whether you’re at the receiving end of your girlfriend’s nagging, or that coworker of yours whose eyes keep straying to your pimples while having a conversation, the last proverbial straw broke your back.

however, being bombarded by the sheer number of men’s skincare products has gotten you stumped. which products does what to your skin? which ones do you choose? read on to find out.

getting your foundations right: what is your skin type?

a quick and straightforward experiment to determine your skin type: cleanse your face using a facial cleanser (and not body/hand/bar soap). wait for 30 minutes before observing your face. which parts are oily? this can be an excellent indicator of what skin type you are: oily, dry, normal, combination or sensitive. here’s a quick rundown of each:behold the holy grail of skincare – cleanser/exfoliator, toner, serum, moisturiser, and finally sunscreen. at the bare minimum, you should have a cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen. be it men or women, these steps are the same.

in general, except for cleansing, avoid the eye and undereye area as most of these formulas tend to be too heavy for the thinner skin around the eyes. if you want, you can add an eye cream to tackle that area.

for guys with facial hair, take care to never shave dry skin. always use a shaving lotion, gel, cream to help the blade glide smoothly over your damp skin. afterwards, use an aftershave product to help you soothe the irritated skin.

1. cleanser – purge your skin of all the impurities to prep your skin to absorb the rest of the products more efficiently

squeeze a 20-cents amount of product, lather and work your hands in small circles over your face and neck area for around 30 seconds. if you have a beard, use more time to pay attention to rubbing along and against the hair growth. wash away the product with warm water and dab (not rub!) your face just shy of dry.

additionally, you can incorporate an exfoliator (if you’re feeling fancy) as a once-a-week product to use to deep clean your skin and scrub off the top layer of your skin cells to promote cell turnover.

2. toner – cleanses your skin of any remaining impurities left behind and primes your skin for the rest of the products’ absorption