Men's Glow Up: Skin, Scalp & Beard

Stacey C: Welcome back to the U Grow Girl podcast. I'm your host, Stacey C. And today we are getting into something that doesn't get talked about enough. Men and skincare. Now, before you scroll past, hear me out. Your skin is your largest organ and it doesn't care what gender you are. It needs attention. It needs care and it deserves intention. We're breaking down everything from understanding ingredients like niacinamide, AHAs and BHAs to building a simple but effective morning and evening routine. Product recommendations at every price point. Korean skincare, whether it works for men, and we're getting into scalp and beard care because your head needs love too. Whether you're a guy who's been using the same bar soap since college or you're already 10 steps deep into a routine and want to level up, this episode is for you. So let's get into it. I am so excited to reintroduce today's guest, Askia Underwood. She is a certified attention architect. With nearly two decades of experience, she's evolved from a traditional media strategist into a web three pioneer who doesn't just buy ads, she mints moments. In 2024, she launched Moments Media, a creative, agency designed to treat mobile video as the world's most valuable currency. But she isn't just a consultant. She's her own best case study. Under her TikTok persona, SkiaBia, Skintelligencia she cracked the code on narrative storytelling to land in the top 5 % of all creators in just one year. She's the bridge between high level boardroom strategy and thumb stop in social commerce. It is my pleasure to welcome the woman who is redefining how brands talk to humans, Askia Underwood. Welcome back to the show.

Askia: Thank you so much for having me. It's exciting. This is going to be a very fun conversation. I'm excited.

Stacey C: Yes, yes, me too. I'm very excited, especially since I had a request for this episode.

Askia: Yeah, period. Yay!

Stacey C: Yes. Before we get into products and routine, I want to start with the bigger picture. What is the misconception men have about skincare?

Askia: That they don't need to have a skincare routine But they don't need it they're like we can put water and keep going No, no you can't

Stacey C: You All right, let's talk about ingredients because that's where a lot of men get lost. So what are the best skincare ingredients for treating and preventing irritation?

Askia: Okay, so one of the main skincare concerns that men have is related to shaving. No matter your skin tone, no matter your skin type, no matter your skin condition, men, if they're not doing a proper skincare routine before shaving, they're going to experience skin irritation. So double cleansing the skin is gonna be really important. Exfoliation prior to shaving is gonna be exceptionally important. And ingredients that have keratolytic or exfoliating properties are going to be really important. Think salicylic acid, think glycolic acid, mandelic acid. Things are going to break down the dead skin cells on the surface of the skin because those dead skin cells are keeping a barrier for the hair to grow through, which then creates the ingrow.

Stacey C: what does hyaluronic acid actually do and is it only for dry skin?

Askia: No, okay, so this is a very interesting topic. Hyaluronic acid sounds like a very complex, impactful skincare ingredient. It is a humectant. It binds to moisture on the skin. It really only works to visibly plump the skin and hydrate the skin if your skin is damp. So one major misnomer is we can just put it on their skin, like raw dog it on dry skin. It's not doing anything, it's just sitting there. You want your skin to absorb it and bind that moisture, pull it down into the skin so your skin should be damp. It's also not only for dry skin, it's for all skin, but you don't need it all the time. You hear about it all the time, you don't need it all the time.

Stacey C: Right, right. So that's a good tip, you know, to put it on your damp skin. So probably like after like the shower.

Askia: Absolutely. Absolutely. After the shower, re-wet your skin. If you have a face mist, face mist the skin, put your hyaluronic acid serum on. Let your skin drink it.

Stacey C: Okay, should men use retinol and when is the right time to start?

Askia: red not, yes. Specifically of color, men who experience hyperpigmentation, dark spots, melasma, they should absolutely be using retinoids and they should absolutely start about the age of 25. Early, early, 25.

Stacey C: What ingredients should men avoid if they have sensitive or acne prone skin?

Askia: Okay, so there's two different contexts associated with sensitive skin. There's skin that's truly sensitive, like very reactive to even moderate or mild ingredients. And then there's skin that's normal or dry or combination that's also hyper reactive. So like show some skin sensitivity based on ingredient. As long as the person knows whether they truly have sensitive skin versus their skin is highly reactive, it depends. One thing that I swear by as holy grail for sensitive skin is Centella Asiatica. Hands like Centella Asiatica and Aloe Vera gel. Those two are my two favorite skin care ingredients for anybody with sensitive skin and or hyper reactive skin.

Stacey C: Hey, wow, I'm learning something and this is primarily about men, okay?

Askia: You know, you mentioned about skin irritation aloe That aloe vera gel is anti-inflammatory. It's a moisturizer. It has tyrosinase inhibitor So it's gonna decrease the propensity for the skin to hyper pigment. It's Calming for the skin. It is that girl like every single black man should have aloe vera gel in their skincare arsenal It should be getting it on their skin girlies with PCOS should be using aloe vera gel. All of us should have aloe vera gel. It's holy grail skincare for people of color.

Stacey C: Okay. is the difference between physical and chemical sunscreen and which is better for men?

Askia: ⁓ So sunscreen is like genderless right everybody needs you have skin I say you need sunscreen There are people who will argue that chemical sunscreens are better and the formulations are better now But zinc used to have a white cast So it didn't look good Melanated skin tones, which meant we stayed away from it, but there's some gorgeous Formulations now that are chemical sunscreens. A of them are skin tints that are beautiful Men can wear skin tents and at SPF it'll help improve the visible look of their complexion if they're working to correct dark spots. So there's no for me I like both it just depends on what look I want my skin to have that day.

Stacey C: can include various pre-cleanses, face washes, serums, eye cream and serums, dark spot correction, moisturizer and sunblock. Is there a minimalist skincare approach that more effective for men's skin or should it match the complexity of a typical woman's ⁓ regimen?

Askia: That's an interesting question. Can I take a step back and just make one comment that I think is super important? Most of the time men don't have a skincare regimen. They just do what their partner is doing. They use what their partner has out, which isn't necessarily aligned to their skin type or their skin condition. But they're like, ⁓ she's doing this, I'm going to do this, or he's doing that, and I'm going to do that, right?

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: We don't want that. We want you to be doing a skincare routine that is simple enough for you to maintain your skin tone and skin evenness if you are already even or something simple enough to address your skin concerns. Double cleansing, I think, is super important if you're wearing sunscreen. I hope everybody's wearing sunscreen. So that means you're at least double cleansing at night. Do you need to double cleanse in the morning? Not always, right? Not necessarily. But double cleansing at night if you're wearing moisturizers, sunscreens, you absolutely should. skincare is cleanser, a toner if it's important to your skin type and skin condition, or a toner relevant to your skin type and skin condition, and then the serums designed to address your skin type and skin condition. Combination oily skin person. Cleanser. love a good water-based cleanser in the morning, right? If you want to do a toner, I love a pH-balanced toner that's going to calm that skin down, get it ready for whatever's next. I love salicylic acid serum. put it on my skin every single day without a doubt. If I work out, I'll use two layers of it. So I think it's super important to get down into the pores and unclog the gunk, right? The next serum, if I'm focused on oil control, I'll use niacinamide. If I'm not thinking about oil control that day, I'll go straight to moisturizer or straight to the skin tint or straight to the next thing. So it's as simple as just cleansing, toning your serum and then your sunscreen moisturizer step at the end. You can also do a lot of things now in one serum. There's a lot of great complex skincare products that are super stacking ingredients to address all of your skincare concerns. convincing your routine from bop bop bop bop bop to cleansing, toning, serum. You can even be done. Truthfully, you can stop after some serums. I do it all the time.

Stacey C: That's true, yeah. They definitely have changed what they have in serums. And just to go back to what you said about adopting their skincare routine. see that quite often where you will see social media or whatever, women have masks or they'll do their skincare routine on their partner and everything. And you are so... right about that. will adopt whatever their partner has and it may not be exactly what their skin actually needs.

Askia: Not at all. It's so funny to me because they see us do it and then they want to do it but they aren't asking questions to make sure it's being like it's gonna give them the outcome that we're achieving. They just expect the outcome. Like no babe, I'm sensitive acne prone girlie. You're super oily sort of so your combination oily dry like you have a lot going on.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: I'm over here just sensitive acne. your skin is doing great, but that's because the ingredients in my skincare products dissolve oil. really, your skin would thrive if you did something a little different.

