Mens Hair Expert and Hairstyles Authority Rogelio Samson from ManlyCurls.com Sits Down with Us for an Interview!
As a lifestyle blogger, I can appreciate other bloggers who put up some great work in the mens lifestyle and fashion world. One of the things I want to do with this blog is to bring some of the voices behind these worlds so that you can all learn about what’s happening behind the curtains.
In this interview, I will be speaking with the biggest authority on mens hair and mens hairstyles online, and he has gone as far as writing two hugely popular mens hair books, The Men’s Hair Book and The Curly Hair Book. In fact, not only has he written two bestselling books on mens hair and mens hairstyles but he also owns one of the biggest male lifestyle, hairstyles and mens hair blogs in the internet where he gives out advice on mens hair, hairstyles, haircuts, hair loss and anything that has to do with male hair! He also gives out some great advice on fitness and lifestyle hacking, so I could not wait to get in contact with him.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you Rogelio Samson from ManlyCurls.com, the guy whom you want to listen to when it comes to mens hair, hairstyles or just lifestyle tips. We carried this interview by Skype and it was quite a pleasant experience as Rogelio took the time to answer all my questions. All answers of his are from the notes I took live and from the interview recording.
About ManlyCurls.com
So tell us Rogelio, how did you start ManlyCurls.com?
Well, I have always been the go-to guy for curly hair during my life as all my curly haired friends would ask me questions and bring their friends too (whom I didn’t know) to also ask me questions. I’ve done my fair amount of hair experiments over the years and I finally got it down to a system and a set of methods. I was tired of repeating myself all the time with the advice, so I decided to start ManlyCurls.com and provide a free resource for men to check out and learn from.
But what about the actual name “Manly Curls”? How did you come up with it?
The actual name stems from my time living in Dubai. I was in a big party hosted by one of my buddies and I was introduced to a gorgeous Japanese lady. Just before letting me introduce myself, she quickly used her hand to touch my curls and then said “you so manly”. It became a running joke with my buddies so I knew I had to pay an online tribute to my manly curls.
This blog also covers male fashion and menswear. Aside from mens hairstyles and hair grooming, does ManlyCurls.com cover any other topics related male fashion?
Not really. I am not an expert in menswear although I do know how to wear clothes, including suits. However, I don’t feel that I am expert enough to write about menswear, let alone give someone professional advice. I do give one or two tips once in a while as part of a hairstyles article and what not, but I am not a male fashion expert and follower like you or your readers!
About mens hairstyles and haircuts
You are a big proponent of finding the right hairstyle for oneself by experimenting and testing. Why such a view on finding the right hairstyle for a guy?
The right hairstyle implies knowing your hair profile, as I call it, and it also implies taking into account your personality and lifestyle. Every time a dude under the age of 25 asks me how to do an Undercut, I feel like kicking a puppy (LOL not serious!). Yeah sure I know the undercut hairstyle is all the rage since 2012, but come on, give it a rest. You should not be getting a hairstyle just because you want to follow the herd and fit in a group. Your personality and hair profile should dictate your hairstyle, not the other way around. Don’t be afraid to test as I can guarantee you that sooner or later you will find your perfect haircut and hairstyle.
So what kind of guy should get an undercut?
Any guy who likes to keep up with trends, who has charisma and who has straight hair or wavy hair. Don’t get an undercut if you have coiled curly hair or kinky curly hair!
Talking about hair types, you have some extremely useful mens hair guides like this mens hair products guide and this mens hairstyles guide. You also have a hair type guide. Actually, you have two hair type guides. Why the emphasis on publishing huge mens hair guides for free?
When I founded ManlyCurls.com, I wanted to establish an online resource that men could go to and actually learn from. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet when it comes to mens hair and too much confusion. Right from the start I saw ManlyCurls.com as a no BS resource and that’s how I want to keep it. I like to be very detailed in my guides and create guides that will be the one and only reading that a guy will need so as to get his awesome mane of cool locks, be it straight or curly.
Back when I started learning about my hair and curls, there was hardly any information on mens hair, so I can certainly relate to all men who are clueless about their hair and who need the right answers, but all they are getting is regurgitated misinformation.
You have long hair and it’s actually quite long. Does this mean that you are a long haired guy or you still prefer short hair despite the huge mane on your head?
