Styling Your Hair Without the Crunch - Part I: Mousse
Mousse can be intimidating because it’s a whole lot of foam when you first get it going, but if you know what mousse can be good for, it’s surprisingly versatile. You can maintain most hairstyles on a daily basis without too much buildup, and best of all, mid-day styling touches ups are incredibly easy.
How to Use It
1. Shake the mousse bottle and hold it vertically to dispense product in your palm. Aim for a small amount, because a little mousse will go far. If it looks like an egg, you’re set. Anything else and you’ll be shocked at how greasy and flat things can get.
2. Stroke the mousse through your hair, and “swipe” your hands through to make sure you’ve applied it evenly.
3. If you love to blow dry your hair, then mousse is key. You can get great hold if you use mousse and then dry it, and you can still use it regularly without weighing your hair down too much.
What Styles Does It Suit? Mousse is perfect if you want to boost thinning hair and get natural volume and body. Lucky for you, you can find a mousse that suits your hair type– it’s not just for the seriously curly anymore! Thin, dry, thick, coarse. . . you name it, a formula is available to boost your style.
Why You’ll Love It: You can restyle moussed hair throughout the day without making your hair overly sticky. All you need to do is add a spritz of water and you’re set. Style away!
Mousse Tips
• Volume is best achieved by adding your mousse primarily to the roots. You’ll get extra “lift” if you work in the product with your head tilted over. Since mousse coats each strand lightly, it will come up off the scalp and make your hair look thinner.
• For maximum effect, take a look at what’s inside. Some products are designed for use with heat, while others are designed to be used on thinner or fine hair.
• Less is more! If you forget almost all your mousse use rules, this one is the most important to retain. (Unless you like sticky, greasy, or stiff hair, that is.) Egg or golf-ball size, please!
• Invest a little in your mousse. You’ll be able to tell the difference if you use it daily.
Suggested Products
• Jason Natural - Style & Shape Mousse - 7 oz
• KMS Add Volume Styling Foam
• Pantene In Control Shaping Mousse, Extra Strong Hold, 6.6 Oz, 2 Packs
• SEBASTIAN Shaper Hair Spray Styling Mist for Hold & Control 10.6oz/300g
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Easy Stain Removal Tips
Not quite ready yet to don an apron and scrub out a stain? Your best bet is to do it as quickly as possible, then, and save yourself time and manpower.
Take a look at some important guidelines to get out anything from red wine to ink, and save your best shirt from disaster.
1. Test stain removal products before you start.
Stain removal can be a whole lot easier if you apply product, but you need to be careful. Every product should be tested on the stained product in an inconspicuous area. While a shirt stained in wine is bad, a discolored or holey shirt can be a lot worse.
Tip: If your shirt isn’t colorfast, this test is especially important. Check the care label to help you determine whether that the case, or the stain may be the least of your problems.
2. Aim to remove stains from the back.
When you see a stain creeping across one of your best shirts, you probably get the urge to scrub the outside of it as fast as possible. If your shirt is delicate or lightweight, you could muss that spot up into an irreparable fuzzy spot.
Instead, when a stain crops up, put the shirt upside down on top of a white cloth. Apply stain remover to the back of your shirt and follow the directions. Just don’t forget that when this starts to work, you’ll need to move the shirt to a fresh spot of white cloth to encourage the stain to continue its transfer.
3. Test out dry cleaning solvents with caution.
Did you have anyone suggest using dry cleaning solvents to remove a stain? It may sound perfect, but you should rinse a shirt carefully and allow it to air dry afterwards, or you could be facing a pretty dangerous situation.
Warning: Never put a shirt that’s been treated with dry cleaning solvent in the washing machine.
4. Wash your items after stain removal.
Stain removal products can leave substantial residue on your clothes, and that’s not nice for sensitive skin. If you don’t want to get a bumpy rash or worse, soak your stained items and then wash as usual.
5. Sometimes you have to give up.
Some stains are easy to removal, and others are just impossible. If you’ve done your best and your shirt starting to look worse-for-wear from your manhandling, consider chucking your shirt and starting over. It could be for the best!
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Get the Wet Look
Do you like the way your hair looks when it’s wet? Thankfully, the wet look isn’t just about jheri curls anymore, but about keeping high-gloss shine in your hair with a piece texture. Take a look at how it’s done!
1. Choose your product for the wet look.
Don’t give in to using just any product you find. You’ve got to research (even if it’s just a little) to give your hair the proper effect. First, you need to consider your hair type to get the right wet look. If your hair is thicker or coarse, then you can get away with a stronger gel type like an extra hold product, and if you have curly hair, you may want to check out a product with anti-frizz ingredients.
One other important consideration to make is the quality of your gel. It’s essential that you get a gel that works well with your hair type, but non-flake formulas are essential. Who cares about the wet look when you’ve got dandruff?
2. Apply your hair gel
Even if your style might make it look like your hair is a touch mussed, that doesn’t mean you should be slicking your hair back when it’s dirty. Instead, follow the basics of gel application: put a touch of gel in one hand, rub your hands together, and apply it to damp hair that has been towel dried. If you get the basics down, then applying product for a wet look gets a lot easier.
But you need to be careful when you’re shaping your wet look style. Hair can still look wet without being helmet-crunchy. While applying gel to wet hair will give you a softer effect, you also need to monitor how much you end up using. Do you have a lot of hair? Don’t dump on the gel to compensate. Instead, invest in a high quality gel that’s formulated for extra hold.
