The bathroom essentials we turn to as it gets colder and the nights draw in.

The mercury has dropped and so with it declines the average man’s appearance. It’s a gospel truth of grooming: people generally look better when it’s not freezing outside. Cold wind, central heating and dry air can leave you a little rough around the edges, but there are things to be done to keep you beaming like a summertime seraph even when it’s positively Baltic. Thankfully, the well-prepared (and hopefully well-preserved) team at MR PORTER are happy to share their winter-battling wisdom, and so have out picked the products that save them from the cold.

Winter is cruel. It bites and it nips and it dries: it’s a thousand devils all working for the ruin of you. Or your skin at least, especially that bit on your face, which is just about the only bit of skin one exposes when it’s cold. Strategically it is a war of attrition, but there are ways to turn the battle in your favour. In the summer your face might only need a dab of light moisturiser but in winter it needs more help retaining the moisture, the loss of which makes you look like an animated corpse. So choose wisely, and go for Sisley – Paris’ Sisleÿa L’Integral Anti-Age Cream. It has the texture of clotted cream, but don’t put it on your scones. Instead, smear it with abandon on your fizzog. Your skin – and your dating prospects ­– will thank you for it.

It’s not just your skin that gets drier and duller in the winter: it’s also your hair. Once you’ve washed it, blasted it with the hairdryer and then exposed it to the glacial elements outside it’ll be brittle and dry as old bones. Sachajuan’s leave-in conditioner, however, is like tricking your hair into still thinking it’s summer but with none of the sun damage. You spray it on towel-dried hair before styling, and it creates a non-greasy barrier between you and the world, immediately brightening up your moisture-starved thatch and protecting it against wintry assaults. The best part? Apart from your hair looking and feeling instantly healthier, you can’t even tell that the conditioner’s there.

When it comes to grooming products, I’m a sucker for packaging. Not only do Buly 1803’s products look like they belong in a gallery, they give good results, too. The Pommade Concrète Balm is thick enough to act as a barrier against harsh winter winds and soothe irritated skin without leaving any greasy residue, and it even doubles as a foot cream. A little goes a long way and be sure to warm between your hands thoroughly.

It’s all very well having a carefully cultivated skincare regime for most of the year, but once winter’s chill arrives, I find my skin looking a little lacklustre and dehydrated. Relief for me arrived in the form of Perricone MD’s Essential Fx Rejuvenating Moisturiser. Enriched with acyl-glutathione (a powerful antioxidant) and Vitamin F, this cream is designed to keep the chill out and the moisture in. Plus, its lightweight formula keeps the shine at bay.

The grooming regime of the image-conscious man has never been more complicated. It’s a veritable minefield of countless steps, unpronounceable ingredients and serums that would scare a perma-tanned footballer from Essex. So, go for simplicity this winter with a soap on a rope, like this one from Claus Porto. Not only are you investing in an antidote to confusion – you’re also getting a work of art. That packaging’s almost too good to throw away.

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