The Official Hair Products Guide for Guys with Long Manes

One of the things that catches most guys off guard when growing their hair long is that they have to invest more time and effort into their growing tresses. Up to about 6 inches of hair length, men’s hair behaves and is easy to style; however, once hair grows beyond the 6-inch length mark and one officially becomes a long-haired dude, it then certainly does start getting messy, and this is where men’s hair products for long hair come into play so as to make life easy as well as sport an awesome-looking mane.

Now, regardless of your long hairstyle you will always need some hair products to help with the cleansing, grooming and styling of your long mane. Selecting a hair products can look complicated at first but it’s quite easy if you know what to go for; thus, this hair products guide that you’re reading is aimed at making things much easier for you when it comes to buying the best hair products for long hair.

If you’d rather go straight to this guide’s section on recommended hair products, then CLICK HERE.

The basics of men’s hair products

Before jumping into the specifics of hair products for men’s long hair I will first talk about how long hair products work holistically. You see, growing and maintaining a great-looking mane isn’t just about choosing a single hair-styling product; instead, you need to work out a regime of products for your long mane that need to be used concomitantly.

Right, so let’s list the 5 types of men’s hair products for long hair:

• Shampoos: using a shampoo is imperative for keeping your mane healthy and residue-free. A shampoo must be a part of your foundation when maintaining your long mane.
• Conditioners: these products (i.e. conditioners) work to moisturize and “beautify” your long hair as a whole. There are several types of conditioners too, which I will be covering later on in this guide.
• Hair-styling products: as the name implies, hair-styling products are products used to style your mane into whatever long hairstyle you desire (e.g. hair gel or men’s pomade). There’s a lot of wrong advice going on about hair-styling products for men, and this itself is part of the reason for creating this long-hair products guide.
• Hair-styling tools: these are tools used for styling your hair such as hair dryers or hair clippers.
• Hair accessories: once your hair is long enough (over 10 inches in length), you will be buying hair accessories like headbands and elastic hair bands by the bucket to help you with styling and maintaining your long mane.

As listed above, these 5 types of hair products will be your foundation for your hair. Shampoos and conditioners can be seen as hair-care products while hair-styling products can be seen as the icing on the cake to a properly-cared long mane; what this means is that, without the correct use of a shampoo and a conditioner, you will never make the most of your hair-styling products.

On top of that (no pun intended), hairstyling tools like hair dryers and hair accessories like headbands have a practical place in a long-haired man’s bathroom as these 2 latter types of products increase one’s range of long men’s hairstyles and you will be able to get any of the 27 long-hair styles that I’ve published in my linked hairstyle guide (yes, that’s 27 long hairstyles for men that are at your disposal in any given day!).

As a general rule of thumb, those hair products that work on short hair and on medium-length hair will also work for long men’s hair, so do not go and flush your current products down the drain as they will very likely work for your growing mane or already-long mane if you chose a top hair product. If you’re interested in specifically buying the best hair products for each product type above, then I strongly recommend that you study this list of best hair products for men as it’s compiled and recommended by the Internet’s top barbers and hairdressers with plenty of great advice on all types of men’s hair products. This aforementioned list of top hair product should be used in tandem with this hair products guide so as to work out which men’s hair products are best suited for your mane.

Shampoos for long men’s hair

Shampoos are hair-cleaning products that strip off any residue, dirt or excess sebum from your scalp. Since several hair-styling products leave a lot of residue on your scalp and hair strands, it goes without saying that, the more that you use hair-styling products, the more frequently that you should shampoo your hair.

For long-haired males, a shampoo frequency of once per week is a good starting point. From there, you should tweak your shampoo frequency according to how much hair-styling product your use on a weekly basis. If a frequency of once per week leaves your hair greasy, then you should amp your shampoo frequency to once every 6 days. If the latter shampoo frequency continues to leave your hair greasy or dirty-looking, then cut down another day off your frequency for a new frequency of once every 5 days. Continue to cut down or add days to your shampoo frequency until you find the ideal one.

The big problem with using shampoo for men’s hair is that all shampoos will remove your precious scalp sebum. In case that you haven’t heard of it before, scalp sebum is critical for your hair and for it to look great. Scalp sebum is secreted from your hair follicles on an on-going basis, and the sebum works to cover your hair strands and protect them from the elements. Likewise, sebum will add a natural shine to your mane that no other hair product can emulate.

