A Conversation with the Dewiest of Dudes
Evan + Emilio on turning 30, investing in sleep, and the best cleanser ever
I know I’m not supposed to make sweeping generalizations about large swaths of people — entire genders no less — but *most* men statistically have terrifying personal care habits. As you may recall, in a recent survey of males ages 18 to 42, only 50% said they brushed their teeth more than once a day. I bring that statistic up once per week because I can’t get it out of my head. A real Roman Empire situation, if you will.
But there are two men who give me hope.
and , professionally known as the , are podcasters, meme-makers, and as you could imagine, very visibly hydrated. I’ve been listening to their podcast and referencing their material for quite a while now, so I was personally quite excited to hear about their recent Substack debut.On a chilly December morning, the three of us linked up (virtually) and had a great conversation about a variety of subcategories under the ever-so-vague umbrella of wellness and beauty, including water filtration, NAD therapy, hair growth, and something Emilio lovingly refers to as ‘sleep goop.’ I pulled out all the good stuff for you to read through today, with some of my favorite memes sprinkled in there. Enjoy!
On Aging
KS: We were talking about earlier that your perspectives have subtly shifted from skincare more towards personal care. How do you look at that as a category? And what are you into now? That’s a huge question but…
EQ: That is a giant question.
KS: Maybe I’ll phrase it this way: What about turning 30 this past year shifted your perspectives?
ES: I think about my body and aging. I know society is typically easier on men when it comes to that, but I do feel like my body does not work like it used to.
EQ: Yeah, it’s funny. You grow up hearing this phrase — and I feel so old saying it — but it is true that you just feel things a little more. So I’m trying to find more natural ways of feeling better. I've been really focusing on getting up, trying to go outside first thing in the morning to get natural sunlight and get my circadian rhythm going.
ES: Yeah, you turn 30 and you realize different things don’t work as well as they used to. They’re starting, but they’re not as bad as, you know, when you turn 40. But if you can set yourself up for success when you meet 40, then everything will be great. So I’m starting to look under the hood. Like, maybe everything’s inflamed. Maybe I need to do more mobility exercises. Maybe I need to be hydrating differently. Or getting more sleep. How do I get more sleep?
You know, everyone kind of jokes about how everyone’s trying to optimize themselves and bio-hack their way through life. But there’s a little truth to that.
EQ: This conversation sort of feels like — have you seen that meme of Tony Soprano crying in his car? It’s like “driving home after posting memes all day.”
On Sleep
ES: Wait, can we get into sleep as a topic? Because I'm actually more curious about sleep going at the 2025 than anything.
EQ: I just paid a bunch of money for this supplement. It's this weird goop from this brand called Healthy Cell and it's called REM Sleep. I mean, it's kind of like, f****** baby goop, but you eat it and it's supposed to help you get into a deeper state of sleep, or whatever.
I live on two main streets where all night it’s fire trucks, delivery trucks, garbage trucks, people yelling, there's a bar. So, sleep has been top of mind.
KS: So the goop worked?
EQ: I guess. I wake up feeling like I got hit by a bus, so I don't know if it's a coma style state of sleep.
KS: Oh, so it’s the NyQuil effect.
ES: I think that's the trouble with some of these new sleep supplements, or even how sleep has exploded [as a category]. Everything is kind of a weird Ambien alternative. You might be sleeping, but I don't know if you're feeling better after the fact.
On Hair Growth
KS: So what other wellness topics are you thinking more about?
EQ: Hair. The last year and a half, two years, it was like, ‘Oh, you know all the all the fellas are going to turkey to get hair implants.’ But I feel like hair regrowth is gonna be big this year. Maybe I just want to be.
ES: Mmm.
EQ: We're gonna go have a consultation with this company in SoHo that does PRP treatments. I had kind of done something similar where my mom did PRP treatments in Mexico City four years ago, because she went through menopause and started losing a lot of hair and it really did wonders for her.
I hadn't really seen or heard much conversation around that here [in the States] up until maybe six to eight months ago when I started getting ads for this Millennial-ass branded hair regrowth spot. So I feel like hair regrowth might have a moment this year. What do you think, Evan?
ES: Yeah, I think hair growth, like alternative ways of growing your hair outside of, you know, the telemedicine delivery or just straight up going to Turkey.
On Trending Wellness Topics
ES: I think NAD Therapy will keep booming here. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. Is that what it stands for?
EQ: Something like that.
KS: Sure. I’m familiar with NAD.
EQ: It sounds pretty.
ES: Bio-hacking. Anti-aging. That’ll continue to surge.
KS: Longevity.
