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New men’s grooming brands launch all the time, but who has the bandwidth to decipher buzzwords and newfangled ingredients to find the soaps, creams and scents that are actually worth adding to your routine? We do, which is why we’ve put together this column, The Best Grooming Brands to Know Now.
In this edition, we’re highlighting ATWATER, a newish grooming brand with serious pedigree, built for a more streamlined, intuitive routine. For more brands we’ve highlighted in the past, check out Beau Domaine and Blind Barber.
ATWATER has been on my grooming radar and in my rotation for a few years now. It’s still relatively new, having launched in 2022, but already it carries that insider-y undercurrent, with a quiet credibility that feels baked in, even as more guys keep discovering it. (It doesn’t hurt that the founder, Chris Salgardo, was president of one of the OG grooming brands, Kiehl’s, and there’s a personal layer too, with the name nodding to his father’s hometown of Atwater.)
Sitting at the crossroads of skincare and modern wellness, ATWATER taps into more than just grooming, with a broader lifestyle sensibility running throughout the brand’s general ethos. But ATWATER also warrants this column for what it doesn’t do: no buzzy, endless drops, no trend-chasing campaigns, just solid, effective grooming products that speak for themselves, with a kind of “we get you, let’s not overthink it” authenticity.
ATWATER is anti-overcomplication. Most men don’t have a 12-step routine, and the brand is formulated accordingly. The range covers skincare, shave and beard care, from cleansers and moisturizers to shave creams and eye treatments, along with a few wellness-adjacent additions (like, ahem, a men’s lubricant).
It’s also refreshingly easy to navigate, especially when it comes to ATWATERS, flagship category: moisturizers. The “Armor” system is an intuitive, straightforward way to match products to your skin, with a variety of formulas that include everyday use, oilier skin and overnight use. You’ve got core options you need, nothing extraneous.
The formulas are clean in the sense that they use skin-safe, thoughtfully sourced ingredients and avoid harsh or abrasive treatments, while still relying on established, clinically studied actives; in essence, skincare that respects both science and skin. The brand sidesteps any men’s grooming clichés: no heavy-handed “bro” energy, no alpine-blast extreme scent tropes.
ATWATER isn’t trying to reinvent the grooming wheel; it just delivers a more tailored experience for men who value effectiveness and intuition. It’s cooler and more curated than your standard drugstore fare, yet not so ornate as to feel out of reach, with products you’ll likely include in your regimen long term. And isn’t that the whole point of grooming and wellness in the first place?
Below are a few standouts from the line.
Summer’s coming, but you should be wearing SPF all year ’round if you’re outside at all, period. This is one I keep reaching for as a daily driver — a lightweight SPF 50+ mineral formula that covers UVA/UVB, with zinc oxide doing the heavy lifting, backed by antioxidants like green tea, vitamin C and pomegranate. What I really dig is how it wears: no greasy film or chalky cast, and it settles in quickly.
We’re no strangers to eye creams, and as someone with perennial dark circles, I always have one, or a few, in rotation. ATWATER’s is firmly in that mix with a texture that stands out right away: lightweight, fast-absorbing, easy to wear. It covers the bases, fine lines, puffiness and dark circles, with niacinamide helping to brighten and smooth the look of skin, and caffeine working to de-puff and wake things up. And it’s ophthalmologist-tested, which matters this close to your eyes.
One of the brand’s first releases, I’ve used this moisturizer on and off for years. (I even keep a spare at my folks’ place when I visit.) Skin Armor is ATWATER’s best-seller for a reason: easy to use, compatible with most skin types, including sensitive, and delivers reliable, lasting hydration. In classic ATWATER fashion, it also multitasks, with 5% niacinamide and licorice root helping to brighten and support the skin barrier. There are plenty of moisturizers you’ll rotate through, but this one consistently earns sink space as a dependable, everyday go-to.
Beard oil users, rejoice. I don’t have one, but plenty of my friends do, and this quiet cult favorite I’ve heard a lot about fits right in with the brand’s multitasking ethos. The 5-in-1 Beard Oil earns that label by hydrating beard and skin, softening coarse hair, soothing irritation and reducing flakes and itch, leaving beards smoother, healthier and easier to manage overall. It’s lightweight and non-greasy, absorbs quickly and has a subtle herbal scent.
This gel cleanser is a lightweight, warm-weather daily driver wash for normal to combination skin that cuts through dirt and oil without stripping, leaving skin balanced and hydrated. Niacinamide supports the barrier, salicylic acid keeps pores in check and sunflower seed extract adds hydration. It’s dermatologist-tested and finished with a subtle, medicinal herbal scent.
One of the first products I used from the brand, this regulating moisturizer is especially strong for oily or combination skin. It’s a lightweight gel-lotion, not overly rich or occlusive, that utilizes niacinamide and salicylic acid to keep pores clear, calm inflammation and rein in excess oil while still delivering steady hydration.
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