‘It looks like a wig’: Where men go wrong with hair dye

The first rule of men dyeing their hair: do not talk about dyeing your hair. It’s not Fight Club, this is Dye Club, where no man wants to be recognised in the street as a member.

While actresses Andie MacDowell, Helen Mirren and Sarah Jessica Parker have loudly championed the choice of women to dye, or not to dye their hair, there’s relative silence from men.

“We only really look at men’s hair colour through a well-considered lens,” says British hair whisperer and colourist Josh Wood. “It’s when men get it wrong that we build up an image bank of what men’s colour is.”

Hair colourist Josh Wood, who has worked with Mick Jagger, David Bowie and David Beckham and whose products are now stocked at Mecca.

That image bank contains images of celebrities, such as Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, George Clooney in the Broadway play Goodnight and Good Luck and even Rupert Murdoch. Alongside his work with Elle Macpherson, Kylie Minogue and Victoria Beckham, Wood is helping men take a positive approach to hair colour.

Wood has offered his colouring services to the likes of David Beckham, Mick Jagger and the late David Bowie, who decided that they still wanted to have fun as blondes or brunettes. This month, he opened his first Australian salon in the Mecca Flagship in Melbourne and launched his product range through the store nationally.

“Colouring men’s hair is the same as colouring women’s hair,” Wood says. “The fabric of hair isn’t gendered. I think, socially, men are judged more critically.”

How men can dye the grey away

Wood prefers a stealth approach to hair colour in dealing with stray greys, where the colour is undetectable.

“The number of men you see with bad hair colour is much less than the number of men you see with colour, but you wouldn’t know,” Wood says.

It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, like Tom Jones, who changed from asphalt black to silver overnight in 2010.

“To each his own,” Jones told Radio Times magazine. “It’s not for me to tell others what to do. But you can’t get to a certain age and have black hair. If some can, bless ’em.”

Tom Jones reached a point where he decided to embrace the grey.

If your hair is turning grey, Wood prefers to integrate rather than obliterate the signs of silver by adding complementary shades.

“When you block out the grey completely, especially when you’re going brunette or dark brown, it’s a dead giveaway. It looks like a wig. Weaving in grey, that looks like a contemporary blend, I think that’s quite all right.”

Where men go wrong with hair dye

Along with an overzealous approach to removing grey, many men are not prepared for the maintenance that comes with hair colour.

While more men are increasingly aware of skincare routines, some do not understand that a haircare routine is also required.

“Maintenance is vital,” Wood says. “It’s not the sort of thing where you can just say that two or three months down the line you’ll have another go at it.”

Along with regrowth, maintenance can counter the effects of overexposure to UV radiation, which can make it clear that you’ve recently turned to the bottle.

“This is particularly the case for men who slosh on dark brown. It makes the hair look finer and oxidises or washes out and can go orange, khaki or rusty coloured when there is more UV.”

Embrace colour

While visiting Sydney, Wood has noticed a younger generation who want to have their hair colour noticed. Dramatically bleached hair or coloured rinses, such as dove greys or violets, are gaining in popularity.

“This was once only accessible for men in a creative discipline, but we are seeing a lot of it in London too, where it’s becoming unlocked for everybody. Colours can be very expressive.”

In 2021, Wood helped David Beckham bleach his hair blond to match his son Romeo’s cropped look.

“It was a moment, and it really looked good.”

David Beckham in 2021.

Today, he is seeing more men choose noticeable blonde highlights that were popular with boy bands in the 1990s.

“I don’t think you have to be creative to wear that.”

Embrace the grey

With 30 years of colouring experience and the best tools of the trade at his disposal, Wood is letting the dove grey rinses and frosted highlights pass him by, preferring to let his hair be naturally grey. Of course, that’s natural with some assistance.

“I use an Icy [Blonde] Gloss which helps make your grey sparkle even more. I’m a great believer in taking what you’ve got and making it more contemporary,” Wood says.

“It’s all part of the idea that hair colour for men, like beauty or investing in your appearance, is acceptable for men. It’s OK to feel good. Just make sure that you look good.”

Make the most of your health, relationships, fitness and nutrition with our Live Well newsletter. Get it in your inbox every Monday