Mens hairstyle 2019 short

Short haircuts are the go-to for most guys. There is just something satisfying about leaving the barber with a clean and fresh look. This is our newest update that features all-new super cool short haircuts for men. Update your style for with a men’s haircut that will get noticed and feel great.

Short haircuts can include anything from a couple of millimeters up to a couple of inches long. Hair can look and feel even shorter a type of fade at the sides. Or leave sides short but not shaved with a taper or taper fade. As far as styles go, short hair can be classic, trendy, or even trendsetting. It’s up to you.

Here are pictures of the most popular types of short haircut styles. Starting with the shortest, there are plenty of ways to wear short fades, textured looks, and classic men’s haircuts. If none of those work for you, keep scrolling for short haircuts that suit specific hair types, including thick, Black, curly, wavy, Asian, and thin hair.

The Best Men’s Short Haircuts

Scroll down to get into the most popular short haircuts for men in greater detail and to understand how to style them. But first, let’s list off your options for a quick understanding of the different styles you can get.

These are the haircuts you can ask your barber to cut for you.

• Buzz cut
• Shaved head + faded sides
• Short taper fade haircut
• Very short men’s haircut with a low fade, mid fade, or high fade
• Short haircut with a hard part
• Line up short haircut
• Short spiky haircut
• Short messy haircut
• Textured crop haircut – short hair
• French crop haircut – short hair
• Crop fade
• High and tight
• Crew cut
• Short comb over fade
• Classic side part haircut – short hair
• Short quiff haircut
• Mohawk fade
• Faux hawk – short hair
• waves haircut

Even short hair needs to be styled. For buzz cuts, all you need to do is take care of hair with a good shampoo and maybe conditioner too. Added moisture is more important if you plan to grow hair longer. Do use it for hair longer than half an inch. Other than that, the key is finding the right pomade for your hair type.

These are all variations on the popular buzz cut – fade combination. Many have a shape up to create a square hairline but that is optional. Anything goes for the fade from the lowest taper fade up to a high skin fade and everything in between. If that’s not enough, add a hard part or some shaved lines.

1. The Buzz Cut

While the buzz cut started with the military but it can be a high fashion look too.

2. Short Taper Fade Haircut

Style up that buzz cut with a line up and taper fade.

3. Short Low Fade Haircut

This cool Caesar haircut contrasts the line of blunt fringe with blurry low fade.

4. Short Mid Fade Haircut

Same haircut but with a higher fade and shaped beard.

5. Short High Fade Haircut

This fade cuts the sides short up high and adds some artistic shaved lines.

6. Short Skin Fade Haircut

This high skin fade creates a more stylish, less severe version of the jarhead lid haircut.

7. Hard Part Haircut

A short and diagonal shaved part in a buzz cut.

8. Line Up + Shaved Lines

A line up and shaved lines with a longer buzz cut style, which is still very short.

This section features the hottest hair trends – textured haircuts. These looks are cut and styled to enhance piecey texture that looks great and helps hair appear thicker. These looks can be styled spiky, messy, or loosely for different looks from the same haircut. Some of these styles are the popular French crop aka crop haircut aka textured crop, but not all. The sides can be faded or undercut.

9. Short Spiky Hair for Men

This cool short spiky cut and style is trendy and timeless at the same time. The bottom line is that it looks good.

Short Messy Hair for Men

Textured and messy spikes with an edge.

Short Textured Haircut + Undercut

This cool disconnected undercut style is more texture than spikes with a hint of a quiff.

Short Mohawk Fade Haircut

This short haircut reads like a wide mohawk with a temple meets burst fade and tousled texture.

French Crop

Here’s yet another cool way to wear the French crop aka textured crop aka crop haircut aka crop fade. Precision texture creates smooth waves and one shark tooth.

Textured Crop

This heavy crop is a cool and flattering way to wear thick and/or wavy hair. Layers remove bulk and bring out texture for a full but lightweight style.

Crop Fade Haircut

This version of the crop fade transforms wavy hair into short spikes with blunt fringe.

