Textured long hair for men: how to style it

No longer tied up in associations of grunge gods or surfer dudes, long hair has found a new place amoungst the fashionable male population. Long haired men have been spotted on runways, in campaigns, in editorials; their look deliberately bedraggled and accompanied by facial hair, or neatened up, slicked back atop a clean-shaven face. Either way, long hair has a versatility for men that goes beyond stereotypes.

One way of styling long hair for men is to give it texture that’s messy without being overly grunged-out. Much like the style created by Todd Arndt, Hair Director at Redken for Men, for the Pistols At Dawn spring 2013 campaign (pictured). Wear it with your coolest casual outfit or sharpest suit; as a 2013 hairstyle textured long hair for men offers us plenty of options.

After the break we’ll take you through steps on recreating this textured long hair for men.

From Pistols At Dawn, Kimono collection

Textured long hair for men: how to get it

You can do this style on freshly washed hair, or unwashed hair – either will work. It will hold better in hair that hasn’t been washed for a day or two. You can use a dry shampoo at the roots to refresh unwashed hair.

If you have fine hair, apply a texturising or volumising product into damp hair after you wash it but before you dry it. You’ll want a product that’s light – not too thick or sticky – at this step (see suggestions below).

If your hair very curly to begin with, you’ll need to blow dry or straighten it to be roughly straight, keeping in some loose wave as the foundation of your texture.

If your hair is dead straight, you might want to create a bit of wave first in order to really get that messy texture. To do this you can use a hair straightener (divide hair into sections and run the straightener down each section at a 45 degree angle to make a curl: this will take a bit of practice or you may need to youtube it to see it in action) or a barrel hair curler. Go ahead and borrow one from your girlfriend, we won’t tell.

Alternatively you can twist sections of hair while it’s slightly damp and clip/tie the twisted sections back until they’re dry. Spray on some root boosting product to really set the hair (see product suggestions below). You could also tie it into a messy bun and leave it overnight while you sleep. When you let your hair down, you should have a bit of a loose wave.

Once you have some rough waves going on in your hair, comb it through with your fingers to give it a natural toussle and to let it drop out to a level you’re comfortable with.

Now for some texturising product. Don’t go for gels or anything shiny as we want this to be a matte-look hairstyle. You’ll want a product that’s a fairly thick putty or paste. A wax can also work. See below for recommendations.

Take a small amount and rub it into your hands, then work your hands through your hair being careful not to get any big blobs of product in a single area. To get a gritty, clumpy texture through the hair, try taking sections and twisting/rolling them between your hands, or scrunching up sections of hair for a messy toussle.

An example of textured long hair for men on the runway at John Varvatos, SS13

Products to use

There are several steps above where you’d benefit from some good hair product to really achieve the textured look. To help get you started with which you use, we asked Annika Bowen at Annika’s for some suggestions.

Dry Shampoo
You can use any Dry Shampoo for the first step (if your hair is a bit oily and you want to ensure you have a good matt textured). However, if your hair is dark / brunette and you don’t want a white powdery finish, Annika recommends trying Label.M’s dry shampoo for brunettes.

Volumising product
If you have fine hair, before doing any other styling you’ll want some volume at the roots. Annika suggests trying Root Boost by Tigi for a grittier texture (it’s a spray-in mousse) or Small Talk by Tigi for plenty of body and volume.

Styling products for texture
In the Pistols at Dawn campaign (pictured), Redken Dishevel Fibre Cream was used. Another suggestion by Annika is Tigi Bedhead for Men Matte Separation Wax, or Sebastian Craft Clay. Note that with the clay product you’ll need to warm it up in your hands first before you apply it.

Source : fashionising[dot]com