Things You Can Learn from Your Guy's "Beauty" Routine

Shannon Ray, Allure magazine

Shannon Ray was the winner of the 2012Allure Beauty Blogger Awardsand is now contributing to the Daily Beauty Reporter.

Dudes can be kind of weird, non? They can kind of seem like simple creatures, when they're putting on that same old crumpled-ass T-shirt they've worn four times in a row and playing like that mess doesn't have a rampant infestation of ketchup stains all over it. (Sorry to stereotype you, guys. I know this isn't applicable to ALL of you.) And it seems that this simplicity usually crosses into their beauty (manuty???) routines, or lack thereof. But don't be fooled-there are many lessons to be learned from these dude actions, and they can totally be translated into grown-lady beauty business.

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Shaving to exfoliate. Have you ever noticed how a lot of guys' faces are supersoft and smooth? Surely they aren't all secretly harvesting away apricot facial scrubs. In reality, shaving is a damn great exfoliator. And since most men shave fairly often, they are just razoring off all of those dead, dull skin cells. So unfair! If you're SUPERjealous of all of that facial exfoliation, you can always try dermaplaning. It's basically the exfoliation and removal of your facial peach fuzz (yum, peaches) with a little surgical blade, and is done by an aesthetician at a medical spa. I know, I know-it sounds vaguely Freddy-Krueger-has-a-spa-day-ish, but it's really not scary. I promise, I've tried it. I wouldn't let you get sliced and diced-I love you far too much. So take that, dude exfoliation!

Get a little dirty. I like the feeling of superclean hair. I'm a supremely oily b, so maybe that has a ton to do with it. But let's be real: Guys typically aren't totally into hair washing errrday. I totally need to take a page from that book and not be so quick with the shampoo draw. Not washing your hair on the daily is good for it, as I'm sure you've heard. It can regulate the oils in your scalp (science!), and brushing those oils through the rest of your hair will keep it shinier and healthier. Especially if you dye or highlight your hair, overwashing can totally eff up your rug. So it's okay to be dirrrtier than Xtina (is that even valid outside of the '00s?) in your hair region. Spray a little dry shampoo up in that mess and call it a day. And when in doubt, put that mop in a bun and tell people that grunge is back in a big way, so shut up about dirty hairs. And then throw in a quote from a Nirvana song somewhere.

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K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sexy.) If we are wearing our "realness" pants today (don't worry, they're flesh-toned), we've got to admit that often the ladies can be a little heavy-handed with the styling tools. I'm a hair-dryer/flatiron/a little wrapping around the curling iron kind of gal myself, so to say that I've got a buttload of nonsense happening in my bathroom every day is an understatement. My electrical bill is friggin' astronomical. And on the other end of the spectrum, most dude-types are more the wash (or not) and go deal. Although, I have seen some tragic guy hairstyles involving an overly used flatiron. Not cute. Sadly for me, I look very modern-day-Vince-Neil-esque if I just let my hair air-dry. My solution to this is blow-drying just my bang area, and then spritzing some surf spray on the remainder of my mop, followed by some very light scrunching with my hands. Not like L.A. Looks superstiff hair gel scrunching. More like natural waves and light, sexy bedhead-ness scrunching. Undone is the hotness, and about a million seconds less time consuming.

Listen, fellas. We're coming for your asses, in a nonsexual, beauty tip kind of way. Stop holding back the beauty goodies, or we will steal all of your fancy, ten-bajillion-bladed razors and habitually shave the hell out of our legs with them. You've been warned.

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