Grooming mistakes that make you look older

How you groom your facial hair makes a difference to your perceived age.

What a Man Should do to Look Younger

Youth makes up for grooming errors, but when you get older, you need to take care to avoid looking shrivelled. As you age, you begin to sprout hairs in new places- which is why old men seem to be covered in bristles. Most of these tips come down to managing your body and facial hair to help you maintain a youthful look.

Stray ear hairs

One day, you will notice your youth is over when you begin to sprout rogue hairs from your ears. Leaving these unkempt is a grave grooming mistake. Trust me, they do not blend in with your head hair. You can take years off your look by removing your ear hairs. You can do this using tweezers, or with a special trimmer tool which can be obtained from a shaver shop. While you are at it, make sure any protruding nose hairs are taken care of too. This will require the same trimmer, but with a different attachment.

Not using moisturiser

Avoid the shrivelled up look by keeping your skin moisturised. Many men skip this step in their grooming routine, thinking their skin can take care of itself just fine. As you age, your skin slowly loses its suppleness. Working moisturiser into your skin every day will help prevent you from looking like a prune as you get older, and will leave you looking healthier in the short-term.

If applying moisturiser to your face is not manly enough for you, just imagine you are oiling a leather jacket.

Bushy beard

To look youthful, no facial hair or well-groomed stubble. A thick beard is more masculine, but it also adds years onto your face. It is best to minimise your facial hair if you are conscious of your age. If you must sport a beard, it needs to be well maintained and neat. Too bushy, and you will look like a hermit who has been hiding himself away from society for fifty years.

Hairy neck

When you get your hair cut, the barber will shave the back of your neck, creating a more distinctive boundary between your neck and your hair. If you keep your hair quite short, your hairy neck will not be covered up once your head hair begins to grow out. This will result in an unkempt look. It is difficult to trim down your own neck hair, though you can do it with an elaborate mirror set-up and some practice. It is best to go to the barber in between cuts for a neck trim.

Gross nails

You do not want to be showing a lifetime of wear on your nails. Trim your nails regularly to keep them all the same length. They should be short, but not as short as those of a nail-biter. Keep your nails clean- you may need to push dirt out from under your nails if you spent a lot of time outdoors or engaged in manual labor. Oil your cuticles to keep them looking youthful, and trim off any dry skin.