Stacey C: right.

Askia: You know, it's a wild concept and I get it in terms of affordability and there are brands that do a great job making big products if you're lucky enough to have a partner that has your skin type, skin condition as well. But you should really be thoughtful and intentional about your unique skin and what your unique skin needs.

Stacey C: Yes, and since we're talking about a specific skin type, how would a man determine if he's combination oily or sensitive?

Askia: So there's a test that I learned in middle school that I think still stands and works really well. Wash your face. Wash your face for 60 seconds. Do nothing. Do nothing. Watch your skin over a four to six hour period. Do you notice oil spiking up in areas? How soon after you cleanse do you see that? Is there no oil? Do you start to see dry patches appear on your skin? Do you see little pimples? Underneath the skin or congestion that's gonna become a whitehead that is a fantastic way for you to immediately identify What your skin is feeling like and where your skin? condition plus skin type is You can say it started with a pee. I saw oil in 30 minutes. Okay, it's oily ⁓ oily saw oil appear here a lot you didn't do anything you didn't sweat But you saw oil here you saw oil your nose you saw oil here You notice that your pores shrunk after cleansing, then within 30 minutes they were enlarged. That's oily skin. Right? But then you notice down here it was really dry. Or under here it was really dry. Okay? That's combination skin. It's oily and dry. It's two different things at the same time. And I tell people all the time to think about their face as like continents. Like your nose is its own thing. Your skin can be dry here, dry here. hyper oily in your t-zone. Your nose is completely different than the skin on the rest of your face, right? And so I tell people, treat your nose differently. your nose like it's combination oily all the time if you want it to stay clear. Most nose isn't dry. Most people's nose is very oily, right? then do the rest of your skin based on what you see reflecting in the mirror at you every day. Your skin, yeah, because your skin type can change throughout the year. Just like the seasons, you can have dry skin in the winter, you can have hyper oily skin in the winter, and then dry in the spring, or dry in the summer, and then super oily in the winter. So always assess your skin to see what it's looking like and feeling like each day, and then tailor your skincare routine to address its needs.

Stacey C: a great tip. Okay. you know, like again, that's a great tip to look at your face like continents and things, because that's not something that I would have thought of. And that's great for like a visualizer too, especially you know, if a man doesn't know when you ⁓ stated T-zone, if he doesn't know exactly what that is, and then you're like, well, you he can go back to what you just said, thinking about it like continents and things and how their skin is, know, affected if it's. combination oily dryer sensitive. So I like that. That's a great tip. never heard that before. I really liked it.

Askia: Especially for guys who have beards, right? Or they're keeping their beard because the skin underneath it you don't like.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: which is a lot of times issue. And think about it in continents means you can do what you need to do here, do what you need to do here, do what you need to do here, do what you need to do here.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: and everything should be balanced and come together cohesively to goal.

Stacey C: Yes. since you brought up beards and like shaving, shaving is something women ⁓ do deal with in the same way as men. How does shaving affect the skin barrier and what should men do before and after?

Askia: Shaving always affects the skin barrier. Okay, because a razor will gently exfoliate the face. Okay, the problem is it's exfoliating and against hair that's growing different directions. And we don't, you can't always, depending on how close you shave right, you can't always see if you're running over a bump with the razor. which could then pop the bump, which could then create a dark spot. one thing we know for certain, if a person is shaving two times a week, three times a week, they're consistently affecting the skin barrier. Like you just are. And so the best thing is to make sure your skincare is on point prior to shaving. You are exfoliating that skin using chemical exfoliators to dissolve the gunk, which will prevent the hairs from coiling underneath and creating ingrowns. So using great serums with keratolitic properties or toners with keratolitic properties. But you're also physically exfoliating using a scrub on the face to manipulate that hair and remove those dead skin cells. Like that is pivotal, pivotal, pivotal, pivotal before putting a razor to your skin. If you follow those steps, and then take your time shaving your hair. Allow for your skin to be softened. Don't just splash water on your face or soap and then, you know, air dry it. No. Be really intentional about cleaning the skin thoroughly. Really intentional about exfoliating consistently ahead of your shaving so that when you shave, all you have to do is like apply a gentle pH balancing toner and aloe gel. Like a simple skin calming gel. that your skin's gonna just drink in and then you can follow up with the rest of your skincare. But that's what my husband, when I with my husband, one of the first things I noticed, he's living on the East Coast in Delaware, ⁓ I was like, why does he have, what is he on in growns I like, that's what you got, but you're not gonna have it. We're getting, I'm not gonna be looking at those. We're fixing that. first, you know, like I'm just assessing my man and I'm like, okay, okay, cool. And he had them back here on the back of his neck, both sides, and then he had a bunch of hyperpigmentation under here. got the skin to smooth. I started giving him first 10 skin, which everybody uses, but he was using it in the absence of sunscreen, which is it. You can't do that right you if you're gonna use an exfoliating product you must also use sunscreen But if you have a beard where you can put the sunscreen Right so he was keeping this really bushy beard and I was like, let's just cut it Let's let me setting to see your skin. He cut it and I was like, ⁓ baby Okay, and I could see in groans in groans in groans and he started to exfoliate with a physical scrub And he noticed any media difference the next time we shave and how much smoother his skin was there was no white Testules, no, none of that. And I was like, just aloe gel it. Just keep aloe geling it, aloe geling it. And his skin was so beautiful, like in a weekend. In one weekend. ⁓ am hyper vigilant and a little bit annoying about shaving skin and keeping the skin barrier happy and healthy before you even think about putting metal to it.

Stacey C: I like that. And I'm going to have to, you're going to have to tell me a little bit later about not just the men, but for women too. I know this is mostly about men, but for women too, about the aloe gel that they can use. But just to piggyback off of with shaving, a lot of men deal with dark spots and hyperpigmentation from ingrown hairs as you were just speaking about or shaving. What's the best way for a man to treat that?

Askia: Yeah. The same exact way we would. So like when it comes to skincare related to dark spots, the routine is the same. I tell everybody, you cleanse the skin, 60 seconds of cleansing to make sure it's really clean. I love a dry, wet cleanse. So putting your water-based cleanser on dry skin, massaging it for 60 seconds, rinsing, and then taking like half a pump of that same cleanser and for 30 seconds on wet skin, let the skin air dry. If you want to use a toner, use a toner. If you don't want to use a toner, don't. you want to exfoliate when the skin is still just a little juicy and damp, apply a little bit of exfoliator. I love exfoliators. That's a whole different episode of content. But exfoliation is ⁓ for a dark spot correction. There's really three steps, Exfoliation of the skin, sun protecting the skin. And then right here in the middle is your dark spot correcting ingredients. Those three, as long as you're cleansing over here, long as you're doing this, you're good. I always recommend though cleansing thoroughly so that your dark spot correctors can get down on that skin. Okay. Now there's a cheat code to dark spot correction for men. And that is a K beauty device. It's a technology called electroporation. It allows for these tiny little channels to be created into the skin underneath the top layer of the skin, the dermis, and your skincare ingredients can be really boosted in terms of absorbency. So rather than your hands, like if I use my hands, it's gonna go on the skin, it's done. But if I use a device, for example, this one, this is the version, it's called the Derma Booster by Mixsoon, right? the most masculine one I have, the rest of them are like pink. If you use a device, Like that it's gonna push those ingredients up to 700 % More down into the skin so seven times better than your hands can which for me Leads to an outcome of seven times faster the impact so seven times faster fading of your hyperpigmentation It means less ingredients you're using it means you're saving your skincare when you would make that investment to purchase it You can keep it longer because you've made an investment to create a device or get a device that's going to push those ingredients really down deep to give you that clear, even outcome that you want. But it really is just those three things, exfoliation, treating here, and then some protecting. It's a long answer.

Stacey C: Yes, no, no, that was a great answer. It gave a lot of information. ⁓ I'm going to have to get one of those pink ones for K Beauty product.

