Dear John Travolta: Please Take a Cue from The Forger and Lighten Up

One of the most aging things an older man can do to himself is dye his grey(ing) hair too dark -- facial hair, too. Immediately John Travolta springs to mind, right? That he was just at TIFF sporting improbable boot-black hair and beard makes it easy to think of him first. Plus, this isn't a new thing to say about Travolta's hair. I just feel the need to talk about it now because I saw The Forger at TIFF last week, and his grey-streaked movie hair looked so much better.

john travolta: the forger hair is better

As we age, skin gets paler. Aside from broadcasting a desperate dye job, dense boot-black hair creates too much of a contrast against older skin; it makes the complexion look stark and older (although you have to note that Travolta, 60, has great skin). A matching beard is not an improvement (according to someone on Instagram, it's for another movie).

Look how much better John Travolta's hair and brows are in The Forger. With that hair colour, he's really still quite a striking man on screen. Those streaks of light brown and grey make him look kind of sexy -- there I said it. The length helps, too.

You know what? I think Travolta, 60, looks great in this shot snapped on the set of The Forger. Definitely without the full black beard. And I don't care that this hair doesn't look real -- it doesn't look any less fake than the black lid he often sports.

That beard... there are no words. No good words. And those too-dark brows dyed to match. That the beard is for another film character is a tiny bit of relief, but...

This is better! Do this, John, do this.

Better yet, leave off the hair pieces entirely and lighten up on the buzzed ’do (and the brows, too). Thin hair and a receding hairline are less obvious when the colour is softer, in less contrast against the skin. Colour variation would help as well -- go a lighter neutral or ash brown, and let the sideburns go grey.

Who else has thoughts on this?

John Travolta red carpet photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP.