When you think about the humble widow’s peak, who comes to mind?
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Leonardo DiCaprio? Jude Law? The mighty Jack Nicholson?

These are just three famous blokes rocking the widow’s peak, but there are plenty more out there. Maybe you’ve got one yourself, and find settling on a hairstyle you like tricky.

If you don’t like your widow’s peak, what can you do to make it work for you?

Styling Choices

Depending on how thin your hair is and how far back your hairline has receded, you might feel tempted to shave your widow’s peak off.

Whatever you do, don’t!  Your best option is to just go with the widow’s peak and pick the best hairstyle for your face shape – some cuts mask or complement it.

One great option is to go for a pompadour style, which works best for wavy and straight hair. Your widow’s peak will actually make the pompadour look more prominent, giving you an advantage.

Of course, if you don’t fancy trying the ever-so-trendy pompadour style, try rocking a long fringe instead. Obviously, the length covers your widow’s peak, and is pretty low maintenance.

Another hairstyle that works brilliantly for widow’s peaks? Spikes. As with the pompadour, your widow’s peak will help to make your front spikes stand out more. Keep the hair short and tight around the sides to emphasize the main portion of the style.

For a softer look, go for a side part: with your hair slicked or pulled to one side, you’ll make the peak look smaller. This is a must-have style for modern guys, and if you combine it with a beard, you’ll look even better & more on-trend.

If you want something a bit more different, go for an asymmetrical style. This will add more texture and shape to your hairline, and draw attention from your widow’s peak.

Depending on your face shape, one hairstyle will suit you more than others; if you pick one that really, really doesn’t work for you, you might end up making your widow’s peak look even more prominent.
 
Have a chat with your stylist about your widow’s peak, and which cuts will suit your face shape best. Maybe take some pictures of celebrity hairstyles you like along with you, and be willing to take their advice. Their suggestions and ideas could well be better than you realize at first, so give them a chance.

This article first appeared on Rugged Yet Smooth

We’ve all experienced that post haircut disappointment after dropping $40 on a haircut and getting something that’s far from what you wanted. But who’s at fault here? While it’s possible that you could have just picked a not-so-great barbershop, even the best barbers need to know what you actually want in order to give it to you. The thing here is, it’s often not that easy to communicate what that thing is. There are a few things that your barber needs to know during your visit and here we’ll show you how to show them.

One of the most important parts of getting your hair cut is working out the length. Whilst you’re partly paying a visit to a barbershop to clean your mop up you’re also usually trying to cut it back a bit and prevent it from getting too long and unruly. But how long do you really want it? “Short on the sides and long on the top” is what many customers would say but this tells your barber only slightly more than nothing. Try and imagine the last time you saw a male hairstyle that wasn’t short on the sides and long on the top. I’ll wait.

There are two main ways you can go about describing the length you’d like your hair to be. You can either tell them how long it’s been since your last cut to give them an idea of how short you had it cut last time or you can describe the length with a tad more complexity. Simply telling your barber the size of the clipper you want on the sides (a number 2 for most men) and the length you’d like on the top (1.5-2 inches is a good place to start) can go a long way to helping them understand what kind of a cut you’re looking for.

You’ll also want to fill the barber in on if and how you style your hair as well as if you’d rather a tapered or blocked neckline. Most guys should probably go for a tapered neckline but, if you can pull it off, a blocked neckline can often set you apart from the rest.

It’s also important to be aware of the limits of your hair. Everyone’s hair is different and some styles only work on certain types of hair; if your barber tells you he can’t do it with your hair, he probably knows best.

Overall it’s imperative that you’re as descriptive as possible. Leaving things out or not fully fleshing out your ideas is a sure-fire way to miscommunicate what you want and can result in ending the trim with disappointment.

If you can’t do that, don’t shy away from bringing in a picture. The cliché is cliché for a reason – a picture really does speak a thousand words. When you’re struggling to get your ideas out there that thousand words goes a long way towards ensuring you get a haircut you’re comfortable and happy with.

Getting a haircut isn’t meant to be a difficult experience and as a modern man you should be able to comfortably describe to your barber what you want in a way that he can understand. If all else fails don’t be afraid to ask him for help or advice! Any good barber will be eager to help you with almost anything regarding hair. Which style looks better on you? What product should you use to achieve it? They’ll be happy to answer all of it. So just ask them! They might snip but they won’t bite.
 This article first appeared on Rugged Yet Smooth

Why hello there! So, you’re interested in having great hair? What a coincidence. We’re also interested in you having great hair. That’s why we created a company that specializes in men’s grooming products that get you beyond clean (italicized to emphasize how far beyond, with letters that literally lean forward into the beyond. Whoa). That means our shampoos and conditioners nurture, protect, and strengthen while they cleanse.

