Paying Attention To The Details
Men’s SS13 Fashion Trend: Statement Tailoring
Men’s Sunglasses & Face Shapes Guide
The Only Way Is Grow It
As male hair trends go, long hair has always been a bit hit and miss. It used to be reserved for boho types; worn in dreads or left unwashed for days in order to portray a ‘free’ festival going lifestyle. Not forgetting the Warhammer playing behemoth who believes he lives in a fantasy world of long haired and bearded warlords… well, you get the picture.
We guys find it hard to “do” long hair, what with all the washing, combing and drying, it’s torture. And please, as I have said before, no ponytails! (With one exception, which I will go into later.)
This is obviously a trend that won’t be easy for many to take on, especially if you are cultivating one of the various shorter styles that are currently strong within the industry. This predicted trend also shouldn’t be confused with the surfer look or the overdone and seriously outdated “Mod-for-it” Gallagher style. This new long length is groomed, clean and worn to portray a defined image of an informed wearer. When teamed with some carefully created facial ornamentation, you can forget hippy – this is 19th century gothic for the contemporary and cosmopolitan gent.
If growing your hair fills you with fear, or even just fear of the unknown for those of you who have never experienced hair length longer than the top of your collar, the read on. With some patience, careful up-keep with the right products and regular haircuts – yes, that’s right, I did utter regular haircuts – you can avoid the hobo look and look like you stepped straight off the catwalk.
Finally, growing your hair needn’t be six months of unstylish struggle, it’s possible to create a variety of different looks whilst cultivating the length. There are just a few things to steer clear of in the process, so make sure you read my check list below in order to avoid car crash hair.
Long For Life, Get It Right
- When you start getting a bit of length, don’t be tempted to get a square line cut at the bottom (anywhere between the earlobe or jawline), unless you are lucky enough to have chiseled features and don’t possess jowls of a gerbil.
- Have your hairdresser soften the edge of the length and wear the front and side pushed gently away from the face in a side or middle parting.
- This long hair trend is just that, long hair, so stay away from elaborate layers and chopped up texture. Keep it simple, go for length and definitely no fringes.
- Try and keep a balance between the front, sides and back, so there are no extreme differences in length. We are not aiming for a mullet.
- Although you will need some kind of finishing product, don’t overload the hair. Use just enough for control and to softly define the natural texture.
Men’s Long Hair Lookbook
More Hair Please: Recommended Hair Types
I wouldn’t recommend long hair for extremely fine or thinning hair – it’s never going to be flattering and could actually make your hair look thinner than it is. As I have mentioned in previous articles, shorter and neat cut styles will make fine or thinning hair look thicker.
However, if you are determined to give it a go, keep the layers long, as this will bulk out the density of finer hair. Avoid wearing with no layers, as it will just sit too flat, and keep the overall length above the shoulders.
It really is worth investing in specialised thickening treatments; one which I recommended a few friends use is Nioxin System 2, a pack containing a volumizing cleanser, lightweight conditioner and a leave-in treatment. Nioxin guarantee a noticeable difference in 30 days, but this product should not be confused with hair replacement or for treating male pattern baldness, it purely is a very effective thickening system and apart from your hair looking thicker, it will also make it easier to style and control.
To achieve a thicker look to your hair, gently blow dry it using your fingers at first, then finish with a brush. Here are the steps:
- Towel dry your hair.
- Comb through use a volumizing styling product. Root Lifter (showcased below and also by Nioxin) will give you root lift and help keep your hair looking thicker.
- Once you have combed the product through, switch your hairdryer to a low speed with medium heat. With your head tilted to one side, blow through the hair with the dryer at the same time run your fingers through your hair away from your face. Continue on the other side. At the back, blow the hair across the back of your head, again using your fingers to style.
- When your hair is almost dry, continue the above with a styling brush. A vented brush works best, as the vents allow you to blow through the back of the brush head – the Denman Hyflex Vent is one of the best and is designed to gently style your hair without pulling or catching.
- Finally, finish with Hairbond Moulder Professional Hair Shaper. This is a real all-time favourite of mine – it has a clean finish and will give fine hair a thicker look, as well as control and texture.
- Nioxin System Kit 1 – Fine Natural Hair 3 Products
- Nioxin System Kit 2 – Fine Natural Hair 3 Products
- Nioxin Root Lifter
- Tigi Catwalk Your Highness Root Boost Spray 250ml
- Hairbond Hairbond Moulder Professional Hair Shaper 50ml
- Denman Hyflex Vent
Long Distance Hair: 2013 Men’s Hairstyle Trend
If you have the patience, then ultra-long hair is the way to go. Yeah it’s going to take some time to get it there but it’s being predicted as the coolest trend for men’s hair in 2013, so you’ll be there at the beginning.
Hair texture isn’t really a problem here, although wavy or straight will be on the button for this particular trend. As I have already mentioned, keep it looking good whilst you’re growing your hair: Have it cut regularly and, just as importantly, keep it clean – long unwashed hair looks pretty unattractive and because of the amount of extra hair it’s going to have a stronger smell.
