Daniel Craig is on something of a stylistic journey at the moment. The 56-year old actor – fresh from starring in a new Loewe campaign where he is all straggly hair and knitted jumpers, like a pottery teacher living on the Isle of Mull – appeared at the Paris Olympics sporting the same flowing locks, alongside an ashy crop of stubble.
It’s actually not unfamiliar territory for Craig. In the late 90s, during his pre-Bond, thesp days, Craig had long, vampiric blonde hair. Now Craig is filming the third Knives Out film, and shots from the set suggest that his enigmatic Detective Benoit Blanc is long of tresses (and raffish of dress) this time around.
But at 56, growing your hair out is a brave decision for a man. Hair changes dramatically as we age, growing weaker and sometimes dryer. It may have once been a sign of masculinity and status for men – the Victorians changed that – but how do you do it with panache, and not look bedraggled? And in 2024, how long is too long?
Our tips
Take stock of what you’re working with
“Start with taking care of your scalp and it will make everything much easier, no matter what your hair type,” says Adem Oygur, founder of Belgravia salon ADEM.
“Hair can begin to fall out or break through lack of care, and if your scalp follicles are clogged with product and not cleaned regularly, it can damage the hair. So start there; wash thoroughly with a tea tree shampoo and condition for a couple of minutes.” Two things tend to happen to hair as we age; grey hair grows tougher and more wiry, or it becomes wispy. Some preventative action will help wispy hair, alongside thickening shampoos and products. Otherwise longer hair can look rather lank and rat-tail like.
If you have wiry grey hair, keep the crop relatively short – jaw level is one option, says Oygur – and use natural oils to smooth it out.
How long should you go?
Gandalf’s waterfall of wizardy whites might have had a certain folkloric majesty, but it’s a tricky path to tread for mere mortals. Again, wiry hair will look unkempt if it’s too long, while thin hair that’s grown out will only serve to highlight your hair loss and can be incredibly ageing. By all means grow long and luxuriant if you have the thickness for it, but bear in mind that with longer hair comes more attention. Use a special shampoo and be mindful of black colours if your hairline is sitting on your shoulders. If in doubt, a sweep rather than a full cascade. See Mads Mikkelsen for details.
Be mindful of colour
A man of a certain age can look patrician and stately with longer white hair, but the pollutants of city-living can turn it a nicotine yellow – more twenty-Rothmans-a-day than regal. Oygur advises using a silver or blue-tinged shampoo to elevate the colour and bring out the right tones. Be mindful, too, that grey usually starts around the temples, so longer hair will likely be ashy on the sides and your original colour up top. Nothing wrong with that – it can look rather distinguished – but avoid if your greys are more frizzy as that section will stick out more.
Keep up the maintenance
Stick to the aforementioned shampoos if they’re necessary for your hair type, as well as the natural oils for dryer, more wiry hair. Firm gels or matte pastes are tricky, says Oygur, because they don’t tend to work on longer hair. Opt for a refreshing sea salt spray instead. Longer hair means more impetus to keep it clean, so shampoo daily. You’re going for Renaissance nobleman, rather than Stig of the Dump.
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