You really have to hand it to AXE—like a committed wingman, they are obsessed with helping guys step up their grooming game to appeal to the opposite sex, along the way maybe even transforming what it means to be kempt for an entire mass market of men.  

For the launch of AXE Hair, I sat down with resident AXE grooming expert and celebrity hairstylist Diana Schmidtke, who has styled everyone’s hair from George Clooney to Snoop Dog, to get her take on the state of men’s grooming.  As she ran the “clean cut” pomade through my hair, she explained that the average guy needs help and is likely clueless about his options. “I love AXE Hair products because they help guys with common hair errors, and the styling products take the guess work out of creating distinct girl-approved looks.”

AXE set out to prove to men that their lack of attention to hair care and styling was a major turnoff, conducting a national survey, which led to some pretty interesting results.  Basically, guys are mostly clueless when it comes to what women find acceptable and attractive (are you surprised?).  The study shows that while “Only 29 percent of guys think hair is very important when it comes to attracting a girl, two-thirds (63 percent) of girls say that guys with bad hair don’t understand that their hair makes a negative impression on girls.”  

This biggest shocker though was that so many men didn’t even find fault with their hair: “Most girls (72 percent) think guys do not know how to style their hair to its full potential, but 85 percent of guys think their hair is pretty good.”  This is just unbelievable—living in New York, I am usually sheltered from the worst hair atrocities: mullets, over-gelled hair and other assorted horrors but the idea that 85% of men surveyed believe they have “ok” hair styles is just mind boggling.  On the other hand, this might shed light on the Gotti Family hair phenomenon.  

As most men are as knowledgeable about hair care products as they are about the differences between Gucci and Pucci, AXE spells it out clearly for them.  Each product is named according to what it is supposed to accomplish: the shampoos feature names like “de-glue” and “de-poof” while the styling products are named according to the look they create from “shaggy” to “clean cut.”

In addition to providing great hold without stickiness or flakiness, the products smell great, featuring an herbal scent with top notes of fruit and birch leaf on a cedar wood base, for a smell that is both fresh and masculine.

AXE Hair products will be hitting mass retailers near you soon but I think they should first paradrop a few thousand cases on Staten Island.

Adrien Field