Why Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta Is Keeping Skincare Simple
Before Gabe Saporta started a skincare company, he was the guy hunting for discontinued moisturizer on eBay.
The Cobra Starship frontman had found something he liked at his corner bodega in New York. Winter winds gave him a reason to use it. Keeping the habit required very little thought. Then the product disappeared, and the replacements disappointed him: too heavy, too greasy, too much fragrance.
His response eventually became BROTEGE, a men's skincare brand built around a preference he understands firsthand: wanting to take care of your face without acquiring another hobby.
"One product, once a day," Saporta tells Men's Fitness. "And that's ultimately what inspired me to create something similar for other dudes."
That idea runs through Good Boy Protection, the brand's daily moisturizer, and Night Train, its retinol night cream. But Saporta's interest in making everyday maintenance easier reaches beyond the bathroom cabinet. It comes from touring hard, becoming a dad and discovering how humbling it can be to start over professionally.
Fatherhood Changed the Stakes
At Cobra Starship's busiest, Saporta says, the band toured ten months or more each year, playing five or six nights a week. He remembers an incredible experience, along with the physical cost of trying to keep it going.
"But we were burning the candle at both ends, and eventually my body started sending me the bill."
He says he needed vocal-cord surgery and made trips to the emergency room because of exhaustion. The realization that he needed to change came gradually. Fatherhood made it harder to postpone.
"Your kid doesn't care that you had a late night. They still need you to show up."
He remains affectionate about his touring years. Asked what he would change, he points to the after-parties, while admitting his younger self probably would have ignored the advice.
The goal now is to preserve some of that freedom and spontaneity while making choices he can sustain. He has little interest in becoming a wellness guru.
"I still want to have fun. I still want to feel that same sense of freedom and spontaneity."
Making a Habit Worth Keeping
Saporta's frustration with skincare begins with how much of a commitment it can appear to demand. Buy the bottles. Learn the ingredients. Remember the order. Wait for results.
He sees an opportunity among men who have tried that approach and abandoned it, as well as those who have never started.
"Most guys just want something simple that works without turning skincare into another hobby."
His answer is to make the experience approachable enough that people want to repeat it. How a cream feels matters. So does whether the brand sounds like someone they would choose to listen to.
"I'd rather see a guy do one simple thing every day, than go crazy with a twelve-step routine for two weeks and then quit."
For someone in his 30s or 40s starting from scratch, Saporta's first move is to remove the guilt about not beginning sooner. He suggests identifying the obstacle: a routine that demanded too much, uncertainty about where to start, or simply disliking the way skincare is sold.
That makes the starting point personal. The man overwhelmed by products needs fewer decisions. The man who keeps quitting needs a habit that fits his day.
How Night Train Came Together
Good Boy Protection combines moisturizer, retinol and broad-spectrum SPF 15. Saporta says developing it meant years of working with labs to balance the formula's feel, stability and intended benefits.
Then customers started asking whether they could use it before bed.
"Except there's one problem: at night, there's no freaking sun."
That question led to Night Train . The nighttime formula leaves out sunscreen and includes retinol, hydrolyzed collagen, hyaluronic acid, caffeine, and vitamins C and E. Its name nods to the Guns N' Roses song "Nightrain," keeping the music connection close.
"The idea was to make a maximalist cream for a minimalist routine."
The brand says Night Train contains more retinol of Good Boy Protection, although its supplied product information does not disclose either percentage. Its claims about cosmetic benefits draw on research into individual ingredients; BROTEGE says it has not conducted dedicated finished-product clinical efficacy or consumer-perception studies.
That distinction keeps expectations grounded: an ingredient's research record does not establish the results someone will get from a particular cream.
BROTEGE provided me with complimentary samples, and my initial experience using them was positive. That is a personal first impression, rather than a measure of longer-term changes in wrinkles or skin texture.
Keep the Basics in the Routine
Saporta's own list of essentials is straightforward: a gentle cleanser, moisturizer, daily sunscreen and, for someone interested in addressing visible wrinkles, a retinol product.
Retinol can help with uneven tone and texture and mild signs of aging, but it can also irritate skin. The American Academy of Dermatology advises starting slowly and using sun protection . Night Train's instructions similarly tell new users to begin a few nights a week and increase gradually as skin adjusts.
There is one sun-protection detail to keep in mind: Good Boy Protection's SPF 15 is below the AAD's recommendation of a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher . Include sunscreen that meets that recommendation, and reapply approximately every two hours outdoors and after swimming or sweating, following its label.
A simple routine still needs to suit your skin. Night Train lists fragrance among its ingredients, while Good Boy Protection is fragrance-free. Anyone with sensitive or persistently irritated skin should get advice on suitable products from a dermatologist.
The Frontman Is Still in There
Saporta approaches BROTEGE much as he approached making music: imagine the people it is for, create something he would want himself, and give it a personality.
"As an artist, my natural instinct is to make things."
Naming, packaging and brand development come naturally to him. Formulation and testing have required learning from specialists, and he readily acknowledges their expertise.
The details retain his sense of humor. He says the BROTEGE product he reaches for most is El Chapo lip balm, whose shotgun-shell-style packaging tends to start conversations. Night Train's rock reference belongs to the same world.
"We take the science behind our products seriously, but that doesn't mean we have to take ourselves seriously."
For Saporta, making someone laugh can be the first step toward getting them to consider a habit they have been avoiding.
Starting Over Has Its Advantages
Moving into business also meant getting comfortable with being a beginner again.
Saporta says leaving regular touring to start a family, then working behind the scenes with other artists, had already taught him that lesson. The calls did not always get answered as easily when he was the one asking for something.
"When you're running a startup, you have to be ready to eat a lot of humble pie."
He enjoys attending business conferences where people have no idea who he is. Asked about his previous career, he delivers the answer deadpan: "I was a rock star."
He is equally candid about the contradictions. Running a company devoted to self-care has squeezed his own time for the gym and sleep. He describes that as something he hopes is temporary, and readily admits he is still working on his own habits.
Still, creating something tangible has given him another outlet for the instincts he developed in music. Confidence, in his telling, comes from understanding who he is trying to help and why the work matters.
His ambitions extend beyond skincare, toward other everyday essentials men will use. The philosophy remains modest enough to act on, even when the packaging gets loud.
"I'm trying to make small changes that allow me to keep doing the things I love for longer."
Skincare note: This article offers general information and personal product impressions, not individualized medical advice. Results and tolerance vary. A dermatologist can help you decide whether retinol is appropriate, especially if you have sensitive skin, an existing skin condition or use other treatments.
This story was originally published by Men's Fitness on Oct 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Gear section. Add Men's Fitness as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
