Best Face, Skin, and Oral Care Products for Men
2020 Has Been Rough, But Your Face Doesn't Have to Be
The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.
Product photos from retailer site.
It feels like January 1, 2020 was about 17 years ago. From losing iconoclasts — John Lewis and Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Kobe Bryant and Chadwick Boseman — to gaining a lethal, out of control global pandemic where America leads the world in deaths by far, it can be said that 2020 has been a rough, rough year, and we could use some good news.
With all of the sadness, frustration, and quarantine 2020 brought on, we have all spent a lot more time at home, be it alone or with loved ones, making our way through this WTF WFH time by practicing some solid self care. This practice likely means something different to everyone, but the act of taking care of oneself always starts with the personal vessel we call home — our body.
RELATED: These Are the AskMen 2020 Grooming Awards
So, for our annual grooming awards this year, it felt even more important to get them just right. Testing products while stuck inside with little else to do then slap on a mask and read up on ingredient labels, 2020 did end up bringing on something at least a little great — our best grooming awards to date.
Whether you’re looking for the newest, latest, greatest skin care or the best hair care out there, we scoured all the new launches of the past year to find every shiny silver lining there was to find, at least when it comes to grooming. Hopefully our hard work will bring you happiness as we wrap up one of the most flabbergasting years on record.
AskMen 2020 Grooming Awards Criteria
What was on our mind while we unpacked, pumped, and primped with all these awesome products?
Packaging: How easy is it to use? How does it hold up over time? Is it recyclable or eco-friendly?
Formula: Is it made from quality ingredients? Is it pleasant to use? Does it do what it claims?
Brand: What does it stand for? Is it BIPOC-, LGBTQ-, or women-owned? Is it a small business?
Look for the following labels when searching through the products for added benefits:
- Vegan
- Cruelty-Free
- CBD
- U.S.A. Made
- BIPOC-Owned
- LGBTQ-Owned
- Woman-Owned
After months and months of meticulously putting thousands of products to the test, we picked only the best, based on the criteria above, our expert advice, and most importantly, our first hand experience.
AskMen 2020 Expert Panel
These pros gave us insight into what they believe to be important in their expertises. Lookout for what they said throughout the awards.
Dr. Matt Nejad, DDS, Cosmetic and Biomimetic Dentist
Dr. Dhaval G. Bhanusali, MD FAAD, Dermatologist, Researcher, and Laser Surgeon
Vernon Scott, Celebrity Master Barber
Ian Michael Crumm, Hair, Skin, and Makeup Content Creator
Cassandra Bankson, Medical Esthetician, Skincare, Beauty, and Lifestyle Expert
Siqi Mou, CEO and Co-Founder HelloAva
Gloria Fu and Victoria Lu, Co-Founders, Chemist Confessions
Best Face Skin and Oral Care Products for Men
It’s no secret that a man’s face is important to the overall impression that he makes. Clear skin, full smile, can’t lose — but with so many options out there to take care of everything from puffy eyes to clogged pores, walking through the skin care aisle or skimming through all the options on Amazon can be quite overwhelming. So take advantage of all that WFH heavy lifting we’ve done for months and see which are our picks for best face, skin, and oral care products of 2020.
Best Acne Spot Treatment
Versed Game Over Acne Drying Treatment
It dries out whiteheads, soon-to-be whiteheads, and blackheads using 10% sulfur without disrupting the surrounding skin. Bonus: Packaging is made using 79% Post Consumer Recycled Plastic.
Best Dark Spot Treatment
ZitSticka HYPERFADE
Each patch is layered with 24 self-dissolving micro darts that release brightening, regenerative ingredients to lighten and brighten residual dark spots after a zit has run its course.
Best Anti-Aging Treatment
Paula's Choice CLINICAL 0.3% Retinol + 2% Bakuchiol Treatment
Triple-action retinol, bakuchiol and peptides support collagen-depleted skin to fight fine lines, deep wrinkles, enlarged pores, and loss of firmness.
Best Eye Cream
100% PURE Multi-Vitamin + Antioxidants PM Eye Treatment
A lot of eye creams are glorified face moisturizers in little jars. So, we opted for a truly unique, hard working eye serum this year. This richly moisturizing, oil-based eye treatment is concentrated with multiple vitamins and antioxidants to drastically lessen the appearance of lines and wrinkles, stimulate cellular regeneration, and promote both collagen and elastin production.
