Much of the buzz surrounding menswear this season (at least from where I sit in the beauty department) is about hair: curls at Prada; shoulder-grazing strands at Gucci; and cotton-candy-like swirls encircling male models’ facades at Rick Owens. The message was clear: It’s no longer enough to rub a dollop of pomade through a cropped cut and send a guy onto the catwalk. As Josh Peskowitz, men’s fashion director for Bloomingdale’s, explained in an earlier interview with Style, guys—even “non-fashion-y” ones—are realizing via the runway, social media, and pop culture that they need to raise their game. And nobody in the beauty space has made that clearer as of late than Redken, a company that cast male models (a first for the brand) Naleye Junior and Alexander Dominguez in its campaign for One United (an all-in-one treatment spray). “It’s different, but I can’t really lie—I like it!” laughed Dominguez of his new role. “It’s good to be known for putting in a lot of effort and taking care of your hair.” Asked to describe his regimen, he replied simply: “I shampoo and condition it.”
Both Junior and Dominguez rarely deviate from their signature looks (unless a designer or job requires a change), preferring to stay away from the scissors save for a trim. Naleye remains loyal to his hairstylist in Amsterdam and Dominguez hasn’t had a true cut since 2008, after a bad experience with a barber in college that resulted in a buzzed head. “It’s weird, you don’t want just anyone to touch your hair—you make money with it,” said Junior. And he should know, he’s currently dating Imaan Hammam, a catwalker with equally covetable curls—although he said there isn’t any competition for the best hair superlative in their relationship: “I have to say she has the better hair.” (Smart.) Here, the new boys on the block discuss everything from man buns to taming their brows, and share the biggest beauty lessons they’ve learned on the job. Boys—and girls—take note.
Work your texture with water: “My girl, she always tells me that I have to put conditioner in it, but I forget. Normally, when I go to a shoot, it’s best to just work it with water,” explained Junior. “It depends which water you use, too. If I’m in L.A. for a few months, it’s really curly and dope. I just go in the ocean and it looks cool. Here in New York, I think there is a lot of chlorine in the water, so it makes it really dry.”
Conserve your shampoo: “My hair looks really good when it’s oily, so I try to condition it every week, but only shampoo it twice a month,” said Dominguez. “As for hair products, I try to keep it really minimal. I use a little Redken oil when it’s feeling dry and let the air and sun do their thing.”
Hydrate—and sweat—often: “I moisturize, but I really just try to drink three liters of water a day,” said Dominguez. “I try to sweat every day, too. It’s really good for my scalp—I like to go to the gym and then wash [all the sweat] out. I feel really fresh.”
Learn from your partner: “To be honest, before [I met Imaan], I didn’t care. But now, when my girl is taking a shower, she’s using all this stuff. You just start talking to each other and before you know it, you’re using it, too,” said Junior. Asked if he’s ever indulged in an at-home spa treatment alongside his lady, he replied: “Yeah. I can’t remember the last time I did it, but I was sitting on the couch with some blue shit on my face.”
Practice your man bun technique: “I have a younger sister and I won’t even lie, when I was growing my hair out, during the awkward phases she would help me out by styling it and making it look nice,” said Dominguez. “It took me a long time to master buns and ponytails…I’m trying to get the man bun award—it feels good, like a little fist on your head. It’s really all about conditioner. I just flop it all to the front, grab it by the base, and keep on twisting it until it’s tight.” Asked if he uses a bobby pin to secure his topknot in place, Dominguez replied: “I’m a rubber band guy.” Junior also dabbled with the man bun: “I had one when I did the Yohji Yamamoto show.”
Add an accessory: “I wear hats a lot, but it goes way back. My dad used to wear hats every day, and his father had a hat store in Africa,” said Junior, who designed the fedora he wore to our interview in midtown Manhattan. Imaan, he noted, is free to borrow his topper anytime, but “her hair is too big.”
Work the hair: Junior might be off the market, but Dominguez is very much single and uses his hair to his advantage, working the waves on date night. “That’s part of the man bun thing—after I condition it and leave it up for a day or a night, it’s automatic texture.” If you want to catch his eye, however, you’ll have to get on his level: “I do prefer long hair. I just find it attractive,” said Dominguez. Junior agrees: “I like a girl with hair on top of her head, but I’ve never dated a girl with short hair—not yet.”
Subtly sculpt your brows: “I like to keep mine natural, but sometimes I pluck a little to clean them up. I have that little brow thing [i.e., tweezer],” explained Dominguez. The rest of our interview proceeded as follows:
JUNIOR: Why do you want to clean them up?
DOMINGUEZ: Just to make them a better shape, I guess. I don’t know? It’s only happened a couple times, but I like to keep it natural.
JUNIOR: Italian guys, they have very shaped brows, right? Have you seen the people that do the thing with their mouth?
EDITOR: Threading?
JUNIOR: Yeah, my girl friends sometimes go there.
DOMINGUEZ: It’s like floss or something.
JUNIOR: Why is doing your brows a question?
EDITOR: Brows are a big deal.
JUNIOR AND DOMINGUEZ IN TANDEM: Really?!
DOMINGUEZ: I better start taking care of these things, then.
JUNIOR: Do you think I should change mine?
EDITOR: No, you look just fine the way you are.
Never forget to thank your mother. “My mother was big on hygiene and keeping me looking clean, so I think she helped me come into this industry. Shout-out, Mom!” said Dominguez. “My mom just said eat healthy and brush your teeth,” added Junior.
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