Said and Done: Color Conscious

Trying to look younger, more middle-aged male execs are dyeing their hair.

illustration by John Lang

Dave Campo, secondary coach for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, showed up for training camp this summer with noticeably blonder hair than last year. His explanation: “Well, you’ve got to stay young in this business. … People judge you by how much energy you have, so I want to make sure it looks like I have good energy.”

He’s not alone. Josef Campos of the WM. Carr Salon reports a significant increase in the number of male C-suite Dallasites seeking hair help. The 43-year-old Costa Rican native, who’s been in Dallas for two decades, says that 10 years ago just 5 percent of his clientele were men. Today that figure is 25 percent and growing.


And, where only a few men colored their hair a decade ago, Campos says a quarter of his male clients now want some sort of color treatment.


The Cowboys’ Campo is unusual only in publicly admitting coloring his hair. One of Campos’ well-known clients quietly slips in every three weeks for a cut and color at 7 a.m. “I skip yoga to see him,” Campos says.


He frequently starts out doing repair work on men who’ve believed the ads promising beautiful hair color at home in 15 minutes. “Men’s hair is different from women’s hair,” Campos says. It’s shorter, for one thing, and that makes hair coloring much more difficult, particularly for dark hair.  “It’s important to vary the color to achieve a natural look—very difficult—and it should be done only by a professional,” he says. 


The wrong look is exemplified by the Chinese Politburo, whose average age is in the mid-60s and whose hair is solid black. Campos calls that “the shoe-polish look.” For men in their 50s and 60s, Campos recommends going lighter, which makes highlighting easier to do and harder to detect. It also allows him to place a few strands of gray at the temples, enough so the whole impression is realistic.


What about men who are already in their 50s and haven’t paid attention to hair color until now? Is it too late? “Start slowly,” Campos advises. “We do just 10 percent of the color and gradually increase it over a year.”


And, it’s not just the hair on top of your head that may need freshening up. Campos says gray in the beard or mustache screams “old,” and that includes the weekend grizzle. “The beard is a different kind of hair and texture,” he says. The poster child for what not to do is King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, whose formal portrait on the royal web site shows a thick mustache and goatee in unrelieved black.  


Campos points out that color has to be combined with the proper cut to get the right effect. Some hair is best cut with a razor, some with scissors, and some parts of the head or neck need clippers. “A good haircut creates texture on the ends of the hair,” he says, picking up a copy of Men’s Vogue for examples. An updated hairstyle doesn’t look as if it’s just been cut, he says. It’s simple, “but with a little softness and a little edge.”


So, what makes today’s man different when it comes to grooming and vanity? “Men talk about different things,” he says. “Most of all, they talk about women and ask me, ‘What do they like? What will make me more look younger? What will make me more attractive?’”

 



DFW CEOs’ Favorite Cosmetic Surgeries  

photography courtesy of Getty Images

Male CEOs in Dallas-Fort Worth are increasingly finding their way to the office of Dallas plastic surgeon Steven J. White.


“There’s a greater public acceptance that plastic surgery is not just for Hollywood types,” White says. “When their curiosity is piqued, they do some online research and check it out.”


He adds that CEO spouses usually undergo procedures first; their experience then rouses the interest of the CEOs.


The most popular cosmetic procedures performed for CEOs in White’s offices are (in order, from most common to least):


Botox injections
Eyelid lifts
Nose jobs
Liposuction on the neck, torso, and chest
Male breast reduction

 

by Dave Moore