The Men's Skincare Routine, Built for Training

I train hard and I shower twice a day, for years that was my excuse to skip skincare; too much fuss for a guy with no time to spare. Then I flipped it: the man who trains hard and showers twice a day needs a real routine more than anyone, and it has to be fast enough to survive a real week.

So here's the whole thing, start to finish. Three steps. Ninety seconds. Wash, serum, moisturize. Built for people who train hard, and simple enough that you'll still be doing it in six months.

What a men's skincare routine actually needs

Men's skin isn't the canvas the big beauty brands design for. Men produce more oil than women, with larger pores and sebum output that stays high with age (National Library of Medicine, 2013). More oil means more of it mixing with sweat and settling into pores after a session. A routine that ignores that is a routine built for someone else's face.

The fix isn't ten products. It's three jobs done well. Clean the skin. Treat it. Protect the barrier. Everything past that is someone selling you a fourth bottle you'll abandon by spring.

I built REYAL's routine in three steps on purpose. If a guy has to think too hard about what goes where, he quits. Efficiency is the product here. The routine that works is the one you repeat, and every extra step is a reason to stop.

The 3-step, 90-second routine

Same three products, morning and night. Here's the order and what each one is for.

Step 1: Wash. Splash with warm water, then work the Cleansing Face Wash over your face and neck for about thirty seconds. Caffeine and micro-exfoliants clear out the sweat and buildup that clog pores when you train, and the cooling hit wakes up tired skin. Rinse.

Step 2: Serum. While your skin is still slightly damp, press in the Performance Serum. This is the step most guys skip and the one doing the heaviest lifting. It absorbs quickly, with no greasy finish, so it never feels like you're wearing anything.

Step 3: Moisturize. Finish with the Performance Moisturizer. It delivers lasting hydration, helps support the skin barrier, and absorbs quickly with no greasy feel.

In the morning, add a sunscreen as your last step. REYAL doesn't make one (yet), so use any daily broad-spectrum SPF you like. At night, skip it and you're done.

Each step is built to feed the next. The wash preps your skin so the serum sinks in. The serum primes the barrier so the moisturizer performs. That's why the order matters more than the number of products.

The ingredients doing the work

I test every batch of this myself. I drive to the manufacturer and check the scent, the feel and the consistency by hand. If it's off, it doesn't ship. So when I say an ingredient is in there, it's in there to do a job.

Three ingredients run through every REYAL skincare product:

• Dragon's Blood helps soothe the skin.

• Tiger Grass helps support and comfort the skin.

• Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps protect against environmental stress.

On top of that base, the serum carries Vitamin C, one of the most studied actives in skincare, known for helping brighten the look of skin and even out tone (Pullar et al., 2017). It also carries Hyaluronic Acid, a molecule that holds up to a thousand times its weight in water and draws hydration into the skin (National Library of Medicine, 2023), plus Niacinamide, which helps support the skin barrier (National Library of Medicine, 2024). The moisturizer adds ceramides, electrolytes, and hyaluronic acid to hold that hydration in place.

You don't have to memorize any of it. You just have to know the routine isn't running on filler. Every ingredient has a job, or it doesn't make the formula. See the full breakdown on the actives page.

Adjust for your skin type

The three steps stay the same. How you dial them in shifts a little.

• Oily skin: Don't skip the moisturizer. Stripping your skin only tells it to make more oil. A lightweight formula that absorbs without a greasy feel that was built for exactly this. More in our guide to oily skin.

• Dry skin: Ease off hot water and lean on the serum and moisturizer together. Start with our dry skin guide.

• Sensitive skin: The Dragon's Blood and Tiger Grass are there to help soothe and support the skin. Give a new product a few days before you judge it.

• Acne-prone skin: Consistency beats any single product. Wash after you sweat, go gentle, and read our take on clear skin.

The mistakes that wreck a good routine

Most guys don't fail at skincare because they picked the wrong bottle. They fail on a few avoidable habits.

• Over-washing. Scrubbing your face three or four times a day strips it and pushes your skin to make more oil. Twice a day, plus after training, is the ceiling.

• Skipping moisturizer because you're oily. This is the most common one. Stripped skin overcompensates with more oil, so the moisturizer is what actually keeps shine down through the day.

• Quitting at week one. Skin turns over on its own schedule. Tone and texture take a few weeks of consistency to show, so give the routine a month before you judge it.

• Chasing ten steps. Every product you add is another reason to stop. Three steps you'll repeat will always beat ten you won't.

Making it stick

A guy sent me a note after trying the products. He's a dad of five. He told me the best part wasn't his skin. It was locking the bathroom door for ninety seconds that were his. He meant the pause more than the result.

That stuck with me, because it's the whole reason the routine is ninety seconds and not nine steps. The best routine is the one you repeat without thinking. After a hard session, the post-workout shower is one of the best moments of the day, and three steps at the end of it should feel like a reset.

If you train, that's when this matters most. Sweat, oil and dirt sitting on your skin after a workout is what leads to breakouts (American Academy of Dermatology). Clearing it while you're already in the shower is the easiest win in your day. Build the routine around the moment you already have, and it stops being one more thing to remember.

FAQ

What order do the steps go in? Wash, then serum, then moisturizer. Thinnest to thickest. In the morning, sunscreen goes on last.

Morning and night, or just once a day? Both. Your skin collects oil and sweat overnight and all day, so you clear it twice and treat it twice.

Do men actually need a serum? It's the step that treats the skin rather than just cleaning it. The Vitamin C and Hyaluronic Acid are what brighten and hydrate, so it earns its place.

How often should I wash my face? Twice a day, plus after any workout where you really sweat. Washing more than that can dry you out and backfire.

Does the moisturizer replace sunscreen? No. Use a separate daily SPF every morning. Sunscreen is the one thing REYAL doesn't make, and it's non-negotiable for daily protection.

How long until I see a difference? Tone and hydration tend to show first, within a couple of weeks of daily use. The bigger payoff is consistency over months.

Key takeaways

• A men's routine needs three jobs done well: clean, treat, protect.

• REYAL's version is three steps and ninety seconds, morning and night.

• The serum is the step most men skip and the one doing the most work.

• Wash after you train. Sweat left on the skin is what clogs pores.

• Add a daily sunscreen every morning. REYAL doesn't make one, so bring your own.

Want the whole routine in one box? The Essential Skincare Kit is all three steps, built to work together.