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Summary
On episode 434 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Garrett Munce, a writer and editor specializing in men’s grooming, beauty, style, and wellness who serves as grooming editor for Esquire and Men’s Health and previously worked as grooming director and senior fashion editor at GQ. They discuss his book, Self-Care for Men: How to Look Good and Feel Great.
Garrett argues that self-care got labeled feminine by generations of marketing (baths, skincare, spas) even though it really just means anything that makes you feel better. He explains that men tend to react to problems only once they show up, cracked feet in winter, wrinkles around the eyes, rather than practicing the prevention women are often raised to expect.
The conversation moves through practical territory: building a nighttime skincare routine that doubles as a sleep cue, the real science behind forest bathing and earthing, and how to think about hair loss without panic.
Links
- https://garrettmunce.com
Key Takeaways
- Self-care isn’t gendered, it’s whatever makes you feel better. Marketing framed things like baths and skincare as feminine for generations, but self-care really just covers anything that improves how you feel, and many men already practice it without labeling it that way.
- Men tend to react to problems instead of preventing them. Women are often raised to think about prevention, while men typically wait until something goes wrong, like cracked feet in winter, before doing anything about it.
- Reframe why you exercise. Instead of working out purely to look better, treat it as self-care: something done because of how it makes you feel, more energy, better sleep, and an improved mood, not just an end goal like a leaner body.
- Daily sunscreen is the single most important anti-aging habit. Dermatologists recommend it every day regardless of the weather, since it prevents wrinkles, sun damage, and skin cancer, and pairs well with vitamin C serums, eye cream, and a daily moisturizer.
- Good sleep hygiene starts with a wind-down routine. Cut phone and screen use about two hours before bed, stop caffeine early in the day, block out light with something like blackout curtains, and keep the bedroom cool so body temperature can drop into deeper sleep.
- A nighttime skincare ritual can double as a sleep cue. Repeating the same steps, washing your face, applying moisturizer, conditions your brain to associate the routine with winding down, so the body starts relaxing before you even lie down.
- Forest bathing works because of measurable biology, not just fresh air. Trees release protective compounds called phytoncides that have a documented effect on the immune system and brain, and the practice means being outside with no destination or goal, just present.
- Earthing restores a connection modern life removed. Walking or standing barefoot on natural ground, even just in a backyard, is described as grounding the body’s own electrical systems in a way shoes prevent.
- Garrett’s three strategies to get and stay well: slow down, whether through more sleep, meditation, or eating more slowly and healthfully; care for the physical body both internally and externally, through exercise as well as skincare and grooming; and do things like skincare or a bath purely for the enjoyment of doing them, not to fix a problem or hit an end goal.
“Self-care is really anything that can make you feel better.”
Garrett Munce