MANMADE: The Essential Skincare & Grooming Reference for Every Man

by Chris Salgardo

Chris Salgardo, the charismatic president of cult-favorite skin-care line Kiehl's, delivers the definitive guide to grooming every man needs—and was afraid to ask for.

      Manmade  is the first grooming and skin-care guide created with a 21st-century man in mind. Rather than dispense one-size-fits-all advice, style icon and Kiehl's prez Chris Salgardo tailors his guidance to a man's lifestyle and interest level, devoting chapters to the specific grooming needs of the polished gentleman; the extreme sports enthusiast; the bad boy/rebel; the artistic renaissance man; and the DIY hipster. From battling the effects of aging to hair concerns--whether too much or not enough--Chris offers insiders' secrets for looking impeccably (but not obviously) groomed.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Pēteris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here is what you will find in this book: basic, vague, feel-good advice, magazine-like single-sentence tips & tricks.

Here is what you will not find in this book:
* how to determine your skin type or
* what haircuts look good on you
* how to shave or choose razors/trimmers
* specific product recommendations, not even what chemicals to look for in the products or what to avoid
* any arguments, proof or scientific research why you need to moisturize or apply sunscreen
* no photos of protected/unprotected skin over a span of several years or any other examples, only stock photos of male models

His advice on how to determine your skin type: go to a dermatologist.
His advice for choosing a haircut: go to a stylist.
His advice what to do if you are bald or are getting bald: go to a stylist and ask what's best.

There are no examples of haircuts on different shapes of heads, there are no photos that compare what haircuts look good and bad on balding men. His advice for grooming your hair is to use shampoo, conditioner and go to a barber every three weeks. He covers shaving by advising you to shave with the grain, always use a sharp razor and use beard oils... and go to a barber and that's it.

What's worse, the book is repetitive. He addresses specific grooming needs for several types of lifestyles... except the advice you'll read is the same.

This book looks like a magazine, not a book.

This book was given me as a gift for Christmas. I really wanted to like this book so as to not hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to me. There's "reference" in the title, but the book is practically useless. I'd ask for a refund if I could.

[Hanah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got a review copy of this book and had the males in my family take a look through it to help me with this. I also took a look myself just to get the idea of the book. This book is very vague in many places where it shouldn't. From a female perspective, I was able to connect the dots with the knowledge I have to understand the missing pieces, though I really shouldn't have. From the male perspective, it was too vague and not helpful at all. Details that could've been included were lost and some tips were very unhelpful (such as skin types--his only response was to go to a dermatologist). My father, who is always on the lookout for a book like this, was very frustrated when he looked through the book, saying that there was less information than he would've liked. Overall, not a very impressive book.

[Sawyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Admittedly less informative than I had expected it, but still enjoyable.

It reminded me a bit of an expanded magazine, with a bit more focus and depth. It started with a quick look at grooming in general, why, how, what kind of products. It then would talk about a type of man (e.g. business man, artist, renaissance man, extreme athlete, etc), some of the specific needs that these types of people might often have, and make recommendations.

This book did not go particularly in depth, but I suspect that may have been the point, giving the reader a general idea of what they might need, so that they could then go off and learn more on their own.

The main value from this book is it's thoughts on why grooming is so important. Without giving anything away, it makes a number of good arguments as to why how you look and present yourself matters, without making it feel vain.

Although it would have been nice to get a more comprehensive look into grooming, I still quite enjoyed this book, and it is separated in a way where it would be a great coffee table book, picking it up and reading a section each day while you sit and have your morning coffee.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m going to give this book a 3.5, I got it given to me as a book for Christmas and I care about grooming so I thought I’d give it a chance. Visually this book looks great, the aesthetic is nice. As for content, it is very light and in the various tropes the book tends to feel somewhat repetitive and made it feel a bit one dimensional at times.

That being said I will commend the book for talking about elements that are less focused on with men like touching on make up and cosmetic surgery. I also liked the little tips and hacks pages. I think the book could have taken it to the next level in how it structured the book and maybe explaining it from novice to expert. It also could have talked about different cultures and ethnicities more, and leaned into more non-traditional aspects of manhood like more about makeup and talking about certain skincare maybe for FTM or trans masculine folks and given alternatives for people that may not be able bodied.