ES: That’s just such a funny concept, how everyone's trying to live longer, but they're just miserable with life. I never understood that. There's a contradiction too because you have these big discussions about — what’s the term — assisted suicide. I just think there's a contradiction there with, like, everyone obsessing over longevity, and then also it’s just, God, the future does not look bright. I mean not that that's the reason why. You get it. Anyways, moving away from longevity. More GLP-1 alternatives.
KS: Well to me, those two are in direct opposition. Because I think there's one camp that's obsessed with living longer, and living healthier for longer. But then there’s the other that's like, ‘I want to be skinny now.’
ES: It’s that quick fix. It’s either that, or you’re married to the program for the rest of your life, if you're totally buying into the biohacking lifestyle. I fall into the longevity camp which you know, I'm kind of agnostic on the philosophy of it. But, rather, I’m just trying to find some balance. Something that's actually achievable. And if you fall off the routine, you're not going to totally face plant.
On Treatments + Practices
KS: What are some practices that you do consistently? Or treatments you actually feel are worth it?
ES: I have a remote trainer that I see two to three times a week and he kind of forces me to show up to something. I think people should look into that.
EQ: Having a humidifier by the bed. I’ve had it for like, a year, and I finally started using it. It was just hitting empty next to my bed.
ES: Well I think the problem is re-upping on the filters which I finally did and it’s actually pretty easy.
EQ: Speaking of, I’m about to ball out. Well not ball out. But spend big on a water filtration system. For drinking water, not my shower head. I might buy a f***ing reverse osmosis water filter and really dive into that.
KS: I'm a big Berkey lover. I have the classic Berkey water filter, I love it. It also definitely tastes better. It's one of those things where, before you switch, you're like, ‘Whatever, that can't be anything’ and then you try it and you're like, ‘Oh, I'm never going back to tap water now.’
EQ: Oh damn. Okay.
ES: Wait, speaking of expensive things, and back to the topic of sleep. So my girlfriend, and I just moved in together, and our sleeping is not great. And we just bought some new bedding and it’s way too hot. I'm like, ‘Oh God. How are we gonna fix this?’
But there’s this brand. Have you heard of Eight Sleep?
KS: Yeah, I’ve heard of this.
ES: The $2,000 smart mattress topper.
EQ: Oh.
ES: Yeah, you literally control the temperatures of both partners, right? And then there’s also an element where it will raise up, so you can stop snoring. And obviously there have been products like this for years, but I don't know. Maybe it's time to show it some money to get a little bit better sleep.
On Their Current Top Beauty Products
EQ: This is the best cleanser ever. It's the Goop Genes Luminous Cleansing Balm. They sent us some stuff, and I haven't checked how much it is. I'm assuming it's probably, like, too expensive, but I've gone back and forth between taking it out of my routine, and when I put it back in — it’s definitely the best cleanser I’ve ever used.
When you use a really shitty cleanser, your face does look really clean, but then quickly you feel how dry and stripping it is. This thing is the most subtle cleanser I’ve used. My skin looks incredible after using it and I think I've actually started using less products after because of that. That’s my number one.
Then there's this brand that all they do is make a exfoliator. It's called Lumielle and it's their Glass Skin Liquid Exfoliant. I've been wearing glasses a lot. I mean, I stopped wearing them because I was getting a weird bacteria build up, and then when I started using this to exfoliate, it just completely got rid of that.
And then anytime I go, or my mom goes, to Mexico City (my family lives there) we get the Tretinoin from Mexico. Keeping it really minimal these days. But those things — they're the Holy Trinity.
ES: Stratia Skin. I love the Rewind Serum. Dieux’s Deliverance. That would probably be a holy grail.
EQ: Yeah, that stuff is nice.
ES: Emilio, I love your passion behind cleansers. For me, it’s just whatever can get the job done. And then Elta MD Sunscreen in the morning.
Oh, another holy grail product. I will say, I don't know if this is just an effect of me being post-facial and being consistent with a product, but Environ’s Bio-Botanical Revival Masque. This was a while back, but I need to go buy it again. Really, I did see an improvement of maintaining the texture of my skin post-facial when it just feels incredible.
EQ: Whoa.
ES: Like you can maintain that glassy, smooth texture for long after.
KS: It’s funny you say that, because the other day I got a facial [at Practise] and the esthetician was raving about the Environ products. She did the masque on me, and recommended I do it once a week, and in my head, I was like, ‘I really don’t wanna buy more stuff.’ But two days later, I looked in the mirror, and I thought, ‘Shit. My skin looks amazing.’
EQ: Ok, I need to get that.
I hope you, too, feel a tad more optimistic about the State of the Men’s Skincare Union after this conversation. For more from the
, check out their podcast archive here, and subscribe to their Substack for the newest releases. | A guest post by
|
Love love love this! Feels really fresh and fun to get the male perspective on health trends and skincare (and I'm not even kidding). Thanks for sharing!