As Long as the Tie’s on the Loose, Give That Top Button the Afternoon Off Too
It’s the end of a long workday, and guys all over town are pulling the Armani noose away from their necks. There’s nothing wrong with pulling your tie down when the day’s over, but some guys go about it all wrong.
After loosening the tie, they fail to undo that choking top shirt button. “Undo the button and pull your tie down an inch or two,” says Ziva Adams of the Tie Rack at MainPlace/Santa Ana. “And if you’re wearing a button-down collar shirt, be sure to keep those little buttons secured or you risk looking sloppy.”
That top button is easy to forget if you’re lucky enough to have shirts with a comfortably fitting collar. If you really suffer when trying to secure that top button, you may want to try a “Wonder Button,” a spring-like device that discreetly adds some needed centimeters to a tight collar--particularly helpful as the weather turns steamy.
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Shin shape: This is the season of the leg. Half the body work a woman did at the gym in winter and spring was probably motivated by the wish to show off her legs in the summer. But while everyone sees the shape, they also notice the flaws--namely, nicks in shins and/or Band-Aids.
“Regular waxing, rather than shaving, will prevent unsightly nicks,” says Klara Korvin of Klara Korvin’s Eurosoft Skin Care in Corona del Mar. “There are no perfect razors, and if nicks are a problem for you, it may be time to consider wax. Some women are able to do it themselves at home.”
If the idea (not to mention the reality) of using warm paraffin to pull out offending hairs seems painful, there’s always electrolysis, or you can continue battling the razor’s edge and use leg makeup, which hides cuts from view.
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Thrown from the handlebars: For a while about 20 years ago, guys were growing mustaches like weeds and letting the ends develop into long strands. To tame them, they’d grab wax and, like their grandpas, curl the ends up into the traditional handlebar mustache. That turn-of-the-century look may be coming back.
“I’m seeing more handlebars, but guys are doing them wrong,” says hairstylist David Gavin of Mission Viejo. “They must be using oil to shape them, and by the end of the day the mustache is droopy. You’ve got to use wax to keep their shape.”
Keep the hair on the base of the lip trimmed but let the ends grow freely. Using the wax, twirl it into the end and pull on it a little to give it the curl.