Short Spiky Haircut

This short spiky hairstyle lets everyone know that you mean business.

Blonde Hair for Men

Silver blonde hair color adds to the appeal of this short and messy spikes.

Messy + Spiky Hair

Those retro vertical spikes with visible gel have been replaced by this modern spiky crew cut fade with a snaking line that ends in a brow slash and beard fade. Can you handle this much look?

All of these classic short men’s haircuts feature that winning combination of short sides with longer hair on top. It’s longer but definitely still short. The shorter hair is on sides, the shorter hair is on top. Even at this length, hair can be styled into a crew cut, comb over, or even a quiff.

High + Tight Haircut

With a blurry fade and touch of product, this no-nonsense high and tight haircut has plenty of style.

Crew Cut

The crew cut is a type of short haircut that is longer at the forehead and gets shorter towards the crown. Here’s a modern one with textured styling and a sweet drop fade.

Short Comb Over Fade

The comb over fade is one of the most popular haircuts for men because it looks so good and is so easy to style. This version skips the side part.

Short Hair With Beard

You can make any haircut work with a beard. The key is the transition between hair and facial hair. Instead of connecting them at the side burns, this low fade separates them.

Short Quiff Haircut

The quiff hairstyle features a bump of volume at the forehead. It looks great on everyone and doesn’t need as much length as a pompadour.

Short Haircut for Older Men

Okay, this guy is more gray than old but it’s a flattering haircut for guys of all ages. The crew cut is styled into a quiff that helps this thin, fine hair type appear thicker.

Short Taper Haircut

Many short haircuts for men are fades but certainly not all. This classic men’s haircut is tapered all over with a taper fade at the sideburns and neckline that grow in clean.

Spiky Quiff

This classic meets modern style add some spikes to the quiff.

These cool short haircuts simultaneously tame and highlight thick hair. The contrast of faded sides show how thick hair is while eliminating the possibility of hair sticking straight out. Most of these looks are clean enough for work and cool enough for play. Or for something a little different, try a short mohawk fade with a strip of hair down to the neckline.

Heavy Crop Haircut

The crop fade is an ideal haircut for thick hair because it showcases hairs fullness while lightweight.

High and Tight for Thick Hair

A drop fade and ultra thick hair make this high and tight more modern than military.

Business Haircuts for Thick Hair

The classic quiff and clean fade make this cut suitable at work and play.

Wide Mohawk Fade

Some mohawks are narrow and long but this look is just as cool and much easier to wear with a wide cut and short spikes.

Burst Fade Haircut

Here’s another look at a similar wide mohawk and how it tapers into a pointed V at the back.

All of these haircuts should work for guys with wavy and or hair. The cuts are short but have enough length to reveal texture. Some are more conventional while other skew trendy.

High Fade Haircut For Wavy Hair

There are a number of short quiff haircuts on this page and here’s another with some added volume and texture from wavy hair.

Wavy Crop Haircut

The crop haircut was made for wavy and curly hair types. This artful cut is short all over with a few longer strands of curls.

Business Haircut for Wavy Hair

Yet another classic quiff, this version layers curly hair to add texture and volume in a cool yet professional hairstyle.

Curly Crop Fade Haircut

Here’s a fresh new way to wear the high top with curly texture and a fade that drops down.

Curly Fade Haircut

Curls up top, a fade below, and a shaved V in between.

Curly Mohawk Fade

The mohawk fade makes short hair seem longer but just adds length at the neckline and in this case, a V-cut.

Here are some cool short haircuts for black men that don’t shave hair off but are also short enough not to need a lot of extra moisturizing and styling. From wolfed waves to short curls, these looks show off natural texture.

Waves

Waves haircuts are cool because it takes some length to get the waves but hair is still close cropped.

Waves + Fade

This medium-high fade turns those waves into waves.

High Fade Haircut

If these short curls with a drop fade are good enough for former LA Clipper Wes Johnson, they’re good enough for you.

