Hair Apparent

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To Dye For

Turning into a silver fox before your time? You’ve got options for covering fifty shades of gray—and none of them involve Grecian Formula! The new 18|8 Fine Men’s Salon in the Quarry offers two solutions for kicking your Clooney ’do to the curb.

Beginner’s Luck. To tip your toe in the man-color waters, consider “Gray Blending” that sits on top of the cuticle and fades in four to six shampoos. “It’s a subdued look that helps guys test out color to see if they like the results,” says Adriane Beveridge, head stylist at the local 18|8.

Get a Perm. Not for curls, of course. The salon’s “Ten-Minute Color” takes just that to permanently tint strands until you cut them off. “This is more opaque, true hair color that penetrates the shaft,” says Beveridge. One caveat, this option will leave a demarcation line (what your wife or girlfriend calls “roots”) as your hair grows out, so it requires maintenance.

Whichever way you go, Beveridge will comb in the color for an organic effect. “You’ll still see specks of gray, but we can adjust the percentages. Men with a full head of gray can go back to salt-and-pepper,” she says. She’ll even comb color into your Brawny Man beard, just ask nicely. eighteeneight.com —J.B.

Hair Today

Male pattern baldness may be a thing of the past now that the iGrow® helmet—which looks like it comes from the roller derby of the future—is on the scene. Evidently, the hands-free, in-home hair growth system uses light to low-level light therapy (LLLT) technology (a combo of red laser and LED light diododes) to energize cellular activity within the hair follicle and stimulate more stud-fast—sorry, we mean steadfast—growth. Some local docs are even recommending the FDA-approved device for both men and women. “The iGrow is an alternative for people who do not want to undergo a hair transplant. It’s only good for for minimal hair loss, it won’t give you a full head of hair. To see results, you have use to the iGrow for 25 minutes twice a week for four to six months” says Dr. Jeffrey Schreiber, a plastic surgeon at LifeBridge Health. Fortunately, the $695 device has built-in headphones so you can listen to music (hair metal, obviously) or an audiobook at the same time. —B.B.

Boyzillian

(noun): a naked-as-the-day-you-were-born wax job for men

On a scale of one to 10, how much does waxing hurt?

“Depends on the body part, but if it’s a hairy back, I’d give it a five,” says Jake Kapneck, co-owner of European Wax Center in Pikesville, who also waxes his upper arms (“to prevent hair from popping out under my T-shirt sleeves”) and suggests popping an Advil two hours before waxing to reduce the pain. (“There’s also a liquor store a few doors down,” he jokes.)

We were surprised to learn that plenty of guys are coming in to tame their Andy Rooney caterpillars—European Wax Center offers a free eyebrow wax for all first-time clients—which Kapneck says his aestheticians trim, then wax in a “manly” way so they look very natural.

EWC doesn’t wax below the belt (except for legs, popular with athletes) but Melissa Jacobson from Bare SkinLabs in Green Spring Station has everyone from Millennials to guys in their 70s coming in for downstairs defuzzing. “Some wax because their partners prefer it; others are just OCD types who want to be clean as a whistle,” says the spa co-owner, who can accommodate any desired result from “a clean triangle to a landing strip or the full Monty.”

You may be nervous, but her all-female staff isn’t. “We show zero hesitation,” says Jacobson, who uses the proper word for “testicles” and will patch-test to ensure you can tolerate waxing them. Prefer manscaping at home? Use a hot compress before shaving to soften the hair and reduce irritation, she advises. —J.B.

>> Read more stories from our summer Men’s Issue.

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