The different considerations of male facial aesthetics treatments

The different considerations of male facial aesthetics treatments

Are there any things that a man seeking aesthetics treatments should know or ask about during their initial consultation?

In last month’s blog, we saw that there is a growing demand for facial aesthetics treatments for men. We also highlighted the most popular treatment options.

But are facial aesthetics treatments for men different to facial aesthetics treatments for women? Surely, facial aesthetics treatments are suitable for everyone, whatever their gender?

Are there any things that a man seeking aesthetics treatments should know or ask about during their initial consultation?

Let’s take a look.

Different reasons to have facial aesthetics treatments

Although we all have individual goals when seeking cosmetic treatments of any kind, women tend to be seeking a softer, more youthful and feminine appearance. On the other hand, men usually want to add more definition to their faces to achieve a more conventionally masculine look. Someone who is transgender or non-binary may be looking for treatments that help their appearance to align more closely with their gender identity.

We have to think about these desired outcomes when deciding how to approach your treatment.

Feminine beauty ideals

Until recently, facial aesthetics marketing has been aimed squarely at women because women account for ten times more of the medical aesthetics market than men.

Often, men first arrive at the idea of having an aesthetics treatment after a woman in their life – typically a partner, mum, sister or friend – recommends it. While this is great, it means that they may only have seen how aesthetics treatments enhance a face with feminine beauty ideals in mind rather than how they might achieve a more masculine look.

You might want to ask whether the clinic has before and after pictures of male clients who have had aesthetic treatments or if they have experience of working with male faces.

Understanding masculine features

When thinking about aesthetics treatments for men, your clinician will need a good understanding of how facial anatomy differs between men and women.

The male skull, for example, tends to be larger than a female skull but also has a different shape. Men tend to have a large forehead with larger brow ridges above the eye sockets (supraorbital ridges), a wider area of skin between the eyebrows above the bridge of the nose (a wide glabella), square eye sockets (orbit), and a more prominent, protruding lower jaw than that of a female face.

Men also have increased skeletal muscle mass, which includes the mimetic muscles – i.e. muscles that control facial expression – having less facial subcutaneous fat, plus thicker skin with more blood vessels and more sebaceous gland activity.

What does this mean for male aesthetic treatments?

Considerations when using wrinkle-relaxing injections

From an anatomical perspective, a man may need more wrinkle-relaxing injections than a woman to achieve the desired outcome. This is because, as mentioned above, men have larger, denser musculature in the face. Men will also metabolise products at a different rate to women, which affects the quantity needed and how long the treatment results will last.

We always use the injections differently in terms of placement, quantity, etc. when creating a more classically masculine brow line as this tends to be straighter and sit lower on the brow bone than a slightly arched feminine brow. We also need to consider how the use of wrinkle-relaxing injections will affect the hairline, as this is usually higher for men.

It’s also important to strike a careful balance between using enough wrinkle-relaxing products to work with the denser male musculature while keeping the results as subtle as possible. If a clinician uses too much product to smooth away fine lines and wrinkles, it can feminise the face.

Issues we consider with dermal fillers for men

While dermal fillers are a fantastic treatment option for men, we have to use them with a good awareness of how to masculinise the face. For example, you may want to add a bit more volume to hollow cheeks, a straightforward goal; however, make the area too rounded and it could feminise your look.

Dermal fillers work well to add definition to the chin and jawline, making them a great choice for men, but, again, the skill here is to create stronger angles rather than the more subtle definition we would look for in a female face.

We can use dermal fillers to alter subtly the proportions of each third of the face (upper, middle and lower) to reflect masculine ideals rather than the feminine looks you may have seen in before and after pictures on clinic websites.

When using skin peels

Without wanting to fall back on too many gender stereotypes, research shows that men are less likely than women to follow any kind of skincare regime. However, good skincare is essential.

Testosterone and having a greater number of sebaceous glands in the skin can make men more prone to acne than women. Regular shaving can also damage the skin, leaving it vulnerable to dryness, razor burn, in-growing hairs and more.

Men are less likely to protect their skin against sun damage or seek medical advice about skin changes. They also have more collagen and elastin in the skin, which may make them more vulnerable to damage from the sun’s UV rays. These are a few of the reasons that, by the age of 65, men are twice as more likely to develop melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.

Skin peels can be a brilliant treatment choice for men because they help to address issues such as acne or acne scarring, as well as damage from shaving and even minimising sun damage. We can use peels of different concentrations and depths to focus on particular issues, recognising that men have thicker and oilier skin than women, which may influence which peel is the right choice.

Individual treatments for your individual needs

These are just a few of the considerations we need to keep in mind for male aesthetic treatments.

If you are a man wanting aesthetic treatments, it’s important to choose a clinician who understands the unique differences of the male facial anatomy and how to adjust popular treatments to work with rather than ignore these differences.

Use your consultation to ask questions. Ask:

●      Your practitioner about their credentials and experience (especially of working with male clients)

●      To see examples of their work (again, if they can show you before and after pictures of male clients, you’ll find it helpful)

●      What treatment you need to get the look you want

●      How having thicker skin and denser musculature might affect your treatment and also how they consider the conventionally “masculine” proportions of the face

●      Whether they have any reviews from male clients

●      How many treatments are needed (research shows that men often prefer one treatment with longer downtime rather than a course of treatments over more than one appointment – where this is offered)

We have a growing number of male clients here at Medikaur because we have trained extensively to offer aesthetic treatments for men based on an in-depth understanding of male facial anatomy.