Last week, my younger brother asked for my help in taking his photo for a school project. After showing him what I felt was the best shot, he told me that his skin doesn’t look so good. I offered to do his makeup for the photo, because I knew that all he needed was a bit of concealer and powder. My brother declined. He said that he is simply not comfortable with wearing makeup. When I asked if it’s because he thinks makeup is just for girls, he said no.

We know that skin care is for everyone. But based on stories shared by members of the Project Vanity community, it seems like getting the men in our lives to use skin care is quite a challenge! It's especially difficult to get them to use sunscreen because of common complaints like “it feels sticky” and “it requires too much effort”. 

Do you believe that men are from Mars and women are from Venus? While the differences can sometimes feel very stark, the fact is that many of our needs are the same, including personal care. I mean, both have the same simplistic goal to get cleaned and look groomed. So why do brands insist on putting out separate product lines for men and women?

My idea of a low maintenance beauty routine is cutting down my skincare to four steps and taking 15 minutes tops for application. My boyfriend’s idea? Skincare activities that can be done once every couple of weeks and that will require low to zero physical effort on his part! We're working on it, but if you’re lucky enough to find a guy who believes in sunscreen, hold them close and consider me envious. For SO's that are as low maintenance as mine is though, here are six beauty activities that you can still do together to help him get used to the idea of taking care of his skin.