Hair Archives - Page 3 of 5

Mullets are officially summer’s hottest new hairstyle

(BTS member V promoting the group’s latest single, “Fake Love,” has recently transformed his hair into a chic mullet.)

The mullet is back, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

So why not surrender yourself to this shaggy fiesta (if you’re here, we’re in the back)? The updated look is far from the long ridiculed shag, associated with 90’s Achy Breaky-era Billy Ray Cyrus (cringe) and that time when Andre Agassi actually had hair(gasp!). The updated mullet is more punk and rock and roll – think David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust – and less country. It’s also much more subtle, where the proportions aren’t as dramatic.

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Don’t let this killer mullet distract you from the fact that in 1998, The Undertaker threw Mankind off Hell In A Cell, and plummeted 16 ft through an announcer's table. #mullet #menshair #retro #fashion #barber #stylist #guyshair

A post shared by 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 (@mikeyyyyyyy_) on May 16, 2018 at 4:01pm PDT

Recently, the updated mullet has been spotted globally, from BTS’s V, sporting a curly look at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, to Got7’s JB, who’s been rocking the look all year. And on social media, models, to influencers have all been embracing the look as well. Just look at influencer and barber, Mikey, who’s been recreating the fire look and uploading them on his Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXO-PKfB6bh/?taken-by=nicholas__barrett

So why now? Blame cyclical fashion, explains celebrity hairstylist, Niko Weddle, who’s worked with Abigail Breslin, Portia Doubleday, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, among others. The stylist attributes this recent wave of 90’s nostalgia on the runways – from Prada to Margiela – as a major factor for the mullet’s resurgence.

Social media, of course, also plays a factor, he says. With the illusion of perfection projected onto social media, Niko tells Very Good Light that “the mullet is the the ultimate f**k you to all of that.” He further explains: “It says ‘I don’t7

Vcare; at a time when our carefully cultivated social media presences seem to say perhaps we care a little too much.”

AXE’s own celebrity barber, Reggae, the man behind the fades of Zayn, Will Smith, Gucci Mane, among others, echoes this sentiment.

“[The mullet] adds a bit of uniqueness to each person who wears it,” he tells Very Good Light. It’s also versatile in the way that it allows guys to put a “twist on a fade faux-hawk look.” Since fades are really popular right now, the mullet gets men the clean cuts they want while experimenting with length.

Besides, that, mullets are simply “badass and rock and roll,” says Alicia Campbell, who’s worked with rockers like Green Day, Metallica, to guys like Vince Staples and Big Sean.

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I like to create content that won’t please everyone. It always makes for a good conversation. Almost like when people try to tell me Christina is better than Britney, when to be honest the only time she ever came close was the genie in a bottle video. Don’t come at me with ohhhhh what about the dirrty video because that’s cheating. Some of you might think this caption doesn’t make sense, and your absolutely correct. #menshair #haireducation #mensfashion #guyshair #mullet #retro

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To get the perfect mullet look, Reggae gives us a few pointers, below:

1 Request the “South of France”

If you’re asking your barber how to achieve the look, start with a skin taper and then a high temple fade, suggests Reggae. “This type of fade was coined by a fellow celebrity barber,” Reggae tells us. “He called it the ‘South of France’ Fade.

2 All about proportions

Long gone are the ponytail-length hair in the back and a short cut up front. Instead, make it subtle. “The top would be a crop top with a messy and uneven length,” Reggae says. “Ask your barber to use uneven sheers to create the texture on the sides, then regular sheers cutting at an angle on the top.”

3 Style it to finish

Just as your hair is disproportionate, so should how you style it. For this, you’d use products for the top of your hair as you’d normally do. But for the back, “let it fall as is with minimal product,” Reggae says.

This one product is PERFECT for lazies like me

Who else has been in this situation: You wake up 3 minutes after you’re supposed to be somewhere and realize your bedhead is OOC.

To spruce it up, you turn on the shower, throw your head in, douse your dome until it’s completely drenched and sprint out the door. Nope, you didn’t even brush your teeth (ya filthy animal).

While this may work for the first 30-minutes of the day, when your hair does dry, it’ll get frizzy, lose control and make for a V V V bad hair day. That’s because water does absolutely nothing to style your hair and actually does quite the opposite, flattening it out and taking out any ounce of volume.

