Not gonna lie: sometimes all these mens skincare brands with aggressive marketing start to piss me off. Charcoal this, Eucalyptus Oil that… just rub the bark from this Amazonian Xate tree under your eyes and it’ll take care of those dark circles. Bullshit. Just show me a brand that’s actually in this to help me; not bleed my wallet.
Fortunately, the masculinity of today is not as exclusively MANLY as it once was. Sure, you’ll still find that a lot of dudes are unwilling to deviate from the cheapest stuff on Amazon, but more and more guys are ready to tackle skin issues. But that also means that some brands will stop at nothing to earn our business. And if you’re like me, you just want to end this information search once and for all: show me a brand that simplifies this whole ordeal and delivers me effective products at a reasonable price. Please.
Well that takes us to the very purpose of this article. We’re gonna look at one of (if not) the best men’s skincare platforms out there: Geologie.
We’ll take a look at how they make it easy to find the products that are right for your skin, dig into how the quality of their products differs from their competitors’, and most importantly, give me a chance to vent some of my frustrations about the industry.
Let’s get into it.
Table of Contents
What’s the deal with men not giving skincare the attention it deserves?
For starters, guys don’t exactly put the care in skincare. While we’re still talking about a multi-billion dollar industry, the majority of men haven’t moved past a good shave and some shampoo. Luckily, this mentality is changing, and more guys are putting some thought into the state of their skin. Because all guys get early wrinkles, dark circles around their eyes, and dry or sensitive skin. At the end of the day, we all just wanna look good.
But then we face even more hurdles that get in the way of us and healthier skin:
- We don’t know WTF we’re doing. Am I supposed to use lotion? Wouldn’t putting lotion on my face be counterintuitive for taking care of acne? Idfk.
- We don’t always even know what’s wrong with our skin. Sooo how are we expected to get to the root of the problem?
- We’re not accustomed to having to budget more money on skincare products. More money spent on moisturizing lotion is less money that I could chuck into ETH.
- We don’t know who TF to trust. This one relates to both #2 and #3 but: if we fall for some marketing gimmick and find out that the product doesn’t work, this starts to wear away at any trust we even had in the industry.
- We don’t wanna start fiddling with six new products throughout the day. I’m not necessarily opposed to changing my routine up a bit, but let’s be realistic here – I want something that strikes a balance between simple and effective.
- We want quality products, not bullshit marketing gimmicks.
Sound like a reasonable set of criteria? Alright well let’s see how Geologie scores on each of these.
In This Post
Geologie vs others: The market landscape of mens skincare brands
I’ve been struggling with the best way to put this, so I’m just gonna be upfront and do my best to paint a picture of the overall men’s skincare game.
Top-tier companies, like Geologie, do a few things differently. They are product-first, marketers-second. They:
- make it easier for guys to get to the root of their skincare problems, and customize a routine around them.
- use ingredients that are clinically-proven and properly dosed to work, like Retinol for skin, Kojic Acid for eye cream, etc.
- price their products fairly.
- offer legitimate risk-free trials and returns.
Middle-tier companies, like Lumin and Caldera + Lab, are marketers-first, product-second. They may:
- offer decent products that have potential to work, albeit at relatively higher prices.
- offer a one-size-fits-all product line (less than ideal, in real world application)
- try and “wow” buyers with trendy ingredients, like charcoal and special serums. These may or may not work, but they are NOT as good as clinically-proven ingredients.
- often overemphasize the role of marketing “skincare for men,” and underdeliver on actually deliver quality products.
- tempt you with cool packaging and branding.
Low-tier companies, who aren’t even worth mentioning, are those who:
- offer bullshit products, devoid of any actual science.
- charge WAY too much (for nothing of value)
- allocate all their brain power toward thinking up manly names for scents – almost always containing some type of wood or exotic botanical herbs.
One could argue that each of these tiers can coexist in a healthy market environment. For example, maybe it’s not so bad for someone to get burned by a low or middle tier brand, if it means opening the door up for them to enter the mens skincare game and better themselves over the long-term. But there’s one thing that’s pretty non-negotiable, imo, and that’s that Geologie is offering better quality products at better values than their competitors.
What makes Geologie unique?
The way I see it, Geologie is reinventing the mens skincare game in three main ways:
- They’re making it stupidly easy to find out where your skin needs help, and then offer up fairly priced products that deliver.
- While other skincare brands try and entice you with herbs and botanicals, Geologie only packs their products full of stuff that’s clinically-proven to work.
- Their Customer Support is legit. I’m not normally someone who cares much about this, but on the off-chance that you fuck up the diagnostic quiz and order a set that’s not the best for your skin, it’s nice knowing you can hit them up and right the wrong.