Askia: See this one. It's pink it used to come in white. I don't know if it does This is the metacube booster mini Okay, I tell the girls they have a booster Pro. It's bigger. There's more modes, but the most important mode ⁓ Electro poration and it's in this one You get red light you get blue light I love the size of this one because it allows for people with dark circles to treat their under eye well. The other device doesn't fit. This one you can get down in the nose area, the other one doesn't fit. But this one, tea. Hot piping hot tea. Especially for if that's one of your main concerns. This one's also good. Why open it, it's gonna turn on. see that one? Has blue light, has red light. This one looks almost like a men's shaver.

Stacey C: It does.

Askia: but it's an electro-operation device. This one can get under the eye pretty good, but it doesn't get this little corner right here. I love it though. On the leg, on the beard, fantastic. The blue light after shaving with some aloe vera gel. wish barbers would invest in these types of technology so that when they're shaving their clients and steaming them and they put aloe gel and just give them a good K-beauty treatment and then like send them on. I wish barbers did that.

Stacey C: Hmm Hopefully some barbers will watch this.

Askia: Yay, hello barbers. Hi, I have an upgrade to upsell. ⁓ have an upsell for you in the barber chair. Get a K-Beauty device and some aloe gel and do your clients beards, necklines, hairlines. Do it. Do it. Thank me later. ⁓

Stacey C: Yes? We can- Yes. They'll definitely have to because they'll be like, we just added another service.

Askia: Yeah, another $45.

Stacey C: Yes, it'd be worth it. You talked about briefly about SPF. ⁓ Should be using separate SPF or is it okay to have it in their moisturizer?

Askia: Okay, I love to cheat the moisturizer thing. I'm not gonna hold you, okay? I have oily combination skin, hyper reactive skin. I used to actually think that cream moisturizers were a scam. And if it was a creamy, like milky tone moisturizer, I would never put on my face. I was like, no, I don't believe it. I think it's cat. It's gonna break me out. I started learning about moisturizers and learning about the ingredients related to hydration and moisturization And shifted but I love My preference for everyone is to get a moisturizing sunscreen. I Love moisturizers. I have some favorites that are wonderful that are lightweight beautiful Formulations, they look great on the skin. You don't feel them. The skin tone looks better but you can do that with serum, achieve that same goal with serum, same aesthetic with serums, and then go straight to sunscreen. Someone's gonna be like, well, how do you seal it in? A moisturizing sunscreen. What about a moisturizing sunscreen? And there are so many. I'm happy to make recommendations. So many.

Stacey C: Okay, of course, of course. How does diet and water intake show up in the skin?

Askia: Okay, there are a lot of people who things to me like, you know, no what I eat, doesn't affect my skin. I'm like, you want to bet? You want to bet it might not affect your skin today, but it will affect your skin down the line Right. And so if the goal is to keep your skin as youthful as possible you want to eat as much fresh and raw and get as many nutrients into the body Possible right we want the body to be simulating collagen want the body to be stimulating healthy cell growth healthy cell renewal that's reflected in our skin so I always say the diet does matter baby. You can cheeseburger it down all you want, that's totally fine, but please drink a ton of water. Please find a banana. Please attack an orange, an artichoke, some collard greens. I beg. I beg because the antioxidants that you need to fight the free radicals in your body from environmental stress, the sun, just being outside, right? Chemicals we're putting on our body. on our clothes when we wash them, in our cars when we drive them, right? In the buildings we work in when they're blowing their recirculating air on our bodies. All of those things affect the skin. The only thing you can control is what you put in your mouth and what you drink down your throat. And it will show up for you every time. Every time.

Stacey C: Yes. Yes. I was about to clap. I was like, I should do that. But yes, yes, yes, yes. And I'm like, when you said someone said, you know, says to you, it doesn't affect me. I'm thinking, Since when?

Askia: It was so hard for you. my goodness. And I'm a big back, I love food. I love, I'm gonna eat it every time. Okay, I'm going to have it. But I also take supplements to counteract some of the things that I'm not doing right with my own body. ⁓ don't buy enough fruit because fruit is high as gas right now. But I take probiotics and prebiotics and I love, there's different supplements that cover the basis of veggies. You don't have to buy them, technically.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: but you're getting the macronutrients and micronutrients from the veggies without having to cook them, clean a pot, do all the things. And I'm all for that too. I love a shortcut.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: We're gonna get it in though, no matter what. We're gonna get it. We're getting it in. not going to pretend like eating pizza every single day is going to benefit our bodies, our skin, and our overall wellness. Right? I think a lot of people think that cortisol is related to like work or stress, but stress is contextual. For the body, it's all the same. We just pumping into pork rinds. Okay, we're having a chicharrones And the tamales, but you don't want no broccoli and no asparagus. Why can't you hit them greens? Just put them greens right there next to that tamale, baby. It'll be all right. You'll feel better too, you know? And your skin will be years ahead of your counterpart friends and your homies who are not making sure that you get those things on the plate into the mouth and down the throat.

Stacey C: right? Right. That is so true.

Askia: Yeah. Please drink the water, I'm begging you, please.

Stacey C: Alright.

Askia: Men, talking to y'all, drink that water. Please. the water.

Stacey C: Yeah. And like you said, you know, like eating the right foods, you know, taking supplements, drinking water, it doesn't just affect your skin, it affects your overall body, and especially as you get older, you definitely, I'm not even gonna say that, I'm gonna take that part away because my great grandmother who lived to be 97 and ate a lot of vegetables and drink a lot of water every morning, she would say,

Askia: in it.

Stacey C: you know, it's what you do, how you treat your body when you're young, that your body will take care of you when you get older. So, know, you have to take care of your body and I'm telling you, this comes from a 97, well, she passed away, but a 97 year old woman ⁓ who did not need cane when she passed away. She still can get around shouting around the church. Catching the Ghost up in the church.

Askia: Period all period. but spirituality is also essential because it affects your mood Well, I brought up stress right your mood the imbalances and how you feel and how you react and how you see yourself in the world and experience the world all that's related to cortisol But her having a spiritual outlet Her eating her ⁓

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: Right? And every time you can get your body to do this, I feel like it just creates a longer path forward for you, like in terms of longevity. So eat, please get as much vitamin A into your, AKA retinol. Collard greens are retinol, kale is retinol, okay? Oranges are glutathione. Get those antioxidants into your body. Like yeah, she lived to be ninety-seven, she ate a lot of vegetables and they were fresh and she probably grew some.

Stacey C: Yes.

Askia: They were what we now buy as organic, it was natural in her own way, right? was like, it was always organic to black people who were growing their own food. Now in the store it's called that, but like imagine being able to eat what people call collard greens and neck bones. Baby, the collagen from the neck bone is critical skincare. the bone broths from that turkey leg that you put in that pot, baby, drink that.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: Talk about affecting the gut lining, improving the gut lining for digestion, which also affects the overall system, which then reflects on the skin. I beg, put a pot on, put a bone in it, throw some green veggies in it, and an onion, some garlic, and come back and let me know how you do. I bet you won't have a cold.

Stacey C: Yes.

Askia: You that flu, you can't get rid of. Right? might sleep better. Sleep effectuates all those things too. Sleep affects your cortisol men. Women are talking about cortisol like our life depends on it now. Sidebar are on cortisol men for you all. We're talking about it but it does not just affect us. You guys have cortisol in your bodies too. Your hormonal health affects how you see yourself in the world, how you behave in the world, how you eat, how well you sleep, if you have the energy to get up and work out, if you have

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: clear thoughts, brain fog, you guys have those things too. Okay, so when I say antioxidants, supplements, when she's asking questions about what you can do for overall wellness, she's asking a woman who has five sons, okay, and a very fine husband who's healthy and well and good. But because I make sure, yeah, they're gonna have their pizza and their burgers and they're gonna have their hot dogs, but they are gonna have a bunch of veggies too. They're not gonna have a hot dog without some bell peppers and onions on top. We're just not gonna do it, because for what? Right? And I wanna be intentional, I don't want you guys to be intentional about what you put in your mouth and making sure that you are in minimum counter balancing it with the proper supplements and nutrition. It is critical, critical for at the end state, forget the skin, for your mental health, your mental wellbeing.

