Many men with long hair wear pony tails. No matter how ‘tame’ a man’ ponytail starts out, though, stray hair strands start to fall out of place and, eventually, it can all become annoying. As a solution to this, a lot of men braid their hair.
A common misconception about braids is that they’re uniquely feminine. Both historically (think Brave Heart) and now, there are a number of braid styles that can be sported by masculine guys with long hair. Increasingly popular among these are cornrows, dreadlocks, and micro braids.
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Cornrows are much like French braids, woven closely to the scalp. These are usually worn by African-American men (think Snoop Dogg, Allen Iverson and Sean Paul) but are gaining wider popularity. In recent years, cornrow braids have become a sort of ‘head-art’, where the braids can even be made into geometric or curving patterns. Creating cornrows, especially with complicated patterns, can take more than a few hours. But you can wear these braids for few weeks, or even months, at a time.
Micro braids are like cornrows, but they fall free from the head. They make a good hairstyle for ear to shoulder length hair, since this hairstyle puts a lot of stress on hair follicles and has potential to cause damage with longer hair.
Dreadlocks, though not entirely a braid style, work better for long hair. This hairstyle made popular by reggae artist Bob Marley, and originally donned by Jamaican Rastafarians and Indian yogis, can be created in the traditional method by letting the hair matte by delaying washing and not combing. Easy enough, if that is your thing. But if you’d rather be smelling fresh, dreads can be acquired in a salon where the process of back-combing and rolling separate strands of hair is employed. Be warned though, that the only way to get rid of dreadlocks is to cut them off. So take some time to think about getting this hairstyle, since you’ll end up with a shiny dome once you’re done with it and want to move on.
Legolas Braid: The various braids described above, often as not, are not allowed in an office setting. If you still want to wear your hair long and wear it at the office without looking too inappropriate, you could opt to have a Swiss braid. This braid, also known by the names herringbone and fishtail, was made famous by the Elf archer Legolas of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It secures all of the hair and keeps it away from the face making you look clean and presentable up front while your hair looks gorgeous behind.
So don’t fret, if you have long hair. You can style it with braids to keep it in place and be cool and look spiffy and manly at the same time.
Anastasia is a salon hair stylist in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Out of town appointments welcome.
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