Trying to make use of your scalp sebum is key to having a great-looking long mane. The trick is to extend your scalp sebum across your locks of hair so as to get them covered with this precious oil (i.e. sebum). How do you do this? On those days that you don’t shampoo, simply jump in the shower, wet your hair and softly massage your scalp and run your fingers through your locks from the scalp to the tip. This method alone will do wonders for your mane and will help tremendously in covering your long hair with sebum.

The method above of extending your sebum across your hair was pioneered by Rogelio Samson of the “Manlycurls.com” website. He has published a lot of great content on his website and books on this method and it’s one that I wholeheartedly recommend as a long-haired barber. Not just that, but he has received a lot of praise for this method (among many others that he pioneered) by the barber community, so you will be on your way to sporting a great mane by following such a sebum-extending method.

For all that matters, what I’ve written above on working out your shampoo frequency and on how to spread your sebum will work great. However, if you’re interested in learning more about these methods, then check out some of Rogelio Samson’s publications.

As far as choosing a good shampoo for long hair goes, I recommend that you choose a moisturizing shampoo or a shampoo labeled as “daily use”. Do not use a deep-cleaning shampoo or a shampoo for oily hair, as these 2 types of shampoo will do more harm than good. You may, however, use a clarifying shampoo or a chelating shampoo once a month to reset your hair’s cleanliness.

Conditioners for long men’s hair

Conditioners are hair-care products that work to protect and enhance your long mane (this is what the word “conditioner” implies). Conditioners provide a moisturizing effect that tames frizz and that optimizes the shape of long hair, whether it is long straight hair or long curly hair. Ergo, a hair-styling product like hair gel will just not give the best results on your hair if you aren’t using a hair conditioner.

Not all hair conditioners are created equal and there are, in fact, 3 types of hair conditioners available to us long-haired males:

• Rinse-out conditioners
• Leave-in conditioners
• Deep conditioners

All 3 types of conditioners listed above work to condition and moisturize your long hair, but they do differ in application and frequency of use. In essence, you should start using all 3 conditioners as soon as you should use all 3 conditioners as soon as you start growing your hair long as these 3 conditioners will take care of your growing tresses throughout the epic journey of growing your mane long.

Rinse-out conditioners

Rinse-out conditioners are to be used frequently and always following the use of a shampoo. When it comes to hair-product nomenclature, rinse-out conditioners can go by other names although the most common one is a daily conditioner. Despite the latter “daily” name, rinse-out conditioners need not be used daily, although they should certainly be used frequently if you are a male with long hair.

A good rule to follow when it comes to rinse-out conditioners is to use a rinse-out conditioner right after shampooing your hair. So you will essentially grab the conditioner and apply it to your long hair as soon as you rinse the shampoo off your hair. By following your shampoo with a conditioner, you avoid the frizz that shampoos inherently product on men’s hair and you replenish your mane’s moisture levels so that you keep your shapely mane as good-looking as it was prior to shampooing it.

To use a conditioner for men’s hair, get your fingers covered with conditioner and work your fingers through your hair in order to coat your long mane fully. This process alone can take 30 to 60 seconds, but don’t rush it. You will need more than a single squirt on your hands anyway, so use a generous amount of conditioner on your hair. Once you’ve finished coating your long hair with conditioner, give the conditioner 2 minutes to work its magic (i.e. condition) on your hair; rinse the conditioner off your hair after the 2 minutes have passed. As reference, it takes about 2 minutes to cleanse the rest of your body, so apply the conditioner on your hair and then proceed to cleanse your body; by the time that you finish cleansing your body, the conditioner will be ready to be rinsed off your hair.

Rinsing the conditioner off your hair will leave it (i.e. your hair) in an optimal hair-care state; it’s here where you can either grab a hair-styling product (or several) and style your long mane or style your hair sans hair-styling products. The rinse-out conditioner on its own provides enough styling oomph to your mane to not need any hair-styling product; this is an excellent characteristic of rinse-out conditioners as it means that you leave less residue on your scalp and hair by using hair-styling products less frequently.

Lastly, rinse-out conditioners can absolutely be used on those days that you do not shampoo. A good hair-conditioner frequency for long men’s hair is once every 3 days on top of using a conditioner on shampooing days. If you are using a rinse-out conditioner at least 3 days per week, then you’re doing good and you’ll reap the benefits of using a good rinse-out conditioner.

Leave-in conditioners

Leave-in conditioners are a type of conditioner that works just as a rinse-out conditioner, only that you do not rinse out a leave-in conditioner and you instead leave the leave-in conditioner on your hair.