To remedy this, we tested and found a product that works for most hair types. It’s Bumble and Bumble’s Grooming Creme, a product that’s non-sticky, completely lightweight but really holds your hair together. The product, made from avocado, almond, jojoba and safflower oil is all about moisturizing your hair while soy sterol gives it elasticity. All you need to do is squeeze a small amount into your hand through damp hair to give it some volume. Style with your fingers into your tousled tresses for a beachy look or use it with a comb and blowdryer for something more put together. We found that a little goes a long way.

Either way, it’s the perfect formula we found that dries beautifully whether you’re rushing out the door or taking time to get your hair in place.

Buy Bumble and Bumble’s Grooming Creme, here, $29.

Donald Glover’s powerful message at the Met Gala came in the form of his hair

(Photo courtesy Getty Images)

We knew fashion made a political statement, but how about … hair?

Dubbed the “Oscars of Fashion,” Monday’s Met Gala celebrated the theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” And celebs came dressed to impress like Zendaya who spruced it up as a chic Joan of Arc, Rihanna as a sexy Pope in Maison Margiela and Jared Leto as, um, Gucci Jesus.

Also among the crowd was Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino. The Grammy Award-winning artist has been having a whirlwind weekend with the debut of his politically-charged video, “This is America.” The video, which debuted Sunday, has been receiving an overwhelming amount of social media support for its powerful message on the state of the country. In it, he’s seen dancing in Jim Crow-style caricature, distracting viewers from the realities of American problems including: gun violence, police brutality, social media addiction, African American disenfranchisement, among others. It’s a sobering picture of the realities of this country and if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to watch it immediately.

And so it was to no surprise that the star wanted to carry on this message into the Met Gala as well. There, he looked perfectly dapper in a royal purple Gucci suit and ivory loafers. But instead of making too obvious of a statement with his apparel, he made a subtle one – with his hair. That’s right, if you thought it looked similar to his locks in the “This is America” video, you’d be correct; the grooming move was entirely intentional.

“We discussed the video release [Sunday],” says Erica Sauer, Donald’s groomer, to Very Good Light. “We wanted his hair to resemble the video but not be identical.”

Meaning, he wanted to represent his video and its powerful messages for the world to see – on his own terms.

To get Met Gala ready, Erica advised Donald to get clean shaven the night before. She also asked him to exfoliate and moisturize to keep his skin hydrated and in peak form. Her favorite tip before a big red carpet: “lots of water and raw juices to help hydrate from the inside out!”

(Photo by Erica Sauer)

For his face, Erica used Baxter of California’s Shave Tonic treatment to prep his bear while revitalizing the skin. Next, she used her T-liner hair trimmer to line up his beard and neck. “I use the edge of the t-liner to blend the beard so that it doesn’t have a harsh line,” she tells Very Good Light. “Essentially, I scratch the edges of the beard instead of ‘lining it up.’ Afterward, she used a toner onto a cotton pad to remove any excess dirt, oil or impurities.

To get his skin in peak form, Erica used Baxter of California’s Super Shape Recharge Cream with “moderate pressure” to get circulation going in his complexion. She also gave him a light lymphatic drainage massage for his eyes would be fresh without any dark circles or puffiness.

And now onto the hair. For the style, Erica applied a Cream Pomade into his hair to give a light, frizz-free hold with a low shine finish. “[I] used a blow dryer on medium,” she tells us. “I first pick out his hair then use fingers to pull out sections and dry them individually.” She says she used the blow dryer “in pieces to give it an uneven, wild look.” Aka, something that was styled but still gave that “This is America” vibe. The end result was creating an empowering statement that was quiet and subtle but absolutely beautiful.

In a time of tense politics, where wearing a single item could get you into any kind of trouble, it’s as if grooming – the face! the hair! – has officially become the next power statement.

First Look: Rudy’s Clay Spray is the answer to styling thick Asian hair

(Photo by David Yi/Very Good Light)

Sometimes having thick, straight Asian hair is … frustrating.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s so much better than worrying about thinning or not having enough hair. But strong hair often means you’re never not at war with your locks. There are days when you’re screaming at that sharp shard of wet hair to stay down, and others when you’re willing your dead hair to rise from its grave. Washing your hair before bed means waking up looking like Goku and not washing it at all makes the oils build up so you end up looking like a mutant. And when it comes to products, good luck. Using a clay pomade sometimes makes your hair way too sticky while using a leave-in conditioner will make your hair flop over by lunchtime.