Short Haircut With Beard

This precision beard fade creates a seamless transition between short curls and dense beard.

Short Taper Fade For Black Hair

Here’s a short blowout haircut with a medium taper fade.

These short haircuts look good and help fine or thin hair appear thicker. The key is short sides that make hair on top look fuller in comparison. If hair is thinning, a very short haircut will minimize the effect against a skin fade. Otherwise, about an inch of length and some styling, volume and texture is the key to fuller-looking locks. A quiff, crop, and comb over are all flattering choices.

Shaved Sides + Short Top

The high skin fade combined with extra length and volume at the forehead makes thin or fine hair look thicker.

High And Tight For Thin Hair

Before considering the cue ball style, try a high skin fade. Whether hair is fine, thin, or thinning, the contrast between nothing and something makes hair appear more substantial.

Quiff Haircut For Fine Hair

Almost two inches of length at the forehead is enough to style a quiff without weighing fine hair down with product.

Textured Crop Haircut For Fine Hair

Piecey texture is another way to help fine hair look thicker and fuller. Try it with a textured crop or spiky style.

Comb Over Fade For Fine Hair

For fine hair, shorter styles can help hair look fuller.

Nice to see you here at the bottom of the page. Asian hair may be last, but it is certainly not least. These short haircuts for Asian men are five cool ways to tame coarseness while showing off thick hair. For guys with wide cheeks or round faces, the shaved sides and height at the hairline help the face appear longer.

High Skin Fade Haircut

This high and tight with a drop fade is a cool wash-and-wear haircut, especially if for thick and/or coarse hair. This version has a touch of product to enhance texture.

Drop Fade + Line Up Haircut

This fresh look contrasts a line of thick, blunt fringe with a blurry drop fade.

Drop Fade Haircut

The arc of a drop fade looks cool with every haircut.

Short Quiff Haircut For Asian Men

This faux hawk-quiff hybrid can also be styled spikier or quiffier.

Hard Part Haircut

This cool style adds volume and a shaved part to the always popular combover fade.

Short Sides, Long on Top Haircut

Cameron Tooyserkani

This short sides, longer on top haircut is a cool and clean cut look. Styled with some texture on San Jose Shark Dylan Gambrell, it could be also be worn with a side part for a more conservative workplace.

Men’s Short Fade Haircut

Cameron Tooyserkani

Fade haircuts cut the sides and back of hair ultra short or down to the skin. This skin fade makes short hair appear even thicker and fuller while creating a canvas for a subtle hair design at the temple.

Short Waves Haircut + Waves

Michael Kelly

A waves haircut shows off curly texture in a very short haircut. A line up and sideburn fade clean up the edges.

Men’s Short Haircuts For Thick Hair

Jeremy Wexler Hair

Short haircuts can make thick hair easier to style. This cool cut removes weight while adding texture. Work a dab of a medium hold, low shine product between palms and rub through hair and style with fingers.

Short Stylish Men’s Haircuts

Chris Jones

This fresh style features forward fringe cut into two intersecting curves. Maintain the shape with a matte product combed through hair.

Cool Short Haircuts For Men

Wes Staucet

This cool short haircut for men is ready for work or a night out on the town. Longer hair at the forehead is swept over to one side but could also be spiked up into a faux hawk or quiff. Try a product like Layrite Natural Matte Cream Pomade for hold without shine.

Short Haircuts For Men With Curly Hair

Andrew Does Hair

The best short haircuts for curly hair enhance hair’s natural texture. This high fade haircut styled with messy texture is great choice for summer but looks great all year round. Try a curl cream or sea salt spray to define curl and minimize frizz. A great new fade haircut for you to get this year.

Short Curly Haircuts For Men

Justin Armani

While faded sides can make curly hair easier to wear, these short sides reveal some texture while looking great. A little bit of extra length at the front can be styled into a quiff. Try a creamy pomade like Imperial Fiber Pomade.