Most of us should be shampooing every other day to maintain a healthy scalp. So many times have I been asked or listen to some ‘Earth Mother’ on a daytime TV show try to convince whoever is willing to listen, “It’s not necessary to wash hair as it damages it and besides, hair cleans itself after a while”. OK, let’s get this myth sorted once and for all – hair doesn’t clean itself! Running water and a decent shampoo does though.
Ask yourself this, would you stop washing your face hoping it would clean itself!? Hair needs regularly cleansing or you may end up with an assortment of scalp complaints reminiscent of the Middle Ages.
To prevent damage, select a shampoo designed for your hair type. L’Oreal Professional Homme Tonique Revitalising Shampoo is perfect for maintain and protecting normal to coarse hair against day-to-day abuse, and it is a daily cleanser. Team it up with TIGI S-Factor Leave-In Moisture Spray, which being a leave-in makes it easy and quick to use. If you’re doing the festivals this summer, or “Rain-Fest” as my 17 year old son quoted, then take a TIGI Rockaholic Dirty Punk Festival Pack, just in case the sun comes out.
When your hair gets ultra-long, don’t over complicate it – if it’s wavy, wear it wavy and let it dry naturally with a good leave-in conditioner. Just to rub in our serious lack of summer some more, try KMS California MoistRepair Leave-in Conditioner for control and KMS California HairPlay Sea Salt Spray for a beached hair look. Come on guys, at least it smells like summer.
- Kms California Hairplay Sea Salt Spray 200ml
- Speciality By Bumble & Bumble Styling Surf Spray 125ml
- Tigi Rockaholic – Rockaholic
- Loreal Professional – Homme
- Kms California Moistrepair Leave-in Conditioner 150ml
- Tigi S-factor – Conditioning
Final Word
Last word, ponytails. They can actually look great if you’re creative about it. So wear them low and loose: put the band at the base of the neck (not too tight) and then pull the band away from the head a few inches… perfect.
Overall, long hair has always sparked controversy on men, but that’s exactly the reason why I like this trend so much – it pushes masculinity to the edge. And why not? We are all man enough to take it.
Any questions, drop them in the comments box below…
My New Salon
Sorry for such a long break since my last article, but I am in the process of opening my own salon, so life has been a bit hectic. I open mid-August 2012 and it’s all very exciting. If you’re in town, please stop by – it would be great to see any FashionBeans reader.
Address:
14 Regent Street,
Clifton Village,
Bristol.
Tel: 0117 973 0050
Web: http://www.bepremierehair.co.uk.
Dealing With Men’s Thick, Wavy Or Unruly Hair
Picking A New Men’s Hairstyle
Men’s Hair Trends For Spring/Summer 2013
Men’s Hairstyle Trend – The 2012 Indie Cut
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Great article as ever Ben. Can you tell me which lookbooks a couple of images are from? 2 row left hand image and 4th row middle. Want to get larger ones to take to my hairdresser.
Good luck with your salon as well – Mike
Sorry, this article should have Rob’s name on it not mine. Have now updated.
In terms of the lookbook, I am sure both of those images are of the model Ryan Burns. So try searching for him in Google Images and I am sure that you will find something suitable.
about time there was an article on long hair for guys.
i’ve had long hair for over 3 years now and having it at a long length is the hard part, trying to keep it looking ‘stylish’. having a bit of facial hair ensures that i am called jesus and thor wherever i go which gets a bit old.
where i am now is humid so my hair collapses and loses a bit of life when it dries, any tips of keeping it looking good and getting a bit of wave in it?
gotta disagree with the ponytail. when and if i wear mine up, i can best describe it as a more casual samurai/zlatan ibrahimovic look although not as full on.
I’m in the process of trying to grow my hair out from a really short style. I have never had long or even medium length hair , so I’m in uncharted waters here and it is pretty terrifying (I have thick, wavy hair). Would you guys consider doing a guide to growing out hair? I would love to see a variety of hair types at assorted lengths so that we can see how you pros handle the awkward stages. It would also be helpful for someone like me to be able to gauge what his hair is likely to look like grown out. I’m terrified that I’m going to look silly for the next year and then ultimately find out that my hair looks utterly ridiculous long (I’m picturing a giant bushy mess, lol).
any tips for getting for through the awkward stage? I started growing my hair out from a grade 2 a couple of months ago. It is very thick and is about half way down my ear so far. It looks too long to be short and too short to be long and is just a bit silly looking really. Any tips for what to do with it?
I’ve got the same issue as above – the growing out stage is what prevents guys from getting to long-hair to begin with. Mines thick and straight, a bit blond and grey – tips? Products?
Go to the barbers and say you want to keep the lenght and get him sections of hair in layers and chop into them only about 1cm. Then ask him to run the thinning scissors through everything and it will look much better, Do this once a month and you’ll be good to go.
great article, I’ve been growing my hair as i got bored of the fairly mainstream short hair! I’m loving it!
love it! i have long curly hair for about 5 years (very similar to top right lookbook but about an inch shorter) and have been looking forward to an article like this for a couple of years. i was about to get it cut for one of these on trend short back and sides sweeped over on top because my hair often does my head in (literally). However this article has made my mind up to keep it for now and gave me a few ideas. was curious what your take on headbands, alice bands bandanas are etc. so far i have stayed well away appart from when i play football but do you think they can be pulled off fashion wise? cheers!
