Friday Hair Day vol. 3: Wilber Pan

Yup I already know this was suppose to be last Friday's post but I was super busy and didn't want to skip a Friday's post. Wilber Pan is an American-born Taiwanese singer and actor. He was born in West Virginia, United States but then moved to Taiwan at the age of seven. You may recognize him from the Taiwanese drama Miss No Good, the song Bu de bu ai, and other music videos and commercials. Okay enough about his background, let's get to his hair!

The above image is a great representation of the heavy textured and "piecey" look that I love. It's very simple looking with the sides short and close but with the top just long enough to achieve short side swept bangs and enough "play" to give a textured look. The style also doesn't make his head look overly round, instead it promotes his jawline.

What to tell your stylist:
1.) You want short side swept bangs, so leave the front long
2.) Keep the sides very close near the ear but gradually lengthen it but keeping a very straight shape
3.) Clean up your side burns and temple area
4.) The top will need to able to hold a lot of texture that falls forward, thinning shears may help in this case but a skilled stylist may simply use "point cut"

How I would style it:
1.) Before styling I have found that wearing a beanie after your hair dries from a wash really keeps the hair close to the scalp (more on this later) and not washing the hair for at least two days will help in achieving the side swept bangs
2.) Get your product and try to evenly go "around the world"
3.) Push the sides in towards the front very firmly, you can also piece out the sides after they look alright
4.) For the top get some more product using both hands go in and deeply go in opposite directions one hand at a time
5.) Piece up the op while also pulling it forward and towards the scalp
6.) The side swept bangs should be easy to do with your fingers acting like a comb
7.) Piecing it out is key to the top and depending on how many days you haven't washed your hair it maybe easy or too puffy

Some more photos for reference and enjoyment. Take care!

 

Product Review: Shu Uemura Art of Hair Sculpting Putty

Shu Uemura's Art of Hair Sculpting Putty was the first styling product that I bought that was that was not gel. First time I used this stuff I had no idea how to use it since I was so accustomed to the way gel works. This product has a very mild smell and great texture. It's really easy to emulsify and apply to the hair and did not make my hair feel oily. But what was lacking from the product was the hold strength and how it would flake if left in the hair after a day or two.

I was really dissappointed because this is from a Japanese company and I thought they would formulate something in the minds of Asian type hair. Although it was easy to apply, I found myself looking at the mirror after 30 min. only to find that my hair had went back to it's original dull style. It seemed like it didn't matter how much product I used, it just couldn't hold. Another thing that I was dissapointed with was how it caused flakes, but not like the ones from gel. The flakes were much finer but still noticeable, sometimes adding water to try and "recharge" it solved it but then it wouldn't help much to hold the style.

Overall, I think this product is mainly geared towards much finer hair and styles that don't involve deep texture and strong hold.

Pros:

• Smell was mild and decent
• Easy to apply and emulsify
• Didn't make hair feel or look oily

Cons:

• Can't hold a style for very long
• Flakes occured after a day or two 

Have you tried this product before? Let me know what you thought of it.

Friday Hair Day vol. 2: John Cho

You may recognize this Korean American male from shows and films such as Harold & Kumar, Off Centre, Star Trek, American Pie, and many others. John Cho is not only a great actor, he also has great hair styles. I've been checking out his hair styles for awhile now and am currently aiming for his style.

The above image is my goal/current look I have. I simply love the look because of the texture on the top and keeping the back and sides short. Although my hair on the sides don't stick the scalp like the image, I have to keep it on the short side and push down the hair with product.  

This was my approach to achieving the look and what I told my stylist: 
1.) Cut the sides (left and right only) short but not too short that it looks like it was done by clippers
2.) Cut the lower back area closer than the above half of the head, this is sorta hard to explain but basically by doing this you add body and a more defined shape for the back. You can see from the picture that the back looks like a 45 degree angle cut but I tried this and my hair is too poofy and looked round so had to had the shape by hand.
3.) The top I kept the farther half much shorter than the front half, by doing this I could achieve that tidal wave look on the top (think of how a wooden sled looks on the side). If I kept the top at equal lengths all around it would be too hard to push down the back and keep the front up with product.