I’m a long haired male at heart. Short hair has its place, but long hair and especially long curly hair, takes years to grow. So if I had to choose between long hair or short hair, I’d go with long hair.
What is your favorite hairstyle and haircut?
My favorite hairstyle is what I call the beyond shoulder length hairstyle. Basically you grow your mane to your middle back or navel and wear the hair loose. If I have short hair, then a shake and go hairstyle, as I call it, is my favorite, although for a shake and go hairstyle I will always have a very short taper haircut on the sides and back.
My favorite haircut without a doubt is the high and tight recon haircut. The recon is a haircut that will make you stand out and that most women find very sexy. I wear a recon haircut simply because I love that haircut, but I can’t complain when ladies approach me and ask me about my haircut!
About mens lifestyle
Your site ManlyCurls.com is also a lifestyle website, what would you say are the top 3 hacks or tips for a great lifestyle?
Well, I have and use a lot of lifestyle hacks, but if I had to choose three, I’d go with:
- Get at least 7 hours of sleep everyday and got to bed early (9 or 10 PM at the latest).
- Do at least strength training sessions per week amounting to more than 3 hours of total strength training. I don’t care if you are a desk jockey or work in construction, proper strength training will make you a better man.
- If you want to succeed in life, you are going to have to work for it. There are no shortcuts to success.
In The Curly Hair Book you relate growing one’s curls and finding the right look to improving one’s overall life. Can you tell our readers a little bit more on that?
Sure. The way I see it is that curly hair is not appreciated by men with curly hair, so right from the start, our fellow curly men have a negative opinion of their curls. In The Curly Hair Book, I make you deconstruct that negative view and build positivity as you find yourself seeing results and progressing. More results equals more motivation and so on, so the end result is you achieving an awesome mane (as I call it in the book) and being a better male. It is then that you achieve the same method and work ethic to other parts of your life so as to improve yourself little by little.
About The Men’s Hair Book and The Curly Hair Book
Tell us about the experience of writing a book. Was it hard? Did you have to sacrifice a lot of time?
The Curly Hair Book was the first book that I wrote and published. I wrote The Curly Hair Book with a lot of passion and soul, so I found myself very motivated every day to continue progressing on writing my book. I will not say it wasn’t hard, because it truly was hard writing the book, organizing it, making corrections and then getting it all ready to publish. However, it was all a lot of fun and I did really enjoy the whole process, so I was able to put a lot of effort into the book easily.
With regards to The Men’s Hair Book, I wanted to make that book more formal and make it more as the encyclopedia of male hair. I also provide real-life case studies that I experienced as a collaboration with an old buddy of mine, Anthony. He was a barber and I was invited to assess some cases where the barbershop client needed a more customized solution that included other variables than just a barbershop haircut.
Perhaps I did find The Men’s hair Book more difficult get it all together but only because it was more of a formal experience rather than me talking in first person and relating all these epic experiences I have had in my life to my curls. I still had a lot of fun writing The Men’s Hair Book, but it was more heavy duty, so to speak.
I have read both books of yours and I have to say they are not only excellent but also extremely useful. There is also plenty of praise online for your books and they have proven to be very popular. Do you get feedback yourself from your readers and if so, what do they say?
Thanks for the kind words, Tomas. First of all I have to say that I wrote both The Men’s Hair Book and The Curly Hair book to help men worldwide. That was the goal. I sincerely appreciate all the praise my books get, but the most important thing is that such praise comes from my books actually helping men out. To me, the best news that I can hear for my books is that they have helped someone out.
I do get lots of emails every week from guys thanking me for my books and telling me how much the books have changed their lives. Reading their stories and knowing that my words helped all the men is a priceless feeling. I am very happy to read of the results that people get with my books, and that alone makes it worth having gone through the massive effort of publishing those two books.
About the future of Rogelio and ManlyCurls.com
To finish off this interview, what are your plans for the future?
Well, ManlyCurls.com has been up and running for more than 3 years now, so I can tell you that the website is here to stay. With regards to me, well I am the kind of person who is always creating stuff and thinking long term, so I have a couple of projects I am going to be working on. I can tell you that Rogelio will continue to have his presence online.
Any last words for our readers?
I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to read my words in this interview and I’d like to also thank Tomas for this fun interview. Keep in touch!