Stacey C: That is so true. Look at you giving life ⁓ knowledge as well as skincare recipes. ⁓

Askia: on, man. Come on, man. Come on, Put that in recipes with the hot dog with the peppers. I'm telling you, it's a great trick. ⁓ it's great trick. Put some garlic in the greens Okay? Salt to taste. ⁓ Add jalapeno. Okay? But those are the things that really make you feel better. You know, when you feel light. ⁓

Stacey C: That was the greens. You

Askia: You know how sometimes women talk about themselves, oh I feel so light. Like you know if you eat like salads for like a day and a half, your body just starts to go, oh. But then you want a cookie, but if you could fight through wanting the cookie, like that light feeling is what we should always feel. That like moment of like, ooh, I feel light. Like that's beauty, that's power, right? That, for us, right? Let me go put something on real Oh, let me go right out here to the floor real quick. Let me go, oh need to.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: Suddenly you can do everything. Because you just feel little light. Right? Okay. Well, back to men, back to men. I digress.

Stacey C: right. That's okay. Hopefully some women who are watching the show will their men in their lives watching as well. So it's okay. We got to give something for the ladies. ⁓

Askia: First, please honey, if that man's getting on your nerves, get him some products that are going to reduce his cortisol levels. Get him some magnesium. Put on a pot of greens. Put on a pot of greens and make some cornbread real quick.

Stacey C: Yes. right, let's get into some product talk. ⁓ know people love this part. So do men really need like pre-cleanses, serums, eye creams, dark spot correctors and sunscreen, or that over consumption?

Askia: Yeah. As a certified skincare freak, like, don't want to say it's over consumption if you need all that.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: I want you to do for your skin what your skin needs. If you want to correct under eye circles while also correcting dark spots, while also working to firm and lift the skin, while also decreasing acne, baby, you've got to do the things that are going to allow for you to do that. And if it takes five products or a great super-staffed product or a great minimalist skincare routine that allows for you to do that, it must be done. Right? I love, can we talk about brands that I love in terms of,

Stacey C: ⁓ sure,

Askia: One of my favorite, like I'm gonna call it high end. I have skincare all around me. When I say I have 80 products like right here, I do. My favorite ⁓ minimalist skincare brand is ⁓ 4AM Skin. Okay, 4AM Skin is a new brand founded by women. One of I think worked on Street, the other is like in medical school. I have these serums, they two serums. They're like the simplest skincare routine. This brand does not have a cleanser. They have a product called Clean Sheet, which is a cleansing towelette that has micellar water. So like if you're out at night and you're like, okay, I've been out with this person, I gotta wash my face, but they don't have my stuff. You can like pull out this little thing the size of your credit card. It's serum, it's like a serum, a cleanser, a makeup remover, and a wipe. wipe your skin, your skin's gonna be bomb. So glowy, your makeup's gonna come off, you can sleep, wake up, go to work, do whatever you need to do. But they have a serum stack, it's called the Rise and Rest Serum, they look like this. Rise serum is the one serum you use in the morning, one serum. Rest the one serum you use at night. That's it. hydrating, they're moisturizing, they feel beautiful on the skin, you can go straight to sunscreen after this. If you want to use a moisturizer, can, but you can literally do this a little bit. how impactful the ingredients in these serums are. When it comes to under eye, they want you to use the same serum ⁓ your under eye. So in the morning, use your Rise serum. They give you reusable patches. It's called the routine. It's not cheap. It's not, you know, it's not low price, Let show you. ⁓

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: their eye patches. So I think it's really important for me to understand like, you don't really have to use eye patches every day. And women too, they look like this, but they're reusable. So you have three things that you're carrying around with you everywhere and then a clean sheet, the size of a credit card. So like that's a simple skincare routine. Another great brand that has serums that are stacked with skincare ingredients is Remedy. Remedy, their concept. Okay, so like this specific product if you have razor bumps or hyperpigmentation Melasma, it's called remedy for dark spots It's for me. It's like no-brainer. It's literally in the name, right? What is this serum? It's the remedy for dark spots in this product There's retinol mandelic acid kojic acid glutathione licorice root tranexamic acid niacinamide psyllium erin acetylglucosamine one serum Cleanse the skin let it air dry boom

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: Moisturizer if you want sunscreen right there's a healthy aging version you can use both of these now because these products all have retinol They are gonna turn the cells over which can create some purging Purging means like just light acne that will appear on the skin these are things that would have come out anyway if you didn't Decongest the pore our skin decongestant is retinol But what goes down deeper into the skin than retinol is salicylic acid. I love this product for healthy aging for lifting the skin this way, forward, so it looks more youthful and plump. I love this one. Redenal, retinaldehyde, argyroline, matricul 3000 glycolic acid, niacinamide, ceramide, resveratrol, ferulic acid. a lot of ingredients into products. And all transformative, So I'm always trying to help people understand you don't have to do like the Ordinary is a fantastic brand, I love that brand, but they trained us accidentally into a 10-step skincare routine. Yes, they sell smaller sets like the Acne set where you get a cleanser and a serum and a moisturizer, but I want to do more than that.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: I have to make these fine lines do what they do. gotta make sure the pores are minimized. gotta make sure, I gotta do sunscreen. So I'm now buying a sunscreen. I'm now, if I have dark spots I'm using, If I have acne I wanna address. So you just end up having this like six, seven step skincare routine accidentally. But it is, it can be simple once you get the skin to where you want it. That's really when it gets simple. Once you've done all your correcting, things are bright, everything's easy, you can wash your face, tone, like sunscreen and go. Once you get there, it can be really simple to maintain. One other brand that I love, Clarins. It's a prestige department store brand. if you're gonna go shop for cologne, get over there to the ladies section, ⁓ to the Clarins counter.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: And there's three products from Clarins. But I love this serum for everybody. Clarins Double Serum.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: bomb. Phenomenal. It's so good you don't need it every day. but even more than this serum or with this serum because they tell you hey we want you to use a moisturizer. I love this moisturizer. Not my favorite name of a moisturizer but it's phenomenal. It's called the extra firming energy. It's a dark spot correcting brightening cream. It's a light gel formula. Put it on top of any of these serums I just showed you. Put it on top. Right simple, but this could be a routine Use this every other day make sure you use this every day one Eadem I love Eadem Actually, there's another one, that's okay. We'll go through Eadem cashmere peel award-winning globally award-winning skincare product This is their cashmere peel gentle exfoliating AHA PHA toner, so it's alpha hydroxy acid

Stacey C: right.

Askia: Then it's gluconal lactone, which is a humectant that pulls moisture into the skin while also exfoliating it bomb Incredible they tell you baby two to three times a week. That's it. ⁓ like do not It's milky ⁓ serum like an essence put it on your knees, sir slash ma'am if we're gonna get our man's to buy skincare use these things too

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: your man gets this if your man gets this girl ⁓ a dip get a little if your gets these get a dip okay because yes dark spot correction this is their targeted dark spot corrector it's called the mark it's brand new it's a razor small dots that like tiny so you can be really intentional it sits on top of the skin like a pimple patch Then your skin absorbs it over time like throughout the day bomb not cheap. No, so girl can make it this Get you a bit too swig of that. They have this serum. It's a creamy serum For dark It's literally called milk marble dark spots serum. It's a milky creamy serum for dark spots You'll use this you'll use this you'll use this like pinpoint areas bomb. Okay, they have a cushion

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: This is their moisturizer also for dark spot correction. Eadem is a brand, another brand founded by women. The brand is designed for people of color. So in their collection is designed to calm the skin down. Because razor bumps, hello, is skin inflammation. Keep that skin calm, okay? And also fade hyperpigmentation or keep it beautifully bright and even. That's the whole collection. And everything works beautifully with each other. So, and these all play very nicely because I'm, one thing I'm do is cheat. ⁓ I don't just go brand, I will mix some things up over here, okay? brand and for real this time, like phenomenal, my favorite, I love it. It's affordable, it's K-Beauty because none of the ones I showed you are K-Beauty yet.

Stacey C: Well, Eadem you can kind of say that is because the one of the women who founded it is Korean American and it was a black woman as well. Yeah, because actually that's the brand that I want to try. So it's so funny when you were showing it, I was smiling because I was like, I've wanting to buy that brand for quite a while. it's not I haven't bought it not because of the cost, but I just, you know, just haven't taken that step to try it.

