Improving Self-Care for Men, From the Inside Out

Approaching beauty from the inside out isn’t a new concept—unless we apply it to men. Just think about it: For decades, women have had plenty of hair and nail vitamins to choose from, and that supplement category is booming right now. There have been countless articles written about what to eat to get beautiful, glowing skin. But when it comes to men, where is all that attention? After all, the concept applies equally to everyone. That’s exactly why co-founders Josh LeVine and Oli Walsh recently launched ASYSTEM, a system that simplifies taking care of yourself on the inside and outside.

“There’s been a shift in how men approach self-care from a broader perspective,” Walsh says. “Years ago, it was frowned upon, then it was accepted, and now it’s almost expected for men to take care of themselves. Men have looked after themselves in various ways, usually exercise first and then diet, but what other way I can be the best version of myself? ASYSTEM was designed exactly for that. Here’s a daily supplement pack, here’s skin care for the outside. And that idea of if you take those two minutes a day, the benefits you will get internally is focus, stamina and mood, and externally, how you look has an impact on how you feel, as well. When you are the best version of yourself, everyone around you wins. It will help you be a better dad, husband, colleague, friend—whatever is important to you.”

ASYSTEM is made up of two parts: taking care of the body from the inside—this is where the supplements come in—and the outside, which is its skin-care line. Of course, the two play off one another, since having healthy skin literally goes more than skin-deep. “With skin care and wellness, no one was taking a 360-degree viewpoint of products,” Walsh says. “We wanted to make it easy for men by creating high-quality products to do that. We both come from building brands in the fashion world, and we are good at building a lifestyle around it. The existing brands were antiquated—they were overly masculine or a French luxury. Nothing spoke to us in modernity. ASYSTEM helps men be the best version of themselves and makes it really easy for them. The line is aspirational yet inclusive.” The founders of Frame Denim and Wednesday Agency knew all about building brands from their impressive career path, and they saw there was a lot of white space for men’s self-care.

Supplements for men have typically focused on muscle gain, but LeVine and Walsh wanted to provide everything men need for overall wellness. The problem is, that can lead to taking pill after pill every morning. That’s why they edited it down, giving you one less thing to worry about before you head out the door in the morning. Dubbed “Superhuman Supplements,” they deliver everything the body needs in just five capsules, boosting everything from energy to stamina, recovery, focus and sex drive. The pack includes a multivitamin dubbed MultiMan with coenzyme Q10, vitamin K2 and iodine, as well as Brainiac with omega-3 fatty acids. Each pill is packed with vitamins and minerals and is backed by science and data to show they really work.

“We like to be told what to do—guys are simple creatures and ASYSTEM plays into that,” LeVine says. “This is a one, two, three simple system for guys. We found that for self-care for men, the barrier entry is not knowing where to start; there’s a lot of choice out there. The solution is to not give them too much choice, to make it simplistic. You can’t have 20 pills, so we boiled it down to five pills for total optimization from the inside.”

When LeVine and Walsh started developing the system, they met with a functional medicine doctor and a nutritionist, who did blood tests and a variety of other tests on them. “We’re both quite different physiologically, but we learned that basically every man needs the same starting point,” Walsh explains. “We wanted to find a solution for every man ages 18 to 80. If you take the baseline of what we formulated, you are going to rebuild at the cellular level and see improvement in your immediate and long-term health. We did the legwork to combine it in an easy daily pack so you don’t have to do the DIY approach.”

For skin care, they launched with a tight edit of three essential products. The Twice Daily Invigorating Cleanser lives up to its name, as it’s meant to be used morning and night to wash away the dirt, oil, sweat and dead skin cells that build up on your face and trigger breakouts and dullness, leaving skin smooth and hydrated. Eucalyptus, lavender and bergamot nourish skin, while pumice gently exfoliates. When it comes to keeping skin young, sun and pollution damage are the biggest threats, so the Daily Defense Moisturizer + SPF 30 fights both. Super lightweight with a matte finish so you won’t even feel or see it on your skin, the hypoallergenic formula protects against UVA and UVB rays to prevent fine lines. At night, when skin is in repair mode, slather on the Overnight Rebuilding Cream to turn back the clock while you sleep. Though men are hit with the signs of aging later in life, they come with a vengeance, so this has ingredients like Swertia chirata extract, avocado oil and kiwifruit extract to combat dark circles, sagging skin, puffy eyes and inflammation, all while bringing on mega moisture.

“The key for us was the notion of performance skin care, making skin care that had a range of powerful, active ingredients that actually work while making the experience as enjoyable as possible,” Walsh says. “It’s fragrance-free and made with the highest standards.” And it’s realistic. “My wife has a 14-step skin-care routine before we go to bed, and the average guy is not going to do the same thing,” LeVine adds. “This is what we should be doing every single day. With ASYSTEM, you’re even using the same cleanser—there’s no need to develop a morning and evening one.”

After a few weeks of using ASYSTEM, guys should see and feel a major difference. “In the past, I would wake up, roll out of bed and need coffee,” LeVine says. “I’ve been using it for several months, and now I have the ability to wake up and go. I wake up fresh with a sense of energy to do whatever it is I want to do, and I feel the same throughout the day. Instead of feeling like I need a coffee or nap at 3 o’clock, I have the ability to keep going, with focus and clarity from a mental standpoint—I’m sharp and on my game.” Walsh confirms the same changes, saying that at the end of the day, he doesn’t feel like he’s been working for hours, and that newfound energy affects many areas of his life.

“When you package the two together, inside and outside optimization, it helps people connect the dots and understand the whole approach to health, wellness and betterment,” LeVine says. “The gentleman that is our customer—a high-performance human—ASYSTEM supports him from the moment when he wakes up to when he goes to sleep. Something like this didn’t exist before, and we’re doing it in an authentic way.”

Photo credit: YakobchukOlena, Getty Images