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Played by the legendary Keanu Reeves, there’s a lot to say about John Wick’s look – it’s all iconic – but one thing you can’t miss is John Wick’s hair.
Whether you’re talking about his signature flowing locks, or when he slicked it back, it’s always appropriate for his badass alternative dapper aesthetic.
Add to this a killer beard, and you’re all set.
In this article, I’ll be going over how you can obtain John Wick’s hair and beard style, so you to can kill his daring looks it in the grooming department.
An Overview of John Wick’s Hair
John Wick’s haircut isof medium to long length, and is referred to as the ‘chin length side swept center part’ hairstyle. It’s short enough to professionally wear without tying up, but long enough to stand out and add to his aesthetic.
Though the general style stays similar throughout the three films, the hair length,hold, and finish of his hair changes, giving way to a variety of different looks.
Why Does John Wick Have Long Hair?
This question is interesting – it doesn’t make sense from a practical perspective, as an assassin will need as few hindrances as possible.
One may suggest that buzzing his hair would bring too much attention to him, and properly styling it would take too much time. But, with a professional reputation to maintain, he still needs his hair to look good, but with minimum effort, hence the unstructured, longer hair.
As we’ll see, on missions, he tries to compensate by slicking it back, removing the need to cut and style it, but keeping it out of his face.
What Colour is His Hair?
John wick has, dark, black hair. This matches really well with the rest of his style, and allows him to easily pull off his signature dark shirts.
John Wick’s Hairstyles
John Wick’s Iconic Long Hair
As stated, in every case, John Wick’s hair has a center parting, and is swept to the sides. This haircut is all about the length and the texture, and without either one, it will be difficult to achieve this look.
In chapter one, we are first introduced to this hairstyle at its shortest length, which comes down to about 3/4 of the way down his nose at the front, potentially the tip when stretched, and graduates down to about chin length on the back and sides. It gets slightly longer throughout the films, and even sometimes fluctuates during a chapter.
Also, especially when wet, this haircut curls slightly where it meets his suit.
How to Get the Long John Wick Hairstyle
The Cut
To get John Wick’s haircut from chapter one, you will require around 5″ of hair on top, andaround 7.5-8″on the sides and back.
The length for chapter two is mostly the same, but with perhaps an extra 0.5-1″ at the back, with a similar length at the top.
John Wick’s hair in chapter three is longer still, coming in at about 9-10″ at the sides and back, and slightly longer, around 6″, on top. The front is it notably longer, though, as Keanu’s hair starts to curl when it gets long, it looks similar to how it did in the previous films.
If you’re starting from a short length, it will take a long time to grow out your hair to the required length, but when you get there, you’ll probably want to visit your barber to get it tidied up.
During this session, ask your barber to:
- Cut your hair to the required length with scissors
- Graduate down the sides, to produce a slant.
- Add layering and texture.
And, if you’ve read any of my other hair articles, you know what’s coming next – if in doubt, take in a photo to make it crystal clear what sort of look you’re going for.
The Styling
This hairstyle is unstructured, so won’t require a huge amount of ‘styling’. However, it will need a good amount of maintenance to actually look good and presentable. This could include hair straightening, if you have disobedient hair.
On top of this, depending on your hair, you may want to invest in a low-hold matt hair product, such as a cream, to give it a bit of weight and direction, and to help it drape properly.
- The first step is towet your hair.
- Neatly part your hair in the middle with a comb.
- Pat dry it as best you can with a towel, and blast your hair back with a hair dryer, using your fingers to push it back, and give it direction.
- For some obedient hair types, this will be enough.
- If not, if the hair is curled, apply heat protectant, and quickly straighten your hair, making sure to not make it perfectly straight.
- If the hair is straight, but not staying in place or looking incorrect, apply a light-medium hold styling product, and sweep your hair back and to the sides.
For extra detail, check out this video. I feel the advice is really good, though the mannequin’s hair is slightly too long, and doesn’t have great texture.
John Wick’s Slicked Back Hair
We see John Wick’s slicked back hair at few points in the films, notably when he’s going on a mission, or knows he’ll be in combat, such as in chapter two when he goes to assassinate Gianna D’Antonio at a concert in Rome.
This look is awesome, but dressier and more sinister, which goes well with the suits he rocks in those sequences.
He presumably slicks it back to keep it in place, and out of his eyes. Though, given the sort of action sequences we seen in the series, I don’t think any amount of hair product would be able to keep his hair in place.
Aside from the product, one major differentiation is that his hair is slicked back behind his ears, and not over.
However, unless you have an expert (and expensive) Hollywood hair stylist on stand by, I would suggest to only try this specific look if you have thicker hair, as shinier and higher hold products tend to clump up and accentuate the fineness of thinner hair types. Though, Keanu Reeves’ hair doesn’t look super thick, so I’m sure you could pull it off with any hair type, given the right skill and product.
How to Get John Wicks’s Slicked Back Hair
The Cut
This look appears in chapters one and two, so you can choose either length. However, I feel the longer hair of chapter two is better for this style, which is about 5″ on top, and 8.5″ on the back and sides.
The Styling
This specific slicked back variation of John Wick’s hair can be achieved in the same way as stated above, though will require a different product to finish it off. This product will require a medium-high hold and shine, so your best bet will be a hair gel, or preferably, a pomade:
- Follow steps 1-5 as above
- Emulsify your higher hold and shiny hair product (by putting the product of your choosing on your fingers, and rubbing them together to activate and heat the product). Here is a good tutorial for this.
- Push back on your hair in both directions, making sure to maintain the center parting, and coat the hair follicles in their entirety. Good coating coverage here is key, as it will look strange if only part of your hair is shiny.
- After this, make sure your hair sits behind your ear.
- Adjust the style, and further slick it back where required using a hair brush or comb.
John Wick’s Short Hair
Throughout the films, John shies away from shorter hair, preferring to always stick to the aforementioned longer styles. Though, it wouldn’t be surprising to learn that he had pulled off a shorter style in the past.
John Wick’s Beard & Facial Hair
To accompany his look, John Wick also sports a ‘full beard’ style. It is longer than stubble, and looks to be at about 4-5mm in length. It is patchy in places, and somewhat unkept, which goes well with his hairstyle and character.
John Wick Beard Tutorial
Provided you can, all you have to do to get John Wick’s beard is:
- Grow your facial hair out to a good level
- Invest in a good beard trimmer, with length settings
- Trim your facial hair down to around 4mm
For the exact look, you should remove hair to the left and right of the moustache.
Again, here’s a video tutorial that goes more in depth:
Conclusion
So, now you know how to style Keanu’s John Wick hair and beard.
But it’s likely you won’t be able to try it out for a while, as the growing out process will take some time, effort, and motivation.
However, when you finally get there, you can expect an awesome longer hairstyle that will turn heads, and bring you a step closer to being a certified badass.