Leave-in conditioners are fantastic products to style your long hair loose while adding a natural shine that rivals that achieved by your own scalp sebum. Furthermore, leave-in conditioners do not leave as much residue on your hair as hair-styling products and leave-in conditioners are easy to wash off your hair (even with water alone!).

The application of a leave-in conditioner for long men’s hair is exactly the same as that for a rinse-out conditioner; some leave in conditioners do come as sprays which make the application process of this type of conditioner a walk in the park.

If you’re using a leave-in conditioner, you may or may not use a rinse-out conditioner before the leave-in conditioner; it’s up to you, although you cannot over-condition your hair so feel free to use a rinse-out conditioner in the shower and then a leave-in conditioner to style your hair as much as you want. The only thing to bear in mind is that a leave-in conditioner has a very-low hold, so you should use a leave-in conditioner to style you hair in loose styles or to tie your hair in a man bun or top knot as well as any other up-do hairstyles (e.g. a ponytail).

Deep conditioners

Deep conditioners are a type of conditioner that provides a supercharged dose of conditioner to your hair. Deep conditioners will reset your hair’s moisture levels to the correct ones just like a chelating or clarifying shampoo will work to rest your hair’s cleanliness.

Just like rinse-out conditioners, deep conditioners need to be left on your hair for an amount of time before being rinsed out. However, a deep conditioner is to be left on your hair for at least 15 minutes all the way up to one hour depending on the product. You will find the amount of time to leave the deep conditioner on your hair in the product’s label, although most good deep conditioners require 20 to 30 minutes of being on your hair to work all their magic.

Deep conditioners don’t just differ in application time from rinse-out conditioners; deep conditioners also require a much-lower frequency of use when compared to rinse-out conditioners. A good frequency of use for deep conditioners is once per month, although you can get an even better bang for your buck by using a deep conditioner once every 2 weeks. Using a deep conditioner once per week yields marginal extra benefits as opposed to a frequency of once every 2 weeks, so the latter frequency is a good one if you want to boost your hair’s lustrous looks.

It should be said that deep conditioners work exceptionally well for damaged hair as well as for damaged hair from traction alopecia stemming from man buns as the hair is tied to tight that it breaks and pulls out of the follicles. In fact, I only recommend a once-per-week use of a deep conditioner when the hair is damaged from bleaching it or straightening it with a flat iron. Deep conditioners will restore the good looks of your damaged hair, so this type of conditioner is extremely useful if you have damaged your hair one way or the other. For such a situation, you can use a deep conditioner once per week for 8 weeks and then move to a permanent frequency of once every 2 weeks.

One more thing, hair masks and hair-restoring products are very similar to deep conditioners with regards to the results obtained with their use. Incidentally, hair masks and deep conditioners usually mean the same, only that some hair-care companies will prefer to name their hair-conditioning products as “hair masks” while other hair-care companies will prefer to name their hair-conditioning products as “deep conditioners”.

Hairstyling products for men’s long hair

Now that we’ve covered the oh-so-important products concerning hair care (i.e. shampoos and conditioners), it’s time to cover the range of men’s hair-styling products for long hair.

Hairstyling products for men’s hair serve a main purpose: to enhance and aid the styling of a male’s chosen hairstyle. Hairstyling products come in different formulations and not all are suited for long hair; this last point is so important that I’m listing below the most-suitable men’s hair products for long hair:

• Light-hold hair gel and firm-hold hair gel
• Light-hold pomade
• Hair clay
• Styling cream
• Hair mousse
• Hair spray
• Natural oils (olive oil, coconut butter, argan oil and shea butter)
• Leave-in conditioner (these products are both hair-care products and hair-styling products)

On the other hand, the following men’s hair products are not suitable for long men’s hair, either because they leave too much residue on the scalp and hair or because they create more problems than solutions when styling long hair with said products:

• Strong-hold hair gel
• Firm-hold pomade or strong-hold pomade
• Oil pomades
• Hair wax
• Hair fiber
• Pomade wax

Going back to the list above with the most-suitable hair products for long hair, it’s important to point out that these listed products work in different ways to enhance your chosen hairstyle and aid in its styling. Moreover, depending on your hair type (i.e. straight hair or curly hair), you will benefit better from one product or another.

Most men pick hair-styling products without considering their hair type and/or chosen hairstyle, which is why chaos usually ensues at home when trying to style one’s long hair with a new hair product. Worry not, however, this hair-product guide that you’re reading is here to guide you through your purchase of all products for long hair, including hairstyling products!