Basically, having Asian hair means you have to have A LOT of patience and understanding – and wearing hats. Lot of hats.

That is, until I came across Rudy’s Barbershop and its newest product, the Clay Spray. The brand, now celebrating 25 years, sent over the product four weeks ago. And since, I’ve been spraying it around my bathroom without abandon. Essentially, the product is exactly what it says it is – clay in a spray form. In this case it’s specifically a clay pomade mixed together with a sea salt spray, two products that, separately, are perfect for giving volumizing your hair while also taming it.

(Spray away, spray away, spray away.)

At first, I’ll admit I was skeptical. A thick, clay texture bottled up into a spray? Would it come out in chunks? Would it be messy AF? Would I have a few strands that are thicker than others? They’re valid questions, one that Rudy’s and its entire team brainstormed for over a year.

When speaking to Rudy’s CEO, Brendon Lynch, the product’s inception came about after surveying employees about what kinds of products were needed in the industry. After discovering everyone was really into cocktailing sea salt sprays together with clay pomades, Brendon said it only made sense to offer a two-in-one product.

As mentioned, the process took a long time. Finding a strong enough clay product that wasn’t too heavy and water soluble was definitely a conundrum to figure out. “The first clay we tried was bentonite clay which is the same one as in our clay pomade but it was too heavy and separating from the liquid so it had to be constantly shaken up,” Brendon tells Very Good Light. The result after 7-8 formulas: Kaolin clay, a mild clay that’s silky. It’s also one used in face masks to neutralize oily skin while detoxifying pores.

The two properties together make it perfect for anyone who has thick, oily hair that needs taming and volume for that natural look.

While testing the product, I simply sprayed water in my hair, towel-dried it, then proceeded to spray it all over. Starting from the roots, I’d spritz the Clay Spray about 5-6 pumps until my entire head had enough product in it. Unlike what I thought, it sprayed evenly. Note: I’ve been doing this co-washing thing where I’m weening off shampoo so my head has been extra oily. This product worked WONDERS because it soaked up the extra oil, acting as a dry shampoo, while allowing my hair to have the natural, beachy, lived-in look.

I’d simply style my hair with my fingers, walk out the door, and allow it to dry. Which is when the magic ~really~ starts to happen. That’s when the product will beautifully sit into your scalp and locks, hold it in place, while allowing your hair to flow beautifully. It makes it seem as if you paid zero attention to styling your hair that morning, with shine, grittiness to it, with a messy, beachy look that almost every guy is going for.

Of course, this Clay Spray isn’t recommended for all hair types. While it’s great for guys with thick, straight, oily hair, I wouldn’t say it’s for coarse or dry hair. I feel the clay mixed with salt will be way too much for over-drying someone’s scalp. At the end of the day, not every hair product is meant for every person. Of course, you’ll have to trial and test out the best products for you. But if you’re lazy, have unruly hair and just want it to look good in seconds, this Clay Spray is ~exactly~ what you need.

Get the Clay Spray later this month, from Rudy’s Barbershop.

Here’s how to get Zayn’s perfectly tousled Grammys 2018 hair

Can we talk about Zayn Malik for a second (or 60)? If looks could kill, we’d already be slayed by his fire Grammys look alone.

We already knew Zayn was becoming a style icon with his perfect outfits (see Exhibit A and Exhibit Z). But the 25-year old is primed to becoming the biggest grooming star in the Western world since, well, David Bowie. In the past year, we’ve delighted in how versatile he is when it comes to his face and hair (and also how QUICKLY his hair seems to grow). From his green-hued hair streaks, full-on beard, pink locks, his shaved head, and perfectly imperfect dangling hair strand, it’s obvious he isn’t risk averse when it comes to his beautiful head.

SEE ALSO: Say goodbye to dark circles FAST

To our delight, he debuted a yet another new hair style on Sunday’s Grammys red carpet, while sporting a salmon suite with a white rose embroidered onto his lapel – a show of support for the important #TimesUp movement. To literally top it off, he showed off a dramatic undercut with a flawless beard to hair fade. While the singer, who was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media for his duet, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” with Taylor Swift eventually lost to Moana, it didn’t even matter. This entire look obviously made him Sunday’s biggest winners.

