I like Russell Brand too, and I want his hairstyle also. But as I recently discovered, getting the "Russell Brand look" isn’t as simple as not cutting, not washing your hair, not styling and not shaving. Actually, it’s the opposite.

Russell Brand's Hairstyles

He’s all over the place right now and he seems to get the ladies so I thought to myself: I want a little piece of my own little Russell action. I let my long hair get a little longer, I chucked-out my shampoo so my hair would be a bit more matted, I threw out my hair brush (I mean, I stopped using my girlfriend’s), and I changed my pillow cases from silk to cotton in an attempt to intensify my bed head. And I didn’t shave... for a long time.

The result: people not only refused to talk to me, but they wouldn’t even look at me. I was doing a great impression of a starving hobo; I could have given a basement kidnap victim- locked away for 2 years- a run for their money in a "Most Desperately Needed Makeover" competition. It was a disaster. Chicks weren’t digging me.

So I booked an emergency appointment at my local men’s hair salon and in-between flicking through FHM, watching wrestling out of the corner of my eye on a giant plasma and sipping low-carb beer, my stylist filled me in on how to make my hair more like Russell’s.

The key to Russell’s hairstyle isn’t neglect but high maintenance, she said. First of all it’s quite a complex haircut: subtle layering has been added through the edges of the back and sides and the top was jagged-cut short to create height, width and shape. Next it takes time and dedication to style, everyday. Russell mousses, blow-dries, teases, moulds, styles his bangs to the left, lifts his roots, applies product for texture, and then adds smoothing shine and lacquer. Oh and he clips and shapes his beard.

All of a sudden I was remembering stories from Perez about how Russell took longest in makeup on the set of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

As it turns out, if you want to look like you’re having a bad hair day- like Russell- it takes time and effort. Of course! Because if you don’t want to look like you’re having a bad hair day then it usually happens naturally and continually all day long. I thought (as I glanced down at my ripped and faded- I mean "engineered"- jeans): I should have known better.