Does He or Doesn’t He? : More Men Are Discovering That a Change of Hair Color Can Lift Their Spirits

RICHARD WITTNER was a towhead as a child, but by the time he was 44--six years ago--the color of his hair had turned an unexceptional dirty blond.

So Wittner, a pediatric cardiologist in Long Beach, decided to try lightening his hair color--and he’s never looked back. “It brightens my face,” he says. “I have some pouchiness under my eyes, and I think it may disguise that a bit.”

As for friends and colleagues, Wittner says, “Actually, the woman I’m involved with noticed it the first time. But nobody else really said anything. I think it looks good, so I do it.”

Wittner is far from alone. Last year, the trade magazine Modern Salon released a survey it conducted showing that, of the men who had received professional hair care in the previous 12 months, 7% had some form of coloring applied to their hair, and two-thirds of them intended to have it done again in the next 12 months.

Among local hair colorists, Kaz Amor has noticed a dramatic increase in his male clientele. Amor teaches hair coloring at seminars around the country for the Woodland Hills-based Sebastian International line of hair products. But he services his private clientele--including Wittner--at Visions on Melrose. And, he says, since the mid-’80s, men have come to make up nearly a third of those customers.

They’re not all actors or aging baby boomers either. Some, Amor says, are recent college graduates facing their first job interviews. “They’re coming in to improve their looks,” he says. Many of them are asking that their brown hair be made a warmer shade, with gold or amber tones.

At Visions, prices can range from $25 to $35 for a haircut every four weeks or so and, at the same time, $25 to $60 for coloring. So, Amor says, any man considering changing his hair color ought to approach the decision the way he would approach a sound business investment. He suggests calling a colorist for a consulting session, which should be free. Find out what the options are. Ask to see photographs, not just a color chart.

Unless a man’s ambition is to look as hyper-Nordic as Rutger Hauer in “Blade Runner,” Amor says, he should avoid having his hair treated with products containing peroxide or ammonia. Semi-permanent color, which fades gradually, is a better choice. But, he says, it’s still wise to request a strand test, in which a few hairs are dyed to determine the suitability of the color and to see whether there is any negative reaction to the product. It’s a good sign, Amor adds, if the salon offers clients a choice of coloring products.

Not surprisingly, Amor thinks that in-salon attention and products made for professional use are always preferable to doing it yourself. But for those determined to try coloring hair on their own, he recommends studying the directions of all products and then performing a strand test.

Joe Torrenueva, by contrast, thinks there’s nothing wrong with a man’s using a product that darkens his hair if he just combs it in--as long as he is honest when evaluating the results. Torrenueva cuts the hair of actors, executives and models at his Sunset Plaza shop, Torrenueva. Almost half of his clients also have their hair colored ($45 and up). And, he says, sometimes he uses Clairol’s brown tints to tone down their gray.

Although he can darken hair--he did Alec Baldwin’s for “The Hunt for Red October”--Torrenueva usually advises against it, especially on younger men. He says that short of bleaching and then dying their hair, men with a lot of gray will be able to cover up only about 70% of it, and he prefers emphasizing the pepper in a salt-and-pepper head of hair to obliterating the salt. Indeed, two years ago, he persuaded TV-game-show host Bob Barker to stop coloring his hair because “it looked colored.” The result, Torrenueva says, was that the white-haired Barker suddenly seemed younger.

“A lot of times,” Torrenueva says, “as men get older, lighter is better.” The biggest trend he sees at the moment is men paying $85 to have highlights added to their hair, which can make it appear fuller.

“The total look is what’s important,” Torrenueva observes. “Just like when you look at a painting--the frame should complement it.”

Hair: Daniel Howell / Celestine.