With barbers closed, actors and footballers have resorted to shaving off their hair - but experts warn it isn’t for everyone

With salons closed due to physical distancing guidelines, many men have resorted to cutting their hair at home. And instead of opting for a short back and sides, male celebrities have decided to just shave all their hair off.

Riz Ahmed, the Rogue One and Four Lions actor, has labelled it the #stayathome haircut, and Line of Duty actor Stephen Graham posted footage of his son clipping off his hair with the caption “lockdown locks!”

Footballers have also been opting for the look, with Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard and Manchester United’s Paul Pogba – known for his multiple hairstyles – also going for the shaved look. Arsenal defender Héctor Bellerín debuted a buzzcut captioning a photograph with the message: “Stay home, enjoy the sun.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Actor Riz Ahmed sports his lockdown look. Photograph: Riz Ahmed/Instagram

“The next few months are a perfect opportunity to try something new and low maintenance,” says GQ style and grooming director Teo van den Broeke. “There’s no one to judge you at home, so why not remove one extra stressor – namely your hair?”

If you’re going for the look, he suggests trimming your head once a week: “I’d advise using a high quality scalp and hair conditioner. Given that you’re likely to be spending a lot of time in centrally heated environments over the next few weeks, your scalp is going to need a lot of extra care.”

Hair and makeup artist Krystle Gohel recommends do-it-yourself kits from Babyliss and Whal.Technique is important: “The higher the clipper number, the easier it will be to blend,” she says, adding: “If you haven’t got someone to help, then position yourself in front of a mirror and have a large hand-held mirror to check the back, just like in a hairdresser.” Gohel advises getting someone to help with the back hairline and around ears.

Héctor Bellerín (@HectorBellerin) Stay home, enjoy the sun. pic.twitter.com/V6UHzGixM7

However, van den Broeke cautions that the look won’t work for everyone. “You need a lot of symmetry in your head in order to make a shaved head really work,” he says. “Long heads, bumpy heads and narrow heads don’t really suit a shaved head.”

Hair designer Darren Fowler says it’s not just men with certain head shapes that shouldn’t jump into this style. “I think it’s obviously fear and panic that drives most of this,” he says. “Seeing guys with inadequate machinery and ending up with lumps and bumps across their heads is not good. They look like they’ve come out of prison camp!”

He says that the head-shaved-at-home look is bad for mental health and self-confidence. “Shaving your head is the easy option on the day, but how many months do you have to live with it?”

Other male celebrities are opting to grow a beard while in self-quarantine. Actor Jim Carrey announced he was documenting his facial hair growth with the hashtag #letsgrowtogether (“day 3. Beard growth seems slower in isolation. Already yearning for the life I had before all the stubble began”), Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness compared his newly curly hair and stubbly facial look to 80s parody singer Weird Al Yankovic, while Will Smith, who is also growing a beard, edited together old clips from Men in Black, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Aladdin featuring beards photoshopped on to his face.

“Growing a beard is a better way to keep your look evolving. All you need to do is trim the upper lip a bit,” says Fowler. “It’s time to experiment with a look, but not to the detriment of looking bad.”