This year my wonderful sexy husband turned the big 4-0. He wasn’t TOO touchy about this (read: so long as no-one mentioned it, and the day slipped past without a fanfare) until a few months ago he attended a funeral where there were lots of family members he hadn’t seen for years. One of them mentioned how “distinguished” he was looking, and that was it…when he came home he said that he wanted to dye his hair.

Now, we all know that men don’t want to be seen as vain, “product”-using creatures, so of course I was dispatched to purchase the necessary chemicals. I found that there were two main brands of hair-colorant aimed at men in our local Tesco: Grecian 2000, and Just For Men. I decided on the Just For Men, as it was a shampoo-in permanent colour. This meant that it would only need to be applied every 6 weeks or so, whereas with the Grecian 2000, you need to apply it several times a week, and (horror) leave it on your hair.

The Just For Men kit is contained in a small cardboard box with a cheesy picture of a smiling, all-American type of guy on the front. Think clean-cut but manly, the sort of man who doesn’t pluck his eyebrows. Being a (cough) masculine product, it comes in a no-nonsense, straightforward variety of colours: Natural Light Brown, Medium Brown, Dark Brown, Dark Brown-Black, or Jet Black. The side of the box has a helpful set of three photos depicting the range of natural hair colour that can be dyed with each variety. I picked the Natural Medium Brown, and paid my £4.47 at the till.

At home, I discovered that the box contained a small dark bottle of colour base (30ml), a larger, application bottle with “colour developer” (30ml), a set of instructions and a pair of plastic gloves. I’m not entirely sure why “Just For Men” is, well, just for men, as this looked pretty identical to every hair-dying kit I have ever purchased for myself. The instructions advise you to do an allergy patch test 48 hours before each application to see whether you are allergic to any of the ingredients, but of course, hubby didn’t bother to do this; fortunately, he didn’t have an adverse reaction, and has now used the product several times without any problems. This is fairly surprising as he has an extremely sensitive, dry scalp. Mind you, it does seem to cure his dandruff for a few days, so maybe it just takes a layer of scalp clean off! The developer contains hydrogen peroxide, and does smell strongly “chemical”.

In one sense, the product is very simple to use: you pour the contents of the colour bottle into the applicator bottle and shake them together. Then you snip the top off the pointy top of the applicator bottle, and squeeze the mixed contents over your head onto dry hair, parting your hair every ½ inch or so. After five minutes, you add a little water, lather and rinse. That’s it. (Although, when you re-apply, it’s slightly more complicated, as you need to try to only cover the grey roots, and then comb it through the rest of your hair at the last minute).

The colorant is fairly “gloopy”, but when mixed with the thin developer it becomes the consistency of a thick, creamy shampoo – liquid enough to apply easily, but not too runny that it drips easily. However, it is not easy to apply this stuff yourself, and the plastic gloves are essential, as it does stain skin. The first time that I applied it, I accidentally dyed the tops of my husband’s ears, plus the odd dark stain from drips on his forehead and neck – a dead give-away. I have now perfected the technique, but it would be hard to apply this yourself and get a natural-looking finish. It could possibly be accomplished using some barrier cream around your hairline, but really, men if you are reading this – get someone to do it for you. To get a natural finish, leave some grey at the temples by applying the colorant there last, and wiping it off straight afterwards.

The blurb on the box claims that Just For Men “blends shades of your natural colour into your grey so subtly, no-one can tell where the grey was!” I probably wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but it does give a good result, and does cover the grey. Let’s face it though – don’t kid yourself, people will still know that you colour your hair. But at least you can console yourself that you HAVE hair I suppose.

One final point about the cost of applying this every 6 weeks or so, when your grey hair has grown back: the amount supplied is very generous, and more than you need for one application, particularly if you have short hair, or are only “touching up” grey roots. You can make one box last for three applications if you mix the chemicals in a separate container instead of in the applicator bottle. Clearly, though, it’s best to only do this once you are used to the ratio of chemicals needed, and if you have someone else applying them to your head.

The hair colour can not be used for dyeing a beard or moustache, but you can buy Just For Men products in a matching shade that are suitable for dyeing facial hair. I’m not sure about any other body hair.

Happy dyeing.