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Welcome to the last part of our article series on sexy man’s grooming. In this series we’ve already covered:
This last piece will expand further on dealing with our hair and will cover the daily realities of looking our best, because, as you’ll soon realize, no matter how stylish the hairdresser made your haircut and no matter how great it looked after you left the salon, it’s your ability to make it presentable in the morning or before a night out that will make the actual difference of whether you look stylish and sexy or as if someone drove over a raccoon on your head.
The process is actually quite simple when we know what we’re doing, but because there’s a lot of misinformation and limiting beliefs about men’s hair styling (no, conditioner is not something that only women should use) it’s a little problematic for most guys to figure out where to start.
I’m sure, like me, at least once in your life you found yourself in a store’s hair care section, looking at the countless options of shampoos, conditioners, and styling products available, wondering what the hell are they all supposed to do, whether you should get one that says “Epic Shine”, “Massive Volume”, “Instant Repair”, or “Now With Extra Fairy Dust!”, just to get frustrated and get something that sounds manly, like “Fusion”, “V8”, or “Turbo Mega Ice Energy SPORT”, ignoring the fact that those names have nothing to do with hair.
So with this article I’d like to help make your hair care routine effective, practical, and simple, which means focusing on the essentials that will lead to the best results instead of trying to learn everything there is to know about hair care.
We’ll start with figuring out what our hair care routine should look like, discuss the most popular styling products and which ones and when you should use them, and lastly we’ll discuss some of the miscellaneous questions that you might have.
Comments
Really cool article man! You
Really cool article man!
You wrote about hairdrying:
"Can be harmful to the overall hair health (to mitigate the damage make sure you’re being gentle when using a blow dryer: use it from a distance, on a lower setting. Ideally you don’t want to use it daily. Also, only use it on damp hair after you’ve dried it with a towel.)"
This is sadly correct unless you use a HEAT PROTECTION spray that you spray on before drying :)
You also forgot a minor product that you can use:
Salt Water spray. not only does it gives more volum but makes hair drying much more efficient (gives it more hold). Then add some hair pomade, for then adding some hairspray for hold.
What i recommend is to buy a simple clay/pomade with not too much hold so that it won't damage your hair for the week days (i used a litgh hairwax from Kerastase) and go all crazy with saltwater sprays, strong hair pomade and hairsprays the week ends (or when i head out to meet a chick). In the week days at the uni i like to not overdress so a light clay/pommade is ideal.
Here is the pommade is use in the week days. It's very light and give a slithly more conservative look:
http://www.hairvision-kappers.nl/includes/_Files/afbeeldingen/Kerastase/...
It's also easy to wash away.
However when i mean business, here are the products i go for:
Fudge Salt Spray: https://www.fudge.com/media/catalog/product/s/i/size1_salt_spray_1.jpg
Then i use a hair pommade. This is the best ever made (my ex won the awad of beign the thrid best hairdress in europe and even she said it was amazing) - easy to remove, not greasy (doesn't give you a greasy hair look), lots of hold, easy to style and easy to use. Here is GoldWell Roughman: http://www.capitalhairandbeauty.co.uk/Images/Products/Default/large/3068...
And last, for hold, which is useful for clubs, i usually stick to Redken sprays. they are known for good hairsprays.I like number 12.
http://www.beautylaunchpad.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/Rect_430_W...
And then if you've used a lot of hairproducts using a shampoo that specializes in removing them is key. Not removing your hair product before going to sleep can damage your hair and cause hair loss.
Good article!
Alek!
Great addition, Alek - now
Great addition, Alek - now the article is really complete!
Cleansing Question
Hey Darius,
Thanks for this info. I have a question about cleansing:
My hair is medium to long and I use product in my hair. It's a fiber wax. On days I don't shampoo, will water alone be able to clean this product out of my hair?
I shampoo like every other day (I know that's too much) simply because I'm not sure if water alone can wash out product. If I can cut back on the shampooing, I think that would be great.
Thanks,
Sean
Sean, Great question - when
Sean,
Great question - when using a product you generally don't want to get it on your scalp, just the hair strand itself. Which means, that the heavy cleaning duty will be done by the conditioner, not shampoo (and conditioners are meant for daily use.)
Cleansing Question - Product
By the way, the product I use is American Crew Fiber. Just wondering if water alone can wash this stuff out of my hair.
Thanks again,
Sean
Volume for long hair
Hey Darius,
Wow, that was in depth. Great article. I have longer hair but my hair is very straight, very fine, and has no volume whatsoever. To add volume before going out to a club, I usually blow dry it up and then add some dry product to hair close to the roots/scalp to give the top of my head some volume. See, my hair is so fine that I'm afraid that putting too much stuff in it will add weight and decrease the volume.
My hair length is sort of similar to the guy's picture where it says "Hair Spray". How do I get volume like that? Do I put mousse in it first? And then hairspray? Thing is, I'm not a fan of the wet look. My hair has a healthy shine to it and girls always tell me they like that my hair is dry, soft, and doesn't have stuff in it.
What do you suggest?
Thanks,
Ryan
Salt water
Hi. I suggest you start Salt spray. Spray your hair before blow drying it and then dry it till your hair is dry. You will not have lot of volume!. The one I like the best is Fudge Salt spray. You can buy it online if you can't find it anywhere else.