Short Haircuts For Older Men

Corey Powell

You’re never to young or old to be stylish. This classic short haircut for men with modern styling works for men of all ages but is especially distinguished with streaks of silver. Gray hair looks best with matte hair products and with a gray-specific shampoo that uses blue and purple hues to counteract yellow tones.

Men’s Short Haircuts With Beards

Antonio Mateo

Hairstyles for beards can either echo or contrast what’s happening with facial hair. This cool look does the latter with thick wavy texture on top and a short, groomed beard.

Men’s Short Textured Haircut

John Carmona

This textured haircut is enhanced by styling with a shake of styling powder like American Crew Boost Powder worked through hair with fingers and then brushed with a wide tooth comb.

Short Textured Men’s Haircut

Conor Taaffe

An edgy and bolder version of the crop trend, this style is all about texture.

Popular Men’s Short Haircuts

Ballester Barbershop

This short textured cut is one of the most popular hairstyles for men. It works with thick and wavy hair and the subtle quiff is flattering for everyone.

Men’s Short Layered Haircut

Wes Staucet

This layered cut creates cool dimension and texture in a lightweight, easy to style look.

Really Short Men’s Haircut

Javi the Barber

This buzz cut with a high fade is very short and very simple but effective. The bald fade lines up with the hairline and makes hair appear fuller even though it’s a one length all over buzz cut.

Modern Textured Short Crop Men’s Haircut

Tom Baxter Hair

There are so many different ways to wear the textured crop trend. This modern version features plenty of layering and fringe styled into an off-center V.

Men’s Short Quiff Haircut For Fine Hair

Short haircuts on men are typically easy to maintain, yet radiate style. That’s why shorter cuts are understandably very popular amongst men.

Short, military haircuts have been super in since Roman times, both in and out of the army. The continuation of the popular style is mostly due to its clean, fresh look and ease of styling &#; rumour has it that the original purpose was to prevent barbarians from pulling the Roman soldiers’ hair back and slitting their throats during battle﹘yep, so annoying when that happens.

While you’re far less likely to encounter a barbarian in , it’s preferable that you don’t resemble one. In short, short haircuts are the best choice if you just want to get up and go, and look smart with little effort.

Short hair does not mean you’re short of options. From the classic quiff to the comb-over fade, taper fade to round-cut, textured crop or side part, there are more options to the style than you might imagine. Even the bowl cut is making a comeback! Don’t knock it ‘till you try it.

From clean crew-cuts to messier styles, the right haircut can make or break your overall appearance.

Very short men’s haircuts can accentuate a chiselled facial structure and emphasize a handsome, angular jawline. On the other hand, slightly longer, messy cuts can frame the face and reflect a more effortlessly cool vibe.

Looking to freshen up your fade, or just after a short-back-and-sides? With so many possibilities, choosing the right haircut for you can be a bit of a minefield. No fear, even if you don’t know a buzzcut from an undercut, we’ve snipped together a list of the best short haircuts for men.

If you need a little help styling your hair, these are the most popular hair care products for men right now:

The best short haircuts and hairstyles for men by popularity order

1. Crew Cut
2. Classic Buzz Cut
3. Short Style With Finger Waves
4. Ivy League
5. Classic Combed Back With Fade
6. Side Part Fade
7. Medium Length Natural Quiff
8. Pompadour With Taper Fade
9. High And Tight
10. French Crop With High Fade
11. Classic Caesar Cut
12. Short Buzz Cut
13. Tapered Sides With Blowout Top
14. French Crop With Low Fade
15. Caesar with Side Part
16. Messy French Crop
17. Short Modern Quiff With Faded Sides
18. Fade With Spike
19. Spiky With Side Part
20. Classic French Crop
21. Hard Line Undercut
22. Hard Part
23. Side Part With Bangs
24. Textured Crop
25. Classic Side Part
26. Buzz Cut With Shaved Design
27. Butch Cut
28. Fringe With Front Wavy Hair
29. Fade With Long Bangs
30. Induction Cut
31. Low Fade
32. Modern Quiff With Undercut Sides
33. Curly Quiff
34. Comb-over Low Fade
35. Slicked Back With Side Part
36. Curly Fringe
37. High-Top Fauxhawk
38. High-Top Fade
39. Messy Undercut With Bangs
40. Slicked Back Undercut
41. Classic Pompadour
42. Disconnected Undercut
43. Flat Top
44. Short Caesar Cut
45. Structured Quiff Undercut
46. Textured Quiff
47. Bowl Cut
48. Bowl Cut With Bangs
49. Modern Bowl Cut
50. Modern Mohawk

