In New Zealand, women make up 50.4% of the population, but only 3% of tradespeople in this country are female. So when writer Lucy Slight reached out to her community on Instagram to get an insight into the type of skincare Kiwi tradies used, she knew she’d hear from the female partners of tradies, but she didn’t expect to be in touch with many women in the industry.
However, three New Zealand women working in the trades industry did hit her up with some insightful recommendations for their soap bar-loving male colleagues. Tradies, be they builders, bricklayers, electricians, plumbers or roofers, spend a lot of the day either outside or driving between building sites, so you’d assume as they’re constantly exposed to the elements, they’d have a good routine in place when it comes to protecting their skin from the environment. As it turns out, this is far from true - at least where male tradies are concerned.
In a bid to find out what tradies in all areas of the industry use on their skin, I took to Instagram and posted a story asking Kiwi tradespeople (or their partners) to share their favourite products. “I live with a tradie, and his idea of skincare is using the leftover shower gel on his hands from washing his body on his face while he’s in the shower,” was one response. “Chris is an electrician and his skincare routine is a bar of soap” and “Whatever soap I use on my body, I use on my face” were just two of countless messages confirming the number-.
