All About Men

This is post was inspired by a question I got asking me about what the best men's styling products are. Then I realized, there are a few other questions I could answer about men's hair and skin health on here too! So I am going to touch upon just a few of my most frequently asked questions by male clients.

What's Hot Now?
I am writing this on January 3rd of 2014. If this changes over the next few years (which it will) then I am not liable. Comment or "Ask Me!" for an update and I will gladly oblige! But for now these are the three hottest styles I am getting in the salon all the time!

The first one is called an Undercut or a "Long Macklemore". This style features very short hair on the side, that becomes long on the top, and is pushed to one side. The only reason it's a "long" Macklemore, is because the famous musician is bald on the sides of his head instead of having a short and tight cut. (Hair Style is on the Left, Actual Picture of Macklemore is on the Right)


The second big look right now is the Brad Pitt (Right). I think this style is the most timeless of all of them. This really is a basic hair cut, although Brad does get credit for influencing men everywhere to let their side burns stay a little longer instead of shaving them mid way up the ear.

The last look is the "Long Men's Cut", I usually get this photo of Zac Efron (Top Left), but I think it pretty much look the same as the "Bieber" (Justin Bieber Bottom Left)  Hair style, or the one that Scott Michael Foster sported in the TV show Greek as the leading male role "Cappie" (Bottom Right). This messy style is seen on men of all ages sporting a relaxed and messy fun look. This trend was definitely a huge hit when Bieber made it big in the music industry around 2011.





How can I get the Haircut I want?
I'm not gonna lie, this is definitely a bigger issue for men than women. If a hair dresser makes a mistake on a woman's hair cut generally she can hide with texturing, layers, or just leaving it because a woman has such long hair (and a lot of it). But with men it's hared to hide nicks and mess ups, because there is nothing to hide it behind. So if your stylist and you don't have the same vision, you aren't going to walk out happy. So what should you do? Bring a picture. If you can't find a picture bring a few pictures. It's perfectly acceptable to say "I want the length from picture 1 but with these details from picture 2." Or to say "I like this picture but it's a little to long." The more visual aids you bring in the better your stylist can see you vision, because she is literally seeing it.

Styling Products 
American Crew is where it's at. American crew has pucks of styling creams, pomades and waxes that have two categories, shine and hold. On the right is a chart that shows the 6 different products that American Crew offers with their hold and shine categories. My two favorites to use on clients are Fiber and Defining Paste. Fiber is great for any hair style, or to keep random fly aways in place, but the Defining paste is best for looks like "The Macklemore" where you are trying to shape or sculpt the hair.


Men's Skin Care

Men's skin care really is the same as women's. Their skin is affected by all of the same things as ours but they really need one additional step, which is after shave! Most men don't realize that not using aftershave is what usually causes 50% of their facial acne. My favorite after shave is MKMen Cooling Aftershave, that is a Mary Kay product, but I am not sure that it's really any better than other aftershaves, although it is a good price! So you can either click here to buy it, or you can find a local Mary Kay sales rep here! As far as actual skin care regimen I honestly recommend the same things for men as I do women. So here is a link to my post called "Skin Care Breakdown", which at the end talks about skin care sets for people with different problems, skin types and budgets. It also talks about what things to look for and watch out for in your skin care.

***Thanks to Gino Williams for asking this question***