(Photo by Joanna Simkin)

Hair

So how do you get his red carpet hair? Joanna Simkin, his own groomer, shared a step by step guide in getting that perfect messy hair look. Below, she provides a breakdown:

1 “Starting with clean hair, rough towel-dry to slightly damp,” she instructs. (If hair is fine, use a blow-dryer for some lift. Thick hair can start with damp hair to the same effect.)

2 After hair is slightly damp, use a dime-sized amount of pomade. For Zayn’s Grammys look, Joanna used Baxter of California’s Clay Pomade, and warmed it between her palms. This makes sure there are no clumps of product or too much concentration of product in any one place.

Baxter of California Clay Pomade ($23)

Buy here!

3 “Starting at the back of the head, coat the hair with [pomade],” she says. “If you need more product, repeat, using a dime-sized amount of product.” Pro tip: It’s better to layer than start with too much, she says. In this case, too much can be too much.

4 Once the hair is coated with product, “finger style” the hair. Meaning, you can tousle the strands in between your fingers upwards for a more natural look. “The beauty of Clay Pomade is there is enough hold for the style to hold once it’s set, but not so firm that you can’t work the style until it’s too your liking,” says Joanna. Meaning, pomade won’t feel heavy or greasy, rather, it’ll settle in naturally with your locks.

5 If you have any random flyaways, smooth just those with a tiny bit more Pomade. Keyword: TINY.

6 Finally, Joanna says she topped the look using Baxter’s Clay Effect Style Spray to hold. You can totally use any other spray as well that isn’t too sticky and free of alcohol (it’s drying).

Baxter of California Clay Effect Style Spray ($27)

Buy here!

7 Voila! You’ve got Zayn’s perfect coiffure.

Skin

For those who are wondering about how Zayn’s skin looked so glistening, Joanna says he washes, exfoliates then gently pats his face until it’s still damp. The extra water allows the face to lock in extra moisture, she says. She also used Baxter’s Under Eye Complex to push any and all puffiness out. Finally, after moisturizing, Joanna says she took a tissue and blotted Zayn’s T-zone. “The result is even skin that looks hydrated without grease or shine.” All it takes is a tissue, guys!

Meet Chaz French, the ‘sappy ass’ rapper with beautiful rainbow hair

“Don’t do it bro, don’t do it,” they said.

It was the summer before the first leg of his tour for his debut album, True Colors, the first under Capitol Records, and the rapper named Chaz French was contemplating if he wanted to dye his hair a bright color. That’s when he had his fair share of critics and friends who told him it’d be best “not to do that.” But he’d been wanting to color his locks for the past five years and felt it was finally the time to do it.

“F*** it.”

He went midnight blue.

In a traditionally hypermasculine culture of hip hop, where guys have historically been taught to be “hard,” and “man up,” the very act of deviating from these notions could be looked upon. Dying one’s hair an outre color, then, could real consequences. Like antiquated critics who’d question one’s masculinity or sexuality by the color of their outfit or by something like their hair. But for Chaz, hair is hair, expression is expression. “It doesn’t take away from s***,” he says. “The whole thing doesn’t even matter.”

Coloring his hair blue “felt really good.”

“It’s freedom and I can do whatever I want,” he explains. “If someone doesn’t like it that’s their problem.” Since, it’s evolved to blonde, purple, green, to an off-orange color.

“I’m a sappy ass person.”

“[Hip hop] s not what it used to be,” he tells us. “We now live in an era of hip hop where we can express ourselves in different ways. The kids, we run style and run culture. There’s no rules to this s***. Back in the day, the older generation weren’t dying their hair but had hard tattoos and piercings. Today, we’re not going to do that.”

The entire process of dying his hair isn’t an easy one, especially on the road. But it’s one that he’s committed to, his stylist on-call when he might have a hairspiration. If you thought the process was easy (because he makes it look so), you’d be wrong. “It burns!” Chaz explains, of the amount of bleach that’s added to his hair. Apparently, one has to get it blonde enough to add permanent pigment. After changing his locks so frequently, Chaz has discovered it doesn’t come without mishaps.

On time, after his stylist dyed Chaz’s locks into a “perfect purple,” he requested she bleach it one more time. Though it was against her better judgment, Chaz wanted to try it out. It ended up with hair falling out and a distinct bald spot on the side of his head.

“I was so upset,” he says, with a laugh. “My barber fixed it but I’ll never make that mistake again.”