Light-hold hair gel

Light-hold hair gel and firm-hold hair gel are, by far, the best types of hair gel for long hair, as strong-hold hair gel will turn long hair into rock-hard sticks with no movement. When it comes to hairstyles, hair gel is best suited for hairstyles that require the hair to hang loose or be casually side part or slicked back.

Light-hold hair gel suits curly hair the best as light-hold hair gel improves the shape of the curly locks while keeping the hair sticky-free. Hair gel can too be used on straight hair without any issues, but, if shaping and casual styling with a matte effect is what you’re after, a good hair clay will work better.

Lastly, you can achieve a dry look or a wet hair look by using different amounts of water on your hair. To achieve a dry look, use a towel to dry out your hair after a shower so that it is mildly damp; then, apply the hair gel and style it as you wish while pointing a hair dryer to your hair (i.e. get your hair to dry further by using a hair dryer as you’re simultaneously styling your hair with hair gel). On the other hand, if you prefer a wet-hair look, you can achieve such a look by styling your hair with hair gel when the hair is quite damp and dripping some water. You want your hair to be dripping some water to achieve a wet hair effect with hair gel; the excess water will drip as you style your hair while the remaining dampness on your hair will be sealed by the hair gel, which is what achieves the wet hair effect.

Light-hold pomade

Light-hold pomades can be used on long hair to achieve a high-shine effect or a wet-hair effect. However, firm-hold pomades and strong-hold pomades have a tendency to grease up the hair providing too much sheen and slick, which doesn’t look too good on long hair (but it does on short hair and medium-length hair).

Light-hold pomades are best suited to hairstyles that require the hair to be parted to the side or slicked back. As with hair gel, a wet-hair look can be achieved with a light-hold pomade by leaving your hair quite damp prior to styling it with the pomade. If you want a high-shine look, then you can achieve such effect with a high-shine pomade.

If possible, always choose a water-based pomade, which is also known as a “water pomade” or “water-soluble pomade”. Try to avoid oil-based pomades (also known as “oil pomades”) for long hair as these pomades will leave your hair too oily since long hair requires a lot of product to be applied; not only that, but oil-based pomades are much more difficult to wash off your hair and the washing-off process becomes a nightmare with long hair.

Light-hold pomade suits straight hair and wavy hair the best; men with curly hair or very-curly hair (i.e. kinky curly hair) will do better with a hairstyling cream if wanting to achieve a slicked back hairstyle or side-part hairstyle.

Hair clay

Hair clay is a type of hairstyling product used to casually style the hair with a matte-hair effect. Hair-clay products are popular with short hairstyles and medium hairstyles, although they too can be used with long hairstyles for a messy look with a non-shiny effect.

Hair clay should be used on long straight hair and not on long wavy hair or long curly hair. Likewise, the best hairstyles for hair clay are those that emphasize an stylized shaggy, messy look with some hair shaping. If you like to casually slick back your long hair into a ponytail, then hair-clay products do also work very well for such casually-slicked styles.

Styling cream

Styling creams are the answers to pomades for men with long curly hair. Styling creams achieve a natural shine similar to that achieved by high-shine pomades, only that the sheen and slicked-effect achieved with styling creams is less prominent when compared to high-shine pomades. Thus, a natural high-shine look is easily achieved with a styling cream for long curly hair; by all means, men with long straight hair can too use a styling cream, but the benefits are more noticeable on curly long hair.

Styling creams have some natural hold so they’re useful for side parting or slicking back the hair. Styling creams most resemble water-based pomades, so you will not get your hair all greasy looking from using a good styling cream. Inversely, the hairstyling benefits of a good styling cream are too good to pass up the opportunity of owning a good styling cream if having curly hair (for recommended styling creams, refer to the beginning of this guide for the linked hair-product list compiled by barbers and hairdressers).

Up-do men’s hairstyles that require the hair to be tied (e.g. ponytails, man buns or man braid styles) do also benefit from using a good styling cream.

Hair mousse

Hair mousse is a type of hair-styling product that provides a dry look with a high-shine effect. Unlike pomades and styling creams which provide a high-shine effect with a slicked effect, hair-mousse products provide the aforementioned high-shine effect while keeping the hair in a dry state or close to the natural state of one’s hair. Incidentally, a wet-hair effect can be used by using hair mousse first to style one’s hair and then using small amounts of a styling cream.

To avoid the dry look of hair-mousse products, you only need to point a hair dryer to your hair as you style it with hair mousse. Both long straight hair and long curly hair benefit greatly from hair mousse, and men with long curly hair will find that their curls are shaped much better than with hair gel by using this mousse-like product.

