My wife was on my case about it for weeks.
“You really do need a haircut,” she said, noting how it was hanging over my ears and ragged around the back of my neck.
The question I’ve been thinking about lately, though, is more age-related – something that a growing number of middle-age guys are considering, or are even doing. Should I get my hair dyed?
It crossed my mind recently when I got a new driver’s license. I usually tell the clerk at the DMV to use the picture that was taken back when I was 40. My hair and beard back then WERE solid brown with no hint of gray.
I told the clerk behind the counter I needed a new photo. Once she showed it to me, I was taken aback. My beard was solid white and my sides had the salt-and- pepper look. There is no front. I’m balding.
I see guys at the newspaper where I work and out in public who dye their hair. I’m talking completely dyed.
Who are they fooling? Everybody knows.
Look at all the women. I read recently where some 90 percent of middle-age or older women in the workplace are dying their hair.
I didn’t make the rules, but the reality is that society is harsher on women than men when it comes to looking youthful.
But what if a middle age guy wants to take a few years off his looks?
Many do it for professional reasons — actors, salesmen, TV news anchors. There are also those men who gray prematurely in their 30s and early 40s.
Finally, there are those guys who are out again on the dating scene. They feel the need to look younger. It’s a confidence thing.
I talked recently to two hair stylists (a man and a woman) and a teacher at a local cosmetology school about middle age men dying their hair. Guys have several options:
– There’s the total, one-color dye job, which takes out all the gray. You can do it amateurishly by yourself with over-the-counter dye, or you can have it done by a professional.
There are a couple of downsides, the stylists told me. In a matter of several weeks the gray, “line of demarcation” appears. Once you start, you have keep redoing it every 3 ½ to 4 weeks. It hits you in the pocketbook, costing an average of $50 to $65 in Central New York — more in larger metropolitan areas, said the cosmetology teacher.
The biggest downside: The color job doesn’t fool anyone. Most everybody knows you’re dyeing your hair. All three agreed.
– Another approach is the “blended” dye job, they said, in which a look is achieved that has a combination of your natural hair color and gray. It isn’t as drastic and lasts a little longer.
– Guys can also get “lowlights.” The technique is similar to when women get “highlights.” In both cases, individual strands of hair are colored with a paint brush or with a foil technique that separates the hair.
On top of all this, some guys even get their eyebrows dyed to complete the “young look,” the stylists told me. (Note: getting your eyebrows dyed in New York State by a hair stylist is illegal).
One stylist, Diana, said she’ll do what her male customers ask, but not before trying to talk them out of it. Focus on the things that really matter, she said. If you’re really concerned about your looks, get a haircut that looks good on you. Also, concentrate on taking good care of your skin, your weight and overall health.
This makes sense. No matter what color your hair is, the guy who’s in good condition will look better, and probably younger, than the guy who isn’t.
Yes, I did get my hair cut. I had it buzzed shorter than I’ve had it in awhile. To my surprise, I got several compliments.
But no dye job. I don’t need it for work and the lovely woman I sleep with every night likes me just the way I am.
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