How Darren Criss overcame his fear of gym bros

Actor Darren Criss, 32, has a lot to say about grooming, diet, fitness and, most important, sleep. Criss, a San Francisco native who lives in Los Angeles, is so obsessed with sleep that he times it to REM cycles. 

He has also started a men’s grooming site, the Motley, with siblings Matthew and Madison Ruggieri, and has just introduced a unisex skin care line called Onekind. Here, Criss, who is in the war drama “Midway” and is filming “Hollywood,” the new Ryan Murphy Netflix show scheduled for release next year, explains his personal care routine.

 Fully Groomed

I have a lot of cleansers, but honestly, this is the one category where I feel like you just need to get your face clean. You use a bar of soap, and as long as it does the job, it’s OK. Then I use Port Products Sol Defense SPF moisturizer. Then, morning and night, I put on Recipe for Men Under Eye Gel.

For night, I’m biased toward my own products. I do the Onekind Midnight Magic serum — there’s retinol in there — and I use that in tandem with Onekind Dream Cream. Every two days or so, I do the Urth Botanical Resurfacing Mask. I love a lot of their products. I also have the Urth Antioxidant Face Complex. It’s like taking your face to the spa.

The Perfect Shave

I have to shave every day for “Hollywood,” the show I’m on, and it’s really tough on the skin. I have to pay attention to the length of my stubble and the kind of blade I use. If I have a few days’ growth, I like the Executive blades from Dollar Shave Club.

But if it’s a day’s stubble, I’m using a safety razor. That’s because razor burn comes from multiple blades and multiple tiny cuts. I’m trying to minimize that by the number of the blades and also how big the blade is.

I use a hot towel to warm up the stubble. I also try to use really hot water to warm up the blade. Lock Stock & Barrel makes a really great shave oil.

One of the most important things, though, is the Urth Post Shave Elixir. I have buckets of it. If I don’t have it, I’m in a panic. I recommend it to anyone. I recommend it to my wife after she shaves her legs. I guarantee you maybe five people in the world care this much about shaving.

The Eastern Medicine Thing

I know it’s a hippie-dippy thing, but I’m a fan of oil pulling. I take a big dip out of a jar of coconut oil and swish that around my mouth. It sounds gross, and it is kind of gross. It’s supposed to pull bacteria out of my mouth.

I think it’s an Eastern medicine kind of thing — let’s face it, they’ve been ahead of everything on this front for millenniums. Someone recommended it to me years ago, and then when I was doing “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” on Broadway, I was literally making out with strangers every night. I did anything I could do to clean my mouth — it was more for their benefit and less for mine.

Sleep King

I’m really militant about sleeping for certain lengths of time. I’ve been doing this for years and years: I make sure I sleep in increments of 90 minutes. It takes me about 10 to 15 minutes to fall asleep and then the 90 minutes to complete a good REM cycle. So, for example, I’d rather get three hours of sleep than four hours.

You know those days when you wake up and you feel really good even though you didn’t really get a lot of sleep? That’s hitting the REM cycle. Or you sleep for a long time, but you wake up in the middle of a REM cycle and your whole day feels awful? I avoid that like the plague. Of course, there are a lot of variables — what you ate, how much you drank — but I try to have my sleep evenly timed out.

A Timed Diet

I’ve been into health and food ever since I was maybe 12 or 13. I was fascinated by the idea that food is fuel in this very nonintellectual way. You need carbs to do this and protein to do that. How it’s translated today is that you see that the digestive system is directly related to everything else. It’s not a subsidiary component.

So I time the way I eat. I don’t mean I’m timing while I’m eating, but you know how if you have dinner plans at 8 with friends? Well, then you don’t eat as much during the day so you’ll have an appetite and enjoy a meal out. I take the same approach with every activity throughout the day.

If I’m working, the snacks and the doughnuts are all lying around, and I have to be careful of that. Otherwise, I’ll feel strung out and tired. I try not to eat three hours before bed, but if I’m hungry, I might have a low-glycemic snack. I’m not going to have a carnitas burrito.

Then one of my biggest life hacks: I’m a huge chia seed person. If chia seed was a brand, I’d be repping them so hard. I soak chia seeds overnight and then do chia seeds and matcha in the morning. They’re the ancient form of good things.

Becoming a Fitness Fiend

I got heavily into fitness in my late 20s. Now I’m a certifiable fitness rat. I work out like I used to play video games. It’s competitive and fun. It’s also meditative. For me it’s really about the cardiovascular benefits and general well-being. If my body is a little more toned, that’s a super-bonus.

