Manmade : the essential skincare & grooming reference for every man

281 Pages·2015·44.81 MB·English

by  Salgardo

For my parents, Ken and Lorene,
for guiding me toward the man I am today

CONTENTS
Foreword by Anthony Mackie
Introduction
PART I BACK TO BASICS
1 Grooming Primer
Your Little Black Book for Looking Your Best
2 Getting the Job Done Right
What Every Man Should Have, Know, and Use
3 Questions from Real Life
Key Answers and Useful Tips from Someone on the Front
Line
PART II REAL MEN IN THEIR REAL WORLDS
4 The Modern Gentleman
What It Takes to Be Polished and On Point Today
Great Skin Starts and Ends with These Basics
5 The Hands-On Man
How-To’s and Hacks for the Guy Who Gets Things Done
Looking and Feeling Confident at Every Age
6 The Extreme Dude
Practical Advice for the Man Who Pushes Limits
Tattoo and You
7 The Rebel Artist
A Few Rules for Thriving Against the Grain
Travel Grooming Essentials
8 The Renaissance Man
A Thoughtful Approach to Maintaining Body and Soul
When to Go to a Pro
PART III FOR YOUR QUICK REFERENCE
9 The Takeaway
A One-Stop Hit List for an Updated You
Hair, Face, Shaving, Facial Hair, Eyes, Nails, Hands, Feet,
Bodycare and Manscaping, and Fragrance
Acknowledgments
Index

FOREWORD
BY ANTHONY MACKIE
From cleanliness and purity, good things can grow.
I have found this to be true in all aspects of life: my love, my family, my career, my
philanthropy. For me, getting rid of all the noise, the distraction, and the dirt of
life makes everything else possible. As a man, doing so is a commitment to those I
love. As an actor, it is essential to what I do when I transform myself for a role. As
a citizen of this planet, it is how I keep my promise of shared respect and
stewardship of where we all live.
So in my life, being a man is about finding ways to achieve a clean mind, spirit,
and body. Caring for myself is how I prepare to care for and connect with others.
It isn’t just a ritual I go through, it is a philosophy I live by. It may be tempting to
see skincare and grooming as nothing more than necessary tasks, but they are more
than that. They are, very often, our first intentional acts of the day—the moments
when we focus and decide how to present ourselves to the world.
At least that is how I see it: “getting ready” is really about “becoming ready”—
focused, prepared—for what is to come. Life can be tough, random, even chaotic at
times. We all have to put on our game faces—our best—and push through it. That’s
why I think a book like this matters.
Of course, like so many men, I had to learn how to care for myself and what it
meant to do so properly. It wasn’t part of how I grew up. My dad worked
construction for forty years, and used no more than a bar of soap at the end of
workdays. End of story. No SPF for his hours out in the sun. No moisturizer to
help his skin recover while he slept. No hand salve to ease the wear of labor.
Believe it or not, I grew up not even aware that as an African American I could get
a sunburn (and, wow, was the first one was a doozy).
There was a lot to learn along the way to where life has taken me. I did not even
There was a lot to learn along the way to where life has taken me. I did not even
know what to buy, nor where to buy it. I followed the advice of experts, Chris
Salgardo among them. And I soon ended up realizing that by caring for myself
with intention I looked better, felt better, and presented myself to others with
more focus.
You don’t have to be in the public eye to take your grooming and skincare
seriously. And doing it right doesn’t have to be a big deal. For me, it is part of the
job—but it is also part of my life. It does not matter what type of guy you are—
maybe polished and professional, maybe rugged and carefree. We all benefit from
taking just a few minutes to ready ourselves for the world before us.
For younger men, getting the basics right early on will help more than I can tell
you. You will be protecting your skin, finding what works best, and feeling
confident sooner in life. My six-year-old son loves the time we spend getting the
dirt to go away and making all things bright and fresh. He is incredibly keen on
being “put together” and looking good at school. From this clean place, I know he
can grow into anybody he dreams of being.
No, there is no secret potion—but yes, there is a bit of magic that comes when we
decide to care about the details. It is how we show respect for ourselves and those
around us. This book will help you do that, no matter who you are now or may
become throughout your life.
When I first met Chris Salgardo at an event in Los Angeles, I confided in him that
I finally understood why skincare and grooming mattered—far beyond just that bar
of soap my dad used. We became great friends. I hope you will benefit from his
insights and wisdom here as much as I have.