He also stresses the importance of wetting the hair in the morning, whether you wash it or not. And when you reach for a product, Kaplan says don’t go “really crazy” with it. Men tend to use too much product, and the last thing you want is to look greasy or dripping wet.
“Use a minimal amount and it’ll work because they come in all strengths,” Kaplan explains. “I always say start with a dime’s worth of product and you can add on by dime’s worth. That’s how to figure out how much you need. And once you put the product in, try not to touch it until it’s dry.”
The hands-off rule is one that Jonathan Torch of Toronto’s Curly Hair Institute says must be explained, sometimes over and over, especially to male clients with curly hair.
“They have to learn to stop touching their hair,” says Torch, who recommends his Curl Keeper because it dries with a clean feel. “And use the best products. It takes so long to acquire length. You don’t want to have to cut your hair to keep it healthy.”
Although curly men in the corporate world, like CEOs and lawyers, are less likely to want too much length, they still need a product that controls the curl, according to Christo, curl expert and Global Artistic Director of New York’s Christo Fifth Avenue salon.
“These men also want simplicity, ” says Christo. “They won’t sit down and do a hair masque.”
Christo currently is developing products for what he calls more of a “sports line.” The line will include a treatment shampoo and creme conditioner that men will only have to leave in for one or two minutes.
“They won’t have to wait like 10 minutes to do their treatment,” Christo explains. “Since men usually have shorter hair than women, they can do a treatment in two minutes and it works.”
Curl experts say men have to realize it will take at least some effort to care for their curls, but likely not as much as they think. Take Angel Rodriquez, who lives in the hustle and bustle of New York City. As a personal trainer, he’s always on the go and still manages to keep his raven curls in control.
“It’s just a little hard to handle because for men, we have to get used to it and make it part of our daily routine, like shaving,” Rodriguez says. “But it’s just an extra few minutes, and that doesn’t hurt anyone.”
The dilemma for Rodriguez is he’s growing out his curls, and it’s the waiting process that has started to test his patience. To help him get through it, Curl guru Lorraine Massey brought him into her Devachan Salon in New York to demonstrate a few styling tricks.
“Since Angel is a personal trainer, he’s working out and probably sweating too, so just a funky stretchy headband — especially in the same color as his hair — would look pretty cool,” Massey says. “Then, when you take it out, there’s a trellis effect and it will start to train his hair to go back, especially if he has gel in it.”
For a professional look, Massey encourages curly men to keep their hair in a gel cast so it stays in a compact state. To achieve the style, she suggests guiding gel through the hair with your fingers when it’s wet, remembering to keep your head up so the curls stay out of your face. Then, squeeze out the excess with paper towels, and leave it alone to dry.
“This way the hair can appear to look shorter then it really is. Then, after work, you can break the cast, loosen it with your fingers and have your evening look,” Massey says.
She acknowledges that the growing-out phase is the hardest part.
“It’s really tough,” Massey says. “Sometimes, the hair is going through a growth spurt and it can be kind of discombobulated for a week or two.”
Before you rush into cutting it all off, Massey suggests adding more conditioner or a little more gel to compact the curls — and just wait it out. Rodriguez says he’s committed to doing just that.
“You want to be yourself and express yourself, and you can show the confidence in yourself by letting your curls grow,” he says.
Cutler sums up the current trend for curly men.
“Men have always cared about their looks, and today they don’t have to pretend they don’t,” Cutler adds. “It’s socially acceptable for them now, which allows them to step out. But they still want to be themselves — just the best that they can be.”
