Haircut & Style- Men's Long Hair
Men’s Long Hair Done Right!
Over the years, it seems that more and more men are giving longer hair a try and some are finding they really enjoy it! If you've taken the time to grow out your hair and are finally ready for a proper long haircut, then you've come to the right post!
What to Ask For?
The Simple Answer:
"Keep the length, give it layers and texture"
The Long Answer:
For any haircut, the most important thing is the consultation. Through it, we will be able to assess different dimensions of the haircut and how to make it work for you. You've spent so much time growing out your hair, going through many awkward periods and struggles. You don't want this all to go down the drain because of one bad haircut. It's important to have a realistic goal for your long hair and to bring up any issues you are facing in the consultation. Longer hair can be heavy and starts to fall in ways we don't want them to throughout the day. You may need to consider losing a little bit of length, just so you can have a better shape that can last longer as you grow things out. For you to come out with results that you really enjoy, time needs to be spent on a proper consultation.
That being said, I find that clients raise similar concerns with their long hair (especially when they've just been growing it all out without a proper haircut at all). Usually this means the hair is sitting too heavy or is hard to style. The back could also be sitting too flat and unflattering. The client just doesn't know how to style their hair at the current length. Typically, when I hear that the hair is sitting too heavy, that means that some parts of the hair are too long and are just flattening other parts of the hair. I address this by using "square layers". This is an approach where I will cut the hair in a way where the overall shape is like a box, which provides more of an angular look with vertical sections so that the hair doesn't flop over itself, but stacks (layers) nicely. The goal of this whole approach is to remove unwanted weight so that the hair can flow better.
Another thing to consider is what you plan to do with the front of your hair. Most want to have it all come backward, others may want to just wear it down, and some may want to customize the fringe so that they can achieve a specific style instead of just having everything long. For the look we're focusing on today, you'll want the front hair to be cut so that it can be brushed back and the sides can be tucked behind the ears. This means the hair has to be long enough to travel back that far, any shorter and you will be frustrated with hair falling into your face. However, the top lengths should also not be left too long or you'll end up with an imbalanced shape, and you'll find that the hair will weigh itself down and fall anyways. Typically, all the hair should be cut to a somewhat uniform length throughout the hair with no drastic differences from one section to another.
Once the overall shape has been figured out, I like to go through the hair and strategically texturize certain areas. Again, you want to remove as much unwanted weight as possible and help the hair flow. Areas like the back of the head will tend to have a lot of extra bulk, especially since we're styling everything into the back. I'll typically go in and thin things out so that the hair has a lot of movement in it. I will do the same to the top as well, where I will try to thin the hair out in a way that will provide more volume. This is part of personally customizing the haircut and will differ from client to client to the extent to which it is done.
One last thing to keep in mind is that, although you may enjoy the length that you've been able to achieve over the past few months, you may have to trim some of it off to suit the overall style. I know it sounds counter-intuitive and defeats the purpose of growing out your hair, but it can make a big difference between having an intentional haircut that looks and feel right vs. having something that just looks unkempt and shaggy.
The hair is cut to flow backwards. Thanks to the the layering and texturizing, the natural waves and curls of the hair can be expressed with very little effort.
How to Style:
If you have wavy/ curly hair and want to achieve the look in the images, I'd recommend following my guide on "wet setting" hair. The global direction of this style will be directed backward, and very little is needed for local texture except having to reactivate some waves after drying with gentle scrunching.
If you have straighter hair, you may not be able to get the same degree of waves and curls unless you use a curling iron or get a perm. I would say that you can still achieve a really nice look that suits your hair type (think more John Wick and less Bradley Cooper). To achieve that kind of look where the hair is still brushed back and tucked behind the ears, you will have to do some blow-drying. Focus on setting the global direction to go backward and prioritize drying the roots of the hair. It will take a very long time to completely dry longer hair, but I think you can actually get away with a little dampness in the hair. With the roots dried, the global direction has been mostly set, and you don't want to potentially over-dry the hair and get it frizzy.
An alternative, that I recommend for people who don't have the time to blow-dry is to use a hairband to keep everything flowing back while the hair is damp and let things air dry. This is a step that I mentioned in my "wet setting" guide, but when dealing with longer hair it can be applied to straight hair as well as wavy/curly. Make sure you don't get a hairband that is too tight though, you want to avoid creating too much tension on your hair as that can lead to traction alopecia, where the hair on the front hairline starts to recede due to too much tugging [1]. This also applies to tying your hair into a ponytail or bun (which is the end goal for a lot of people growing out their hair). Make sure you don't tie it super tight or you'll run into the same issue.
Recommended Products for this Style:
TIGI Copyright Firm Hold Curl Cream
or
Want a barber that is professionally trained to do long hair? Book your next appointment with me!
