Picture this: You have a really big event coming up, call it a meeting with your boss’ boss, a dinner with a really important client, a date with a person you’re really excited to meet after quarantining for two weeks in hopes of a smooch or two. You’ve been crushing your workouts all week and have been eating pretty well, so you feel good the night before. The morning of the big day is here; you wake up, a little nervous and a little excited for the evening’s pending events, you slog to your bathroom, turn the light on, look in the mirror, and “Shit.” You’re staring at yourself in all of your masculine beauty, with a giant red blemish smack dab in the middle of your forehead. Rudolf seemingly transferred his red nose right onto your third eye. Cancel. Everything. Regardless of your age, you feel like you’re 13 and you look like you’ve yet to have a mature thought. How do you fix this? Put moisturizer on it? Wash your face 7 times? Neither will truly work. What can work, is Stryx. Stryx is a line of tinted moisturizer and concealer stryctly for men. Add a little bit to your bright red blemish and poof, it’s pretty much gone. This isn’t your girlfriend’s makeup, this is skin corrective solutions for your face, a man’s face.

Stryx sent me the full set of their products to try out and give my honest opinion. So I’ve tried it all, the tinted moisturizer, the concealer, and the cleanser. Here’s the bottom line. Each one does its job super well.

The Tinted Moisturizer

What it’s for: The tinted moisturizer is great at leveling out skin tone and hiding huge bags under the eyes, discolorations on the cheeks, and hiding larger blackheads on the nose (my personal nemesis due to my partially Italian skin).

Tips on use: the moisturizer is additive in that the more you use, the thicker and more present it looks. I’d suggest you start with a very little amount to just barely cover your problem areas and add more from there. THAT BEING SAID, if you have some dry skin, make sure you use a moisturizer beforehand and give it some time to soak in. This will help reduce the chance of the tinted moisturizer becoming noticeable and looking cakey on dead skin. On top of that, since you likely are not someone who has used a tinted moisturizer before, DO NOT GET THE WET MOISTURIZER ON YOUR CLOTHES. While it doesn’t stain perse, it will be a bitch to get out. I purposefully “spilled” some of the moisturizer on my denim button-down and it seeped through to a white henley I was wearing underneath (watch the video for a visual re-enactment), tinting both. When I went to clean it up, I couldn’t remove it by simply rinsing it off, nor just throwing it into the wash. If you do get the wet stuff on your clothes, pre-treat it with your liquid detergent and scrub for a bit. It will come out. So needless to say, if you’re a clumsy guy, put it on with your shirt off, and just put your final top on once it’s fully dry on your face (which takes about 20 seconds).

The Concealer

What it’s for: This pen-shaped tool-like blemish blender is my favorite of the 3 products they offer. Not only is it something I plan on keeping in my weekender bag when traveling going forward, but it is also the best tool to handle the big problem areas (aka the embarrassing blemishes) I’d wished I had something for in the past. It is essentially the magic wand for the angry zits that pop up to ruin your confidence in situations like the ones at the top of the blog.

Tips on use: This one works similarly to the tinted moisturizer in that you start with a small amount and add more slowly until the issue is adequately covered.

The Cleanser

This cleanser was a pleasant surprise. For this product not being directly in line with the purpose of the brand (helping guys cover up facial blemishes and discolorations), it is simply great. It smells good, it works just as intended, and it doesn’t overdry your face after use. I honestly would use it by itself as a daily cleanser, whether I used another one of their products or not. The amount of effort put into a product that gets rid of their flagship SKUs is surprising and very, very welcomed. But before I move on, we should probably note that this should be used EVERY NIGHT you put on any of the other Stryx products. You don’t want to break out from trying to cover up other breakouts, so, if you don’t clean your face nightly, make it a point to at least clean your face whenever you use one of these products.

After trying everything out a few times, will I use them going forward? Put simply, yes. As someone who has bright lights pointed at them to make videos and talk about god-knows-what, the tinted moisturizer will be a huge help in making me look less tired and splotchy on camera. And, as mentioned before, I do plan on using the concealer pen when necessary. However, the complexion gods have looked gracefully on me and my rigorous skincare routine, so in terms of day-to-day use, I don’t feel it is necessary for me. That being said, if I were prone to acne, red spots, had dark acne scars, or consistent blemishes Stryx would definitely be incorporated into my daily routine, or at least be used when heading out of the house for something other than a workout. I know quite a few guys who would have loved to have this available to them in high school and college, and some who will definitely enjoy the benefits of these products right now. So while at first, I thought “There’s no way I’m wearing makeup” after more than a couple minutes of considering the benefits, and trying it out, I’m more in the camp of “Why not get a little help when I need it? It would be rude not to, really…”

If you guys are looking to snag some of your own to try, make sure you check out the Stryx website for more details and some awesome tutorials from the founders!

What are you’re thoughts on Stryx and the idea of guys getting some help covering up the bad parts of their complexion? Welcomed? Hate it? Let us know in the comments below!