Askia: Ha! ⁓ that I never I can never even show it on screen because I use it so fast. It's called mommy water It's a it's a dermal mist. It's actually designed for people that are using like tretinoin They've been to the doctor. They had their prescriptions their prescription or tearing that face up Honey mommy water. It's it's an addicting skincare product It's like you spray it on your skin. You just feel your skin go

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: feel it, you're like dang, well now what I do? But you're so glowy and beautiful, you're like okay, I'm gonna put my, I'll do this now, and then you're like, but it's so glowy and beautiful, now what do I do? And you're like, I don't know what to do, I look too good, I look too fine, what am I gonna do? And it's like girl, go to sunscreen, or put this on and then go to sunscreen and relax. You are dark spot correcting, you're calming redness, you're reducing inflammation in the skin, puffiness. Bomb collection, incredible collection, one of my favorites. But the last one, which is like true K beauty, they get their main skincare ingredient from Untouched Nature in Madagascar, Africa is ⁓ 1004. Bomb. Okay, I have all the collections, I have all the good ones, okay? And they're all good, guess, depending on your skin type. I don't have the blue collection, which is the Hyalu Cica one. It's more hydrating. Don't have that one. And I don't have the tea tree oil one for acne, I got a lot of acne stuff going on. However, skin barrier protecting, they have a ProBioSika, which is in my cabinet. I can't show you. This one. I call it the tan, the OG, bomb. These two alone can genuinely impact your skincare routine. After shaving for men... This gel, clear gel form, these three products after shaving, brother bye. your skin is feeling great and looking great, something's wrong. And it's with the formulation. We need to a dermatologist. Because this is just skin calming, skin soothing, anti-irritation, just ⁓ thrive. just do thing.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: They have a version with peptides, my favorite, with peptides with Himalayan pink sea salt. It's this version. Bomb. Super bomb for oil control. It's called the Pormizing Collection. The peptides firm the skin. It has niacinamide. I love the size of the products. Like just in comparison, no shade, but like it's designed to be shared in my very humble opinion. Like this is a one ounce product, I believe. And this one, I don't know, it's way bigger. 3.3 Love it this serum this toner you can do this after shaving might have a little tingle with this one That's okay. You can do it. You can take it still be slight It's gonna be slight you can skin flood with skin 1004 so you can use this toner, and then you can use this toner They have a version for dark spots and hyperpigmentation So maybe in the morning you use the OG collection or the brightening collection, which I'm getting ready to show you. And then in the evening, use the calming collection. But then another day you can use the formizing collection, right? That's what I love about the brand because the main ingredients are consistent throughout. So you're not really messing with your face like you might if you were switching brands. This is the brightening version, tone brightening. Love this serum, has these little capsules in it. They burst on the skin. Bomb. Incredible. These two? or hyperpigmentation on the body, on my body. Everything I showed you can go on my body. I mean, some of them are too small. I put this on my body, but do get your neck, do get your chest. Last things, these are all my favorite like minimalist things, but if you are an acne prone, bumpy, irritation, trying to avoid redness, you need colloidal sulfur. Salicylic acid and there's a couple products. So the ordinary has this powder to cream Concentrate it looks like an illegal substance that you put on your finger It's a power But you press on this skin out for demonstration and education purposes only right? It looks like this. I wouldn't take this to an airport or anything. Okay, and then you just

Stacey C: All

Askia: Press it onto areas where you see a little bit of congestion underneath the skin. It creates an invisible pimple patch. Just pat it. It goes directly into the skin. I love it on the nose, where the places where you can get a little shiny. It's gonna fast, flatten acne. Fast, like within an hour. If you have pimples or raised razor bumps, put that powder all over there, okay? That's that. Now. There's another product which you have to use it at night because it will white cast. This one, see it's a dual phase serum by Dr. Leo, salicylic acid and colloidal sulfur. So it's those two that I love. This one will flash flatten ⁓ acne very It'll be great on razor bumps, but it's gonna leave a white cast. It's gonna leave white cast. And of all the things that I showed you, think it's maybe important for to note. There's fantastic technology that can help improve the skin texture if you are having really complex, super stubborn and grown hair growth. I love laser hair removal for men. Is it gonna hurt? Yeah, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna, you gonna feel it. Is it worse than having a tattoo removed? No. Is it worse than having a baby? No. So that means you can take it, okay? that's gonna be the best and fastest way to stop the hair from growing through Kill some of those hair follicles and let you have a chance to really attack your skin concern and smooth that skin texture That's it. Those are my notes skincare and my favorite you get rid of the hair after all

Stacey C: I love it. Thank you for sharing that. And I just want to say that, even if you're paying, a pretty penny for skincare, you got to think that it's going to last a while. So it's going to be worth that dime that you're spending on it. Cause you're not using very much of the product cause you don't need to, number one. And it's going to last a few months before you have to replace it. So it is definitely worth the price that you pay for your skincare.

Askia: Very valid point. I've this product since like last maybe June, July. You use think people think mean, you ⁓ definitely see yourself out of these products because they're easy to run to, right? ⁓ But for the most part, your skincare lasts four months at a time.

Stacey C: Right. Mm-hmm. Yes.

Askia: You know what mean? And I think that most of us, even if we think that we can't, if you think about your skincare in terms of spending $50 a month, whatever you're purchasing, you're doing a good job, with the exception of, you know, the higher uptick things like devices, which is just, you're gonna use it for five years, you're not gonna go to a clinic to have $150 facials. That you can do at home. No key, but no shade.

Stacey C: That's true. last question about products are just things that men should look for in a product. ⁓ should men look for in an SPF that won't leave a white cast?

Askia: Most brands are now very proudly like, we don't white cast. Like brands that literally state in the name, Anua has a sunscreen called Zero Cast. Medicube has a sunscreen called No Cast, Just Glow. Okay, so that gives you an idea like, that's it is. Most K-Beauty versions will not leave a white cast. Most of will not. I love a on brown skin. There are certain sunscreen types that you should be thinking about based on how you want your skin to look. Do you want your skin to be matte? Do you want your skin to be dewy? Do you want your skin to be glowy? Right? And so... Serums are glowy think about it that way so the ordinary Serum sunscreen this one. I just showed you SPF 45 Glowy okay prequel this one. This is called solar shade Serum okay pretty glowy has Fantastic sunscreens, but it's called do glow what's telling you you're gonna have a dewy glowy complexion Purito any day sunscreen. I love this. What's it called? birch I'm gonna get it, but can't one. just started. It's called birch juice, but it's a k-beauty one that I have been waiting to try It's a non comedogenic version and it's ⁓ anti acne. So it's acne genetic as well So a rarer Formo sunscreen, most brands don't claim to be acne-genic, but I'm pretty sure it has Birch in the name. It's a small white and blue brand, Round Lab, that's what it's called. It's Round Lab's Birch something sunscreen. Stunning it's a matte sunscreen. The skin looks hydrated. It's beautiful. It's moisturized and I love knowing that it won't break me out so I would I would consider those things more than Like is it gonna leave them? It's being concerned about the white cast because it's there's so few they do that

Stacey C: Okay. Right. And you know, as I asked the question, I was like, well, do men even know what a white cast is? So can you explain what white cast means? Cause I'm like, I just said it like an assumption that they would know what that meant. So can you explain that?

Askia: Yes. Okay. I have a couple of definitions. White cast is the excuse that black people used to use to not use sunscreen. That's one way to say it. But white cast was caused by zinc, being too much zinc sometimes being in a sunscreen product. And it would leave the skin really ashy, would dry the skin out. And it just made us very averse to the product type, period. Averse to the sunscreen category. The more versions that were created,

Stacey C: Yeah.