Casual hairstyles and hairstyles that leave the hair hanging down are best suited for the use of hair mousse with long men’s hair. Lastly, hair mousse is an excellent volume-amplifying hair product, so, if you want to achieve a more-voluminous mane, then a good hair mousse is certainly the product to pick. Men with fine hair or thinning hair benefit a lot from hair mousse as they can easily achieve twice their usual volume by using a good hair-mousse product to style their hair while blowing warm air to their hair with a hairdryer.

Hair spray

Hair spray is a type of product that works as an auxiliary product for the rest of the listed hair-styling products. Hair spray is used to secure a given long hairstyle for hours on end, so first any other of the listed hair-styling products is used to create the desired style or shape of the hair and then hair spray is used to keep it all (i.e. the hairstyle) secured.

Nowadays, hair sprays can keep men’s hair secured tightly in the same place, without the hair moving a single inch, for a whole day, which means that one can use a hair spray to have peace of mind that his chosen long hairstyle remains intact and frizz free all day long. Even more so, current-day hair sprays provide this benefit while keeping the hair flexible and supple, which enhances the sprayed hairstyle; back in the 1980s, hair sprays would leave hair extremely hard, dried and award-looking, which was an indispensable trait of the 1980s’ big-hair trend!

Hair spray suits all hair types and long men’s hairstyles, so feel free to have a hair spray handy at all times if you ever want to keep your long mane looking like it was styled a few minutes ago.

Natural oils

Natural oils are both hair-styling products and hair-care products. They are specially-useful for men with curly hair and kinky-curly hair as natural oils help to seal in the hair’s moisture; both curly hair and kinky-curly hair are prone to extreme frizz and having long hair makes it worse.

To use natural oils for your long mane, you mus first ensure that your hair is very damp as this helps the oils seal in the moisture achieved by having damp hair. From there, you can style your hair loosely and your waves and curls will drop down with an enhanced curly shape.

Again, straight-haired males can too use natural oils for hair care and hair-styling but curly-haired guys benefit the most from this type of long hair product.

Some of the best natural oils for long men’s hair are argan oil, coconut butter, shea butter and extra-virgin olive oil. You should first melt the coconut butter and/or shea butter prior to using them on your hair; simply rub your palms together with either of these 2 natural butters in your palms. You can mix these oils together but always make sure that you’re using the least amount of oil possible before your long hair looks greasy; when it comes to styling your long mane with natural oils, less is certainly more!

Leave-in conditioner

As you’ve learned earlier in this guide, leave-in conditioners are great hair-care products that provide plenty of conditioning to your mane to keep it looking great as well as protected from the elements. With that said, leave-in conditioners can also be used to style one’s own long hair.

The important thing to bear in mind when it comes to styling long hair with a leave-in conditioner is that leave-in conditioners have a very-weak hold by default. This in itself isn’t something bad; it just means that a leave-in conditioner limits you to hairstyle that have your long mane hanging down or tied up into a ponytail, man-bun and many other up-do hairstyles.

If you’re learning how to braid long men’s hair, then a leave-in conditioner will also provide enough lubrication to your tresses to make the braiding process easier.

As a long-haired barber, I always recommend my barbershop clients with long hair to always have a leave-in conditioner in their hair-product arsenal (and I too recommend this to you); this is because leave-in conditioners are awesome hair-styling products to shake (your mane) and go. What I mean by this is that, once you’re out of the shower, you just take a couple of dabs from the leave-in conditioner or spray it on your hair and you’re now ready to rock the day with your long tresses looking great.

Another useful aspect of leave-in conditioners is that you can use them on dry hair so you don’t have to wet your hair again before using it (unlike most pomades and hair gels). Additionally, if you wanted to still apply the leave in conditioner on damp hair, all that you have to do is to simply wet the hair lightly with water, so you do not have to jump in the shower and wet your hair. For all that matters, leave-in conditioners are extremely-convenient men’s hair products, especially for men with long hair.

Hairstyling tools for long-haired males

Hairstyling tools are products that amplify your range of hairstyles and allow you to get creative with your long mane. While there are quite a number of hairstyling tools nowadays (mainly aimed at females), there are only a few that I highly recommend to long-haired guys:

• Hair dryer (aka “blow dryer”)
• Hair clipper
• Hair straightener (aka “flat iron”)
• Curling iron

There is a lot of confusion on how to use hairstyling tools for long men’s hair and even on what’s a hairstyling tool alone. This isn’t rocket science (or brain surgery!) and my goal with this site has always been to provide you all the relevant information for your long mane in a simplified-but-detailed manner, so here goes each of the hairstyling tools above explained further.

