Why Five Minutes Is Enough

Most men who take a quiet pride in how they look are not spending an hour in the bathroom. They have settled on four or five steps that suit their skin, their schedule and their climate, and they repeat them without much thought. The result is a face that looks healthy rather than laboured, and a morning that never feels rushed. If you can shave, shower and eat breakfast in the time you have, you can groom properly too. What follows is a routine you can complete in about five minutes, with a little extra housekeeping once a week.

Step One: Cleanse Gently, Not Aggressively

Begin with lukewarm water and a cleanser made for the face. Bar soap intended for the body strips away the natural oils that keep skin supple, leaving it tight and dry, and often oilier by mid-afternoon as the sebaceous glands overcompensate. A pea-sized amount of a gentle, pH-balanced cleanser is plenty. Work it over the forehead, nose, cheeks and jaw with your fingertips for around thirty seconds, then rinse and pat dry with a clean towel rather than scrubbing.

If you shave in the morning, cleanse first and shave second. Warm water softens the beard, and a clean surface reduces the chance of ingrown hairs and irritation. Those with dry or sensitive skin may prefer a cream or milk cleanser, applied and tissued off, while oily and combination skin generally tolerates a light foaming gel. Whatever you choose, if your face feels tight afterwards, the product is too harsh for you.

Step Two: Moisturise While the Skin Is Still Damp

Apply your moisturiser within a minute of patting dry. A moisturiser's job is to hold water in the skin rather than to add it, so working it into slightly damp skin makes it earn its keep. Use a fingertip's worth and press it in rather than rubbing. Concentrate on the areas that dry out first: the cheeks, around the mouth, the brow. The forehead and nose rarely need extra.

• Oily or combination skin: a lightweight lotion or gel, oil-free and non-comedogenic.
• Dry skin: a richer cream with ceramides or glycerin, especially through the winter.
• Sensitive skin: fragrance-free formulas with fewer ingredients, patch-tested first.
• Every skin type: a daytime moisturiser with SPF 30 or above, or a separate sunscreen layered over the top.

Sun protection is the single most effective thing you can do for the long-term appearance of your skin, and it takes ten seconds. Do not skip it on cloudy days; UV passes through cloud quite happily.

Step Three: A Subtle Fragrance, Applied with Restraint

Fragrance should be discovered, not announced. Two sprays is almost always enough: one to the chest beneath the shirt, one to the side of the neck. Pulse points such as the wrists and the base of the throat work because warmth releases the scent gradually, but avoid rubbing the wrists together afterwards — it crushes the top notes and shortens the life of the fragrance considerably.

Apply after moisturising, when the skin is settled but still holds a little moisture, which helps the scent last. In an office or on public transport, keep to lighter concentrations: an eau de toilette, a cologne, or a fresh citrus or woody composition. Heavier oud, amber and leather scents are better saved for evenings and cold weekends. If you can still smell your own fragrance an hour after applying, you have probably used too much.

Keep Your Tools Clean and Ready

A routine is only as good as the equipment behind it. A razor left wet on the side of the basin grows bacteria, and a brush caked with old product will not lather properly and can harbour irritants.

• Rinse the razor under hot water after every use and stand it upright to dry, head up.
• Replace blades every five to seven shaves, or sooner if it starts to drag.
• Wash a shaving brush once a week with a little gentle shampoo, rinse thoroughly and dry it bristles-down.
• Use a clean flannel each morning if you can; at the very least, change it every couple of days.
• Wipe down bottle tops and caps occasionally — they collect dust and grime surprisingly quickly.

None of this takes long, and it protects both your skin and the money you have spent on decent tools.

Buy for Your Skin, Not for the Trend

The grooming market moves fast, and it is easy to accumulate half-used jars because a particular ingredient or a piece of packaging was having a moment. Resist it. Ten products used inconsistently will do less for you than three used every day. Introduce one new item at a time, give it a fortnight, and judge it on how your skin feels and looks rather than on how it was advertised.

Keep the routine simple enough that you would still follow it on a busy Tuesday. Cleanse, moisturise, protect, fragrance — done in five minutes, done well, done every day. That is the whole secret, and it has never really changed.