Askia: that were chemical sunscreens versus minerals, if it's a mineral, the more we kind of fell in love with how our skin could look wearing sunscreen, how our skin could feel in sunscreen. Because when I was a kid, sunscreen was like pasty, chalky, hard to get on, hard to get off. It was like messy. ⁓ weren't doing it. But now, easy to take it off with any oil, any oil. Use your facial oils to cleanse it off your body if you're putting it on your body. any version that is going to cover the bases in terms of your skincare routine. If you're working on fine lines and wrinkles, if you're working on dark spots, I think an SPF 40 and ⁓ is what you need. I think it's super important. I don't think you can play the SPF 30 game. That's the other thing. I got an SPF 30. My dark spots aren't fading. Yeah, you need to go up. People say it's not that much of a difference in the SPFs 30, okay, for black people that 1 % difference is a lot. It's only 1%, okay, well 89 is a B and 90 is an A. So 1 % matters. know, I get it. I understand mathematically how it's messing with your brain. But for us, for the level of hyperpigmentation that we can experience, go 50. If you can find a great 60, get a great 60. They're out there. They're out there over the counter in drugstores, everywhere.

Stacey C: Yes, yes. And I just want to say too, especially if you're products that are for and fixing the on your skin, you definitely want to use SPF because like you just stated, it won't work ⁓ if you ⁓

Askia: It won't work. It won't. I think let's put the better part of 2025 fighting for my life trying to explain to people, I bought this from your link and this didn't work. And I'm like, did you do what I said to do? Okay pause did you do what I said? I told you to exfoliate and I told you you cannot use it without sunscreen Go go do what I said and come back in two weeks. When I tell you people come back about it worked. I know Know it I know it did I know you must Cannot razor bumps. You cannot correct hyperpigmentation sir your bald head Put some sunscreen on that bald head, baby. Trust me Sunscreen sticks are phenomenal. That's another tool that you guys can put into your skincare arsenal carry it with you everywhere Put it on your hands put it on your neck sunscreen sticks are gonna be fantastic just as a way to your sunscreen up throughout the day when you're outside because putting it on one time is not enough, You gotta reapply it. So make sure you get that forehead. Make sure you get under the eye Make sure you're using your sunscreen stick. I love Tocobo. I love Cosrx Those are my favorite

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: like buy a lot. They're fantastic and they matte the skin down beautifully so consider those as well.

Stacey C: let's get into K-Beauty because it is everywhere right now and men are paying attention. So are men actually embracing K-Beauty and what's driving that shift?

Askia: Aesthetic is driving the shift and they are embracing it. Their girlfriends, wives, husbands, boyfriends, partners are using K-Beauty. I feel like every single person at this point has something K-Beauty. Something. Even if it's just a sunscreen that they love, right? And so I do think that they are embracing it. And I think that a combination of lighting for content creators and aesthetic is what's driving it.

Stacey C: What are some K-Beauty products or brands that work well for men specifically?

Askia: Ooh, I love mixsoon. I think Mixsoon is a phenomenal K-Beauty brand they're not a braggadocious brand. Their team is like a very humble, kind, quieter team, but their technology is phenomenal. Their bean essence, all of their bean essence line, incredible. have a product called the Mixsoon Bean Essence. It's a mucin-like serum. That is an exfoliating product. When I tell you it is transformative skincare, very transformative. It will remove sebaceous filaments from the skin. You can literally just rub it on your face like a gommage, rinse that skin. You're gonna be like, what just happened? Incredible, works on your elbows, works on your knees. It's fantastic for people with facial hair. It's a good way for you to be able to still see the skin while you're manipulating those areas just to like really get under there and then rinse. You will notice once it's impactful, beautiful, fantastic. I love that product from the brand. Like when I say transformative skincare, if you get nothing else, you get that. I love their K-Beauty device. Very intentional, has the three best modes that you could ever get. All the lights that you need. I love the price. I love the stand, I love the ergonomic hold, very intentional brand. They have a gommage set that uses rice as part of their exfoliant serum stack. They're not as popular as Dr. Melaxin are, however, they are as efficacious and clean. They're clean brand. So I love Mixsoon. I love Mixsoon for men. I love it. Love that brand for them. And there's some things from Dr. Melaxin I think you're good. I like Dr. Melaxin's gommages, but in terms of clean, mixed one's kinda trump them there. shade, but it is what it is.

Stacey C: And know, Mixsoon actually, I've seen a lot of people, especially creators like on TikTok, they actually use it for their children. They said it's healthy and safe enough for them to use for their ⁓ as well, ⁓ babies.

Askia: Yeah, mung bean, it's a plant botanical forward skin line. Mung bean is a plant. So it's like when you, and that's why I always tell people, like people hear acid, acid, acid, right? They hear acid, they hear active, they don't necessarily understand the importance of those things combined with plant botanicals, right? And so really the trifecta. getting...

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: mix soon into your skincare stack somehow someway by cook or by crook as the old folks used to say you absolutely should.

Stacey C: Are men using the same products as women or should the routines differ?

Askia: can use the same products as women, for sure, for sure. Skin is skin for the most part, with the exception of where hair grows. On face, okay? Which, and there's like a little, there should be some conversation when it comes to facial hair in like PCOS girlies, and having to address facial hair. Yeah, the answer is yes. Should there, Sure, also no, right? Because like skin is skin ⁓ and the most part, the concepts that you need to, or the ⁓ tactics you need to take to address facial hair on the face are the same, right? ⁓ And the answer is always if you don't want facial hair, it's gonna be lazer to try to get rid of it.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. Hmm.

Askia: But if you want facial hairs to try to maintain the skin and keep the skin as beautiful as possible, know, they're, you know, I don't know if I answered that question. It kind of threw me off because I was like, I don't know. Do I want to?

Stacey C: right. You did. Well, did, and I understand, because the who have PCOS, that's a whole different conversation about hair on face. So I get it. You did, you answered it. Thank you. ⁓ Yes.

Askia: Yeah. it's hard. Because I never want to ignore the need for ⁓ facial concerns. And I don't want to talk about women's skin concerns, specifically for women that have PCOS ⁓ a men's skin conversation. Because you know what I'm saying? ⁓ always feel like there's a stigma.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. Right. Right.

Askia: that they have to unfortunately deal with. And it drives me nuts. You know, it's like, you have a condition and we're gonna address your skin based on your condition. And it's like, That's a human. Talk to her like she's a princess. Talk to her like she's a queen. Like don't talk to her like she is a person that has a hormonal thing that makes her have a male type. Like you know I'm saying? So that's always my internal struggle around that like conversation.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. right. no, no, that's fine. I understand that. I totally do. Okay, covered the face. So let's talk, go up top. So scalp and beard care. There are various types of care for the scalp that includes oils and growth serums. Why is scalp care just as important for skincare for the face? Why is scalp care just as important for skincare for the

Askia: Well, your scalp is skin. Well, your scalp is skin. Contrary to popular opinion, scalp care is skin care you have to be as intentional about your scalp as you are about your face if want the skin to appear healthy if you're bald or for healthy, thicker hair to grow if you have hair. Contrary to popular opinion, scalp care is skin care you have to be as intentional about your scalp as you are about your face if want the skin to appear healthy if you're bald or for healthy, thicker hair to grow if you have hair.

Stacey C: How do you know if your scalp needs moisture versus protein? And I'm asking this because I feel like people mix those things up constantly.

Askia: So some people will look at their scalp and they'll say, I have a dry scalp. I have a flaky scalp. And my first question is, well, what did you put on it? Because did you just wash your hair and it's Right? And is it just flakes from buildup? It's skin, right? And skin needs to be what? Exfoliated. Skin has to be exfoliated. So if you're not using a...

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: Clarifying shampoo that's gonna de-bride the gunk off the scalp if you're not using a toner that is going to dissolve the gunk on the scalp or a serum with keratolytic properties or a line that even has ingredients like niacinamide to hold moisture on the scalp to decrease the propensity for it to flake We're in trouble We're in trouble, right? You have to be really thinking about your scalp as intentionally as you think about your face. If you want it to look healthy, if you want it to not flake. So understanding if it's a flake from buildup of product versus skin that needs to be gently exfoliated, two totally different things. That's you having to understand what you do in your routine and what the outcome is when you do that thing.

Stacey C: Yes. Since you mentioned that men should exfoliate their scalp, how often should they do that?