The team behind Geologie not only realized all the issues with traditional dermatology and skincare product lines, but they seem to have also addressed the problems that all these new, D2C skincare brands have.
Geologie's diagnostic quiz dumbs things down with customized skincare routines.
We’re men: we don’t know WTF we need in a skincare routine, we don’t know what qualifies as legit versus bullshit marketing claims, and a lot of times we don’t even know where to begin looking for improvement.
A lot of brands out there – even the newer ones that advertise to you on IG – try and get you with flashy products, mention of your dark circles, or even a Deandre Hopkins sponsorship. Not Geologie. Hell, before Geologie even thinks about showing you a product, they really encourage you to go through their quick diagnostic quiz to learn more about what you actually need.
1 – The first thing you’ll see is a screen asking for some really basic information: your name, age, and gender. After that, they’ll ask you if you already have a skincare routine — and what you expect from your new one at Geologie.
2 – Even if you’re not sure, their follow-up questions easily lead you to some basic conclusions — like what your overall goals are. And you don’t have to know anything about skincare to answer this; any guy knows if they have oily skin or if they want to get rid of acne. Just touch your forehead or something, you child.
3 – The next couple of questions go into more detail about your health history and medication. A little tougher, but still not tough.
4 – After you answer this, you’ll be asked to pick your skin tone out of a “lineup” and describe what circles your eyes look like if you’ve got them, I imagine this one is laughably simple, since they literally show pictures as examples. But I’ll be totally honest and admit that customizing the skin tone on my Apple Memeoji thing was incredibly difficult.
That’s it; you’re done. Geologie runs your responses through the algorithm or whatever and recommends a personalized routine of skincare products that you can try out for a month, for just 25 bucks (if you use my link).
Are Geologie's products effective?
The thing that best sets Geologie apart from the other guys, imo, is the effectiveness of their products. Again: rather than including BS, trendy ingredients, they stick to the ingredients that are actually clinically-proven to work (go figure) and do so at very precise dosages.
Take, for example, the Regimen #3. This one’s the most common one for guys who have sensitive skin. It includes:
- Niacinamide (3%), a B-complex is good for cell regeneration, oil regulation, spot reduction, and more.
- Hyaluronic Acid (2%) helps your body to hold water in your skin.
- Retinol (0.05%) combats acne, oil, and wrinkles. You see this included in a lot of expensive products.
- Kojic Acid (2%) limits the body’s production of melanin, and brightens up those dark eyes spots. Kojic Acid, btw, is a natural ingredient that’s super popular in Korean skincare, but not-so-popular yet in American skincare products. I think this is a great example of Geologie staying ahead of the curve, while not falling for BS hype. They’re following the science and the results.
- Argan Oil is included in the morning cream because it helps reduce oil, aging, and acne.
- SPF 10 sun protection (because duh).
Now if you were to move “up” to the next tier, the Regimen #19 for example, Geologie starts tweaking the dosages and ingredients in your products. Generally you’ll see a lot of the same stuff, but at levels that are best for your specific skin.
So you can start to see all the work they’re actually putting not only into their base products, but also the degrees of customization that they offer. THIS is why I love Geologie so much: no BS ingredients, just stuff that’s proven to work – by science, not trendy brands serving up IG ads from Bali.
Geologie Pricing | Essential | Complete (recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| What's included? | - x1 Repairing Night Cream - x1 Everyday Face Wash | - x1 Repairing Night Cream - x2 Everyday Face Wash - x1 Nourishing Eye Cream - x1 Vital Morning Face Cream |
| 30-day Trial Price | $30 (or $15 with our exclusive discount code ZENMW50) | $50 (or $25 with our exclusive discount code ZENMW50) |
| 90-day Supply w/ bigger bottles (w/ subscription) | $75 | $135 |
| 90-day Supply w/ bigger bottles (a-la-carte) | $80 | $150 |
| Link (code auto-populates) |
Alright so the bundle vs a-la-carte decision is completely subjective. Generally, though, what I recommend when you’re looking at a product line that’s entirely new to you, is to make the smallest $ commitment that still allows you to try the most products as possible. In other words, buy a trial set with a lot of products. From there, you’ll learn which products you like and have a positive impact on your skin. I have a feeling that this is particularly applicable for a lot of the guys reading this, who may not have a ton of experience in the skincare realm.
The fact of the matter is that Geologie’s products are legit. (Shoutout to their SPF face sunscreen – best in the biz). And even better, the routines are easy. You’re not gonna be putting on those clay face masks you see on TV. With the complete set, for example, you’ll just be doing one rinse and applying one cream each morning. Same for before bed. And each of those takes less than a minute to apply, there’s no thinking to it. For guys that want something simple and functional, this is an attractive offer.
