Around the world the month of November is synonymous with men’s health; organizations, brands and individuals come together to raise awareness for men’s mental health and cancer prevention. This is extra important for men, as these issues are all too often left unspoken.
At rokpool we’re passionate about helping guys on their path to looking and feeling their best selves. That’s why we launched our Movember Month Of Wellness, a month dedicated to helping men lead happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
One of the biggest challenges we face is normalising conversations on mental health – or, to put it simply, talking to each other about how we’re feeling. We are taking this opportunity to invite you all to join us for a month of activities and conversations (online and irl) committed to improving our physical and mental health.
The Movember Month Of Wellness highlights health, wellness and lifestyle elements across ‘mind, body & soul’. We believe that addressing these elements holistically is the key to feeling our best. We are partnering with leaders within specific fields to deliver a calendar of activities and content that will help our community find strength and positivity.
If there is one thing that unites humanity, it’s that we all want great hair, but we’ll be the first to admit, achieving it is not always easy. So when good hair days feel few and far between, it’s easy to settle for just okay. Well, friends, we don’t have to.
Attaining great hair doesn’t take a lot of effort, as long as you know what to do. Here are some tips for all men to achieve their best hair.
1. Don't Wash Your Hair Every Day
The notion of having extra clean hair seems like a good idea for hair health, but you could actually be doing more harm than good. By over-shampooing, you may be stripping away oils from your scalp. Around three times a week is best for most guys.
2. The Kind of Shampoo You Use Matters
Washing your hair with cheap shampoo is like washing your car with turpentine. Shampoos formulated with lots of harsh ingredients, usually found in cheaper products, can strip away too many of those natural oils that protect and hydrate your hair. When it's time to wash your hair, use a gentle formula that is sulfate-free and has natural ingredients (like those found on rokpool).
3. Know Your Hair Type
Knowing what hair type you have—straight, thin, curly, dry—and buying a shampoo designed for it can make a huge difference. It’s not just marketing; these shampoos contain specific ingredients that certain hair types benefit from. For instance, curly hair needs something with more moisturizing ingredients, whereas formulas for thin hair contain ingredients to help volumize.
4. Always Condition After You Shampoo (And Even When You Don't)
Conditioners replenish moisture and essential oils that even sulfate-free shampoos may get rid of. If you have short hair, you should always use conditioner after shampooing to keep hair healthy, but it’s especially important for longer hair. For anything longer than three inches, you should consider conditioning your hair every day, whether you shampoo or not. Don’t focus as much on the roots; make sure you’re lathering the full length of your hair and focusing on the ends, which tend to get dry more easily.
5. Don't Use Two-in-One Products
You might have guessed that we would have a certain feeling about all-in-one cleansing solutions for men. It might be tempting to use multi-use products to save time, but they’re actually not good for your hair. Shampoo is meant to cleanse, and conditioner is meant to nourish and moisturize, so two-in-one products are harder on the hair and lean more towards the cleansing side, without giving you enough hydration.
6. Massage Your Scalp When You Shampoo
No matter what type of hair you have, taking care of your scalp can make all the difference in the health of your hair (and may help keep it around, if thinning is a concern). The first step is to give yourself a scalp massage whenever you shampoo. Use your fingers tips or a scalp brush to massage and exfoliate your scalp, It will help get rid of dead skin cells and activate hair follicle growth.
Any nicknames we should know about?
Not really People in Portugal, they call me Mike. Here in Dubai some people call me Migo. But I’ve never had like a strong nickname.
What was it like growing up on the coast in Portugal?
I was born and raised in south of Portugal, a small city, like five minutes from the beach. My childhood was Summertime going fishing or getting stuff from the river, spending all day on the beach, cycling around and mountain biking.
The early eighties was pretty special. No cell phones. No video games, not much TV. Like we only had two channels and only on the weekends, there was something to watch for kids. So we spent most of the time outside.
Your early passion was surfing right?
I was a teenager in the late eighties. Surfing was my main thing. Back then, Portugal was not like US or Australia, at that time surfing wasn’t main-stream, or at all established.
It was difficult to get a surf board, and the international surfing magazines would make it to Portugal with like six months delay.
You’re a man of many talents — you’re a photographer, art director, ex-professional surfer and endurance cyclist — am I missing anything from your resume?
A father. My baby ‘Ocean’ is one year old.
You’ve done some pretty extreme cycling in the last couple of years.
I road the seven emirates in 2019 - 467km, which was a personal challenge that I created with a close friend of mine. I’ve completed two The Biking Man races - Ultra Events of 1,000km. I’ve done Portugal and Oman.
Tell us about the latest race in Iceland.
Iceland was a 200km race on gravel roads around a volcano. Going into it I was confident that I could do it, as my previous two races were much further - 1,000km each. But this was my first long race on gravel, and 200 km on gravel is probably the same effort as 400 km on the road. I suffered a lot from cramps in the second 100 km, because of the cold. At the marker of the first 100 km I was in 10th position. I was pushing, and then I paid a lot for that in the second half of the race. I hit a headwind, and rain and I ended up doing like a long stretch into the wind alone. I lost the group that I was with, I didn't have the legs to go with them. So I suffered a lot, but it was a beautiful place to suffer.
The cornerstone of the rokpool ethos is our belief that a thoughtful routine of small positive habits, when practiced consistently holds the key to unlocking the mindset to do amazing things. What are your thoughts on this idea?
Yeah, I totally agree. I only recently started a meditation practice, but I feel that this is now an important part of my day. I have searched for years to find some peace from my thoughts, or from the stress of life or work or whatever. I found it in surfing and on the bike, but now I’m also looking to find it within my everyday.
What is the relationship between cycling and creativity? Do you feel that there is any connection for you?
The ultra races are in such epic places, and in 1,000 kilometers you see so much, you think so much, your mind goes in so many different places. Negative and positive. Since I started doing photography, everything in life inspires me, the negative things as well as the beautiful moments.
What's next for you?
For cycling, I will do Rwanda 1,000 km in Africa, and then possibly Kenya - It's a four days gravel race. And I'm going back to do Iceland again next year.
Any departing words for the people?
Be true to yourself, be kind. Get inspired. Challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone. And then enjoy as much as you can.