Hair dryer

A hair dryer, also known as a “blow dryer”, is a hairstyling tool that serves 2 main purposes: to help you to dry your long hair faster and to augment the volume of your hair. In fact, I would label hair dryers as the number-one men’s hair products to achieve extra hair volume, way more than what can be achieved with just hair mousse.

Using a hair dryer is very simple: as you’re styling your long mane, point the hair dryer towards the area of your head that you’re styling on and let the warm air blow in that area from a distance of about one foot (or 30 centimeters). The air being blown onto your head should not feel very hot or burning; it should feel like a warm breeze flowing through your hair.

You will find that most hair dryers have several heat temperatures (for the blown air) to choose from; I strongly recommend that you always choose the coldest temperature available on the hair dryer that allows you to successfully style your mane. Simply go through trial and error to find out which is the best heat temperature for your own hair; usually the curlier that one’s hair is, the hotter that the hair dryer’s temperature should be.

Because hairdryers expel warm/hot air to your hair, there’s always a chance of damaging your hair; this is specially so if you use a hair dryer daily. I personally recommend that you use a hair dryer only a couple of days per week and not on a daily basis. However, if you insist on using you hair dryer daily, then I cannot but suggest that you apply a heat tamer on your hair prior to blow-drying your hair.

A heat tamer is a liquid-like product that you simply coat you hair with, in the same manner that you’d do with a leave-in conditioner (for example); a heat tamer protects you from the damaging effect of heat on your hair and they’re cheap enough to seriously consider using it every time that you blow-dry your hair, even if you do not blow-dry your hair daily.

The best long hairstyles to style with a hair dryer are those hairstyles that leave the hair hanging down or styled up. A good hair dryer will give your hair extra gloss and (lots of) volume, which will make your long locks stand out more.

In addition to the extra gloss and volume provided by a good hair dryer, you will also be able to style your hair up for hairstyles that require the hair to stand up; do make sure, though, that you use a good hair gel or a good hair-mousse product to help with styling the hair up as well as a hair spray to lock the hair in place.

A good hair dryer should be made of tourmaline ceramic or titanium, and it should (ideally) also be ionic; this is because ionic hair dryers help to dry the hair from the inside out without overheating the outer layers of the hair strands (the later being the main reason for damaging men’s hair with hair dryers).

Another benefit of ionic hair dryers is that they help to reduce frizz, while non-ionic hair dryers actually create extra frizz. If you can afford it, go with an ionic hair dryer for the well-being of your long hair.

Hair clipper

While most men would associate hair clippers with short haircuts, hair clippers do serve a purpose for long-haired men looking to buzz the sides and back of their head. The prototypical long haircut for men is the undercut, which relies on clipping the hair very short at a same length all across the sides and back of the head.

Being a barber, I cannot emphasize how much hair clippers have been of use to me over the years. I even go as far as to recommend hair clippers to our barbershop customers for their regular haircut maintenance. Thus, it goes without saying that I too recommend a hair clipper for those of you wanting to grow your hair long or those of you who already own a long mane.

Some cool long haircuts that you can get include the man bun undercut, the top knot undercut (see picture below) or an undershave haircut. Just get creative with the hair on the sides and back of your head!

Using a hair clipper need not be limited to buzzing the sides and back of your head alone; your sideburns will certainly benefit from using a hair clipper on them as the hair strands on the sideburns tend to retain the shape of facial hair, which is a type of hair-strand shape that is wiry and curlier than the hair on the top of you head. For this reason alone, owning a hair clipper with long hair is a great idea.

As far as which hair clipper is the best, any clippers fom Andis or Oster will get the job done superbly. Our range of hair clippers at our barbershop are from both of these brands and Andis makes some excellent cordless hair clippers, which is a feat on its own. You can see these hair clippers in the list of men’s hair products that I linked to earlier in this guide. Their recommend hair clippers, including the best Andis cordless hair clippers, are worth every cent. If money is an issue, then anything by Wahl or Panasonic will work really well.

Hair straightener

Hair straighteners, also known as flat irons, work by heating the hair so as to temporarily re-arrange the structure of the hair strands. The hair is immediately flattened and straightened, which is something that many curly-haired males and females are interested in.