Ease of use is one thing, but Geologie is also sick because they ditch the whole “one-size-fits-all approach” that their competitors do. Remember that the quiz you take is actually giving you personalized recommendations on which specific products are best for your skin. You don’t get that from CVS or that company with Bigfoot as their logo; I can’t remember the name but you get it.
On that note… when anyone orders Geologie’s Complete set (for example), that’ll include a Nourishing Eye Cream, right? Well the kicker is that the ingredients inside your cream won’t be the same as your friend’s. Each product you buy completely differs, based on the specifics of your skin. So if you mentioned that you get frequent rashes on your diagnostic quiz, you’ll get the same products but with different ingredients than someone who wants their skin to be less oily.
No bullshit; just stuff that’s proven to work for you.
❗️ One thing to note: ❗️
Geologie is not an online dermatologist; you won't be able to buy prescription-strength medication from them.
But that's very intentional. Rather than bombarding you with prescription-strength chemicals like Apostrophe and similar skincare companies, Geologie wants to provide everyday staple products that any guy will benefit from; but with the specific treatment his skin needs.
Geologie Reviews: What are others on the internet saying?
“But Matt, why should we listen to you? We don’t even know if you have SKIN. You could be a reptile (🦎) or a skeleton, for all we know.”
Yeah yeah, I get it. And I like the energy. That’s why I always scour review sites, like Reddit and Trustpilot (NOT like a company’s own site) to get a real sense of how legit brands are.
With that in mind, I took a look at Geologie reviews from users on Amazon and Trustpilot — and the results are overwhelmingly positive. Always a good thing to see.
See? I hate to say ‘I told ya so’ but… 😉
Guys are stoked on Geologie. A lot of ’em praised the bottle design with clear metering, making sure you don’t use too much or too little. I thought that one was kind of weird, but it’s true.
Of course, the most important thing about skincare products is whether or not they actually work. And Geologie’s do – with a lot of folks reporting dark eye circles receding and acne receding within weeks of using the products.
The only potential downside that’s mentioned commonly enough is that a small number of customers reporting some mixups with the orders; a couple of people have received two Night Creams instead of one, etc. Still, this seems pretty rare and I bet they’d resolve things over an email. After all, Geologie’s got over 4 out of 5 stars on both Amazon and Trustpilot — with an overwhelmingly positive response from most users.
Is Geologie legit?
Honestly, yeah. Geologie is delivering quality skincare products to customers, and innovating on the way guys can find out which ones will actually work for them. I was pretty shocked by how effective it’s been for my skin.
One thing to note is that you’ll likely need about 3 weeks of using Geologie products until you start seeing noticeable improvements. And as Geologie customers write on all the big review sites and IG comments, these changes in your skin are likely to be positive. You’ll also get some much-needed pore cleaning, SPF protection, reducing blackheads, whiteheads, and opening up your skin for long-term, deeper treatment.
Of course, this success isn’t universal — inevitably, there’s a small chance you might experience some flaking, dryness, or redness for the first couple of days. But that’s no reason to be discouraged, as it’s likely just your body adapting to a new skincare routine.
That being said, introducing a skincare routine isn’t easy if you’ve never done it before; especially for guys that just can’t be bothered. Even with a routine as simple as Geologie’s, it’s easy to forget about it and skip days or give up on it altogether. So make sure you’re making the most of those first three weeks if you wanna build a sustainable skincare routine. Long-term benefits, baby.
🎬 The Bottom Line: Is Geologie worth it for men’s skincare?
All things considered, yes. Geologie is worth trying out, and their diverse line of products definitely do work in the long term. They offer a hassle-free skincare routine that caters to the specific needs of every guy. It’s not complicated, it’s not fancy, and for what they’re giving you, it’s not overly expensive.
In my opinion, the question isn’t whether or not to try Geologie; the question is whether to go with a bundle of products or a-la-carte ones. If you’re not ready to invest in a full set, just buy individual products that will still be customized to your skin’s needs. But those bundles really are a great starting point and better overall value. You’ll be sure they’ve got what your skin needs in one, easy-to-use package. Just remember the end goal here is to learn more about your skin and what you can do to make it healthier. And given how generous their 30-day trial offering is, I recommend trying that out. Again, it’s just $25 when you use my link.
If you’re not looking for prescription medication like you’d get from the dermatologist, you can just stop your skincare search here with Geologie. And if you are looking for that, check out Apostrophe… and then come right back to Geologie for your basic skincare products and sunscreen.
Godspeed, Kings. 👑
