The Best Body Lotion for Men: Powerful Enough for Anyone

Body lotion is something that men have ignored for too long. This one isn’t just for the ladies, lotion is an important product in your beauty regime that will keep your skin looking young, feeling soft and prevent it from drying out. There also seems to be a large divide in body lotion usage between races , with caucasians particularly refusing to use lotion, it might be because flakey skin isn’t as obvious on our paler skin. Either way, we should all be using lotion. It’s not expensive but it can make a huge difference to the quality of your skin, especially as you age.

Why Do You Need to Use Body Lotion?

Your skin is the biggest organ in your body, but it’s also the only visible one. The unfortunate reality is that the majority of us care far more about what people can see than our internal health. But if that’s the case, it’s surprising that so few people are using cream. There are so many issues that can be reduced by just using a moisturizer. The most common one I hear in Toronto is people complaining that their skin gets itchy in the winter . This isn't normal. Your skin is just really dry! You need to be putting lotion onto your skin to hydrate it and prevent it from cracking. When your skin feels itchy, that is a symptom of the skin cracking and peeling. You need to be using lotion.

Most lotions contain similar ingredients and for the majority of men a unisex lotion is okay. Over the past decade there have been more moisturizers created specifically for men, our understanding is that these creams are potentially more concentrated. While not all men have tougher skin than women, the majority of people who do manual labor or work outdoors are men and those men are going to have tougher skin. If you are part of this group then you might need a more heavy-duty lotion that can care for the damage that sun exposure can do to your skin.

Secondly, it seems that they’ve changed up the scents. A lot of unisex or female lotions have herbal or flower scents that might turn off some men and discourage them from using it. Instead, the best body lotions for men have masculine scents; bay rum , cedar and spice.

As with anything that you’re putting on or in your body, it’s important to know what the product contains and how those ingredients will affect you. A lot of the lotions that you’ll find in stores are full of natural ingredients that are great for you to use, but not all of them are. It’s important to be able to tell the difference. We would recommend sticking to products that use natural ingredients instead of cheap chemical replacements. This can help you to avoid reactions and side-effects. There are a lot of ingredients in most products, but let’s go over the important ones:

Parabens

Parabens are used to prevent the growth of bacteria in goods, extending their shelf-life and therefore driving down the price of products that would have otherwise been thrown out. Parabens have been found to mimic the effect of estrogen , leading to some people calling for bans and restrictions on its use. We aren’t chemists or biologists. If someone smarter than me tells me to avoid something, I’ll avoid it where possible. Choices like this are for you make, but we would always suggest that you keep it natural.

Anti-oxidants

Antioxidants have got a lot of exposure in juices and smoothies recently, but you can also find them in beauty products. Some common ingredients include; jojoba oil, pomegranate and grapeseed oil. It’s suggested that antioxidants can help to protect your skin by limiting the production of free radicals , which can supposedly damage your skin cells.

Vitamins

Over the past few years many of us have become aware of how deficient we are in certain vitamins and minerals. The best body lotions will have a range of vitamins, including; B, C, D and E. Vitamin D is usually produced naturally by your body when you are exposed to sun, but most of us don’t get anywhere near the levels of sun that we need. Low vitamin D levels have been tied to depression , with so many of us deficient it’s crucial that we take any extra vitamins we can get.

Sunscreen

Even if you don’t work outside, sunscreen is useful to help protect your skin. Many of us who have pale skin don’t realize how delicate our skin is, spending time outside without sunscreen, even if you don’t burn, isn’t always good for your skin. Using a separate sunscreen is a pain, having it as part of your body lotion is an easier alternative.

Alcohol

Surprised? Alcohol is in many of our beauty products. There is a lot of controversy about the use of alcohol in skincare, but it would appear that it can be beneficial, despite a lot of people claiming otherwise. Dr Audrey Kunin, M.D. said that “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ‘I can’t use that product, it contains alcohol and will dry, irritate my skin.’ Is this true? Probably not.“ Alcohol is generally used as an emollient or a slip agent, giving the cream its texture.

Extra Ingredients

These are the ingredients that you couldn’t miss if you tried. The marketing teams at these companies shove them down your throat, that’s not to say that they aren’t good for you, just that you can’t miss them. One great example of this is shea butter , it seems to be in every product these days. It’s an excellent moisturizer that helps to soften and moisturize the skin. Other examples include; green tea, aloe vera and plant extracts.

