Men who come into the salon are always saying, "How do I style my hair like you do?" or "I can never get my hair to look the way you can in the salon." The purpose of this blog is to help you get the right tools to use at home so you can get your hair looking its best as it does when you leave the salon.
Unless asked not to, when I get done with a man's haircut, I always shampoo it and blow it dry. I do this because after all of the tugging and pulling on a guy's hair that goes on during a haircut, I think the shampoo kind of hits the reset button on the hair, puts whatever wave you may have back in, and gets the hair to lay as it naturally would. The reason for the blow dry is because I need to see how the hair looks dry and the way you are going to style it so I can do some detailing before you leave the salon. Since I use the hair dryer on just about every man who comes into the salon, if you want your hair to look the same at home, this is the most important tool you will need. A guy may be able to get by without some of the tools I use or substitute for something different, but the hair dryer is something you can't replicate in your hair with a towel or by letting your hair air dry.
Another tool that is good for every guy to have at home is a vent brush. You don't have to get the best or most expensive one, just about any will do. If you are using a hair dryer/vent brush combo, put your product in wet hair and brush your hair in the direction that you want it to lay, and then dry it in that direction before you start to dry it. As the hair starts to get drier, you can brush your hair as your drying it. Once the hair is completely dry, it may look too perfect for your taste. If you're a guy who likes a little messier look, just take a little product and break the hair up a little bit.
For men looking to get a nice, crisp part in their hair, I would just reccommend just using a standard comb. If you're going for a slick look, you can put product in your hair, comb the part in, and then let it air dry. If not, put the part in your hair with the comb and then follow the blow drying steps. For a sharper part you may have to go back in with the comb after the hair is dry and then set it in with a little more product.
These are tips that I used to do back when a had shorter hair. Now that it's longer and I'm growing it out I don't want to put any heat on it so I don't use a hair dryer, and since hair is at it's most fragile when it's wet, I use a wide tooth comb out of the shower to help avoid breakage.
With shorter men's hairstyles you really don't have to break the bank buying any of these tools. You can get a good hair dryer in the $30 range from a place like Sally's, a vent brush from there would probably be under $5, and a 12 pack of combs is in the $5 range too. The only hair dryers I wouldn't recommend are those smaller ones like you see in a hotel. They don't have a lot of power if you're trying to get your hair to go up, and even if you aren't the lack of power makes it take longer to dry your hair.
