On Females Using Male Products

[Guest Waffle Cat]

I've had some experience using a male shampoo for about a month way back, and it didn't seem to ruin my hair. Now, I kind of want to use other male products. Like cologne, or maybe some sort of lotion. And there are male products that do that stuff. (And there's no female lotion that has no scent)

I'm concerned if it's safe for me, tho, especially that I'm pre-T. I heard about a female who used an anti-acne wash for men which ruined her skin.

Anyone with experience on this?

kthxbai

[Guest SusanB]

As a man i've never used any kind of lotion

Men don't tend to have as dry skin as women so don't need it

[Flint]

The acne cream may have done something to her skin because it was meant for men, or she could just have had a bad reaction it. either way though that's more a medical thing which should always be checked by doctors first anyway.

As for cologne i can't see it being a problem

Lotions... Well... it depends if it's just general use lotion or a special lotion for medical purposes.

[Guest Waffle Cat]

Lotions... Well... it depends if it's just general use lotion or a special lotion for medical purposes.

Special medical purposes? Hm. I'm not planning to buy super fancy stuff, just the things you find at department stores.

ps: bad reaction, huh? seems legit. she's fine now, tho.

[Guest ~Brenda~]

The difference between men's and women's lotions, potions, creams, colognes, is marketing.

Nothing else.

Brenda

[Carolyn Marie]

If you have a concern about any particular product, the label should tell you whether it is not recommended for one gender or another. The only ones I'm familiar with are some hair growth products and products containing testosterone or T-enhancers, as being dangerous for women to even handle.

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Robin Winter]

I was always under the impression that perfumes/colognes were formulated to complement the chemistry of one sex or the other. Perhaps that's not true or no longer true, I don't really know.

[Guest aleon515]

I think it is pretty much marketing. You know the scents are more manly (or womanly), the label is different, etc. If you read the ingredients, you'd find they were identical. There are also products not marketed either way (Suave shampoo, Arm and hammer deodorant, etc.). They have more neutral packaging (like white labels etc), you notice they aren't quite as big sellers either.

I'm using a gel. Pretty sure with the black label it is meant for guys. Doesn't hurt my hair at all and I use it daily.

--Jay

[Guest mistygirl7]

People reacted differently to different products wheater you dry skin, sensitive skin, oily skin following what ingredients it has in it along with how much acidic or alkaline it has. Anyone can use anything.

[Charlize]

As a man the only products i used were soap and water applied when things were too bad. Otherwise it was sweat and earth until booted into the shower by my wife. Yes my skin is sensitive and dry so so i pamper myself and love scents. That never got sold to me as a man, however. Sorry, a guys life is somewhat austere and boring or at least mine was.

Hugs,

Charlie

[Guest Waffle Cat]

So, just marketing, huh? got it.

I've always had this thought that biological males had thicker skin or something.

[Guest]

The difference between men's and women's lotions, potions, creams, colognes, is marketing.

Nothing else.

Brenda

Hey Brenda, I agree with the first sentence. Giggle.

Nothing Else??? I beg to differ, male products all smell so testosterony... Ewewwww! LOL! Like that word? I made it up. Giggle. Point, counterpoint silliness. Hug. JodyAnn

[Guest aleon515]

I agree that the scents are probably engineered. and very well planned to appeal. I'm guessing there might be some slight differences in certain types of products, but most of them are pretty much the same minus the scents and the packaging.

I don't like any scents in my stuff at all. They all give me headaches.

--Jay

[Guest ShortyT]

I have no trouble finding unscented lotions that appear somewhat gender-neutral package-wise. Currently using one belonging to the anti-acne products I use (that are neutral as well).

As far as the "gendered" stuff, main difference to me seems to be packaging, scents and what skin types they are targeted at.

[Guest Andrew Parker]

Theres usually no difference in men and womens products other than scents and marketing. And for lotion, vasaline makes unscented lotion, i think it says for men on it but its really just plain old lotion.

[Guest Thing]

I agree the only difference is marketing. Some acne washes are just bad for some people in general. I used mens products long before I ever even thought of transitioning. Now I use some mens and some womens...pick the best products for you, ignore the marketing.