[Gil Segev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not even sure what I was expecting from this book, but whatever it was, this isn't it. This is the type of thing you'd give your preteen son when he starts smelling weird and getting zits - it outlines the bare essentials of personal hygiene and grooming, including a light touch of skincare. It also contains interviews with random guys the author has categorized into his distinct "types" of men. While only lightly problematic, I wish the "types" were more diverse and that there was more representation in the photographs. Anyways, this is definitely not for any skincare fanatics, don't be fooled.

[Gabriel Perera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new here but useful primer

I was honestly hoping for more from this book - I have a lot of respect for the brand and by association, it’s CEO - perhaps this is meant to be something of an introductory text to the basics?

[Robert Durough, Jr. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do you read Vanity Fair, GQ, newspaper horoscopes and gossip columns? Do you watch shows like “The Bachelor”? Do you click on the sensationalized links with tempting pictures on the columns beside almost every “news” or gossip website out there? Do you say, “I read Playboy for the articles,” or maybe, “I go to Hooters for the hot wings”? Do you enjoy redundancy, contradiction, unsubstantiated claims, and vanity poorly disguised as humility? Do you lie to yourself a lot? Do you like Donald Trump? Yes? Then Manmade: The Essential Skincare & Grooming Reference for Every Man by Chris Salgardo, president of Kiehl’s Since 1851, is your kind of material.

This is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. When I saw the title was available for review, I picked it up thinking it might be kind of fun to a book like this in my collection. A third of the way through I was already bored out of my mind reading the same things page after page—literally the same words and advice—presented in a most unappealing and unhelpful way; however, I did manage to get through it all. This can be reduced to a brochure for product that also offers beauty advice, much as a L’OREAL commercial with about that much depth.

In the middle of this drivel, Salgardo divides men into five categories: The Modern Gentleman, The Hands-On Man, The Extreme Dude, The Rebel Artist, and The Renaissance Man. For each category there is an introductory narrative that reads like a bad conclusion to a survey taken on Facebook to determine what kind of superhero you are, an interview in which he asks a “famous” specimen (I have no clue who any of them) that is completely unhelpful and mostly unrelated to the book, and sometimes actually contradictory to the book’s mission, and finally (among other things) a picture collage of examples of these types of men, in each of which Salgardo has placed a picture of himself posing as if from 1980’s album cover—but he makes sure to remind his readers on several occasions that this is not about vanity; it’s about presenting your best self. Riiiight.

In order to properly express all my thoughts on just how horrible this text is, I would have to write more content than the text itself contains without the pictures and redundancy. However, I will offer one example. Since I am known for my beard, I thought this relevant bit from the book would be enough to dissuade its purchase:

“BEARD … Don’t confuse shave oils for beard oils. The first are used to prepare the skin for shaving, the second to keep facial hair looking great. Buy both” (53). (Okay.)

“Beard Oil: Applied before shaving—preferably in the shower, where the steamy heat can help the oils penetrate more deeply—beard oil softens facial hair, making it easier to shave off, helping prevent razor burn” (61). (Wait…What?)

“BEARD OIL OR CONDITIONER To keep facial hair from getting wiry.
SHAVING OIL, CREAM, AND RAZOR To prepare skin for a smoother, nick-free shave that foams just can’t provide” (63). (Okay, getting back on track, but the redundancy is killing me.)

Yes, Salgardo, please do not get them confused, especially not within just a few pages in a book wherein you claim to be an expert and answer all types of questions from men who stop you on the street every day because you are so famous.

His best advice is this: Look at product labels, purchase and experiment with different things to see if they do what they say they do, and stick with what works for you. Ironically, this is exactly what we already do, rendering his book completely unnecessary.

I’m not familiar with Pam Krauss Books, but it’s an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, from which I have reviewed several books. Their credibility really took a hit with this one.

It’s just…so…bad.


*I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great looking book with a nice cover but it's not very substantial. The tips are great for beginners but they could be much more detailed for other people. Salgardo literally has an entire page dedicated to washing your face, and I don't mean "if your skin type is this, you should use this type of soap." No, I mean, "wash your hands first, splash water on your face, place face wash in your palm then add a little water and rub your hands together until you get suds." I'm paraphrasing a bit because who needs a whole page of instructions for washing their face? I can see this being a book that girls buy their boyfriends for fun but they will never read it.

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

[Aristidis Marousas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shave in the same direction as the growth of facial and body hair.

Moisturizer and protect against the sun.

Those are the main points of this book and they are repeated almost endlessly.

I was hoping for a deeper analysis of different hair types and styles, etc.

Unfortunately, this book doesn't offer much at all in the way of new info for proper skincare and grooming.