Issue # 7 - Guygiene

Issue # 7 - Guygiene

I received a request from a female reader to PLEASE talk about Hygiene for guys. Apparently far too many men are lacking sorely in this area, and well according to her, it just needs to stop. So i have decided to honor her request and touch upon the basic hygiene rules that every guy needs to abide by.

1 - Just because you've showered doesn't mean you're clean. This is especially true if you pick whatever shampoo or body wash or soap is on sale, instead of making a smart choice out of it. You want products that are good quality, and smell fantastic. Make sure they don't dry out your skin, and leave you refreshed, as this will ultimately affect your overall mood and demeanor during the day. Laugh at that if you want, but it's true; When you feel fresh, people perceive you better. Don't just use whatever soap you find, use something hydrating, especially for your face. I personally don't use bars of soap if i can help it, i find it dries my skin out. I use Clean and Clear facial wash in the shower, and body wash instead of soap. When it comes to the type of body wash, i like having a choice, much like i do with fragrances. Personally i find the body washes from Bath and Body Works to be excellent in both scent and cleaning power. I recommend them. My favourite? Sea Island Cotton. Check it out.

Once YOU are clean, make sure your clothes are! The pick up off the floor-sniff test only works here and there. Not 6 days a week. Wash your clothes, make sure they are non wrinkled and clean. Think no one will notice that stain? Women will. Every time. So be clean.

2 - If you're prone to sweating as I am, then plan ahead. Put an extra shirt in your car, Keep a bottle of cologne with you, and for the sake of us all, keep a stick of deodorant with you, and make sure it doesn't just smell good, make sure it WORKS. Body odour is a huge turn off, so be conscious of it.

3 - Pay MUCH more attention to your face. Far too many men think spending more than 4 minutes in front of the mirror makes them girly. Newsflash: it doesn't make you girly, it means you care about what you look like. Your face is the first and most important thing that will connect you with people...you want that first impression to be a positive one, not a negative one. So spend more time on your face, and much less time on what techno mix you plan on blaring when you drive by girls on the street. Make sure you're shaven or at least neat and tidy. If you're a clean shaven type of guy, then make sure you're CLEAN SHAVEN. If you have a patchy beard or your facial hair grows unevenly, then don't try to pull it off. Personally, i am a 3-day stubble guy, and use a beard trimmer to keep it that way. If you are a constant stubble guy, then more power to you. But pay attention to when it's too long, and keep it in check. That leads me into a very important topic:

4 - Really bad facial hair. I could write for hours on this topic, but i will have to attempt to keep it short. So we will do it this way. If it looks like you spent 5 hours perfectly sculpting every curve and line, then it's really bad. If it looks like you're a pre pubescent 12 year old trying to grow a mustache or goatee, then it's really bad. If you're attempting to pull off something that is outdated by 6 centuries, then you need to make sure you actually pull it off...otherwise it's really bad.

5 - Eybrows. Very simply put gentlemen, clean them up. Wax, pluck, lazer, threading, it doesn't matter. get them done, and make sure you are sans Uni-brow. It's not feminine to not want to look like Bert from sesame street.

6 - Hands are a big thing to a woman. They like hands. So you sir, need to do everything you can to make them like yours. This means manicures, or at the very least, some form of nail filing and cleansing. Guys with dirty nails and hands might say "rugged working man" to some women, but to the majority of women (and the rest of the world), it says "dirty lazy man". So fix it. Same goes for the toenails.

7 - Body hair. This covers ALL body hair. This is ultimately a matter of preference, but remember your body hair is a lot less for you than it is for your lady counterparts. So keep it neat and tidy. You know what i am speaking about. If you only knew what women said about this topic you would quickly purchase a pair of clippers (which i suggest you do anyways). On the chest hair topic, it has definitely made a comeback from the trend of being completely hairless, and is totally in style, within reason. Use Bradley Cooper in the A-Team as a guide...any more chest hair than that and you should consider trimming.

8 - Mouth cleanliness is a huge issue. Brush your teeth. Floss. Make sure you have gum handy, and be conscious of what you've eaten, drank, etc. Not sure how your breath is? Try this simple test: Lick the back of your hand. Wait 5 seconds or so (the time it takes for saliva to evaporate), then smell the spot you licked. If it's bad, then you need to freshen up. If it's ok, then you're set.

Basically guys, think about all the things a woman would notice if you're in close with her at a bar, a restaurant, whatever. Think about all these things BEFORE you get to that spot. And above all, think about what would turn her off...and fix it. And to my female reader, I hope this gets the point across...if there is anything i missed, let me know!

Hope this helps guys

S.G.