The constant change of his hair’s colors are almost symbolic of his debut album, one that takes a vibrant look into the D.C.-based rapper’s upbringing. From growing up without a father who was incarcerated since his childhood, being homeless, to finding his way through music, True Colors is about, if anything, the human and its resilience. “It’s about pulling through,” Chaz says. If that sounds emotional, it’s because it is – and Chaz will be the first to admit it.

“I’m a sappy ass person,” he tells us. “It’s hard to make music that doesn’t show otherwise. When I’m making music I’m the most vulnerable.”

With his father behind bars, the young Chaz grew up resenting him. It was only years later, after having children of his own, when he began empathizing with his dad’s experience. “Let me shed a different light on my dad and realize how no matter what he did he still cared for me,” he says. He even wrote a track called “POPS” in homage to his father.

“Wasn’t around a lot and I blame it on prison
As crazy as it may sound I wanna be just like him …
You may say he ain’t shit
But to me he’s the realest, he the realest,” he raps.

Without a dad around, his mother stepped in and taught the young Chaz how to steer his own destiny. “She’s gone through a lot and still stays strong if she ever had a breakdown,” he says. “We all have moments and times when we shut down – that’s life. It’s how we get back up that’s important.”

And that’s exactly how Chaz discovered his own definition of manhood. “Being a strong person means being really mentally and emotionally strong,” he says. “There are many guys who are physically stronger than me but they wouldn’t be able to have gone through what I’ve been through. They’d crack under pressure.”

With that mantra, Chaz is doing Chaz – green-hued hair, colorful outfits, with a vivid view of his future ahead, he’s unstoppable.

“I’m going to fulfill everything I’ve wanted,” he says, assuredly. “Modeling, acting, getting a Grammy, an Oscar, even having my own beer brand.” You want to believe him.

But for now, he’s plotting his next hair color. “Maybe it’ll be peach, maybe it’ll be something else. I don’t know. You gotta keep them guessing.”

To find tour dates for Chaz French’s tour, head here.

This is the one hair step you’re not doing

Is your hair frizzy? Dry AF? Did you color it so much it now looks like straw? Or worse, do you not have any hair any more?

Same.

Back when I was a fashion editor, I colored my hair as often as Katy Perry. We shared the same hair colorist, Rita Hazan, and whatever Katy did, I was there, following her every shade. Deep, navy blue? Yep, did it. Soft, grandma lavender? Done did. Champagne blonde? Duh.

Fast-forward to fall and my hair’s in the worst condition it’s ever been. Knowing that I needed some major help, I visited a local hair salon called Orang Hair in Seoul’s chic Apgujeong district. There, I had the salon’s master stylist, Jennifer give me an intervention. I’m not going to sugar coat it, she was aghast, sighing in disbelief.

http://www.giphy.com/gifs/3ohs7X6yyElCDPD4IM

“Your hair is one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” she blurted. Wait, what do you really think? I asked.

“No, really, it’s really bad. What essence are you using?”

Uh, essence? I asked. You mean people use essence for their hair?

She gasped again. I might have as well been North Korean at that point.

Just as you’d hopefully use an essence for your face, I learned Koreans pat on essence into their tresses every single day for its overall health. It’s still a relatively new concept in the states, but here in Seoul, every woman and man uses hair essence to revitalize their strands, make it less dry and completely revitalize its texture. That means saying goodbye to your straw-like frizzy hair and hello to soft, silky hair.

Hair essence is a lot like essence for your skin. It’s usually water-based, soaks in quickly and leaves your hair with an immediate shiny dew. Using it often enough will not only revitalize your hair, it’ll resolve any frizziness and will be easier to style. Essences come in many forms: pumps, in serum vials or in oil form. What it’s ~not~ is leave-in conditioner. While essences are usually water-based and treats immediately, leave-in conditioners have synthetics, weigh down the hair and coats it.

There’s a list of amazing hair essences you can find at Soko Glam here. This one from British M is one we’d recommend for its ability to nourish your hair back to life. It has organic pumpkin seed and argan oil to treat it. The only downside? It’s a whopping $67. You can get a smaller bottle from Skinfood for $14 though. It’s not as good but it’ll do it for you.

As for me … hair essence alone wasn’t going to help me. Since I was beyond a hot mess, Jennifer needed to give me a scalp massage. Think of this as a facial, only for the health of your scalp. She put in essential conditioners and used an actual machine to ensure it soaked in deep. After, she put me into a deep moisturizer chamber. Its red lights undo UV ray damage and the steam allows the hair’s very strands to seep into its pores.

