Help me to not ruin his krieg cred

August 7, 2011 10:45 AM

I need help cutting a metalhead's hair (for maintenance)

My husband has long wavy hair that he likes to wear in a ponytail. I would like to give him a haircut, just to make the hair look healthier, and maybe shape it a little bit. I think it should be a simple process, but then again, I have never done it.

We would like a little bit of shape, just so it's not plain and rectangle-looking. I have googled "long hair men haircuts" but I keep getting examples that aren't really what I'm looking for.

In short, how do I do a maintenance haircut for a ponytail wearing man?

posted by Tarumba to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Best answer: I have long, wavy and thick hair that I like to wear in a pony tail, though I'm not a dude. I pretty much do this, but with the pony tail on top of my head. The result is a layered haircut. Use sharp haircutting scissors and cut a little longer than you think you'll want (using a ponytail haircut method, the shorter you cut, the more drastic the layers). Here's an image of the result, mussed up (with bangs, but it would work fine without them). It's good for head banging.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:01 AM on August 7, 2011 [5 favorites]

I am not a man but I do have long wavy hair and the only cut I ever get is straight across the bottom of the hair with my hair all hanging down my back. Any other cut, like the layered one mentioned by phoB, makes it difficult to braid.
posted by mareli at 11:03 AM on August 7, 2011

When I had a bf with that hair, I'd take the ponytail nearly strait up and cut then. It layers the hair, cuts off many of the split ends, and didn't look like a womans cut put on a man.
posted by _paegan_ at 11:26 AM on August 7, 2011

I don't know if this will help or not, but I wore my hair almost waist length for many years. The best cut, seriously, is the same length all the way around. For maintenance, you can just cut the ends off, or (what I did) every 18 months or so cut it back to shoulder level and donate the cutoff to Locks of Love.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 11:52 AM on August 7, 2011

Yeah, I have long (but straight) hair, and when I go to Supercuts (or similar) every six months, they just seem to cut a straight line across the bottom, and it doesn't look weird afterward.
posted by ignignokt at 12:59 PM on August 7, 2011

Best answer: I would take a mohawk section from the forehead to the nape, comb hair straight out from the head cut a clean line from the shortest to the longest, this central swath is the haircut guide one inch wide, now starting in front, take umbrella rib sections from this guide to the hairline comb staight out from the head and cut clean line from the guide to the hairline, proceed around the head, cut from the guide to the hair line do not cut in to the guide.
or have the husband plank the table with his head over the edge of the table part the hair in the center line comb straight down cut from forelock to nape. If you don't cut enough you can do it again if you cut too much he won't need a haircut for a month or two.
posted by hortense at 1:05 PM on August 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

How wavy is wavy? How long is long? Wavy hair really does a good job of hiding any kind of subtle layers, which is good because it hides mistakes but bad because you'll end up with hair which is... maybe a little less rectangular, if you know what to look for and are standing at the right angle, but basically looks exactly the same. If you go for less subtle, then you run into problems keeping it back neatly.

I (not a guy) do the slight curve ponytail trim to get the split ends off and just put up with it being a little boxy when down. I cut my hair while dry, but I flat iron it first...cutting it while it's wavy is definitely best left to professionals.
posted by anaelith at 1:20 PM on August 7, 2011