Best Men's Skincare Sets: Why Most Brands Are Cutting Corners

The Skincare Industry Has a Dirty Secret

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most men's skincare brands are built on shortcuts. They load formulas with cheap fillers, synthetic fragrances, and ingredients that regulatory bodies in other countries have already banned. Then they slap "for men" on the label and call it a day.

We're not here to play that game.

RAWDOG was built on a different philosophy: Raw Power. Performance first. Precision always. No fairy dusting ingredients at ineffective doses. No kitchen-sink formulations stuffed with redundant compounds. Just clean, clinical skincare that actually works.

We analyzed the most popular men's skincare sets on the market (Hims, Lumin, Kiehl's, Jack Black, Tiege Hanley, and Brickell) to see how they stack up. What we found wasn't pretty.

What We're Looking At (And What You Should Avoid)

Before we break down each brand, here's a quick primer on the ingredient red flags we screened for:

Forever Chemicals (PFAS): Highly stable chemicals found in hundreds of cosmetics, linked to cancer and immune dysfunction. They're called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down. Look for anything with "fluoro" on the label.

PEGs (Polyethylene Glycols): Common emulsifiers scrutinized for potential 1,4-dioxane contamination, a known carcinogen.

Synthetic Fragrance: That generic "Fragrance" on the label? It's a cocktail of volatile organic compounds linked to headaches, asthma, contact dermatitis, and endocrine disruption.

Formaldehyde-Releasers: Preservatives like Diazolidinyl Urea that slowly release formaldehyde into your product. Yes, that formaldehyde.

Chemical UV Filters: Ingredients like Oxybenzone and Octinoxate, flagged as endocrine disruptors and environmental hazards.

Microplastics: Synthetic solid polymers used for texture that are linked to inflammation and skin barrier disruption.

The Breakdown: How Popular Brands Compare

Hims

Hims has built a massive direct-to-consumer empire, but their formulations tell a different story. Their creams contain Lilial (Butylphenyl Methylpropional), a fragrance ingredient that's been banned in the EU as a reproductive toxin and endocrine disruptor.

You won't see "Lilial" on the label. It hides under "Fragrance."

They also use PEGs and synthetic dyes in several products. For a brand that markets itself as modern and transparent, the ingredient lists tell a different story.

Kiehl's

Kiehl's has heritage and brand cachet, but their Facial Fuel Energizing Wash contains Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), a UV filter that's been flagged as an endocrine disruptor and is harmful to coral reefs. It's banned in Hawaii for a reason.

Add synthetic dyes and fragrance to the mix, and you've got a formula that prioritizes marketing over formulation integrity.

Tiege Hanley

Tiege Hanley built their brand on simplicity, but their ingredient choices are anything but clean. Their cleanser uses SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate), a harsh surfactant known for stripping the skin barrier.

Even worse, their PM Moisturizer contains Diazolidinyl Urea, a formaldehyde-releasing preservative. For a brand targeting health-conscious men, that's a significant red flag.

Jack Black

Jack Black's Double-Duty Face Moisturizer uses chemical UV filters including Octinoxate and Avobenzone. It also contains Retinyl Palmitate, which has been flagged for photocarcinogenic risk when exposed to sunlight, the exact condition you'd use a moisturizer with SPF.

This combination wouldn't qualify for Sephora's "Clean at Sephora" standards.

Lumin and Brickell

Both brands rely heavily on subscription models that have generated significant customer complaints around cancellation difficulty and billing practices. Beyond the business model frustrations, their formulations include PEGs, synthetic fragrances, and other ingredients we filter out.

Ingredient Comparison: The Full Picture

Here's how every brand stacks up on the ingredients that matter. ✗ means the brand uses the ingredient. ✓ means they're free from it.

The takeaway: RAWDOG is the only brand that passes every category. No other men's skincare line has eliminated this full spectrum of problematic ingredients.

The RAWDOG Difference: Clean Meets Clinical

We didn't build RAWDOG by copying what everyone else does. We started from first principles: what does men's skin actually need, and how do we deliver it without compromise?

The result is the Raw Power Starter Kit, a three-product system built on ingredient integrity and clinical efficacy.

The Milky Cleanser: Gentle Power

Most men's cleansers use harsh sulfates that strip your skin barrier, leaving it dry and reactive. Our Milky Cleanser uses Cocamidopropyl Betaine, a mild, coconut-derived surfactant that purifies without destruction.

The star ingredient? Betaine Salicylate, a gentle BHA that clarifies pores and smooths texture without the irritation of traditional exfoliating cleansers. It's exfoliation calibrated for daily use.

The Lightweight Moisturizer: The Biomimetic Advantage

Here's where things get interesting. While most brands rely on silicones for that "lightweight" feel, we use Tallow, an ancestral ingredient that's experiencing a scientific renaissance.

Why tallow? It's a skin-identical lipid. The fatty acid profile closely matches human sebum, which means superior absorption and genuine barrier repair. It's rich in fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, plus conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

This isn't a throwback to primitive skincare. It's cutting-edge formulation that happens to use an ingredient humans have trusted for thousands of years.

The AM Eye Cream: Peptide Sophistication

Most men's eye creams are just caffeine and marketing. Ours uses a multi-targeted peptide system that competitors can't match.

SYN-AKE® and ARGIRELINE® are potent peptides that target dynamic expression lines by acting on neuromuscular pathways. Think of them as precision tools for crow's feet and expression wrinkles.

We pair these with Caffeine for puffiness and Zerumbone for inflammation. It's comprehensive eye area treatment, not a single-ingredient gimmick.

What RAWDOG Eliminates

Being "clean" isn't about marketing claims. It's about what you choose to leave out. Here's what you'll never find in a RAWDOG formula:

• Forever Chemicals (PFAS)
• Seed Oils
• Microplastics
• PEGs and ethoxylated compounds
• Silicones
• Synthetic fragrance
• Formaldehyde-releasers
• Chemical UV filters
• Endocrine disruptors

No men's skincare brand has gone this far. We're setting a new standard for what "clean" actually means.

The Bottom Line

You've got options. You can choose the brand with the biggest ad budget, the slickest packaging, or the most celebrity endorsements.

Or you can look at what's actually in the bottle.

The Raw Power Starter Kit gives you clinical-grade actives (tallow, advanced peptides, gentle BHAs) in formulas stripped of the industry's dirty shortcuts. No endocrine disruptors hiding under "Fragrance." No formaldehyde-releasers in your night cream. No EU-banned ingredients in your daily routine.

Clean skincare that actually performs. That's Raw Power.

Ready to stop compromising? Shop the Raw Power Starter Kit →