It was quite a luxurious experience. I’ve heard Koreans do this twice a week, where some come back weekly if their hair is severely damaged.

Afterwards, my hair wasn’t only supple, moisturized, but probably the best I’ve seen it all year. Peroxide be damned, my hair looked even ~better~ than before I dyed it. Take a look for yourselves:

This is what happened when I stopped shampooing for a year.

Most of my adult life, I had a hair ritual that basically determined how my day would go.

If my hair cooperated with me, my day was going to be amazing and I was full of energy. If my hair was untamable, it was going to be a very bad day and I might as well just have stayed home. But ugh, adult life work. I would shampoo twice a day – once in the morning to wake my hair up, and then once at night to wash off the hair products I put in that day. In the morning, I would have to dry my hair to a point where it was still slightly moist, but not fully dry before applying a combination of hair products. I had it down to a science.

SEE ALSO: I haven’t shampooed in 5 years

Fast-forward a few years to when I decided to start an exploration of a new hairstyle that didn’t require hair products. Coincidentally, I started my freelance career, which meant I worked from home and need not be seen by anyone in the public eye. My girlfriend had suggested that I shampoo only once every two days because she had heard it’s not healthy to shampoo every day. It’s something called “co-washing,” a method Very Good Light actually wrote about. You can read it here. It’s short for “conditioner washing,” that is, not using shampoo, thus, allowing the natural oils to do their thang.

Taking her advice, I decided not to wash my hair.

My whole thought was the more you washed your hair, the better your hair would be. Having thick, coarse, Asian hair, I thought it was supposed to feel like straw. After not washing just for one night, my hair just naturally glorious with its natural oils. It had an instant, nice shine and perfect malleability. Well, that is, until a little bit past noon. My hair would get too oily and started to smell like sweat and, well, hair. Not good. Definitely not sexy. I didn’t know that running my fingers through my hair became an unintended method of moisturizing my hands. It was gross.

via GIPHY

I didn’t know I could get through all of this oil. After doing more research, I realized that shampoo is a product that strips your hair of its natural oils. Because it strips it, your scalp over-produces oils because it’s expecting you to strip it again with shampoo. It’s one vicious cycle. Thus, your scalp will stop producing any and oil once it figures out there’s no more shampoo that will strip it.

Getting through to not needing shampoo at all like designer Dan Snyder (who hasn’t shampooed at ALL FOR FIVE YEARS!!!), takes practice. And patience.

Some thoughts you will have over the next few days:

“I’m so self-conscious my hair smell right now.”

“Okay, it’s getting a little too greasy… but Must. Power. Through.”

“Oh god, my hair is like wet seaweed.”

“So itchy and oily.”

The trick is weening yourself off of shampoo but doing it a few days at a time. If you stop cold turkey, you will have a congealed mess on top of your head. It’ll get on your face, your pillows, it’ll drip everywhere. Before you start co-washing, I suggest a few products that’ll get you to being completely ‘poo-free.

What you’ll need:

-Dry Shampoo (for when it gets TOO oily). This one from R+Co is really good ($29).

-Salt mist (to give it texture and absorb some oil). I’ve been using Olivine Atelier Love + Salt Mist ($28) for a natural beachy hair texture.

-A good shampoo (on rare shampoo days!). I like Kiehl’s Shampoo + Conditioner ($20)

-Conditioner (for when you’re not ‘pooing!). I’m using this $7 one from Giovanni Eco Chic.

-Or even a good co-washing cleanser, like this one from the brand Un-Wash ($24). This will wash your hair via its conditioner.

Here’s a good roadmap of how to do it below. (Note: you refresh back to a “day 1” every time after you’ve shampooed).

Day 1: No shampoo. Day 2: Shampoo.

Day 1: No Shampoo. Day 3: Shampoo.

Day 1: Shampoo. Day 7: No Shampoo.

Day 1: Shampoo. Day 14: No Shampoo.

Day 1: Shampoo. Day 21: No Shampoo.

Day 1: Shampoo. Day 30: No Shampoo.

After this point, your hair will probably stop being so oily. It’ll probably stop itching. After you get to 30 days (and it’ll take some patience!) you’ll realize your hair won’t need so much oil.

