Learn all about growing and styling very long hair for men
by: Men’s Hair Blog
The beyond-shoulder length hairstyle requires that you to grow your hair beyond shoulder length. A good length to aim for is chest length or mid-back because, at this length, your locks will be hanging down without the need of hair products while expressing great follicular volume: a true lion’s mane!
Now, before proceeding on how to get the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle, let’s talk about what actually is beyond-shoulder-length hair. As I’ve documented on this site and in both my books (The Curly Hair Book and The Men’s Hair Book), you will need about 12 inches of hair length to reach your shoulders (i.e. shoulder-length hair); men with curly hair typically require 18 to 24 inches of hair length due to the intrinsic shape of curly hair eating up inches of visible length. Ergo, for hair that is longer than shoulder length (i.e. beyond-shoulder length), you will need at least 14 inches of hair length, which will take about 3 years if grown from a buzz-cut haircut.
Long hair has become a trendy thing among young males ever since 2013 when males all across the United States and Europe had grown bored of those politically-correct medium hairstyles of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Thus, since 2013, we’ve experienced an increasing interest in long hair for men that still goes strong in 2016 and for which I’ve dedicated a whole section of this website to long men’s hair.
Outside of this website, I recommend that you take a look at this useful website for long hair men which has all the great advice and information that is necessary for growing and styling your long mane as well as for keeping it nice and lustrous. Incidentally, you will also find that the Shoulder Length hairstyle is among the best long hairstyles for men in the aforementioned website’s huge hairstyle guide; not just that, but I personally have Beyond Shoulder Length hair with my coiled curls (currently on my way to hip-long hair), so I can attest to how useful that particular website is and to how awesome having (well-cared) long hair is!
With regards to Beyond Shoulder Length hair and long hair in general, I do get a lot of questions from my readers on how to grow long hair and my main tip is to stay patient and to take care of your hair over the long haul (there’s lots more to growing long hair which I’ve covered in The Men’s Hair Book, but this tip alone is useful for all men regardless of their hair type or genetics).
Anyway, enough with the talking of long men’s hair; let’s now go through the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle!
Hair-length category
Long: the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle falls under the category of “long hair” in my hair length guide. Informally, I do use the word “super long” for hair that is longer than shoulder length since, once your hair is over 12 inches in length, its care and daily grooming require more effort and time when compared to long hair that is between 6 to 12 inches in length.
Suitable hair type
Straight hair, wavy hair, coiled hair, kinky hair.
Haircut for Beyond Shoulder Length hair:
To grow your hair for the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle, you merely have to grow your hair from an initial haircut that had your hair trimmed all around the head at the same length. Avoid any further haircuts until your reach your desired length; only get further haircuts if you have damaged the tips of your hair.
Haircut difficulty:
2 out of 5 (relatively easy, you can do it yourself).
How to style beyond shoulder length hair for men:
For the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle, you can have your hair slicked back, parted to the side, put into a ponytail or bun, or simply have the long locks worn freely. Likewise, for those of you guys with long curly hair, you too can straighten your mane with a flat iron, although I highly recommend that you use a heat-taming product prior to straighten your lengthy curls or that you simply avoid straightening your very-long curly locks as you can easily damage your hair by straightening it too frequently.
Use a leave-in conditioner as your main hairstyling product, and add some hair gel, mousse or styling cream as you see fit.
Styling difficulty
2 out of 5 (relatively easy).
Male reference
NFL player Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers is the perfect example of what coiled hair grown beyond shoulder length can look like.
Recommended men’s hair products to use for Beyond Shoulder Length hair
The following men’s hair products are the ones that I recommend for lustrous long locks:
- Leave-in conditioner: a leave-in conditioner is an exceptionally-handy product for long-haired men irrespective of their hair type. You can use a leave-in conditioner to style your mane every single day or with other styling products like hair gels, hair mousse or styling creams (see below).
- Conditioner: to be used every time that you shampoo your mane. Always follow your shampoo with a conditioner. A good frequency of shampoo use for men with such long hair is twice per week.
- Light-hold hair gel: this type of hair gel is best for styling (long) straight hair.
- Hair mousse: a good hair-mousse product is what I usually recommend for very-long wavy hair.
- Styling cream: a good styling cream works best for curly-haired men with very long hair as styling creams allow the curls to retain moisture and thus look their best.
Use any of the 4 men’s hair products above to style your Beyond Shoulder Length hair. However, whichever product you choose should not be mixed with the others, except for leave-in conditioners. As described in my book The Men’s Hair Book, if you want to use a leave-in conditioner with any other hair-styling product, you must first (and always!) apply the leave-in conditioner to your hair and, once you’ve coated your long mane with the leave-in conditioner, you then apply the second hair-styling product (i.e. hair gel, hair mousse or a styling cream).
For more information, see my men’s hair products guide for the best hair-styling products to use for the Beyond Shoulder Length hairstyle. The actual styling of this particularly-long hairstyle is very easy, so choose the product from my guide that you like the most and get on with your hair-growing efforts!
Conclusion to our Beyond Shoulder Length hair guide
While long hair ranging from 6 to 12 inches is the most common “type” of long hair for men, there is an increasing number of males who are growing their manes well beyond the 12-inch length mark. As long hair becomes more and more popular, more and more long-haired men are making the decision to continue growing their hair longer in the interest of curiosity or personal preference.
In any case, whether you already have long hair or very-long hair or whether you want to grow your hair long, I do hope that this guide helps you in your hair-growing journey and that you get to soon enjoy those long tresses of yours (trust me, it’s worth the wait). And, remember, stay patient and take care of your growing locks!