When I first started, that entry point was hard to find. I was completely allergic to the bro-y gym culture. “Get swoll, dude!” The thing that changed my life was P90X. I’ve never met him, but Tony Horton is the biggest dweeb in fitness.

I was too embarrassed to go to the gym, and I didn’t want to work out in a public space, and here was a guy who was making the dumbest dad jokes. This guy was all right. I knew this guy from high school.

I now love the social aspect of working out. I have maybe six or seven friends on rotation, and instead of going out, we do a workout class together. It might be HIIT, a Pilates reformer class or yoga. I try to change it up as much as possible. I want to confuse my muscles.

I also love Training Mate in Los Angeles. It’s by these goofy Australians. They’re super-fun and funny. When I’m in New York, Refine is my jam. Fhitting Room is really great.

Making Time for Recovery

A lot of people don’t know how to keep their muscles healthy. They need to do the recovery. Physical therapy is really nice, but it’s expensive. I believe in rolling out the muscles, and that just takes some time. Also, cryotherapy is incredible.

You can do other things, like an Epsom salt bath, and I’m a big fan of the steam shower if you can get access to one. I do it at night too, as it helps me relax before going to sleep.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

The gym buff's guide to post-workout grooming

Nothing feels quite as good or as satisfying as pulling in a long session at the gym, working out muscles and breaking into a sweat.

It's a great way to detox and destress, as exercise opens up your pores and floods your body with happy hormones, like dopamine and serotonin, which help you feel good. 

And while people typically do not interfere with each other at the gym, hygiene becomes everybody's business when a stink is sensed by all. There's a stark difference between a sexy, musky scent and just plain stink. Guys, don't confuse the two. 

After working out and shaping up, don't forget to wash up – especially if you're heading off to work or meeting other people – as sweat can harbor bacteria that cause body odor. 

If you've already invested time and effort in working out at the gym, you should also invest in a good grooming regimen. It doesn't take much or that long to put together an effective one. 

Here, we give you a run-down of basic grooming essentials for every gym buff. Don't forget to pack these items in your bag:

1. GOODBYE BACTERIA: Antibacterial soap or shower gel

Old sweat and a warm body is a bad combination. The body can become a breeding ground for bacteria, which not only causes body odor but can trigger acne. 

To prevent breakouts, gently and effectively wash off sweat, dead skin cells and sebum on your skin, as well as odor-causing bacteria, with antibacterial soap. Some variants promise to kill 99% of all germs. 

Shower gels are also effective options as these are formulated with moisturizing ingredients that leave your skin feeling smooth. They also come in a variety of refreshing, masculine scents that last all day. 

2. PIT STOP: Antiperspirants 

Contrary to popular belief, sweat is virtually odorless to humans. Rather, it is the rapid growth of bacteria, and the breaking down of sweat by bacteria that cause your body to reek. This is why areas with hair, such as the armpits and groin area, tend to develop odor.

Hair strands prevent the quick evaporation of sweat, making these areas danger zones for stench. While others have taken to shaving and trimming the hair in those areas, a hardworking deodorant also does the trick. 

There are numerous antiperspirants that promise all-day dryness and protection, and they come in a slew of fresh and masculine scents. A note though: it's good to switch up brands every so often, because just like how bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics, your deodorant can become ineffective as your armpits can become resistant to the active ingredients.

3. GREAT HYDRATION: Moisturizer or moisturizing lotion

While deodorants are meant to help keep armpits dry, it doesn’t mean that all your grooming products should be drying. After a good wash-down, rehydrate your skin and prevent it from cracking (which can be painful) with lotion and facial moisturizers. 

It's best to choose products that are packed with skin-loving ingredients that cleanse, refresh, hydrate, and protect skin from UV rays. Another reason to commit to moisturizing: you'll look instantly younger!

4. A MANLY MUSK: Cologne

Of course, head out the door smelling fresher with your preferred cologne. A spritz or two of your signature scent will give you a boost of confidence to power you through your hectic day. Plus, it draws in people, too!

5. MUST-DO FOR YOUR 'DO: Hair Gel

Polish off your post-gym grooming regime with light mousse or hair wax. A little subtle styling of your hair can do a lot to help you look more presentable and put-together. 

Feel like a king by making sure that your crown looks impeccable. 

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While working out is hard, looking polished and put-together in a jiffy can be as easy as 1, 2, 3!

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source: news.abs-cbn.com