Since hair straighteners are heat-styling tools, the same warnings apply to them as with hair dryers. Always aim for the lowest temperature setting that gives you the desired hair-straightening result; too high (the temperature) and your chances of damaging your hair permanently increase vastly.

Make sure that you use heat tamer on your hair (to be applied to the hair prior to using the flat iron) as heat tamers are great products to reduce any heat damage on your long hair.

Do not be afraid of buying hair straighteners that are aimed at women in their marketing. Women’s hair and men’s hair is practically the same, and hair straighteners work just as well on women’s hair as they do on men’s hair.

When buying a hair straightener, you want it to be made of tourmaline ceramic (at least), although titanium is even better. Moreover, the hair straightener should be long enough to accommodate enough hair to straighten in a single go.

Lastly, be aware that your hair will return to its normal shape (i.e. non-straightened) as soon as it is wetted, hence the hair-straightening effect of flat irons is temporary.

Curling iron

Curling irons provide the opposite result of hair straighteners: curling irons will curl your hair into all kinds of curvy shapes with different diameters.

Curling irons are, by far, most popular with women, but, if you have straight hair or your wavy hair isn’t very shaped, you can always use a curling iron to get some very-well shaped curls and volume. The same low heat and heat tamer warnings of flat irons apply to curling irons as curling irons are heat-styling tools too; the hair-curling effect of curling irons is also temporary and will be lost upon wetting your long mane.

Some of the characteristics of a good curling iron for long men’s hair are being made of ceramic and being tourmaline irons with at least one inch in diameter.

Hair accessories for guys with long hair

If you already own a long mane, you will very likely be aware of the convenience of owning elastic hair bands and headbands. For those of you growing your mane long, you will experience the benefits of hair accessories as soon as your hair starts to hang down, which is usually at the 6-inch length mark for straight hair and 10-inch mark for curly hair.

These are the hair accessories available to long-haired men that provide the most benefit and usefulness:

• Elastic hair bands
• Headbands
• Bobby pins
• Bandanas
• Dorags

Let’s now go through each hair accessory for men with long hair.

Elastic hair bands

As you probably can tell by the name, elastic hair bands are elastic bands used when putting one’s long hair into a tied style; such tied styles can be ponytails, buns, knots, braids and all kinds of up-do hairstyles.

The most important thing when buying elastic hair bands is to ensure that the hair bands do not have metal parts on them as the metal will serve as a hooks for hair to catch on, which means that you will risk damaging your hair when you remove the hair band. There are plenty of options for metal-free elastic hair bands and they are very cheap too. There also also some elastic hair bands that have some extra fluffy padding; these hair bands are called scrunchies and can also be sued by long-haired guys so long as the fluffy padding isn’t too tacky.

Headbands

Headbands are elastic bands that are placed around the top of the head to pull the hair back. Thus, headbands are extremely useful for men with long hair who want to keep their face free of hair but do not want to tie their hair. Male with hair between 4 to 10 inches benefit from headbands the most, as these hair lengths are still not long enough to have all the hair on the head tied back into any up-do long hairstyle.

Headbands should be metal-free as with hair bands and they should be made of cotton or some textile mesh; never buy headbands that have metal parts on them! The only exception to this rule is the use of Alice bands.

Alice bands are metallic headbands (they’re sometimes plastic instead of metal) that give a sturdier hold to one’s long hair; thus, Alice bands have become popular hair accessories for famous long-haired sportsmen like David Beckham, Roger Federer and Gareth Bale. Alice headbands are very cheap too and they will not damage your hair as the hair doesn’t hook on the surface of this type of men’s headband.

Here’s how a set of Alice headbands for long men’s hair look like:

All in all, I recommend that you own several headbands as they are easy to lose (the same happens with elastic hair bands!) and they are very cheap. They come in all colors and sizes, so you will have no issues finding headbands, including Alice bands, that you fancy.

Bobby pins

Hair pins, also known as hairpins or Bobby hair pins, are hair accessories that serve to clamp hair together so as to secure it in one place. Bobby pins are thin so they are hardly visible at first glace, hence they’re very popular with women’s long hairstyles.

Bobby pins are very cheap and easy to use: you just clip them on the hair that you want to secure in place on your head. You can use multiple Bobby pins on you head to secure your long hairstyle, especially if you long hairstyle is one that requires the hair to stand up day-long. Bobby pins are inconspicuous in dark hair and are not very visible in blonde hair, so feel free to buy a few dozen of Bobby pins to keep handy for any future long hairstyles of yours.