Askia: twice a week. twice a week. In my shower for my husband, I have a physical exfoliator, which is just a basic over-the-counter face scrub by a brand called St. Ives, old school, regular degular apricot scrub. He does that on his head. But we just got a new product that he likes. I love this brand. It's called Chemistat Play. They have a glycolic acid scrub. toner. It has the ⁓ properties. plus physical exfoliators in it. So it's a dual product. His skin is bomb. It looks, his head looks so good. he wears a bald head. And he is not, you know, he doesn't have razor bumps or anything like that, but it's a beautiful product. It's great for people that are really wanting that skin on their head to look healthy. Now, if you're a bald head person, you need to wear sunscreen. It's a non-negotiable, but it's a fantastic dual exfoliating product using chemical and physical exfoliation.

Stacey C: the difference between dandruff and dry scalp and how do you treat each?

Askia: I feel like dandruff like a nickname for flaky scalp. But I think that it is like a true hair or scalp condition. think they can be, depending on the person and their interpretation, it could be the same thing. Dandruff is dry scalp, or some people are like, no, I think dandruff is like persistent, right? It's how your skin just is on scalp. And I think that when you're using anti-dandruff products, the goal is to gently exfoliate those.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm.

Askia: that skin like treated almost in my mind like KP, which is stubborn, persistent, Consistently work to reduce the flakiness, plus flakiness of your scalp, like the perpetual flake. Almost like skin barrier repairing for the scalp, right? So I think it's approach one. I don't know how to diagnose it because if the second I see a flake I'm like, what we gotta do? Clarify. That's my first thing. If I ever see a flake, clarify. And to be honest, I use K-Beauty, like K-hair products now, and I really don't experience that. Like my scalp when I got my hair braided used to be really pale for like the first two weeks. Like almost white. Like always, for years. I've getting my hair braided since I was 14 years old. So. That always happened. I got my hair braided. My scalp's not white. That's because I use serums now and the serums have salicylic acid and my shampoo and conditioners have niacinamide and salicylic acid and those ingredients eliminate flake. They really nourish that dog on scalp skin. It's a totally, it's game changing. Night and day. and I don't use oil on my scalp anymore, which can create buildup, which can look like flakes because oil can also dry the skin out. And then sometimes, I'm really sorry to say sometimes the scalp is sunburned, which then also causes it to flake or peel. See, so it's so many different things, like managing cleanliness of the scalp, making sure you're not putting products that are gonna build up on top of the scalp, making sure that skin can breathe and it's getting those great skincare ingredients down into the skin. It's really how you're gonna understand whether you have something like Dandruff versus Dry Scalp versus potentially even a sunburn that's just peeling, like damaged skin barrier stuff. In my very humble opinion.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. to go back really quick, you mentioned KP. Can you explain what KP is just in case there are people out there that don't know what that means?

Askia: So KP is keratosis pilaris. It is essentially a clogged pore where your hair is fighting for its life to break through. Your hair is gonna grow there consistently and it's persistent and for some reason in these patchy areas it's just harder for the hair to break through. The hair would sometimes grow thicker because of it it's very hard to get rid of. You have to be Sometimes it take six months to a year for your skin to actually go, okay, okay, fine. We'll stop. We'll stop. But it's really challenging. Sometimes you can have KP on the face, on the arms, on the back, on the bum, on the thighs, on the knees. It can appear anywhere on the body that hair grows. You can have it under your armpits. So it's rough, bumpy texture associated with hair growth and there's like gunk in the pores related to the keratin of our... in our follicle. So it's a issue in my very humble opinion again, but you can address it with AHAs. You address it and correct it with physical exfoliation, making sure that hair doesn't have to fight with dead skin cells to come through, and making sure that those bonds between the dead skin cells is dissolving consistently so that it doesn't keep repeating.

Stacey C: Thank you. What about men? So we're gonna go back to men with bald heads. How do you properly moisturize a bald head without it looking greasy?

Askia: I love a great gel moisturizer. I love a gel moisturizer, a clear gel formula or in a moisturizing sunscreen that just leaves a nice ⁓ matte not glowy not dewy but also dewy can look beautiful on a bald head Dewey can be kind of fire on a bald head not gonna hold you but not necessary not necessary to consider.

Stacey C: What is the best way to treat any grown hairs from shaving or a fresh fade?

Askia: Best way to treat in grown hairs. So your barber, making sure that you do your skincare before your haircut. I know it's crazy. Man, do your skincare. Exfoliate your skin the night before your haircut. Exfoliate back here, exfoliate down the back of your neck, down by your ears, around your hairline. Exfoliate the night before, not before the haircut, on the same day, the night before your haircut. Get your haircut. If you have a great toner that you like, an exfoliating toner that you can use that evening, put your exfoliating toner on the skin either in the morning before your haircut wait a day or two after your haircut because you're going to do your basic barber side alcohol cleansing and hygienic stuff. You'll do your normal skincare routine and then you will go back to your exfoliating products to make sure that skin stays nice and smooth because your exfoliators are going to have hydrators in them. We're not just raw dogging glycolic acid on the skin. We're being really mindful about the exfoliating products that we use. We're not just putting toner. Okay? there should, we should talk about exfoliation. I need to spend an entire month covering exfoliation, because it is the most complicated aspect of any skincare routine. but just being really mindful that, the barber did the thing, but I did my prep skincare by exfoliating the night before. And then my post skincare, make sure I get my serums on that are gonna be anti-redness, calming, et cetera. And then you go to your exfoliating toner that has hydrators in it. I'm begging you. Ask questions in the comments. What specifically are you talking about lady? Type that. I'm happy to answer it, right? But don't get out here just grabbing any random exfoliating toner and then come back when you have a bunch of redness. Telling you now.

Stacey C: Yes, please write that in the comments.

Askia: Yes, put them in the them in the comments. Lady, please clarify.

Stacey C: Hmm. Yes. Do you want to give any suggestions for products that they can use on their scalp I you talked about a couple that you know use for your husband, but you want to give any like as far as like serums that is effective or any type moisturizers that they can use for their head, especially if you're bald head?

Askia: If you are a bald head gent, my first thing is don't use hair oil. You don't need hair oil. You're not trying to grow hair. Okay, so I love the Vegamour serums. if you're trying to grow hair, some are trying to grow hair, I love the VT Cosmetics ampules for hair growth. They come in three different strains. They're liquid micro-needling serums that go into the scalp and stimulate hair growth and hair density. Okay, they're clarifying as well. So you'll feel a little tingle, but there's a 100, a 300, and a 700. I love those if you're trying to grow hair, but they're also nourishing for the scalp. If you're into K-Beauty, or maybe you're a person is, and it makes sense for you guys to get a full set of Dr. Groot, I love their roller ball serum, and then a simple gel moisturizer. Treat your scalp like skin if you're wearing your hair ball. Treat it like your forehead. It's the same thing. It's the same thing as girls' hair. So treat it like your forehead. Make sure you're getting a clear gel formula. I like the Ordinary's Natural Moisturizing Factors plus Beta Glucan. Beautiful on the skin. ⁓ love Mixsoon's PDRN Gel Cream. It's a peach gel formula. Love. All of the Skin 1004 Soothing Creams. All of them, great. you're concerned about the skin breaking out, I love salicylic acid serum. The most cost effective version is the version from the ordinary. There's two versions. It's this version, which is the water-based version. And then they have another version that has ⁓ no water, looks like that. This one's in So it's gonna leave, I'll you. This is the version with no water. love this version. Let's see that.

Stacey C: Wow.

Askia: But that's beautiful. Put some moisturizer on top. Live your best life. Right? But then there's the water-based version. That's just gonna look like my skin. So it's really up to the aesthetic that you want to deliver. They also have a great moisturizer I'm obsessed with right now. Like it's crazy. Let's see the difference. The water-based version. And then this is that waterless version. So how do you want your head to look?

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. rate. Wow. Mm-hmm. right.

Askia: You know, but that has salicylic acid in it, which a lot of K-Beauty has in it, which keeps the scalp clear, which will reduce bumps and textural issues. So in terms of cost, and put any clear gel formula. You do aloe, ⁓ And ⁓ I mention this. This is the smallest version of Aloe Derma's organic aloe. I love this brand. They harvest their own aloe. They own the plants.

Stacey C: 8.

