There was a time when most men couldn't tell an exfoliator from an elbow - but no longer. The mainstream popularity of TV makeover shows directed at guys - with Queer Eye for the Straight Guy leading the charge - has released men from fears about appearing vain or 'unmanly' by showing an interest in skin care.
But can a man share his partner's products (assuming, of course, he agrees to replenish them), or does men's skin differ too greatly from women's?
Last year, German scientists from the Freidrich Schiller University and the Fraunhofer Institute of Biomedical Technology reported that women's skin ages faster than men's, due to the fact that women lose collagen faster as they age. But why?
Collagen is a protein that acts as connective tissue and gives skin its strength and elasticity. It resides in the dermis, the layer of the skin just beneath the epidermis, the outermost layer. Androgens, or male hormones, stimulate the production of collagen, making the dermis thicker, less delicate and more resistant to ageing.
So does this mean that today's men can do without skin care products, just as so many of their fathers and grandfathers did? Not if they want to maximise their skin's potential. While men's skin may age more slowly than women's, that does not mean that men are immune to the ravaging effects of time - and most men, like women, would welcome the chance to preserve their youthful appearance for as long as possible (whether they care to admit it is another matter).
All of us - men and women - are to a certain extent at the mercy of our genes. Some people age better than others, just as some people are more prone to developing certain diseases than others.
