In an age of Instagram filters, us guys have had the pressure turned up when it comes to looking as good in real life. But from advertisements to sportsman endorsements, it’s confusing knowing where to start when it comes to choosing skin products. Robert O’Connor is skeptical but willing to be surprised on his trip to his Elemis Biotec Super Charge facial for Men at the Shelbourne Hotel’s recently remodelled spa.

The Treatment

While some guys are ready to run straight to Botox and fillers, there are plenty of things you can do if you’re not ready – or indeed not yet age advanced enough – to take such measures. The worst thing you can do for your skin, according to dermatologists, is to regularly change your ‘regimen’.

Elemis UK & International trainer, Natalie Smith says, “While women tend to be more curious and will buy a full range from one brand, then buy an eye cream from a different brand if it looks promising, men tend to be more loyal – if they find something that seems to be working well for them, they’ll stick with it”.

On the day I arrive for my facial at The Shelbourne, I’m looking forward to the relaxation aspects and could happily spend my day in the Spa’s relaxation room where guests can sip a vast array of herbal teas and read one of the magazines from the room’s even more vast selection of publications. But this is no dentist waiting room – the heavily upholstered chairs are a kind of heaven and the décor is enough to make you want to transport yourself back to Georgian times before everything became quite so simple in that clinical Swedish fashion I love to hate.

Despite the grandeur, I don’t have high expectations – I have combination skin which refuses to do what it’s told. I eventually manhandled the mid-20’s breakouts into submission with a combination of prescription potions, but as for razor burn and ingrown hairs, I took the easy way out – stopped shaving – until today that is. I can see my jaw line for the first time in years, but what I don’t like, and what I will later tell my skin therapist about, is the layer of bumpy red skin on my neck that can’t be demolished nor disguised.

As I’m escorted by the friendly Elemis facialist, who is showing no signs of having taken a red-eye despite flying in last night, I am curious as to how this facial will differ from the two or three I’ve had in the last five years on the occasional country club or city break.

The answer is technology – when I hear an electronic device being switched on I feel slight concern, yet for the first time today I feel my inner cynic subside. Some people want peace and quiet during their treatment; I want the details to be delivered as it happens in the fashion of Fox News. “What’s that machine?”, I ask, sounding like an elderly guy whose just seen an iPad.

It’s an Ultrasonic Peel, using a spatula that itself uses Piezoelectric current causing 27,000 vibrations per second through a quartz/ceramic head – drawing out impurities, deep cleansing and exfoliating surface impurities and pigmentation. Suddenly I find myself wondering if I’ll wake up looking like Samantha from Sex and the City that time she terrified everyone with the results of her red-raw chemical peel – but I couldn’t be further from the truth, the next day my face is smooth, and the shininess of yesterday has subsided, so I don’t have that skating rink forehead look sometimes associated with Botox. The property of the Ultrasonic spatula that really speaks to me though, is it stimulates collagen production to minimise the appearance of fine lines, while accelerating blood and lymphatic circulation to aid the healing process.

Whilst I believe the over-taut look at any age looks unnatural and doesn’t necessarily promote a younger look despite one’s efforts, I’ve always thought if the skin around the eyes is smooth, the person will look fresh and youthful. So when I feel that spatula caressing my under-eye area, I’m finally being converted.

When I feel my face being lightly spritzed I expect to find my facial lady standing above me with a spray can of Gwyneth Paltrow’s favourite new miracle water – but no, it’s another ‘device’ – and what a device it is. “It’s like my own personal moist air conditioning” I say, to which my therapist replies “Yes, but this is good for you!”

02 Infusion, despite sounding like something you install on your iPhone, is a therapy that uses powerful bursts of compressed air to infuse the skin with a combination of 95% pure oxygen and selected high-potency actives to help visibly plump out fine lines and increase skin firmness. But that’s not all, as they say on infomercials – whilst helping to restore elasticity and stimulate tissue repair, 02 Infusion gives you the look of having had the best sleep of your life – something plenty of young professionals have no experience of in their overcrowded schedules.

After my facial, I am treated to a consultation – and this to me is the key ingredient of all Elemis has to offer. It’s like a built-in dermatologist’s appointment in the sense that you aren’t being randomly sold the most expensive products from behind a spa desk, but rather being advised of the products that you could actually benefit from having been inspected by the therapist over the last 60 minutes.

If you’re not the kind of guy who wants a 10-step ‘regimen’ every morning and night, you will want to go in for the basics, though there is nothing basic about any of the Elemis Biotech ingredients. They’ve worked hard to eliminate paraffins from the vast majority of their products, replacing with the most natural plant extracts and oils the planet has to offer.

Take Home Product Range

The ‘Time for Men’ collection includes a Deep Cleanse Facial Wash (€26.00) that’s ultra masculine – from its milk protein base to its touches of oak bark and spearmint, there’s something old-school about this product that ticks my boxes. If like me your shaving experience resembles the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Elemis recommends making it a two-step process. Start by covering the area with Smooth Result Shave Oil (€29.50), which is also suitable for electric razors if you’re of that persuasion, and top it with the range’s Ice-Cool Foaming Shave Gel (€29.50), containing witch hazel, the magic ingredient to sooth razor burn, and English oak, which again has that alpha-male yet elegant scent.

When it comes to moisturising, your options really open up. Elemis’ jewel in the crown and number one selling product is its Pro-Collagen Anti-Aging Marine Cream (€121.00), with one sold every minute in the world. When I heard this fact I thought it must have been down to an international billboard campaign or an A-list celebrity endorsement, but the real truth is, it just feels next-level amazing. Even if the results were minimal, this moisturizer makes you feel like a million dollars. The product celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year, and has an impressive 21 beauty awards to its name.

If like a lot of men, you prefer a lighter moisturiser, the Daily Moisture Boost (€35.50) from the mens range is a great daily recharger for the skin combining tamanu, bamboo and citrus oils, which will work through the day to restore the skin’s elasticity. Dermatologists constantly try to drive home the message to men, particularly in Ireland, that regardless of the weather, if you’re not wearing SPF, your skin is exposed to the damaging elements. Elemis’ Liquid Layer SPF 30 (€36.00) acts as a UVA/UVB barrier to defend you from the daily pollutants of city life.

To round off my regimen, my consultant offered up Pro-Collagen Hydra-Gel Eye Masks (€64.50). These are your weekend treat, allowing you to put the effects of the hard-working week at the office on the inside while you keep up appearances on the social circuit. Sold in a box of six sets of strips to be placed below the eye area for 20 minutes, these masks are clinically proven to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles instantly! Whether this is a permanent thing or not remains to be seen – but on my first use I was impressed that my crows feet appeared to have taken the weekend off too. The ingredients include a potent plankton extract, combined with the brand’s go-to padina pavonica, and finally the popular hyaluronic acid, which handles the delicate skin of the eye area, hydrating it with care.

The catalog of products available at Elemis is endless – and these aren’t mid range prices – but nor are they mid-range products. So if you find yourself lost, start with our top product picks as listed above, or if you’re a man of the bespoke is best school of thought, book yourself in for a treatment at the sumptuous Spa at the Shelbourne, and reap the rewards of a one-to-one consultation, but a word of warning – be prepared to feel like you’re on nature’s Xanax for the rest of the day – this facial is relaxing to the point it should come with a ‘Do not operate heavy machinery’ warning.

Call 6634500 to make an appointment for your treatment at The Spa at The Shelbourne, or find out more about Elemis skincare for Men at its website.