Hair is an easy, easy upgrade. It's something a lot of men don't know how to take care of, but a few small changes can totally change your image.
My hair is dry, coarse and terrible to manage. When I was little my parents force-combed it into an Eric Foreman style, meaning it was a wavy, puffy mess (good in the 70's, not so hot in the 90's). As I got older I always struggled with trying to make it look okay, but eventually resorted (as most guys do) to just cutting it short and keeping it close-cropped, but it always gave me a fuzzy look I hated.
Then, after high school, I grew out my hair a bit. And it got wavy, as it always did, but soon it did something different. It curled. And kept curling. And soon I had a head of hair that was literally getting me stopped on the street by women.
But with great hair came great responsibility. I learned very quickly that if I didn't take care of my hair, it became a frizzy, horrible, misshapen mess.
Here's some tips to keep that from happening to you:
Moisture Is Key
If you do nothing else, there is one thing you need to start doing: USE CONDITIONER. If you just started to think "But conditioner is for girls," tell your brain to get into the 2000's. Your hair is being constantly exposed to the elements, and its condition and manageability is directly related to how much moisture it has.
Unfortunately, if you're not using conditioner, not only is your hair not getting enough moisture, you're probably actually drying it out! The culprit? Shampoo. Most shampoos use chemicals called sulfates to clean the hair. It does what it says in this regard, but it also dries out your hair (the same way soap can do to your hands). There's a couple of ways to combat this.
If you condition after you shampoo and you like how your hair feels, that's good. But if you find your hair still too dry, you can reduce your shampooing to two or three times a week. You may think your hair will become gross, but the truth is you don't need to scour it every day unless you're putting your head somewhere dirty all the time. If your scalp gets itchy, you can massage it when you apply conditioner, and it'll loosen the skin just like shampoo will. If you have curly or wavy hair, take it down to once or twice a week. The difference will be massive, and you will see it in only a few days.
Another option, which you can combine with the prior tip, is to use a sulfate-free shampoo. There's a few brands, but one that's cheap ($7) and can be found widely is Organix.
(Yes it's conditioner, but they all come in shampoo as well)
It's an easy-to-spot brand, and you may find up to a dozen different varieties of it in your local convenience store or supermarket, though a lot of them are very floral or fruity. The green bottles like the one above with teatree mint have a nice masculine scent, and teatree is absolutely wonderful for your hair. There's also mandarin orange and coconut varieties which you may like (coconut may not be a "manly" scent but women absolutely love it; I always get compliments when I use it).
You only need to use a little bit, it lathers up quite well, and it leaves your hair clean but in a better condition than most others. I use it twice a week at the most, depending on how my hair feels, and it lasts for months like that since all you need is a small dab of it.
Now that we've got your hair looking healthier and nicer, it's time to style. We'll get to that next time!