But enough about us. Let’s talk about you and your ‘do. Your lettuce. Your head fur. (No? Not a thing, head fur?) There are a few simple steps you can take to make it look good in the short term, and make it last in the long term. They’ll also cover you in the medium term, which nobody seems to talk about. We considered sharing these steps as a list of “’Do Dos and Don’ts” but we won’t have you making light of this important subject by secretly cracking up at the words “doo-doo.”

So without further ado…

1. Play It Cool

Hair dryers can do amazing things. They help set your hair in the exact style you want it, they get rid of wrinkles when you don’t have time to iron clothes, and they help eliminate the evidence when you spill your beer on the couch. But they also have a penchant for damaging hair – the very hair they’ve been sworn to protect. One way to spare your hair dryer from the crippling guilt of this is to use it on cool settings only. Yes, we know it’s tempting to fire that sucker up to maximum heat for blazing fast-drying action. But the side effect of this superspeed is often dull, frizzy hair and split ends.

So slow your roll and stick with your dryer’s cool mode, and you won’t get burned. Otherwise, prepare for a quick trip to Splitsville – Population: Your Hair.

Bonus Tip: Make sure your hair is only damp, not wet, when you start blow drying. Wet hair will get damaged more easily than damp hair. Why? See directly below.
 
2. Stand Pat

Think you’re in the clear because you don’t use a hair dryer? That was presumptuous.

Hair’s main component is a protein called keratin. Water can weaken keratin molecules. This means hair is more fragile when it’s wet – which is precisely the time guys are usually smashing, yanking and rubbing at it with a towel. This ham-fisted hatchet job can cause breakage. And the damage gets worse if your hair is already thinning or not quite what it used to be (and really, are any of us what we used to be?). So instead of the ol’ Rush n’ Rub when it comes time to dry, try something new: the Stand and Pat.

Just take a few extra moments to gently pat your hair dry with a nice soft absorbent towel. As we like to say around here, your hair would thank you, if it could talk.

Bonus Tip: If your hair does talk, consider giving it its own YouTube channel, or at the very least a weekly podcast.

3. Know the Over/Under

Don’t overdo the shampoo. Excessive shampooing can strip natural oils and damage your hair and scalp. If you have dry or coarse hair, try skipping at least a day of shampooing per week. Also, consider using a shampoo that hydrates while it cleans, like our HydroBlast Moisturizing Shampoo. But if you have oily hair, shampooing once a day is still best, as long as you use a shampoo designed for daily use like our Active Man Daily Shampoo. Both shampoos have botanicals like coconut oil, aloe vera and honey that help retain moisture and repair hair.

At the same time, don’t under use your conditioner. A lot of men shampoo every day, but they only condition sometimes, or even not at all. But most experts agree men should be conditioning daily. Your hair’s protective outer shell – the cuticle – is less likely to crack and split when you keep it moisturized and protected. Good conditioners will assist in that protection, often with the help of hard-working botanicals.

4. Use Less, Get More

Continuing our theme of moderation, another common mistake men make is using too much product when we style our hair. We can’t help ourselves. We like bold, attention-grabbing moves. It’s one of the reasons “Go big or go home,” is a more popular saying than “Act with moderation and proceed incrementally.” But if you want a guiding principle of hairstyling, the latter is the way to go.

A little bit of styling product can go a long way on your hair. Try starting small and taking good look at the results before deciding to use more. Not only will it help you maintain a more natural look; it will also help you avoid the heavy, greasy buildup that hair can get from overzealous use of styling products.

5. Eat Right and Exercise

Argh!  Not that again. Why can’t just one advice list urge you to eat junk and sit on your duff?

Sorry, not this time. What’s good for your body, is generally good for your hair. For example, keeping your body hydrated by drinking lots of water also helps keep your hair hydrated. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish and nuts that are good for your heart, are also good for your scalp. And protein-rich foods that nourish your muscles will also nourish your hair, which itself is mostly protein.

Meanwhile, exercise will increase your blood flow and help deliver all those nutrients you’ve been consuming straight to your scalp, where they can feed your hair and help it keep growing healthy and strong, year after year, so that it stays around for a long time – maybe even long enough for “head fur” to become a thing.

Bonus Tip: Stress tightens the scalp and can cause hair thinning. Massages can de-stress and boost circulation to the scalp, encouraging hair growth. So go get a massage. Go on.

You’re welcome.
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This article first appeared on Blackwood for Men
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