Best Eye Treatment
skyn ICELAND Dissolving Microneedle Eye Patches
These press-on treatment patches feature advanced bioactive dissolving microneedles that melt down into skin’s surface layers to help depuff, hydrate, firm, and smooth the appearance of fine lines around the delicate eye area.
Best Face Cleanser for Combination Skin
Cardon Purifying Clay Cleanser
This purifying cleanser provides deep down cleansing without drying the skin. Clay has four times the absorption power of charcoal and ionizes when mixed with water to hydrate the skin. In addition to three types of clay — kaolin, bentonite, and moroccan lava — the product features centella asiatica, a plant-derived antioxidant, and cactus extract.
Best Face Cleanser for Dry Skin
Urban Hydration Nourish & Rehydrate Castor & Shea Face Wash
This face wash combats dryness while soothing and relieving dry skin. While it works for all skin types — in part due to it lacking any silicones, parabens, polybeads and sulfates — dry skin particularly benefits from the rich castor oil and shea butter combo.
Best Face Cleanser for Oily Skin
Dr.Jart+ Teatreement Cleansing Foam
This cleansing foam is formulated with Australian tea tree to and coconut extracts designed to oily skin thorough cleaning without causing unnecessary dryness. By using an encapsulated salicylic acid that is only released on alkaline areas of the skin, it keeps pores from getting clogged and bogged down with excess sebum. This mild formula resets the skin’s vital pH balance, revealing bright and calm skin.
Best Face Wash for Acne-Prone Skin
CeraVe Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser
Benzoyl peroxide works to treat and prevent acne and blackheads by killing bacteria underneath the skin while the gentle, non-comedogenic CeraVe formula features ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and niacinamide and is free of fragrance and parabens to maintain the skin's natural moisture barrier.
Best Sheet Mask
MASK "For Him" Half Face Conditioning and Calming CBD Face Mask
This Broad Spectrum CBD-infused sheet mask delivers a soothing dose of moisture to revive dry, stressed skin as it gently conditions coarse facial hair. Cucumber fruit extract draws water toward skin and retains it and puffiness decreases thanks to anti-inflammatory ginseng and green tea oils.
Best Detoxifying Face Mask
KINSHIP Mint Mud Deep Pore Detox Mask
This power packed kaolin and bentonite clay mud mask unclogs pores and balances oil. Lactic acid and jojoba oil beads provide a chemical and physical exfoliant that removes dead skin layer while smoothing out the rough patches to reveal better looking skin. Bonus: This jar is made from 50% ocean waste plastic and 50% post-consumer recycled plastic.
Best Exfoliating Face Mask
Urban Skin Rx Even Tone Smooth & Glow Enzyme Mask
This radiance-boosting enzyme mask exfoliates and renews dull, uneven skin and improves the appearance of fine lines, blemishes, and dark marks. Glycolic and lactic acids work with vitamin C to clear congestion in the pores to reduce blackheads and smooth and brighten rough skin.
Best Hydrating Face Mask
Soft Moisture Mask
With subtle notes of ginger, this aptly named Moisture Mask is creamy, hydrating, and packed with powerful ingredients to soften skin. Use it a few times a week, or whenever skin is feeling dry, dull, or tired. You can relax for 15-30 minutes and rinse with warm water, or do like we do and lather it on before bed to leave it on as a sleep mask overnight.
Best Face Moisturizer for Oily Skin
Murad Clarifying Oil-Free Water Gel
This clarifying oil-free water gel actually uses innovative technology to interrupt the communication between bad bacteria so they can’t form a group and cause an imbalance. The result? Your microbiome stays balanced, and your skin looks more clear, hydrated, and healthy. Seriously!
Best Face Moisturizer for Combination Skin
The Crème Shop But First, Water — Invigorating Water Cream
The But First, Water collection is formulated to intensely hydrate skin for fresh, dewy #GlassSkin. Supplemented with moisturizing hyaluronic acid, brightening seaweed, skin-smoothing glycerin, and calming vitamin E, this facial hydrator is rich in minerals, antioxidants, and stimulates cell turnover.
