As for McCartney, actually he is a great example of hair variation. I went deep into the internet files of his hair colouring permutations. Obviously, as an all-time icon who influenced major style trends in his heyday, McCartney is given a life-long hall pass. Macca tried to keep his hair Beatle brown but by the time he was in his 60s his famous locks had changed colour for the worse, several times, from red, to blond, to a questionable auburn (there were even rumours when he was married to Heather Mills that he dyed his hair himself at home). Circa 2018, he finally gave up the dark haired identity. He’s now the poster perfect exemplar of a guy in his 70s who has embraced his grey. It is clear, however, that in examining the many Daily Mail stories monitoring his hair that he has had some depth added in over time: Sometimes the hair is a full shock of white, other times it is deftly daubed with slightly darker undertones. This, kids, is how it should be. Adding depth is the goal.
I feel for men. We women get to keep our “natural” colouring for much longer, should we choose to, and men have fewer options. I spoke with Aaron O’Bryan, Toronto celebrity hairstylist who’s a regular on Breakfast Television. He owns The Cellar Salon in Toronto’s east end and is an expert on addressing balding issues, as well as greying; he had loads to say on this subject.
“Men stealth dye their hair because they’re very wary about anything when it comes to hair colouring.” By stealth dye, O’Bryan means they add a few highlights or lowlights over time, letting some strategic grey show through. Grey is a personal choice, he says. But men, with gay men leading the way, are getting more comfortable with trends like adding in new colours, highlights or closer-cropped styles to minimize greys. O’Bryan suggests starting off with a semi-permanent colour. “It’s less obvious. Permanent colour can look like a wig,” he says. Semi-permanent won’t give full grey coverage, which is what you want. After all, our entire society is behind men with “distinguished” greying temples. “The temples act like a highlight,” explains O’Bryan. You can develop depth and the illusion of thicker hair with tone-on-tone colour, he says, “which grows out really well with no demarcation line.”
This approach is likely what celebrities in front of the camera use, and yes, it requires maintenance. The catch with semi-permanent colour is that it fades, so you can buy some time between salon visits by doing lowlights. “Add in a few darker pieces,” says O’Bryan. “You only need to get it done every now and again. It creates dimension.”
Movie stars get their hair done for every movie role, and for every red carpet (and coffee run) appearance. Thus we really can’t tell whether Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt actually has any grey hair – but basic math would suggest that now that they’re both in their 60s, they probably do. Pitt has certainly shown a fondness for blond highlights throughout his career. The point is, we can all learn from this. Hair is adjustable. You can take, for instance, Pitt’s blond locks and add in a subtle dark blond wash that will slowly fade into – you guessed it, blond. Cruise can get innumerable micro-adjustments to his signature chestnut brown hair on set and off. The main point is that men need to start thinking of hair colouring as part of regular maintenance, the same way women do. And that includes the mostly grey: Emphatically, everyone’s hair can benefit from tempering or toning or highlighting or low-lighting.
“Most men look distinguished with grey,” says O’Bryan. “Me, I’m not going there. I’m 42 and I have a ton of grey and I fully colour my ‘brown’ hair every three weeks. It is all about your personal preference. But it is also all about how grey looks with your skin tone.”
I agree with O’Bryan. Grey hair washes me out. I love the look on other people. I admire the chutzpah and defiance and celebration of aging. But you have to look at your colouring, and figure out what suits you best, and men are exactly the same. Olive skin tones look great with grey. Contrast with darker skin tones can be beautiful. Lighter skin tones are trickier: Making sure to avoid yellowy grey hair, says O’Bryan, is the most important thing to consider.
A good hairdresser can help a man transition the grey over time. Letting a little bit more come through when they are ready to welcome it. If you are fully white, perk it up with warm-toned lowlights; it takes the edge off. Think of Anderson Cooper, who went grey in his 20s. His grey hair is white, but it has been honed by professionals to keep it looking sparkling. Also,” O’Bryan adds, “you have to tone the grey, or it goes yellow. Natural white hair in an environment with a lot of pollutants makes the hair look quite dirty.” Toning is best done at the salon, as your stylist can filter in the exact amount of gradation your grey needs. If you do try at-home treatments, O’Bryan says Just For Men isn’t so bad. “Only put it on the grey areas, though,” he warns, to avoid those tell-tale demarcation lines.
For quick fixes there are better one-day products than what Giuliani apparently used. Take L’Oréal Root Cover Up. It doesn’t run. Or try a makeup wand – Clairol has a Root Touch Up Temporary Hair Colour Gel – that can add a bit of coverage and lasts for 10 washes.
Keeping your hair on the salt-and-pepper side of grey can be advantageous at work. “I have clients in their 60s who still want to be more vital, more youthful, in the office,” says O’Bryan. “Men feel there is more competition these days. A little bit of grey is a positive, you look distinguished, experienced, like George Clooney. You don’t want to be too grey, though. It can make you look tired, and drab.”
No one wants to look drab: If a man wants to take a cue from us women and feel better about himself through science and hair artistry, I say more power to him. But maybe start low (lights) and go slow!
Always asking questions,
—Leanne Delap