[Guest Clair Dufour]

As several here have said, unless it has a hormone in (and it would say so) it no problem. Unless your buying street stuff that should not be a problem. I was checking Pinoy websites for Mens Makeup and got a lot of hits. How common that is I don't know but it does make it easier for you. I don't recall ever meeting real macho (as in Spanish Macho) guys there. Hair length and style seem to be more important than what you put on it.

[Guest Dragonseeker]

I wear cologne and nothing terrible has happened. I also used to wear men's deodorant and nothing bad happened to my skin either. I agree with the ones saying that the difference is the marketing with items like that.

[VickySGV]

Toiletry items for either gender are physically safe fo each other, on hormones, your sniffer may find one or the other more pleasant one way that they did before, but none of them rot your hide off, just because it was for the other hormonal gender.

[Guest Ebany]

can't help but add my two cents. I've been using men's body wash/shampoo [what can i say, i'm a bit lazy] and deoderant for well over a year and haven't had any problems. About the only difference I've found is that men's deoderant doesn't last anywhere near as long as women's... and the smells. Seems that anything 'female' has to be all flowery or fruity and 'male' seems to be headache inducing or a spicey scent.

Shilo, all of the perfume/colone in hygine products and sold seperately reacts to individual chymistry and will smell slightly to majorly different when worn by different people, even of the same sex. That's why you'll catch people spraying the inside of their wrist to test purfume rather than just smelling the bottle. You just have to find something that you [or your significant other] likes the smell of on you.

Danny

[JJ]

Two things govern my choices-smell and price. Well there is a third too-allergies. I have actually found the men's products to cause fewer allergic reactions because they have less fragrance added and sometimes fewer exotic sounding ingredients to add marketing appeal.

After T I haven't found a deodorant that completely masks that T scent though. Male or female labeled. Wish I could. I like it now but vividly remember how awful it seemed at first so probably does to those around me too. They haven't mentioned it but once when I reached across someone but still I hate the idea.

[Guest Clair Dufour]

Most mens products have very little odor in them. Most guys don't want to smell "gay"! If they do it"s a musk smell. Natural scents available at a women's bookstore or health food store are a good. Patchuly is my favorite.

[Guest crossit0ut]

This was great to read through! My dad insists that using male anything will ruin my skin and hair because they are "designed for men's inner workings!", which makes no sense. I've been using men's shampoo and body wash for a few months now and I have no issues with it, unless it's colored red. That makes my skin all itchy and painful.

[Guest barton]

Unless it has some kind of medicinal purpose, with additives like hormones or the like, the only difference between the vast majority of male and female products is marketing. Color, fragrance, the design of the container or packaging. The ingredients themselves are mostly the same.

[Guest DanD]

As a man i've never used any kind of lotion

Men don't tend to have as dry skin as women so don't need it

yep, thats true. after Testo kicks in, you dont need to worry about having dry skin or hair, just the opposite.

it wont hurt anyone to use things meant for men or women..shampoos or whatever, its all the same, they just use a different package and maybe a different scent. if someone used something for their skin and they had acne after it or a rash, its most likely whatever they used just irritated the skin, or made it even more oily. Some of the skin cleanser things clean too well and irritate the skin, causing rash or acne. i tried some cleansing pads for the face when it got zits to help, and it made it worse because it probably had something in it that my skin didnt like. too harsh on my skin. has nothing to do with whether its packaged for guys or for gals.

for example: the blue Gillette Good News men's disposable razors is the exact same thing as the Womens Gillette daisy things in pink plastic. No difference. sometimes they package the exact same things, but with one label for men and the other for women.

soaps and shampoos don't matter what they label them for, men or women, just means they put some flowery scent in the girls things and something else in the guys stuff.

i noticed MOST shampoos and soaps are for hydrating the skin, for dry hair or dry skin, which is exactly what i dont need.

but they do sell some things for oily hair and skin so i try those. but regardless, you go by whatever works for your own body.

some things smell different on each person, (like Musk scents for example) so you test it on your own skin to see how it is.