Martian-Branded Skincare is for Man-Skin . . . ??
Welcome to Dr. K’s Artisan’s first installment about Marketing-Induced Myths: “Man-Skincare” and “Woman-Skincare.”
For readers who haven’t dug through the full trenches of the website yet: Dr. K is a healthcare professional with zero qualms leveraging hard snark.
So, to start: If we ignore fragrance and color, are there such things as real sex-specific skin products?
Maybe in one sense: prescription products with estrogen or testosterone intended to be applied to the skin. However, those aren’t meant to affect the skin; they’re supposed to soak through the skin to function inside the body – even the topical estrogen cream is for mucosa and not skin (except in very niche instances).
Then, on the converse: Without fragrance and color, what isn’t sex-specific?
Everything!
Every product for skin itself, whether on drugstore shelves or pharmacy shelves, can be appropriate for anyone with skin (in the case of prescription products, anyone with the skin condition it treats).
So, you know the stuff – body wash, antiperspirant, lotion – on the grocery store shelves that smells like aftershave in a black bottle with a flame on it that says “FOR MEN”? Yeah, the testosterone leaks out of the plastic packaging on that one. The identical product that smells like cotton blossom in a white bottle on the other end of the aisle with a flower design on the front and elegant gold lettering will estrogen-poison any unsuspecting manly-man unfortunate enough to wrap his bear-paw around that plastic bottle.
Right? Right.
Seriously. Keep watch for another blog post discussing the moisture-barrier function of the skin and how products can impede or assist it. Spoiler alert! Dry skin, pissed-off skin, overwashed skin, spoiled skin – none are sex-specific.
We know the wider internet loudly disagrees. If keen on it, hit up a search (plz to come back after!) to see plenty of articles suggesting that the statistical variations between sexes on a few skin parameters are somehow critical – search “differences between male and female skin.”
Scientific papers listing common distinctions between skin on males and females are clear that these differences can also be markers of age or environment.
This page from a massive and well-known gentle skin care brand discusses differences – it’s a good read, if a tad dry.
Check out how that brand doesn’t market or distinguish products by sex. They are science-heavy, doctor-trusted, and well aware that even if dudes are statistically more likely to have oily skin, a product to play nice with oily skin will play nice with oily skin regardless of beards, boobs, or both!
Say it with Dr. K – “SKIN IS SKIN.” The only distinctions between man-products and woman-products are colors and scents, and how we culturally associate them. Everything else is a marketing ploy. Don’t mistake - the color/scent cultural associations are powerful! The discomfort some guys might feel using a good moisturizer scented with tropical-uberfeminine ylang-ylang before walking into the office is real – and due to nose-culture, not their skin.
Dr. K’s Artisan openly and proudly threw the industry expectation out the window that body care must be artificially sex-segregated by color, fragrance, and packaging. With it, we also joyfully sidestep the cultural issue that normally delivers dudes fewer truly good and luxurious options.
Every Dr. K’s Artisan scent is badass-unisex and every product is good for skin. Say it again – “SKIN IS SKIN.”
Dr. K’s Artisan rejects the idea of offering skin-love based on what’s in your pants (we leave that solely to your lovers), instead offering bold care based on what we know is on you everywhere. All skin is critically important. With how skin shields and protects us constantly, ALL skin deserves to be treated with care and nourishment.
Rock it on.