3. Consider other options
Gel certainly isn’t your only choice for the wet look. Pomade, which is made out of oil or polymers similar to gel, can give you a smooth, wet look. If you hunt out high-shine formulas, then the wet look gets even easier to manage.
More Tips
• While the wet look is best achieved when you apply gel and allow your hair to air dry, but if you need your hair to look slightly more natural with that deep shine, then you can give your hair a quick blast with the hair dryer.
• Plan for your gelled hair to work best in the night scene. Sometimes the wet look is best kept to the clubs, like the women’s equivalent of the “smoky eye” effect.
Suggested Products
• Wildroot Original * The Natural Looking Hair Groom 15 Oz
This product keeps hair in place and gives a great wet look.
• Lucky Tiger 3 Purpose Hair Tonic With Fine Oils 16 Oz.
Lucky Tiger is a great barbershop tunic that will condition itchy scalps.
• Groom and Clean Greaseless Hair Control
Groom and Clean works with water for a non-greasy effect. The hair control product also benefits from cleansing properties, so it’s a little bit like a shampoo and gel in one. After applying it to your hair, you can rinse dirt and grease out of your hair in the shower or even with a wet comb.
• Vitalis Hair Tonic, 12-Ounce Bottles (Pack of 2)
This liquid makes hair manageable, but it’s not greasy.
• Brylcreem Hair Groom, Original, 5.5 fl oz (162 ml) (Pack of 3)
Brylcreem is a great choice for classic men, with very deep shine.
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How to Care for Your Nails
Do you work in an executive environment where you need to look perfectly polished, or are you just wondering about how to get your nails looking better? You’re in the right place.
Nail Basics
1. Collect your supplies. You will need a metal nail file, nail clippers, nail brush, manicure scissors, orange sticks, nail buffer, and all-in-one cuticle lotion.
2. Clean up. Grab your nail brush and lather it up with soap. Use a little gentle pressure to scrub under your nails and around areas that gather dirt.
3. Use an orange stick and wrap it with cotton wool. Use that to push back the skin near the base of the nail. Don’t go overboard– you just need to push it back slightly.
4. Trim any loose pieces of skin, such as hangnails, from around each nail.
5. Trim your nails straight across, instead of in a curve, to avoid any ingrown nails. This is important for your feet, so don’t forget! Use a quality pair of nail clippers, which will last a lifetime and will provide a clean, careful cut.
Note: Aim for your nails to measure a quarter of an inch beyond your fingertips.
6. Use a file to tame rough or sharp corners of your nails. Always use a file from the center of the nail in one direction.
Note: Have you read that emery boards are good for your nails? It’s true for women, but men may benefit from a metal file, which can tackle thicker nails.
7. Work a good cream into your hands. If you hate scented creams, try something like Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, Fragrance-Free (2 Ounces) (Pack of 4)
8. Buff your nails to make the surface smoother in one direction only. You can also use polishing paste to increase shine (especially if you’re tempted to use clear polish).
Polish?
Have you ever considered clear polish? Some guys consider getting clear polish if their nails are brittle and break easily, but besides that. . . stay away. Sure, in some places I’ve noticed that it’s more acceptable to have shiny nails as a man, but if you work or travel to the states it can be more unusual, and it will be noticed.
Instead, strengthen your nails with a slightly oily brush-on strengthening polish that doesn’t coat the nails visibly. Try out Dr. Haushka Skin Care’s nail oil with botanicals and organic ingredients, as well as ClarinsMen Active Hand Care
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Care For Sweaters
Love your cashmere sweaters, or just want to keep yours around forever without destroying them? Understood. Now read on!
Treatments and Washing
• When you get ready to wash your clothes, separate knitwear when you sort laundry. If you throw a sweater in the washing machine, it won’t last long! Anything that could be harmed by catches or snags should be thrown into a protective bag before it gets into the wash.
• Avoid washing sweaters on hot settings, which can damage them pretty severely. And say no to tumble dryers, too! I speak from experience. They can affect wool so severely that the item will shrink beyond recognition.
• Handwash items if you can. It may be time consuming, but it will save your more expensive articles like cashmere.
To Handwash a Sweater
1. Fill a sink or tub with lukewarm water, and follow the instructions on your fine garment wash like Woolite, for example.
2. Swish your hands in the water to create suds, and add your sweater to the water.
3. Soak your sweater for about 20 minutes in the basin.
4. Remove the sweater and rinse it thoroughly.
5. Place the sweater on a clean towel.
6. Fold the towel in half and then roll it.
7. After a few minutes, lay your towel out flat and shape it carefully.
8. Dry your sweater on a sweater rack and let it air dry out of direct sunlight and indoors.
Tip: Don’t wring out your sweaters, which can permanently distort their shape.
Tip: You can wash more than one sweater at a time, but just make sure that they’re similar in color.
After Care
• Brush your sweaters once they’re dry. Use a small soft brush on cashmere, acrylic, and lambswool to take care of fluff and hairs. You can also use a lint brush to remove pills.
• While dry cleaning sweaters is definitely an option, it won’t extend the life of your knitwear.
• Iron sweaters on a low setting, and if you iron wool, make sure that you “knead” the sweater once you’re done to set it and prepare it for wearing.
• Storing your sweater? Be sure to wash and dry it before you store it, and then wrap it in acid-free paper before it goes in a special storage box.
Tip: Stay away from mothballs. They smell strong, and you can get the same effects from a lavender sweater wash. Both cedar and lavender repel moths, and they’re natural.
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• Ruffs, Cuffs and Farthingales (by Winston Chesterfield)
• Permanent Style (by Simon Crompton)
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