Today, I can count the number of times I’ve shampooed since November 2016 one hand. I’m a naturally sweaty guy, I go on 5-8 mile runs (thanks to my inspirational marathon-running mom), and I have a LOT of hair. I wake up every morning, and comb my hair with my fingers, and I’m good for the day. It keeps its volume and has a nice healthy shine. No nasty hair and sweat smells. No face pimples from the hair-to-pillow-to-face oil and dirt transfer.

As someone who shampooed twice a day, I can proudly say now it’s just hot water and conditioner. It’s much like Dan Snyder’s method. The result? No dandruff, no itchiness, no excessive oiliness.

Immediately after co-washing this is what’ll happen:

1 You get a lot of compliments. I’ve had a colleague interrupt in the middle of a working meeting to announce that she thought my hair was amazing and that they had “waves of the future.”

2 You save money on not buying shampoos and not really needing hair products. Super helpful for my grad student budget.

3 A cool story whenever your friends asks you what you do to your hair. Now I can just send them a link to this article, so they are prepared for the journey.

Good luck on your journey, guys! It’ll be worth it.

Let me know if you co-wash or are co-washing in the comments below!

How to problem solve when a barber mistakenly buzzes your hair off

The other day, a barber took a chunk of hair out of the back of my head.

It wasn’t my first time at the barbershop. I had the same cut by the same guy four times and I had no reason to distrust the guy behind the clippers. But maybe four times with a guy isn’t enough.

My barber selection is very strict and I’m extremely loyal. My last barber was the amazing Cecelia from the famous Diego’s in DC. She was the only person to cut my hair for about 5 years before I moved to NYC.

Sure, there were times when things were a little shorter than I wanted, or I had to make a few adjustment with my clippers at home. But I’d never been in a situation where there was an entire missing chunk of hair that was shaved off.

Completely gone.

(NOOOO. Photo by Benzamin Yi/Very Good Light)

Proof:

In my barber’s defense, he showed me the back as I squinted to see it. I thought the black blobs I saw without my glasses were fine. I trusted the dude for heaven’s sake! Oh, I also literally blindly trust my barbers. I can’t see shit without my glasses so I just sort of explain what I want, then my glasses are off and go into take-the-wheel-Jesus mode. Assuming my barber’s name is Jesus. I don’t think it was. Come to think of it, I don’t know his name – maybe that’s a red flag.

So when I came home to show off to my girlfriend via Snapchat, I did a triple take on my newly paved runway on the back of my head.

I had a wedding to attend that week, so I had to turn it around. Lo’ and behold, back when my hair needed no help but a good conditioner wash, I was at a Kiehl’s Grooming Solutions event and received a swag bag of all their hair products. It’s the brand’s first Little did I know this would be the thing to rescue me from this nightmare of a haircut.

(Photo by Benzamin Yi/Very Good Light)

1 Cream Wax, $16
This is a medium hold that adds a very light, natural shine (it’s meant to be a no-shine wax). This product’s special power is the ability to keep changing your hairstyle throughout the day with that natural woke-up-like-this look. It also means that wind and walking at a New Yorker’s pace can shift things around. For my delicate style of a comb over the back, yet holding my front up with some volume, I needed something stronger. This wax was great for when my hair was free to go any which way it wanted and still look fine. My hair no longer has that freedom in its current state. Instead, I used this to add a little more hold to the gel and clay.

I would akin this product to American Crew Fiber but the Cream Wax is much more subtle in its shine, which I appreciated.

2 Styling Gel, $18
I haven’t had gel in my hair since 2005 when everyone owned a tub of LA Styles’ fluorescent gels. So I was a bit skeptical when this product resurrected in my test line up. But my hair was f***ed anyways, so why not see what happens? This isn’t your typical rock hard hair gel, but it’s much softer with the same shine of I-just-got-out-of-the-shower. No flakes like back in the day, though, and it smells great. All their products have a cedarwood, sandalwood, and eucalyptus scent base.

So I put some of this on before going out and I can tell there’s too much going on with the shine, and not quite the hold I needed. It flattened out my voluminous hair a bit. This is meant for shorter hair, to which it will hold and not be messed up by wind or helmets, according to Kiehl’s demonstration model sitting on a motorcycle with 9 fans blowing him non-stop. Sounds like the life.

To add the extra hold without adding more shine, I got a dab of the cream wax and applied it to the part of my hair that needed the extra attention. AKA the part where I need to keep my comb over back in place.