How I style it with product:
1.) Get a good amount of product and even it out on both hands
2.) I like to go "around the world" with the product to get an even coat on my hair
3.) Then I push my right hand towards the left and my left hand towards the right (it's important to push hard and deep towards the scalp since the hair is very resistant and to get the product deep into the hair)
4.) I usually get some more product to help back up the top, this time take one hand on push down from that swirl in the back of my head to achieve the tidal wave look
5.) Finally I pull up the top and separate it to add texture and push my sides down
6.) I finish by grabbing pieces of my sides and rolling them with two fingers to add texture to the sides. You see this is why you don't want the sides too short or else you won;t be able to add texture.

Well I hope this was helpful! I really like the look because when you don't wash your hair for a while the sides will not need too much attention to stay down (more on this next time), then you can just focus on the top and be out the door in no time. Also with the top length still there, you have other options to style it.

Here's some other photos of John Cho's hair that I like. Enjoy and have a wonderful day!

Product Review:TIGI's PUNK OUT Molding Gunk

Here's my first product review, TIGI's PUNK OUT Molding Gunk from their Rockaholic line (http://www.tigihaircare.com/consumer/en-US/rockaholic/rockaholic-products.asp?product=punk_out&categoryID=). What really stood out to me as soon as I tried it was the smell, it's almost like a plain bubble gum smell. It's smells sweet but not overpowering. The consistency is really good too, when you spread it out with your hands it's easy to get equal amounts on both hands and doesn't dry fast on the hands. It was also very easy to wash out.
What I didn't like about it was how oily it made my hair after wards. After sleeping in it for one night I could feel my hair was really oily and a little sticky. I tried to add water to "recharge" it but it just made my hair look and feel limp. It also didn't have much holding power on my hair so within a few minutes my hair would just go back to its normal self.
I was a little disappointed in this stuff because I really wanted to like it. But the hold power and oily hair was too much for me to bear.

Pros:

• Smells pretty good (like plain pink bubble gum)
• Great texture and easy to apply

Cons:

• Made hair oily 
• Not a strong hold

Have you tried this product before? Let me know what you thought of it.

Friday Hair Day (vol. 1) Takeshi Kaneshiro

Ok now I know it's been said so many times, but I have to say it for myself. Takeshi has awesome hair styles! This Ryukyuan-Taiwanese actor has been in great films including, Red Cliff I and II, House of Flying Daggers, Too Tired to Die, and many more.
I picked my favorite looks of his and posted the pics below. I liked the pic above the most because of thin his hair looks. I would love to know what products he use and how he keeps it looking so soft.
As for the cut I think he uses thinning shears for the sides and back. The back looks a little scruffy (curls towards the front of the face, which my hair does also at that length) at the ends, which means it has some length to it.The top really looks great with all that texture, it looks like the front bangs vary in size while the rest of the top is at medium to moderate length (maybe about 1.5-2").

The second and third picture is pretty much how my hair acts. It looks a little like he used gel or pomade with hair spray after. These pictures really make his hair look a little thicker, like how most Asians. The sides look like they are long for about and inch above the ear and below that they are cut short. The top seems to be lengthy towards the middle to give that Faux Hawk look with the front bangs being of same length so that they can fall to the front. You can tell from the pictures that product goes a long way when it comes to styling our hair, especially keeping the sides down.

If you have attempted this hair style and succeeded or failed please share your story. Thanks and have a nice Friday!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my blog!

Hello there, if you're reading this then you must have and/or interested in Asian male hair. I would like to welcome you to stay and keep up with what I will be offering you, but first let me introduce myself.

I am a Chinese-American male and currently a senior in college. I have absolutely no training or knowledge of hair/hair cutting/styling as a cosmetologist has, but I am in search of such information whenever it pertains to me. Ever since I started to grow my hair long after sporting the buzz cut a few years, I wanted to do something new with my hair. I wanted something that was hard to obtain and unique. This curiosity and intrigue led me to learning and analyzing hair styles and products.

I created this blog mainly for Asian males who have difficulty in styling their hair, looking for new hair styles, choosing products, and also to inform them. I feel that this area isn't very well understood/discussed, so I'm hoping to shed some light on it. In the future I hope to have mainly three different types of posts: 1.) Product reviews (buying and testing products on my hair and giving you the low down) 2.) An Asian male with a really cool and unique hair style 3.) Anything informative that's related to the site. I also hope to have about 3 posts a week.

So there you have it, this is what I'm bringing to the table. If you are interested, tag along if not good luck in life lol.