Best Face Moisturizer for Dry Skin
Lord Jones Whole Plant Formula Acid Mantle Repair CBD Moisturizer
An acid mantle is a fancy term for the film on everyone’s skin that acts as a barrier against bacteria and other environmental contaminants. Whether you have dry skin genetically or are a victim of too much skin care — double cleansing, over-exfoliation, harsh acids — the skin barrier also keeps moisture for getting out, so it’s important to make sure it’s doing the best job it can. Add 250mg of CBD to this hyaluronic acid, ceramide, and squalane rich face cream and you get one calming, soothing moisturizer.
Best Face Moisturizer for Sensitive Skin
Cetaphil Deep Hydration Healthy Glow Daily Cream
The Cetaphil Deep Hydration Healthy Glow Daily Cream is formulated with the proprietary HydroSensitiv Complex to moisturize and soothe to replenish skin’s moisture for 48 hours. Add to that niacinamide to help improve skin’s radiance both immediately and overtime and hyaluronic acid to boost skin’s water content, and you have a great face lotion for even the most sensitive skin.
Best Face Round
LastObject LastRound
We are big fans of this brand and its initiative. Using 100% sustainably sourced materials, one reusable cotton pad replaces 1000 single-use cotton rounds. The LastSwab and LastTissue were both launched recently, but this new round is what has us the most excited for the future of our skin care.
Best Face Scrub
HoliFrog Como Popp-E Renewal Scrubby Wash
Poppy seeds and fine bamboo powder gently sweep away dead skin cells while omega fatty acids, vitamins, and moisture-rich oils hydrate and protect your complexion. The gentle, oil-gel formula emulsifies into a grime-dissolving milk once it hits water creating a gentle yet powerful scrub that even works on sensitive and acne-prone skin.
Best Hydrating Face Serum
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Hyaluronic acid is the gold standard to deeply quench your skin. This daily face serum is formulated with purified hyaluronic acid to provide deeply penetrating, long-lasting, lightweight hydration.
Best Vitamin C Face Serum
Perricone MD Vitamin C Ester CCC and Ferulic Brightening Complex 20%
This ultra-potent, supercharged serum is rich in antioxidants and formulated with the brands proprietary vitamin C ester plus two additional forms of vitamin C. This is one of the highest, most potent concentrations at 20% and it works together with vitamin E and ferulic acid to visibly brighten, smooth, and minimize discoloration and dark spots over time.
Best Face Toner
CALI HNDSME Skin Tonic Toner
This gentle tingly toner is packed with anti-inflammatory acids that rejuvenate and soothe skin. Powerful agents help combat breakouts while our blend of lavender, green tea, and tea tree oil help to fend off ingrown hairs and razor bumps.
Best Makeup Concealer
Chantecaille Real Skin+
Do men wear makeup? You bet your bottom dollar they do — and for those who do, we recommend this foundation to get started. It’s super light, easily blendable, and can be used all over, to camouflage those under eye bags, or just to cover up the stray blemish here and there.
Best Makeup for Eyebrows
Patrick Ta Beauty Major Brow Shaping Wax
This innovative defining wax is strong, yet flexible, taming and setting the most stubborn and coarse brow hairs. Why this over all the rest? It includes growth peptides to support healthy new growth, while glycerin and olive oil help to condition, soften, and protect both brows and skin.
Best Tinted SPF
ILIA Beauty Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40
If you aren’t quite sold on makeup and just want a hint of color with sun protection, we love this ILIA tinted mineral non-nano zinc oxide serum with SPF 40. It features additional skincare benefiting ingredients including hyaluronic acid, plant-based squalane, and niacinamide to even tone, soften fine lines, and hide imperfections.
Best Dental Floss
Terra & Co Brilliant Black Dental Floss
Made with activated charcoal, bamboo fiber, and coconut oil, this fluoride-and-gluten-free biodegradable floss works to effectively remove buildup and whiten between teeth. Packed in paper — not plastic — the naturally occurring anti-bacterial properties of charcoal cling to plaque, removing buildup and a blend of natural coconut oil, peppermint, and spearmint essential oils work to freshen breath.