3 Texturing Clay, $18
This is the stronger one that will lockdown your, well, locks. Now I’ve definitely used stronger clay waxes – my favorite being Bedhead Matte Separation Wax. The difference with this is that it is much much easier to wash off. The entire line is water-based, so it’s not a struggle to shampoo off.

The texture that is added on is a nice matte finish, meaning that it’s in between the cream and gel in terms of shine. It’ll look like you do have some product in, but people will have to ask you to make sure. When they ask you, you can tell them that it’s Moroccan Lava Clay, because that’s the special ingredient in this product. This was all in the plan.

At the end of the day, yes, getting my hair shorn in a chunk was not fun. But with a little product and imagination (and lots of patience) I was able to cover it up for the most part.

Two big takeaways from this experience: 1) mix your hair products to get the look you want without looking like you overdid it, even if you overdid it and 2) wear your damn contacts when getting haircuts!

You’ve been spending too much time on your hair

(This hair took 2 minutes or less. Really. Photo by Carolyne Teston/Very Good Light)

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

LOL at Benjamin Franklin who obviously coined this phrase as an Old. If he lived in 2017 he’d probably have coined this instead: “Late to bed, late to wake, makes a man hungover, slightly dead and fully baked.”

So what do you do when it’s your first week of college and you’re T-minus ten minutes away from that 11 a.m. class you knew you shouldn’t have signed up for but did because you thought you were a responsible human-being now?

Well, for one, you get yourself out of bed ASAP and run to the communal bathroom. After relieving yourself from last night’s regrets and brushing your teeth for all of 3 seconds, you contemplate if you should wear a hat again or ~actually~ do your hair. If you’re thinking that it takes way too long to put your hair together and opt for hat hair again, stop right there. Put that hat down – you can master the art of styling your head in mere minutes. 2 minutes to be exact.

For a quick hairdo in seconds, take our guide below for a fresh style in less than 2 minutes.

Spray and slay (30 seconds)

When you’re in a rush and you have bad bed head, take some water and sprinkle it in your hair. A palm full of water will do. Don’t do it so that it’s completely wet, rather, use water to activate your hair strands. Immediately after, take a hair primer like one from Bumble & Bumble Layrite and spritz your hair. Whether you have long hair or short, this will activate your strands so that they wake TF up.

Comb thru (30 seconds)

Take a comb or a brush and allow the primer and water to have gotten through your hair evenly. If you don’t have one, massage the primer and water with your fingers like above. If you have long hair, brush it thoroughly by flipping your hair down and brushing from back to front. This will guarantee the cowlicks to come down. If you have short hair and there’s MAJOR bed head, look to the next step.

Pulp Friction (20 seconds)

If you have thick, coarse hair and it’s short, chances are some of your hair will be flattened out by the way you sleep. Whether it’s sticking straight up or knotted together, a simple action with your own palm will solve it. Simply take some water or a spray, spritz it on the hair affected, and take your hand over it. Hold it down and put some pressure to your scalp. In a circular motion, press it down while winding your hand over in a clockwise motion. This will force hair to come out of its flattened state. When it does, comb or brush it down.

Made for pomade (30 seconds)

If you’re going for a shiny look, get a normal, water-based pomade. We’re into Layrite, Rudy’s Barbershop or the Soft Water Pomade from Baxter of California . Each is amazing for a strong hold that’s still natural. If you don’t like that shiny look, we’d suggest you go with a matte pomade that will look more natural. Bumble & Bumble Sumo Tech, BYRD Hair Matte Pomade and American Crew are all great options.

Mix a quarter-sized amount into your palms and create some friction and heat with the pomade. This allows it to activate. Then, evenly place the product from back to front as this allows for the pomade to be best dispersed. Afterwards, take a comb and style it according to which side is your natural part. For more info on that, go here.

Last minute touch ups (10 seconds)

Before you rush out the bathroom, take your fingers and tousle your hair up and away for a more natural look. Unless you’re going for that Gordon Gekko look (LOLOL) and ready for the boardroom, chances are you’re going to want it to look not so perfect.

That’s it my friend! It only takes less than 2 minutes to quickly do your hair. Obviously, it’ll be a little awkward at first try, but the more you practice the easier it’ll become. It’s truly a great last minute way to get your best hair for the days you’re late (aka every day) or when you’re feeling equally lazy (aka every day). Now go out into the world, good man. Go out and gleam with your handsome mug.

(Makeup by Lou Factora; Hair by Brittan White; Photographed by Carolyn Teston)