It looks like Summer is here and with that we start to think about certain things, mainly to do with our appearance, I need to lose a few pounds, where’s that gym membership ? And of course, I need a haircut. As always, we like to look after our readers and so we sort the advice from some of the leading hair care experts in the entire Goddamn world. We sort counsel with Mr Kevin Luchmun, TONI&GUY British Mens Hairdresser of the Year 2013/2014, Jordan Thomas, top stylist at London’s leading hair Salon, Soho’s FISH and of course the Award-winning, Jamie Stevens, who has styled the likes of Olly Murs, Christian Slatter and Kylie Minogue, to name but a few. Ohhh who just happens to be defending his title as British Hairdresser of the Year for the third time !
As Jamie puts it, “Whilst women’s hair trends tend to chop and change from one season to the next, men’s hair trends usually evolve at a more subtle pace with a natural progression from the previous season’s look to the current, which is great as it makes trends accessible for all.”
His first key trend for the season is called The Man’s Bang. Whilst last season was all about hair swept back off the face, this season sees it brought forward into a fringe with a 90’s inspired feel, seen on celebrities such as Jake Bugg and on the catwalk at Christopher Kane, Burberry, Topman and Phillip Lim. Great for disguising a receding hairline or a bad face day, the fringe is versatile as it can work on a more extreme level, keeping it short on the back and sides or it can be worn with more length on the sides for a contemporary Beatles inspired cut. Wear with texture as opposed to keeping it too neat, from natural curls to choppy texture created with cutting and styling techniques on straighter hair. Blast dry hair forward and use a matte clay to achieve a messy, unstructured look, such as Matrix Design Pulse Beach Clay. 
Next up, we back the, Slick Back, The biggest look last year was undoubtedly the slick side parted look. Still proving popular into 2014, evolve this look with a defined undercut and wear grown-out length straight back for a classic 20’s inspired look as seen on the likes of actor Michael Pitt. If you’re more clean-cut than disheveled, this is a great look for you. Keep the look sleek and straight on finer hair to wearing it with more texture and height through the top on medium to thicker hair. For those of you avoiding the severe undercut opt for some length on the back and sides to add a softer finish, a bit like Leonardo Di Caprio in the Wolf of Wall Street. For more of a wet look slick finish opt for a gel such as Matrix Design Pulse Defining Edge to help achieve a distinctive slick lookk, using a bristle brush to finish. For a softer version opt for a wax to manipulate the hair into place – a little. Kevin agrees with Jamie and believes, “This SS14 it is all about a return to vintage. Whether it be deep side parted looks reminiscent of the 1920s, as seen at E.Tautz at London Collections: Men, or 1990s grunge style with wet-look locks, a la Baartmans & Siegel SS14 show, hair with a history is key! Products play an important role in creating these styles with gels taking centre stage for wet-look hold whilst pastes are great for moulding tousled textures with a Great Gatsby finish! Try label.m’s Extra Strong Gel for that Kurt Cobain grunge feel whilst label.m’s Power Paste is perfect for the tailored 1920s look.”
Last up we have one for the more adventurous of your readers out there. The Man Bun is set to be THE style of Summer 2014, says Jordan Thomas. Jordan gives his top tips on how to achieve the effortlessly cool style of Jared Leto:
• Make sure hair is completely clean with Sportfish Hair, Face and Body Wash • Work a pea-sized amount of AquaFish Fishgum through the ends of hair to give texture and choppiness
• Pull hair back into a low bun and secure with a hair band
• Sort out those flyaways by smoothing hair with an extra blob of AquaFish Fishgum SportFish Hair, Face and Body Wash.
Jamie’s backs Jordan on this look saying, What started out as a practical way to keep grown-out longer hair off the face has developed into a hipster hair trend, with stars such as Jake Gyllenhaal, David Beckham and Harry Styles rocking the style to Joaquin Phoenix, Alex Ebert and Jared Leto making it into an acceptable red carpet look. If you’ve been working the longer hair look the Man Bun or ‘Mun’ as its been coined is a great way to bring you into S/S’14. Whether it’s worn higher or lower on the crown, slicked back wet or dry, keep the ends hanging loose to avoid it looking too much like a classic women’s ballerina bun, whilst facial hair keeps it looking the right side of masculine. Sprinkle a texturising powder when styling to avoid the hair looking too clean or styled, such as Matrix Design Pulse Mega Dust and go with a little light gel wax to manipulate the hair back and hold it in place.
