B003YL4KS0 EBOK (32 page)
Authors: Lorraine Massey,Michele Bender
Here are a few basic steps to make your hair look great:
1 Wet:
Step under the showerhead and let the water run through your curls. Resist the urge to start scrubbing your head; this disrupts your curls’ basic shape. If you’ve got long hair, cup it in your hands so the water flow doesn’t distort your curls’ intrinsic pattern. Wet your hair thoroughly.
2 Cleanse:
Apply either a sulfate-free cleanser or a botanical conditioner along your fingertips the way you’d apply toothpaste to a toothbrush, and evenly distribute it to your other fingertips. Then place your fingertips directly on the scalp, and using firm circular motions, massage the product into the scalp to stimulate blood flow, remove dirt particles, and keep your scalp healthy and hydrated. If your hair is long, apply an extra dollop of conditioner to the hair near the nape of the neck, which tends to get knotted. Gently remove any knots with your fingers.
3 Rinse:
If your hair tends to get frizzy, leave most of the cleanser or conditioner in by standing away from the shower flow and splashing just a few handfuls of water on your hair. This prevents all the cleanser/conditioner from being rinsed out and allows the hair to stay hydrated. (After a few days of rinsing your hair this way, you’ll get a sense of how much rinse water your hair requires in order for you to be pleased with the outcome.)
4 Scrunch:
Turn off the shower, lean forward, and scrunch your hair gently upward to remove some of the water and cleanser or conditioner.
5 Dry:
Many men dry their hair by holding one end of a towel in each hand and rubbing it harshly over their head. But the rough fibers of the towel combined with this kind of friction causes hair to frizz. Instead, shake your head once or twice or use an old cotton T-shirt to scrunch the hair a bit so it’s not dripping wet.
6 Style:
Apply gel to your hands and scrunch it into your hair. How much gel you use depends on the length of your
hair and how much hold you want (use more gel for more hold). Then let your curls air-dry so you don’t cause frizz. Once your hair is totally dry, either leave it as is for a wet, contained look, or scrunch your hair gently to break the gel cast that has formed while the hair was drying.
Scrunch in the morning, then just walk away.
CURL CONFESSIONMichael Graeser
health-care executiveGrowing up, everyone around me seemed to have hair that looked the same all the time, unlike my unpredictable wavy, curly hair that looked different each day. (It still does.) I often felt like a geek, wishing I had trendy, straight hair that would lie nice and flat instead of fluffy and all over the place. One year for yearbook photos, my hair was so supercurly that my photo sticks out from the other kids’ photos like a stop sign.
About a year ago, I decided that I’d had enough of conforming to what other people wanted. I had to embrace my curly hair—and who I am—and let it do what it wanted. I gave up shampoo and brushes and started conditioning it often. I was blown away by the results. Everyone compliments me on my beautiful hair. Amazingly, ever since I decided to go curly, I’ve been happier and have more self-confidence than ever before. I finally feel like my life is coming full circle!
CURL CONFESSIONJordan Pacitti
professional dancer and fragrance company ownerAs a young child, my blond curls were soft, smooth, and defined, and people would rave about them. All that changed when I turned ten. The kids at school called me Brillo pad and said I had “caveman hair.” On top of all of this, there weren’t any hair idols to look up to at that age. So I just gave up. I kept my curls hidden with short haircuts and would brush them into submission—even though a wave always found its way out.
When I was fifteen years old, studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City, I was surrounded by people who were so individual that I realized I could let my curls out. I started growing my hair and mixing and matching products to see what would give me those beautiful curls. Also, around this time ’NSYNC was the most popular boy band and Justin Timberlake quickly became my hair idol. My hair looked good. Then I gave up shampoo, and my hair turned into the most amazing thing I could ever imagine.
A lot of curly guys have had their hair cut supershort for so long that they’ve forgotten they have curls. Like women who are chronic blow-dryers and flat-ironers, they will actually say, “I used to be curly!” But just because curls are mistreated doesn’t mean they cease to exist. I have never witnessed curly hair going straight naturally—maybe looser but not straighter.
I’ve also heard a lot of short-haired men say, “But if I let my hair grow, my curls grow outward and I look like Bozo the Clown.” It’s true that back in the day of harsh shampoos and brushes, these curlies would tend to look like this favorite clown. But those days are gone and I assure you that growing out your curls on a diet of sulfate-free cleansing and conditioning products will prevent your hair from ballooning out atmospherically. In time, with length, gravity, and moisture, your hair will sprout and blossom into gorgeous, sexy curls.
One of the most important things is to find a stylist who understands curly hair and knows how to cut it, especially since guys get more frequent trims than girls. (See
chapter 9
,
page 91
, on finding a stylist to cut your hair, and ask him or her the questions on
page 95
.)
Here are some styles that look good on curly guys:
•
The hair style of D’Artagnan, one of the three musketeers in the Dumas classic, is a look that I would describe as unpretentious and sexy. It’s not too long and not too short. It’s worn just above the shoulders.
•
Caesar curls—or Roman curls—can also look stylish on men. You may have to skip two or three haircuts to allow your curls to grow past their first C shape (see
page 93
). This can be frustrating at first, but stick with it. Each time you feel the desire to cut your hair, imagine it setting you back to the hair you had three weeks earlier. If you really want to grow your hair, you just have to grow it! When my client Allesandro was trying to grow his hair, he came in for a trim twice and both times I turned him away. He was frustrated but I convinced him to stick with it, and now he has the long locks he never thought he could have, and he is delighted.
•
During the day for work, you can keep your hair in the gel cast to contain its girth and then open it up after work by scrunching your hair gently. Men with longer locks may want to wear bandannas or baseball caps when working out.