After our list of the best short haircuts, you’ll find a helpful guide to speak your barber’s language with the hairstyle terminology. We also spoke to professionals hairdressers to give you a guide on how to style a short haircut.

Crew Cut

We start off our list with a classic of men’s short hairstyle, the crew cut. The crew cut is easy to maintain yet stylish. It works particularly well for men with thick hair and square face shape. The main difference between the crew cut and the military buzz cut that follows is that with the crew cut, your hair isn’t of the same length everywhere, allowing for more styling options.

Classic Buzz Cut

Very short and classic, the buzz cut is easy to do but doesn’t leave many options in terms of styling. It works great if you have thick hair and want a rugged army look.

Short Style With Finger Waves

If you have curly or wavy hair, try this hairstyle with short sides and finger comb top.

Ivy League

Also known as the Harvard Clip or the Princeton hairstyle, the Ivy League haircut is a perfect for a classic business professional look. It works with pretty much all types of hair, from straight to wavy and curly. Keep the side relatively short and style the top with a side part.

Classic Combed Back With Fade

Now we’re getting into more sophisticated hairstyles. This is a higher maintenance look, but it looks great if you go to a party with a cocktail attire or black tie dress code. This works best with thick hair and round faces.

Side Part Fade

The side part fade is a timeless style that works well in any situation. It’s relatively simple to maintain every morning but you’ll need a trip to your hairdresser at least once a month to keep the side short.

Medium Length Natural Quiff

Don’t let the name fool you, the medium length natural quiff with tapered sides is harder to execute than it looks.

Pompadour With Taper Fade

A modern interpretation of the classic Pompadour haircut. The Pompadour hairstyle feature a large volume of hair at the top front of your head with shorter sides. This one comes with tapered sides for a clean look.

High And Tight

The high and tight features fading sides with a slightly longer top crown. It’s another classic military hairstyle, between a buzz cut and a crew cut.

French Crop With High Fade

Classic Caesar Cut

The classic Caesar cut is a traditional yet more edgy hairstyle to maintain.

Short Buzz Cut

If the buzz cut isn’t short enough for you, try this variation with a shorter hair length on your clippers.

Tapered Sides With Blowout Top

French Crop With Low Fade

Caesar With Side Part

Messy French Crop

This style works particularly well if you have straight hair.

Short Modern Quiff With Faded Sides

Fade With Spike

A Fade hairstyle with spikes at the top works well with thinning hair. It adds some volume and texture to your crown.

Spiky With Side Part

Classic French Crop

Hard Line Undercut

Hard Part

Also called the Dapper Side Part, the hard line is shaved for a clear style. This requires regular trips to your barber to maintain the hard part.

Side Part With Bangs

Textured Crop

The textured crop works great with men with wavy or curly hair.

Classic Side Part

Buzz Cut With Shaved Design

Yet another take on the buzz cut, if you barber is an artist, this can work great for an edgy and sophisticated look. You’ll need more work to maintain it though.

Butch Cut

The Butch Cut is even shorter than the Buzz Cut. It’s perfect for bald guys or men with thinning hairlines.

Fringe With Front Wavy Hair

Fade With Long Bangs

Induction Cut

The Induction Cut is the shortest possible hairstyle without using a blade to shave your head. The haircut names come from its military history as it’s the first haircut traditionally given to new army recruits.

