Black men care about how they look before they walk out the door, but some don’t know the correct and healthy ways to keep their grooming on point. Michael James, the founder of Fredrick Benjamin, a grooming line for men of color, is helping create those healthy habits with his all-natural products for hair.
James spoke with rolling out about Fredrick Benjamin and shared grooming tips for men.
What makes this brand different from other grooming companies?
Oftentimes, people ask us what’s in the product, but we start with what’s not in it. There’s no petroleum, no mineral oil, no drying alcohol, sulfates [or] parabens. We take an all-natural approach to solving for dry and itchy scalp, and we style your hair without the grease. There’s no petroleum or mineral oil, and we have water-based pomade to see exactly what you’re styling. Our whole mission is to get guys out of grease or putting Vaseline on their hair, and using something like water-based pomade.
Why should men take grooming their hair seriously?
Appearance is important for everyone. Statistics will back this up as men spend more time in the mirror grooming than their women counterparts. Grooming is important, and your appearance is how you show up; it oftentimes moves you to the next level, which would then lead to success. We’re also just creatures looking for aesthetically pleasing people.
What should men be doing when it comes to grooming?
Some of the mistakes men make are using products that are petroleum-based, heavy-greasing, or products that they find on the shelf from the drugstore. They ask me about how they fix their dry scalp and hair, but it’s the products that they’re using that’s causing it. Start using shampoo no more than twice a week, but hydrate it with style-in and leave-in conditioner daily. That will likely be your basis and then you can always style it, [and then] put your do-rag or wave cap on.
