为什么男人们也用起了面膜？

A FEW MonTHS AGO, Jordan Savage’s girlfriend convinced him to try a face mask. The Los Angeles couple went to a local Sephora to choose some purposeful-sounding goop—a house-brand Green Clay Mask ($8 each), which purports to purify and minimize pores—and made a night out of it. The 31-year-old film producer, a skin care novice with an oily complexion, saw positive effects immediately and has since gone on to purchase masks on his own.

几个月前，31岁的电影制片人乔丹.萨维奇(Jordan Savage)被女友安利了面膜。住在洛杉矶的两人去当地的一家丝芙兰(Sephora)挑选了一些听上去比较实用的产品，好好地享受了一晚面膜Spa——他们买的是丝芙兰自有品牌的绿泥面膜（Green Clay Mask，每袋8美元），据称有净化及缩小毛孔的功效。油性肤质的乔丹原本对护肤一窍不通，试了一晚后发现效果立竿见影，于是走上了亲自买面膜的不归路。

For many men, the idea of spending 15 minutes plastered in a damp, papery sheet mask or sealed in the grips of a gritty clay mask is becoming less alien. Tara Foley, CEO and founder of Follain, a skin care chain with stores in Dallas, New York and Seattle, has seen an uptick in converts who start by borrowing masks from their partners, then buy their own. Alex Penfold pilfered from his wife Jen’s mask stock for years before creating the “Bro Mask,” an emphatically male-marketed sheet mask that’s larger to envelop a man’s broader face and comes in two parts, so bearded men can skip the bottom part and avoid getting the sheet mask stuck in their whiskers. Since the product’s May launch, said Mr. Penfold, sales have doubled each month.

对许多男士来说，花15分钟往脸上敷湿湿的片状面膜或是抹黏黏的泥状面膜已经不是什么新鲜事。护肤品连锁店Follain的CEO兼创始人塔拉.福利(Tara Foley)表示有越来越多的男性在蹭用另一半的面膜之后开始上瘾，之后便自己选购。Follain在达拉斯、纽约和西雅图均有分店。亚历克斯.彭福尔德(Alex Penfold)从妻子珍(Jen)处蹭了多年面膜，后来他独创了一种“兄弟面膜”(Bro Mask)，专为男性打造，面膜纸的面积更大，可以覆盖更宽的脸型，而且分为两个部分，留胡子的男同胞可以不用下半部分，以免把面膜卡在胡子上。彭福尔德表示自产品从5月推出以后每月销量都呈翻番之势。

Still, Annie Jackson, who co-founded the San Francisco-based cosmetics chain Credo, pointed out that male maskers tend to dwell in big cities, where unabashed preening and pore-cleaning carries less of a stigma. She finds that her male customers are looking for purifying or detoxifying masks, particularly gravitating to a charcoal mask from Georgia brand One Love Organics ($49 for a 2.1 oz jar), which Credo claims will “clarify your complexion and extract dirt and debris.”

安妮.杰克逊(Annie Jackson)在旧金山与人合伙创建了化妆品连锁店Credo，她表示使用面膜的男性通常都是居住在大城市里的人，因为在大城市可以大大方方打扮自己、清洁毛孔，不用觉得不好意思。她还发现男顾客偏爱有净化和排毒功能的面膜，而且特别喜爱乔治亚州本土品牌One Love Organics推出的一款活性炭面膜（一罐2.1盎司，49美元），Credo表示这款面膜可以“净化肌肤、吸出污垢与残留物。”

But don’t take such marketing at face value. “With big skin care companies you’ve got to be skeptical,” said Dr. Bradley Glodny, a New York-based dermatologist. “I wouldn’t trust the reviews and what the claims are. You’ve got to try it for yourself and see if it helps you.” To find a mask likely to address your needs (assuming you can articulate your skin’s “needs”), Dr. Glodny advises, learn what tasks individual ingredients perform. For example, calendula oil (from the marigold flower) and sulfur are anti-inflammatory and reduce redness, while charcoal and clay can “dry up impurities” and hyaluronic acid can help hydrate skin.

不过，对这种营销字眼可不能盲目轻信。来自纽约的皮肤科医生布拉德利.哥罗德尼(Bradley Glodny)博士表示：“要对大型护肤企业持怀疑态度，我不会相信那些评论和所谓的功效，你要自己去尝试，看看是否适合你。” 哥罗德尼博士还说如果想找可以满足你需求（假设你可以清楚地表述自己的肌肤“需求”）的面膜，可以了解一下每种成分的作用。比如说提取自万寿菊的金盏花油和硫磺可以消炎和减少红斑，活性炭和泥浆可以“去除杂质”，而透明质酸可以补充水分。

Evan Wells, 37, who works at a financial software company in San Francisco, uses Drunk Elephant’s T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial mask ($80 for 50 mL), featuring multiple exfoliating acids of the “ic” variety, including glycolic and salicylic. He finds a nightly masking pays off: “When I wake up in the morning I can just tell that my skin is plump and fresh.” Dr. Glodny, however, cautioned that such sensations can be fleeting. “A lot of [masks] will only help in the short term,” he said, adding that masks don’t necessarily make skin healthier. But after a few spa nights with your girlfriend, your relationship might be.

37岁的埃文.威尔斯(Evan Wells)在旧金山的一家金融软件公司上班，他使用了“醉象”(Drunk Elephant)牌的T.L.C. Sukari Babyfacial面膜（80美元50毫升）。这款面膜富含各种可以去角质的“酸”，如乙醇酸和水杨酸等。他认为每晚敷面膜效果不错：“早上起来的时候我可以感觉到自己的皮肤饱满清爽。”不过哥罗德尼博士提醒，这种感觉可能是短暂的。“大部分面膜只能在短期起到作用，”他说，还补充道面膜不一定会让皮肤更健康。但如果跟女友一起敷几个晚上的面膜，你们的关系可能会变健康。