Self-Care for Men: How to Look Good and Feel Great

by Garrett Munce

This straightforward and illuminating guide offers self-care techniques—from skin care to stress relief—designed for modern men who want to live longer, look better, and feel calm, focused, and happy. Taking care of your mind, body, and soul is important to living a longer, more satisfying life and helps you feel confident in your daily interactions with others. In Self-Care for Men, author Garrett Munce—grooming editor for Esquire and Men’s Health and confirmed self-care practitioner—teaches you how to improve your physical and mental health and overall well-being through these easy and practical tips and exercises—from grooming to meditation—that are proven to work. Practiced by men like David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, and Adam Levine, self-care is a key component to overall wellness. This helpful guide introduces you to anti-aging products and practices, explains why masks are the HIIT workout of skincare, and shows you how to relax when you’re on the go. Offering advice on a range of topics from hair care, supplements, detoxing, the wonders of CBD, improving your energy levels, and more, Self-Care for Men will not only help you look and feel better, but live a happier, heathier, and more successful life.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2020

Reviews

[Chris Patrick Carolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book tried to do far too much far too quickly. A smattering of good advice and (what should be) common sense, with some hokum thrown in for good measure. What bothered me most was that everything the book covers is presented in very short, almost point-form "listicle" sections that offer little insight or explanation on a myriad of topics. Perhaps the author and editor thought this would make these items easily digestible? For anything that seems interesting or relevant to you herein, you'll need to check out another book to get any detail whatsoever. Ultimately, there's little here you wouldn't glean from flipping through a few men's health magazines in your dentist's waiting room. A quick read, but not a very helpful one.

[Jason Sherron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Come for the crystals, stay for the tarot and mediums. No, really. That’s this guy’s idea of self-care (interspersed with the usual “men don’t moisturize enough” tropes).

[Jacob Schreifels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers one of the most important topics for men right now, taking care of yourself. There is a stigma surrounding self-care, people think that it is only for women. I have always believed in taking care of myself and everything that includes, moisturizing, exfoliating, and massages are probably among the first things that come to mind when thinking about self-care. As covered in the book, there is so much more to it than just beauty products. Self-care is an important practice to implement when talking about mental health as well.

Garrett Munce did a great job of presenting the book in easy to digest chunks and laid all the information out in front of us in a clear and concise way. I appreciate that he made it so easy, because as someone who has practiced a lot of the forms of self-care he outlines, I know it can be daunting for someone who is first getting started. A book like this is so valuable to start breaking down the stigma of caring for yourself as a man. He covered all the basics of skin care and spa treatments and even went further into aromatherapy and crystals. I found all of it to be well-researched and informative.

One thing I especially loved was how he related some of the practices to celebrities and how they integrate them into their lifestyles. Learning that Tom Ford took up to 4 baths a day, for example, was funny but also shed light on the benefits taking a bath can have over taking a shower. Comparisons like this one go a long way in creating something men will feel comfortable with. Showing your average man who hasn't put on lotion in years that the celebrities they aspire to be like do these things might be enough to convince them that they should be doing them too.

Another thing the book did was lay out the steps of getting started with each of these self-care practices. For every new thing Munce would outline the best ways to get started, what to expect, how much it might cost, and how to know that one thing is better than the other. As someone who didn't know where to start when I began taking better care of myself, an outline like this would have been insanely valuable to me. One of my only complaints would be that it felt like the book ended rather abruptly, I would have liked to see a wrap-up chapter of some sort rather than the book ending directly after the information about smell.

Overall I think this book did a great job of bringing self-care to the realm of men. I ran across a few typos, but seeing as how this was an early copy and not the final release I don't find that to be alarming. The message this book is trying to convey is one that every man needs to listen to and implement in their lives. Self-care is important, and men need to take note.

[Adrian Fritzke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some sections of the book are useful for health such as mental health and psychical health. Other sections such as hair care and skin care are optional in my opinion but if that is what a person is looking this book is a good place to start. This book does not go in depth but it will list some general options that will require further reading. The sections on sexual and spiritual well beginning should be avoided due to being full of cliches that are not backed by any research.

[Vilas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was expecting more manly and realistic things from this book. Although it had few good insights like CBD, Face/Skin care, etc. but overall it was not of much help. The things mentioned in the book are a luxury for middle class men in terms of money and time. The few good things in the book are pretty basic and most people should already be aware of those whether they actively practice it or not is a different thing.
And Part 6: Spirit was a total bullshit, unscientific and unintelligent.

[Ernie Tidball · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is good, but could have been much better. The author tries to cover too much and it can be a bit overwhelming. Each section is so brief that it’s barely mentioned and then on to the next topic. It’s a good basis, but not what I thought it would be. Also, product recommendations would be nice in an appendix or something along those lines.

[Noel Salaices · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great self-care book for any guy who wants to better his life internally and externally. This book made me really learn how to take care of myself in a way that I hadn’t thought of before with very simple explanations and instructions. Also recommend taking notes.

[Robin Gane-McCalla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some short overviews of valuable self care topics (most of which I was already aware of). But it also delves into pseudoscience (acupuncture, crystals, astrology, tarot) leading me to question any of the claims that the author says are backed by science.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this off Amazon as I am always into these style books. But I thought it was a lot of fluff, nothing that would help you keep doing 'self care' and just some parts were odd. Also the pages from my book felt unfinished. Maybe damaged from Amazon? But I rate it bad unfortunately

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years it too to read this, but glad I finally go through it!
For the most part this was an enjoyable book with a decent entertainment.

Some advice was fun, some was fluff, and other stuff was just silly. This would make a fun coffee table book.

[MustafaSv · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talks about everything a man needs. Cool. Classy.

[David Alicea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good advice

Overall this book is good, I kinda already practice some of the suggestions, so I gave it a 4. 🙂

[Meghal Sivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not great. Author tries to add everything under one roof and fails to do so.

[Tyler Zentz]

Overall a decent book. If in anything it provides a good jumping off point if you have no idea where to begin when it comes to self-care.