Bandanas

Bandanas are textile products similar to handkerchiefs that are used around the head to pull the hair back or as a fashion statement. They’re most popular with bikers, but any long-haired male can use a bandana; a famous sportsmen known for his widespread use of bandanas is Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal.

Dorags

Dorags (also known as “doo rags” or “skull caps”) are textile caps that are placed on the head to primarily protect the hair from the elements. Ergo, dorags are great hair accessories for men with long hair when they’re growing their hair long and have yet to reach their desired final length.

Dorags are popular among African-American males with short hair as dorags serve to protect their shape short haircuts like the Caesar haircut or the 360 waves hairstyle.

Dorags can also be used as sleeping caps to protect your hair from friction damage stemming from your head’s rolling on the pillow as you sleep. Dorags are cheap too, so you can always have a couple at home ready to be used to protect your growing mane anytime.

Recommended hair products for long hair

Below you’ll find listed the actual products that we recommend per product type as detailed in our guide. Simply click on each product link to go to its recommended branded product.

Shampoos

• Regular shampoo (for your daily/frequent shampooing.
• Clarifying shampoo (if your hair starts to get greasy, use this one once every two to four weeks)
• Chelating shampoo (if you regularly go to the beach or swimming pool, then use this shampoo once per month too)

Conditioners

• Rinse-out conditioner (coat your hair with it after shampooing your hair, leave for a minute or two, and then rinse it out)
• Leave-in conditioner (if you want to rock your long mane with a natural feel and look, get this leave-in conditioner and use it as a styling product; do not rinse it out)
• Deep conditioner (use this one every two to four weeks to improve the aesthetics of your mane)

Hairstyling products

Use as described in this guide. Highly recommend that you own at least three of any of these hairstyling products at any given time:

• Light-hold hair gel
• Firm-hold hair gel
• Pomade (one of the few pomades that works for long men’s hair as it doesn’t have a strong hold)
• Hair clay
• Styling cream
• Hair mousse
• Hair spray
• Raw coconut butter (can also be used for cooking, so get at least two jars!)
• Raw shea butter
• Leave-in conditioner (get the recommended one under conditioners above)

Hairstyling tools

The following hairstyling tools are among the best that money can buy. They ain’t cheap, but they’re top-end tools that will do their job most excellently as opposed to the cheaper trash that has flooded the marketplace. Even if your budget is limited, try to get any of these recommended tools if you’re serious about owning products that will, most likely, outlive your own hair! I own all these hairstyling tools as a long-haired dude and I can attest to their superb performance.

• Hair dryer
• Hair clipper (one of the best hair clippers all along. It will last you a lifetime so it’s very much worth its price. An excellent purchase if you like cutting your own hair)
• Hair straightener
• Curling iron
• Heat tamer spray (coat your hair with this prior to using a hair straightener or curling iron)

Hair accessories

Buy as many of these as possible in one go since you’re bound to lose a few every once in a while; it’s a long-hair thing, trust me!

• Hair bands
• Headbands
• Thicker headbands
• Bobby pins
• Bandanas
• Dorags

One more thing: we strongly recommend that you purchase “The Men’s Hair Book” by Rogelio Samson (see it in this link). This book will make your life as a long-haired male a lot easier since the book covers everything and anything on men’s hair (be it long or not so long).

Conclusion to our long hair products guide

From shampoos to hair-styling products to hair accessories, long-haired guys have a huge range of men’s hair products that are at their disposal any time they want. I cannot but strongly recommend that you own at least one product of each type of product in this guide as doing so will benefit you so much that you will be left wondering why didn’t you get these products earlier in your hair-growing journey.

As a barber, I’m amazed at the hair-product misinformation that has spread like wildfire over the last decade. What’s even worse is that men have been brainwashed to believe that a particular hair-styling product will solve all their “hair problems”, when nothing could be further from the truth. If you want to sport a handsome head-turning long mane, you must take your hair care seriously and invest in a good shampoo, conditioner and in good hair-styling products (and not just the latest popular product). Likewise, by using hair-styling tools and hair accessories as outlines in this guide, you will find yourself enjoying your long mane to its maximum potential, and you will never look back to your short-haired days; I guarantee you that!

As a final point to this guide, while this long hair products guide that I’ve published is the most extensive and detailed guide on the internet, I absolutely welcome any questions that you may on hair products for long-haired men; simply post them below in the commenting section and I will do my best to answer any questions that you may have.

Oh, and don’t forget to share this guide around so that more and more dudes join our long-hair brotherhood!

Guide last updated: 23rd July 2020