-Alek
Hair band?
Hey, good article! I have long hair and it gets in my eyes a lot. It's not long enough to tie back so sometimes I use a hair band that looks like this:
http://www.prittidesign.com.au/368-589-thickbox/black-plastic-narrow-hai...
Is it effeminate to wear one of these in public? Does it look weird?
A guy at my gym with long hair was wearing one so I thought it would be a good idea and it keeps hair our of my eyes perfectly.
But is it ok to wear one outside of the gym, like at the mall? The thing is, it actually looks good one me in that it makes my face and hair look aesthetically pleasing.
Thanks Darius!
Paul
Hey Paul, Not a fan of using
Hey Paul,
Not a fan of using it outside the gym. Ideally, you should style your hair that on normal daily activities it wouldn't get in your face (blow dryer is your friend here).
If you want to go for a "bad boy, who's too cool to care" look with slightly longer hair, I'd suggest trying "the man bun", something like this: http://www.redhairstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/men-bun-21.jpg
From the trends I see, this hairstyle can potentially become what undercuts were a year ago (just maybe a bit less popular because fewer men can pull it off, which is even better.)
True
Yeah, I do wear the pony tail and bun, but it's not good for your hair as it pulls the roots. I wear these styles for going out.
You're right about the hair dryer, I'll stick to that. It does keep hair out of my eyes.
The beauty of the man bun is that not only can most guys not pull it off or even grow their hair out without looking weird, but it takes so long to grow your hair out to bun that most guys won't be able to grow their hair out while this style lasts.
The bun is in style but I've been wearing it for years. The ponytail never goes out of style, and honestly, the bun doesn't either. It's just how us guys with long hair wear our hair.
One style that looks awful is the mini bun/mini ponytail... most often worn by guys who recently grew their hair out and can't wait another 6 months for it to be properly long. Looks so bad! The mini bun is barely noticeable, like you have your hair slicked back, that's all.
Thanks, Darius for this good article!
Cheers,
Paul
hair staitening
anyone here have curly hair and straiten it? I have been for years, makes styling so much easier if your hair is not naturally strait.
In a way, you're sacrificing
In a way, you're sacrificing awesomeness and health for comfort. Curly hair are indeed more complicated to style, but the results, when executed right, are quite more impressive than anything guys with straight hair could pull off.
That, and it's not healthy for your hair.
Yeah good point man, I tend
Yeah good point man, I tend to straiten it to a less curly state rather than dead strait though + I use heat protectent .
Curly hair sucks
I have to disagree with this.
Most women, if you even ask them, aren't fans of big curly hair on guys. They'll say they prefer smooth hair they can run their hands through.
I know this because I have had both curly and straight hair. Yes, curly hair has some texture to it. But it's not that great though. It looks like a big curly Jew afro even when long. That's it, not much more you can do with it.
Straight hair not only looks aesthetically pleasing but women like the feel of it. On top of that, you can style it way better than curly hair. You can literally do anything with it. Add volume to it and some spray and you can have that curly look if you so please. Give it waves it you want or leave it straight. Straight hair is so easy to work with which means you can do literally anything with it and make it look however you want using products.
My two cents.
Cheers
Styling Powder
Darius,
I'm curious about the styling powder. I still use wax, and I'm very open to anything that can give me the "dry, bed-head" look with the least amount of cons.
What are the brands/names for some of the better styling powders?
Great article! Thanks man!
- Franco
The two best in my opinion
The two best in my opinion are the powders from Redken and Fudge. Fudge has more hold and is more intense. Fudge specializes in styling products and they are all good.
Franco, I've only discovered
Franco,
I've only discovered styling powders recently myself, so hadn't had a chance to experiment with multiple brands. That said, I'm using one from Keune (Blend volume powder) and I'm more than satisfied.
Hair powder
I've tried hair powders in the past and the biggest problem is if you leave it in your hair overnight, it makes your hair very unmanageable the next morning. Like you have too much gunk in it. It's really hard to make a decent hairstyle out of it the next morning.
I would stick to waxes for the bed head look. At least with waxes, you can still style your hair the next morning if you don't wash it out. But powders work best if you have short hair (the shorter the better) and then use wax after the powder.
Thanks
Thanks for all the responses, gentlemen. I've decided to order one off of Amazon just to try it out for myself. I'm definitely intrigued!
I went with the "Redken" brand that Alek mentioned simply because it was available on Amazon Prime (free shipping) and had good ratings.
If I remember, I'll come back here and post my results!
- Franco
Post-Testing
Hey guys,
For those of you wondering, I've been using the styling powder for about a week now -- I decided to go with the "Redken" brand that was suggested above (and was available from Amazon Prime).
From my short usage with the powder, the problem I encountered is that the "hold" power seems relatively weaker compared to styling wax. I can see why short hair would be the preferred hair type for this powder, but I consider my hair to be relatively on the shorter side as it is -- anything shorter would probably not be able to maintain a "bedhead" look as it would be too short to get messy.
I might continue to experiment with the powder or try a different brand, but for those of you looking for the "dry, bedhead" look, my suggestion still remains styling wax for the time being.
Thanks, fellas!
- Franco
Sexy messy hair
Hey Franco, just curious if you have continued experimenting with styling
powder? Wax is great but sucks as well at times.
And what are good brands available online?
Thanks
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