Askia: Every single time they harvest the plant, have to have a certain number of polysaccharides in it so you're getting a consistent product. And they harvest and bottle within 12 hours. So like it's ultra fresh. I love this brand. Like my son's eczema, my son is very eczema prone. I didn't even know the black kids got eczema. I had no idea. Went to a doctor, they were like, that's eczema. I said, what? They said, here's a cream. The cream didn't work. I put this on it. This is the only thing that has ever worked to get rid of eczema in my house. In my home, okay? No dermatological cream. And you can use this just like that on your head. But when I say clear gel formula, what I just showed you is exactly what I mean. It's gonna look like that. Sometimes it might be peach, sometimes it might be pink, but be sure you're getting a good moisturizer on that skin. Please matte and then glowy. Totally different. It's all about aesthetic. also super skin-nerve.

Stacey C: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right, I definitely like the glowy. sorry, I said I definitely like the glowy, because it makes you want to buy it.

Askia: is bomb. I don't know why people are very quiet about this one, but it's one of my favorite products from them. It's a salicylic acid. 2 % is called anhydrous, which means waterless solution. Same amount of BHA ⁓ the other version that we're all used to. But bomb.

Stacey C: Thank you for this. Last one in this segment, how does stress and sleep affects the scalp health and hair loss?

Askia: you high levels of cortisol. Everything goes crazy. know, it's just the cortisol is high. However your body reacts to it, it can be that you lose sleep. It can be that you want to sleep too much. ⁓ can be that your hair falls out. It can be that you have side aches, panic attacks. You see your stomach protrude forward. You have low energy. So many things can happen. Getting a good night's sleep is going to help keep your hormones in balance. That's the hardest thing of all, right? Getting a good night of sleep with the intention every night. So getting one of my favorite nutrients in, which is magnesium, it's gonna allow for your body to rest better, in my very humble opinion, okay? Let your body rest better, let you fall asleep a little bit faster, let you stay and rest, we'll sleep a little bit longer, which will, over time, because you'll be sleeping better, decrease your cortisol levels, right? skin scalp health, beard health. Everything is affected by your cortisol. And so if you want for your hair to grow denser while you know that you're also experiencing stress, work on your cortisol thing, A, through supplementation, but two, get a spicule serum. Get a serum that has tiny little spicules that are microscopic. They're gonna go down into the skin in serum form. You'll feel some gentle tingling on the skin, but it's gonna push ingredients down deeper. so that you can stimulate hair growth. Because sometimes the follicles are just like kind of dormant. Like, too hard. Do want me to grow hair? I'm cooked. I'm over here trying to keep you alive. You know, you're winded you have high blood pressure. You don't take your meds. You don't eat vegetables. You refuse water. Okay, you want your hair to grow? Yeah, you do. And of course you do. That's life, right? Yeah, you still want your to grow. You haven't slept more than four hours in two months. Get some spicule serum and some magnesium.

Stacey C: Okay, all right, before I let you go, I have a couple final questions. Why has skincare historically been marketed away from men and is that changing?

Askia: can say I see it changing in new product launches and the expansion of product lines Why it a market away from him because I think that for the most part the beauty world has relied on women wanting to look their best self and Deprioritize the concept that a man could also want that same thing for himself and in doing so kind of abandoned and ignored that consumer. And it's a misnomer, right? Like they were happy to sell like hair loss things or dyeing the hair things, but the things that would make the, or the thing that would make the person have a specific body reaction in their pants type thing. Happy to push that stuff on a man, but supplements that are gonna keep them calm. Supplements are going to impact their mood, decrease cortisol, anti-aging supplements so that their skin looks great. I love NAD as a supplement. If you're taking an NAD supplement, which is anti-inflammatory cell renewing, it's going to help with hair growth organically, right? And so it's like these types of things that we're always trying to counter, I feel like the world just decided let's sell them cars. Let's sell them this. let's help them, let's sell them a concept that can have a younger looking woman, let's sell women the products that help them look younger. When the truth is, I wish they helped men 40 years ago understand their skincare routine as impactful for their confidence, which then impacts their mood, which then impacts how they feel about themselves in the world and how they treat people in the world. I think the world would be a lot further along if we had done that. Unfortunate not to get all philosophical and woo-woo, but like the end of the day, they didn't need the hair dye We'll take them bald, We they didn't need the hair dye and it's okay if that hairline was receding. We know people with toupee money What you should have focused on is their oral care? Which you should have focused on and supplements that are gonna help improve their mood because they're crabby They're crabby and cranky sometimes And that's also affecting how people treat them, it's like a vicious cycle of them not getting what they want, which creates more stress, right? So like, do they miss the opportunity? Yes. Are there great brands that are really working hard to push aesthetic men's care that's impactful? Absolutely.

Stacey C: Right.

Askia: Do men need to go to a men's focus brand to efficacious ingredients or affordability or no? Absolutely

Stacey C: What is one product you tell every man to start with today?

Askia: Mmm. Mmm! one? Can I have one per category?

Stacey C: Sure.

Askia: Because one is crazy. one ⁓ this hard. cleanser to start with today. Okay, The Ordinary's Glucoside Foaming Cleanser. It's a water-based cleanser. You can do that using the dry wet method. I love that cleanser. Exfoliators. The Ordinary's AHA 30 % BHA 2%. It's the red one. It looks like blood. It's not blood. Impactful Skin Fantastic exfoliator. My husband uses on his beard all the time. Okay, this is his chemical exfoliator. No more than twice a week, sir, or you're gonna look like Freddy Krueger but phenomenal, okay? Toner, I love Acwell's pH balancing cleansing toner. Okay, because a lot of times people go, I'm doing all my AHAs and my skin's irritated. Yeah, yeah, you need it to. balance that pH back down, pull it back down. So you've done your AHA and BHA work, but now it's time to calm the skin down. You can use a cleansing toner. That one has licorice root, which is a skin brightening ingredient. It's a great baseline for the next step of your skincare routine. Goodness, I'm gonna ask for so many toners. I love Mamiwada by Eadem. It's not a toner, but it's a facial mist. It's incredible. It's an incredible. credible skincare product that has allantoin, ectoin, sickus, and tele-asiatica, phenomenal. serums. hard. love so many serums, honestly. I can't pick one. I can't pick one. But I would say, depending on your age, absolutely get a retinoid into your skincare routine. You only need to do it one time a week to start. So don't even act like it's any deal. time a week two a week, and then you're good So do that I have so recommendations for retinoids but I can't even pick one Moisturizers we talked about clear formulas that I love my favorite clear gel formula of all is going to always be aloe vera gel Razor bumps cuts bruises dark spots acne. I love that product eczema dry underarm, dry nether region, you ran out of lotion, that. And then sunscreens, whichever is going to help you achieve the aesthetic you want for your skin that day. I love way too many. I have 50 sunscreens, so it's impossible for me to pick a sunscreen, but I highly recommend getting multiple versions. Make sure you have a K-Beauty version. Make sure you have a serum version. Make sure you have a sunscreen stick. Tocobo has a fantastic sunscreen stick. I just posted about it twice. I use it on my hands and my car to make sure I'm driving so that I don't get dark knuckles. For people with dark knuckles, use your dark spot correctors on your knuckles and make sure you're getting your sunscreen on your hands. cream, I love Total Eyelift by Clarins. neck creams for men which is also important. I love Alpyn's ⁓ super for Technic so for people who using their devices and creating this line love that. else? Masks? There's a million things that we could talk through.

Stacey C: Okay, thank you. All right, that's a wrap for today's episode. I hope this gave you the push and the knowledge to start treating your skin like it's like the organ that it actually is. You don't need a 10 step routine to get started. Pick one product, be consistent and build from there. If you learned something today, please share this episode with the men in your life, your brother, your partner, your friend who's using a three in one shampoo.

Askia: No.

Stacey C: They need this. I hope you enjoyed episode five of season three. And I would like to thank our guest, Askia Underwood for coming back again on the show. you please share with my listeners where they can find you?

Askia: I'm skinntelligencia So S-K-I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-I-A on Instagram. I'm on YouTube now. I'm on TikTok most of the time. I'm on Meta. I'm everywhere except X. ⁓

Stacey C: Okay, thank you. Well, I am your host, Stacey C. Please do not forget to subscribe, like and share and share with us your routine in the comments. Like, how are you, what are you using to get healthy skin? And as always take care of yourself inside and out. Make time to see you glow, girl or man.