Everyone Lotion for Every Man

This is, in our opinion, the best body lotion for men. It’s competitively priced, filled with natural goodness and performs well. This is one of the cheaper lotions that we found, this is especially impressive because it’s not filled with cheap chemicals. Instead, it contains natural ingredients like sesame seed oil, coconut oil, and vegetable glycerin.

It it scented with cedar and citrus, but it it’s overpowering. The scent is very mild and within 20-seconds you won’t notice that it’s there, this is perfect because it won’t overpower your aftershave or cologne. The scent isn’t very manly, it’s a more neutral fragrance that will suit both men and women.

The Everyone Lotion is free from parabens and GMO ingredients, being created from natural sources. With the natural oils it is quite greasy, but this makes it particularly great for men who generally have tougher skin. If you prefer a less-greasy lotion then you should choose another product, but we would suggest sticking with this. The greasy feeling will quickly disappear and it helps to prevent your skin from cracking or flaking. The Everyone Lotion also contains essential oils that will help to refresh your skin and prevent it from aging prematurely.

Overall, for the price it’s an excellent product. You get a huge, 32 fluid ounce bottle that should last for months to come. It’s a thick and oily cream that will moisturize any mans skin and prevent it from flaking or cracking. At this price, it’s hard to go wrong.

Aveeno Daily Lotion

This daily cream is highly-recommended by thousands of men. It’s clinically proven to relieve dry skin and to moisturize for up to 24-hours. It contains oatmeal with they claim will help to sooth the skin by restoring it back to its normal pH levels.

Unlike the Everyone Lotion, this Aveeno Daily doesn’t have any scent at all. This is really great for two reasons; it’s proof that they haven’t put any extra fragrances into the cream and it doesn’t have a scent that will turn off some men.

Sunscreen is a great addition in any cream or lotion because it helps to protect the skin from the sun, something that many of us forget to do. This Aveeno lotion contains an spf15 sunscreen that should protect you from light sun exposure in most areas. However, this sunscreen does make the lotion a little greasier than some people will like. We don’t think this should put you off, this greasy feeling will disappear within a couple-minutes and leaves you protected from the sun. NOTE: Some men have suggested that some bottles don’t contain any sun protection. We can’t advise either way, please check with the seller. We took our information from the bottle that we read.

On the top of the bottle there is a plastic pump, this is a handy addition that makes it much easier to use. This is a rather large bottle, 18 fluid ounces, it should last you for at least a couple months.

The reviews which we read about this Aveeno lotion were excellent, some men claimed that it was the best lotion they had ever used. It seems to moisturize effectively, without any excessive grease, without an unpleasant scent and with natural ingredients. If you prefer a lotion without any scent then this would be our top recommendation. It’s more expensive than the Everyone Lotion, but it’s also a great choice.

Nivea Men Maximum Hydration 3 in 1 Lotion

We wanted to include a lotion that you’d be able to find in most drug stores, just in case you don’t want to buy a lotion online for some reason (we have never had any problems ordering online).

What better brand to choose than Nivea? Nivea have been heavily promoting their Nivea for Men range over the past few years and our experience has been very positive. We love their body washes and this lotion is the newest addition to our recommended Nivea products.

The “3 in 1” refers to being able to use on your body, face and hands. This is mainly a marketing ploy, yes, the skin on these areas are slightly different, but not different enough to need to use a separate lotion for each.

It’s scented with a light ‘sea minerals’ fragrance that isn’t overpowering. It’s a light smell that disappears quickly after application, it smells of salt and the sea, a pleasant smell that is hard to notice.

Compared to the other lotions that we’ve listed, this one isn’t as oily. The cream is slightly thicker and a darker cream color rather than a translucent oily white. It’s more gentle than the Everyone Lotion, which is far more intensive, the Nivea Men’s lotion is designed as a daily cream for those people with only slightly dry skin. If you have much drier skin then we would recommend something more heavy-duty such as the Everyone Lotion.

This is also the cheapest lotion on this list, by a small margin, with a 16.9 fluid ounce bottle available around $5 - $6. This makes it a great everyday cream for those of us with oily skin or only slightly dry skin.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have any added vitamins or essential oils. This is disappointing because you won’t get the same benefits as you would from some of the all-natural lotions that are packed with goodness. It’s called “maximum hydration” and that’s the best way to describe it. It leaves your skin feeling hydrated, but it doesn’t quite feel nourished as you’d expect from some of the thicker natural creams. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a different type of product that is aimed at a different audience. For the average man, this is an excellent choice. For men with thicker, dryer and itchy skin, try the Everyone Lotion instead.