I have longish hair – and this is a good reason to keep it growing.
And another plus, is that I have a real weakness for guys with long hair – though I shouldn’t say that because I have a girlfriend! Ha!
This article says that long hair is not suitable for extremely fine hair. I have extremely fine hair and really struggle to find a suitable hair style. Please help me!
It’s nonsense about fine hair as stated within the same breath there are plenty of thickening products. I’ve had really long hair for 3 years & had no probs even in the summer just tie it in a low bun, only thing Is the inbetween stage but just gotta man up & get through it – Keep it behind the ear (or over if you like the hobo look) & keep getting the neck line trimmed until all the length catches up & is more or less equal then just grow on ! You’ll be surprise how quickly it does.
I decided five years ago to change my hairstyle from short back and sides but have to say it was hard because of people calling me hobo etc and from this always went back short because of their opinions of my family, friends and loved one. But two years ago I pushed pass through the comments and rough transition period, binned the highstreet gels, shampoos and switched to professional products (reccomended by fashionbeans) and switched to a gents hair barber. And from this I am a lot happier with the health and style of my hair and now am getting more positive comments from the women I prefer and people that use to put it down loves it now and admitted It was because they couldn’t see pass the short and feared change
Now since the change can say that my styling and general health of hair is better and only for a few more £’s a month.
P.s. still get bad comments from teeneager kids but anyone who is mature and wise love it and ask for my advice (male and female)
Haha.a friend just messaged me this article. Im.the dude with the blue background in the image.
Just a question really…what would suit a 17 year old with thick dark brown curly/wavey hair
Update – I went for a similar hairtlye to Alex turner when he did the humbug album. And use Moroccan oil to give it some life!
I have long hair but I have a fringe. I basically look a lot like Noel Fielding in his Luxury Comedy TV show. Long sides and even longer at the back and i’m not sure what to ask a barber/hairdresser to do to follow this trend, as this article says “definitely no fringes”. Do i just simply tell them to chop off the fringe?
I’ve got wavy thick hair and im in the stage where my hair is now starting to touch the bottom of my neck and over my ears. I’m wondering if I need to get it cut? if so, what should I tell my hairdresser to do with it? Also it seems to get very curly at the neck and side burns- is there any way to get it to flatten a bit more?
A recurring issue is that no-one can find any reasonable hair styles to take to a barber. Anyone know of a website? or am I just going to have to gather them all myself. For now I guess ill keep it natural- haven’t cut it in 3 years :P
I officially started growing my hair long at the beginning of 2013 and have two questions for you. Firstly, roughly how long does it take to grow hair to the same length as the guy wearing the tie on the second row of pictures with regular trims (as l am going for that style)?, secondly l am starting to go grey (very rapidly, blaming it on the kids!!) does this style suit grey hair?
I’m headed for that look too, it takes a lot longer than you would think unfortunately. I’ve been growing mine since September 2011 with 2 trims in between to tidy the back up mostly. The hair at my fringe now comes down to just past my mouth when stretched – I have a similar wave in mine to him, so I reckon its half as long as his is really. So another 9 – 12 months for me I’d guess.
1/2″ per month is about the growth rate and his hair has to be 10-12 inches I reckon – so depending on where you are starting from it could take 2 years!
I am a 17 year old white male growing my hair out. I have brown slightly wavy hair. I’m trying to find a long hair style that is fairly manageable. Right now I have not had a hair cut in about 4-6 months and it is getting mangy and uncontrollable. The biggest complication with my hair is that I am a swimmer. I am it the water about 2 hours twice a day 5-6 days a week. I wear a swim cap and use “tressemme shampoo and conditioner for dry/damaged hair” every time I get out of the pool than let it air dry. If you have any tips or suggestions for better hair in my case that would be great.
Jack
I am 18 and have very long blond hair. Easy 2 feet long. I ware it mostley in a pony tail. How do I find a job with hair like this, I’m also a fulltime student.
Help…need a job.
Any tips for growing out grey hair? I started going grey really young and my hair is pretty much all grey now (I’m only 30). I went through a phase of hating it and had it coloured for a bit, but my girlfriend hated it! I’m now happy with it and its growing out nicely. It’s medium length at the moment, but I’m having trouble finding a product to style it with. I have it brushed back (similar to George Lamb and Vincent Gallo), but everything I’ve used either makes it look too lank and greasy or leaves it too hard and solid to texture and style. Being grey, it’s fairly coarse, but it’s also fairly curly and I like to enhance the curls a little.
All in all, I just want something that I can use for texture and style, but without it setting like rock, looking too greasy or separating it out on top so as to make it look thinker.
I saw above you’d posted about Hairbond Moulder Professional Hair Shaper. Would something like this work whilst I’m growing it?
Does anyone know the name of the asian model