Best Mouthwash
by Humankind Mouthwash
So, if we’re being honest, we need mouthwash in our daily lives. Swishing right after you brush helps rinse away all that enamel strengthening ingredients often found in your toothpaste. With that being said, sometimes you just need to swish a little mouthwash around, and when you do, make it this. In addition to a pleasant, alcohol-free formula, what makes it great is the shear design of it. The durable, glass cup standardizes the dilution of each tablet and the refillable, silicone tablet holder fits neatly right inside the cup which makes it perfect anytime, but especially on the go.
Best Daily Mineral Sunscreen for Face
Dermalogica Invisible Physical Defense SPF30
It’s hard to find a mineral-based facial sunscreen that doesn’t leave a white cast behind — especially in beards and stubble. Dermalogica gave us an option this year that protects from UVA, UVB, and blue light and we are thoroughly impressed. An invisible, weightless sunscreen that somehow blends easily, since it uses notoriously chalky non-nano zinc oxide — the gold standard in sun protection.
Best Daily Organic Sunscreen for Face
Jaxon Lane Rain Or Shine
If you're looking for a fool-proof, never chalky moisturizing sunscreen for everyday wear — rain or shine — the recently launched brand Jaxon Lane has a great option that goes on smooth, clear, and not greasy at all. This vitamin-packed, daily moisturizing SPF 50 sunscreen improves skin with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, green tea, licorice root, and ginseng.
Best Teeth Whitening Kit
SmileDirectClub Teeth Whitening Kit
These pens contain the same enamel-safe whitening agent used by dentists for a lot less cash. It’s clean and neat thanks to the no-mess brush applicator that lets you paint the gel directly onto your teeth, and the proprietary 20-LED accelerator light boosts its whitening power. We found twice a day for a week was enough to give us a serious smile upgrade.
Best Toothbrush
Oral-B iO
The latest race among pulsating pearl white polishers is making them smart. Very smart. This year, Oral-B stepped it up and released one of the smartest toothbrushes to date. The iO features a frictionless magnetic drive to distribute energy more efficiently to the tips of the bristles, resulting in a smooth, quiet, cleaning experience. So quiet, in fact, we have had to check the easy-to-read timer located on the handle to make sure we are brushing the proper quadrant. Well, we could have just checked the iO app when we were done to see how we did. (See, we said smart.)
Best Toothpaste
Boka Coco Ginger Toothpaste
So we are not ones to push for fluoride-free toothpastes (we’re just being honest with you) but if the naturally restorative Japanese gold-standard in dental care — nontoxic nano-hydroxyapatite (n-Ha), the primary foundation of our teeth and bones — isn’t enough to sell you, then maybe the uniquely spicy and refreshing coconut and ginger flavor is.
Best Whitening Toothpaste
Wellnesse Fresh Mint Whitening Toothpaste
This mineralizing toothpaste uses Hydroxyapatite — the naturally occurring mineral that makes up tooth enamel — to restore enamel and remineralize teeth. Addition natural ingredients including aloe, green tea, and neem support a healthy oral microbiome by soothing gums, freshening breath, and of course, cleaning and whitening teeth.
Best Lip Balm
Gosling's Original ChopSaver Lip Care
This delightful lip balm uses arnica, calendula, and white willow with natural emollients including shea butter, mango butter, aloe, avocado oil, and vitamin E to create a unique and protective balm free of petroleum, alcohol, camphor, menthol, and chemical preservatives. The only added ingredient we need is SPF, and this little stick has enough to keep those lips — with skin much thinner than anywhere else on the face — perfectly protected.
Best Cosmetic Treatment for Face
Galderma Restylane Kysse
Once reserved for the Kylie Jenner set, lip fillers have become more subtle and therefore more in demand from the male set. Restylane Kysse is the first hyaluronic acid lip filler, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), formulated with XpresHAn Technology, which allows for the filler to naturally integrate with the tissue, so you can still keep your natural-looking expressions.Sure, some guys enjoy having pouty, plumpy lips, but for those of us looking for a dose of hydration (it is hyaluronic acid after all) or to simply balance out a thinner kisser, the newest iteration of the well-known filler might just be the best yet.
Learn more at RestylaneUSA.com
SEE ALL OUR 2020 GROOMING AWARDS WINNERS:
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Face, Skin, and Oral Care Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Hair Care Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Body Grooming Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Shave and Beard Care Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Splurge-Worthy Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Value Grooming Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best Eco-Friendly Grooming Products
- Grooming Awards 2020: Best BIPOC-Owned Grooming Products
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