Should You Use Men’s Hair Products?
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Borrowing from the boys isn’t a new concept in fashion, but when it comes to beauty, we’ve always been a little hesitant. But really, isn’t that a little silly? Perhaps we women should be using men’s hair products. We wondered if they were the ultimate secret to a good hair day…and here we are, passing them by because they’re labeled specifically with a dude in mind. So to answer this question once and for all, we went to a few pros to get a full and total breakdown on the differences, if any, between men and women’s haircare products—and exactly which you should be stealing from the men in your life.
Turns out, there are a few types of men’s hair care products that can do wonders for your own routine… and you might want to consider adding them to your daily lineup. According to Vaughn, celebrity groomer and founder of V76 by Vaughn, one of the main draws to using men’s hair care products is holding power.
“Generally, men’s hair products are formulated differently in a sense that they deal primarily with hold,” he told us. “You don’t see a lot of root-lifting or volumizing products for men. You also don’t see a lot of women’s products that are pomades or waxes—those products are generally for men.”
Waxes and pomades, specifically, are known for their strength and texturizing properties. In fact, Vaughn suggests grabbing a men’s pomade or wax if you wanted something rather texturizing or for creating a piecey style.
Tippi Shorter, Aveda‘s Global Artistic Director for Textured Hair, even told us that some of her favorite pomades happen to be from the Aveda’s Men Hair Line just because she loves how firm they are when smoothing over hairstyles.
Judy McGuiness, a senior stylist at mizu salon in New York City, also vouched for men’s texture pastes for their strength and texturizing abilities. “I definitely use men’s products interchangeably,” she tells us. “The ones I use most often are texture pastes, mainly to give a bit of volume and messiness to longer hair, or to put around the hairline to tame fly-aways.”
Shampoos can also be a great product to sneak from your man. “Men’s shampoos can often be more cleansing and promote scalp health because of men’s scalp issues—like my V76 Energizing Shampoo ($19, v76.com), it wakes up the scalp,” Vaughn says.
More noticeably, the fragrance of men’s products can actually make for a major win. They tend to hold stronger notes—those you’d typically pick up in men’s colognes. But that in and of itself may be a reason to pick up a men’s product.
But you’re definitely going to want to stick to women’s conditioners. These are generally formulated to provide intense hydration to hair away from the scalp and Vaughn notes that men don’t normally even use it.
But it’s not just women reaping the benefits of this product swap; men can also benefit from borrowing women’s hair products. Vaughn says that since men’s products aren’t formulated for volume, a root lift spray may work for a man who wants a little more body to his hair.
The takeaway? Why not experiment? You might just find your new favorite product in the process.
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