Men look younger after a haircut

 

“Give yourself extra opportunities when they are free of charge.” 

 

When he can no longer say he is in his twenties, and sometimes even before this should he choose or see necessity, by and large it is in a man’s benefit to look younger than what his birth certificate proves.  This strategy should only become even more important as he reaches older decade ranges.

It will be incredibly rare for a man to not look younger once he has visited the Barbour’s and had a short back and sides so to speak.  It would be rarer still for him to ever look older post trim.

Caveat to above:                                                                                                                     This is only applicable to a haircut transitioned from a medium length, long length, or already short hairstyle - into a sharper cut.  A lot of men may, and often do, actually look older when they go from a stylish short cut to a shaven look.

A good example of how a shaven look can make a man look older is shown below:

My process of this plan of action

A big mistake when I look back, but for about eighteen months during my mid-twenties I opted for a longer style.  I am not talking down my back or anything, but it was long enough to put behind my ears and cover the top part of my spine.  In retrospect, I regret it immensely. 

Not a day too soon, I went for a much shorter and style (something between a Quiff and French crop look).  With discrete changes along the way, I have kept this style as of today.  This previous post will give a refresher to the subject of various men’s hairstyles.

I went out that night after having it cut, and as soon as my friend saw me, he commented on how I looked younger.  Another mate that night stated I looked much better.  When I went to work on the Monday, colleagues said I looked at least five years younger in comparison to the longer look (granted, the longer look probably made me look a couple of years older than what I should have done).

An assuming memory

When I joined a company in 2015, there was a Managing Director there who was only a couple of years older than me.  As an amalgamation of him who had clearly aged badly, compared to me looking much younger, he looked fifteen years my senior.

I could tell he did not like me from the moment he set eyes on me (he did not interview me, nor was he the decision maker in appointing me).  It did not take me long to comprehend why this was there and then, and why it was transparent he would never warm to me.  I could have been the best sales contributor his company had ever known, but this would not have compensated for his personal disliking, or more appropriate jealousy, towards me.  Simply put, he was a want to be Ladies Man, which was the catalyst to him not being amiable to my existence.

Less than a year after I joined, a Health and Safety Manager (Michael) joined the business.  It was obvious from day one that he attained an agenda to climb up the hierarchy ladder on a fast track basis, and he did just that by the means of working long (even if unproductive) hours, in conjunction to brown nosing the Managing Director.

Michael was another one who exhibited a lack of affinity towards me.  Despite being married with two young children, he also came across early on as someone who liked to attract the ladies.

Q-tip 1:                                                                                                                                      Do not be confused in thinking that when all men get married and have kids, they subsequently lose the urge to attract other women.  When men realize the mistake they made in settling down, or they no longer are attracted to their wife/female partner, they often try to attract other women even more than when they were single.

With the coward of a Managing Director often loading bullets for Michael to try and wind me up, I will never forget one Monday morning when arguably the hottest woman in the company said how nice my hair looked after a weekend trim.  I could see in the corner of my eye Michael looking over in envy.

The next time I had my haircut (usually every five weeks), when Michael saw it, he shouted out:                                                                                                                                       “Have you had your haircut again!?”                                                                                      The penny did not totally drop there and then, but it did not take me long to understand that he and the Managing Director did not take kindly to when I had a haircut.  Simply put, they did not like me looking both more attractive and younger.

As a side note to the above, but equally as relevant with regards to the two men’s antagonism, I also think they did not like the fact that a front quiff and cropped up style gave me a couple of inches in visual (as opposed to actual) height.  I am barely six foot tall, but by the time my hair and shoe heels/trainers are accounted for, most people would interpret me as at least 6ft 2”.

What about women’s emotions towards men having a haircut?

In truth, this all goes in consistence to what I have always documented and stood by.  Generally speaking, and all else being equal, this is what you will expect:

·       If a man is good looking (and even more applicable if he is exceptionally good looking), more people than not (men and women alike) will be acrimonious towards him when he has a haircut.

·       If a man is average to above average looking, other men will be oblivious to this, and nearly all women will be warmer towards him.

·       If a man is below average looking, a haircut is an irrelevance.

·       The hotter the woman, the more tolerable (and sometimes warmer) she will be towards a good looking man post his haircut.

·       All else being equal, younger women (or more to the point, women who look considerably younger than said man) will be more attracted towards a man after his haircut – and hence, him looking younger.

·       All else being equal, women older/women who look older than said man (but women who are attracted to him or/and find him attainable) will feel a more negative feeling inside when she sees him with a fresh haircut – and hence, him looking younger.

A final chuckle…

I had a former female hairdresser who tended to be a little too scissor happy for my liking.  Whilst I wanted it kept short (especially at the back and sides), I did not ask for too much off the top.  No matter how many times I politely reminded her of this before she started, she just could not resist taking off a bit more than I desired.  She even once joked about how she just gets carried away when she starts.  She still did a good job, so I just laughed it off knowing that in a week’s time it would look how I wanted it to anyway.

For a six month period when this hairdresser looked after me, I had an ex-girlfriend who was a bit younger than me, but who looked about the same age or even a bit older.  Oblivious to the reasons at the time, when I had a haircut and she saw me later that day, she got an immediate mood on.

I will always remember one day when I told her I was having a trim later that morning.  My ex firmly told me to instruct the hairdresser to take hardly anything off the top.  As always, the hairdresser just did her usual and took off a centimetre too much.

When my ex set eyes on it later that evening, she claimed that my hairdresser did this to piss her off.  The two of them had never met!  At the time I just thought that, like my opinion, I looked a bit less attractive when it was too short.  In hindsight, it was because it made me look even younger than her.

A decisive point – inverse situation for women

It is important to clarify that all the above explanations are only applicable to men.  As much as most weak men will not admit this, what I am about to write is the truth and only what these men are thinking.  As someone who has gone through rigorous chemotherapy treatment and lost his hair, please be aware that this point is aimed at choice, and not necessity.

In essence, when women have a pronounced amount of hair taken off, there is no hiding from the fact that they look both less physically attractive, and older.  I understand there comes a time, due to age, hair texture etc, where some women are left with little option but to take number of inches off the length, but the truth is the truth, and the reality is the reality.

Q-tip 2:                                                                                                                                 There will be only isolated men who, when they hear the words that their female partner is a having a god deal of length taken off, will be sincerely happy.  The only men who may be cheerful in some way (not to be confused with being more attracted to her, which he will not be), will be men who are boxing above their weights in being with much more physically attractive women in gender relative terms.  He will know she will now attract fewer men.

Q-tip 3:                                                                                                                            Choosing to have a significant reduction in hair length will be one of the biggest decisions a woman makes in her life.  Deep down, even she cannot deny that this decision, should she go through with it, will reduce the number of male suitors projected onto her.