoliate. But ultimately, I decided that I was in the home stretch. I'd exfoliate soon enough.
Day Seven
And yet, on day seven, I cheated with makeup. I had a meeting, and after a long staring contest with my horn zit, I decided there was no getting around it. When I put on my usual amount--BB cream, concealer, mascara, highlighter, and blush -- I felt like I was in a Kabuki mask. Had I lost the light-handed skills after a week with no practice? In a silk top, leather jacket, and pointy flats, I was more put together than I'd been in days, but I felt the way you do when you enter a room after you've been crying -- sure everyone would notice something off about my face. As I got up to leave, someone remarked, "Wow, you smell great. What is that?" I smiled. "Men's deodorant."
Photos: Kate Sullivan
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