Low Fade

Modern Quiff With Undercut Sides

Curly Quiff

Comb-Over Low Fade

Slicked Back With Side Part

Curly Fringe

High-Top Fauxhawk

The High-top Fauxhawk works great for short men to give the impression to be taller.

High-Top Fade

The High-top Fade is a variation of the fauxhawk. It also works well for short men.

Messy Undercut With Bangs

Slicked Back Undercut

The Slicked Back Undercut is trendy and easy to pull off, but you’ll need to apply more pommade in the morning to maintain the structure.

Classic Pompadour

A vintage hairstyle that is still relevant today. The Classic Pompadour can work well in a business context too if you want to show a bit of creativity and eccentricity.

Disconnected Undercut

The Disconnected Undercut works particularly well for men with a long face shape.

Flat Top

If you want a bit of a retro look, the Flat Top is still a great style today.

Short Caesar Cut

Structured Quiff Undercut

Textured Quiff

The Textured Quiff is basically a slightly messier version of the Structured Quiff Undercut. It’s easier to maintain through the day and requires less pommade.

Bowl Cut

Bowl Cut With Bangs

Modern Bowl Cut

Modern Mohawk

Terminology: How to explain what you want to your barber

While you pay your barber for their expertise, it can be exponentially helpful to be familiar with basic barbering terms. There’s little worse than the frustration of attempting to explain your ideal cut to your barber without the appropriate linguistic equipment.

First thing’s first, the clippers: 

This handy little tool is ubiquitous when it comes to men’s haircuts. You may have been baffled in the past to hear haircuts described as numbers:

“I’ll have a 3, please”.

Rather than looking confused, the barber deftly locates his clippers, attaches something and gets to work as if the request is perfectly normal.

Well, it is. The ‘somethings’ your barber will attach to his clippers are different ‘guard sizes’.

They’re placed before the blade on clippers to maintain a specific length when ‘clipping’ hair.

So, a ‘Number 1’, being the shortest (after 0, of course) means the guard size is 0,3 centimetres (⅛ inch), which will result in hair cut to that length. So on and so forth, until ‘Number 8’, which is 2,5 centimetres (1 inch).

How to style short hair for men: Expert tips

Favouring a short haircut can work wonders for saving time. While you’ll have arguably less freedom with experimentation, short hair is super easy to keep well-groomed on a daily basis. Depending on how short is short, you’ll still have the flexibility to create neat or more casual looks.

Styling time: When it comes to styling time, a short haircut could be the way forward if you’re not a fan of messing around in front of the mirror every morning. Military cuts, fades and tapered cuts are all super low-maintenance, saving you from the pre-work hassle and allowing more time for your morning coffee!

Regular barbers visits: These cuts do require a little more upkeep— a trim every few weeks is generally required to keep your hair looking neat and tidy. Medium length styles tend to have a little more movement in terms of growing out, but if you want to keep things tip-top, a regular barber visit is recommended for most short cuts.

Messy or structured: Short hair cuts tend to be more structured and clean by default, as opposed to longer cuts. Because the hair is clipped so short, it retains its shape easily. 

If you prefer a more windswept look, however, you can always opt for a longer top. You’ll then have more freedom to ‘muss’ it up with some sea salt spray or gel for a more je ne sais quoi vibe, while keeping the sides neat and tidy.

Texture and thickness: If you’ve been blessed with thicker hair, a short haircut is a bonafide way of preventing unruliness. Short back-and-sides with a longer top or a crew cut is an effective way of highlighting your (envy-invoking) ability to grow thick, voluminous hair, without the accompanying hassle of long hair management.

On the contrary, if your hair is on the thinner side, short cuts can be super flattering too. In fact, short cuts are a tried-and-tested industry technique to disguise thinning hair. While longer strands tend to emphasise thin or fine hair, short, blunt haircuts create the illusion of thickness. 

Men who haven’t been blessed with a lion’s mane could consider a buzzcut. Buzzcuts need minimal (if any) product to set the shape, which is great news as the overuse of gel can highlight hair thinning and in a less than desirable way.

Face shape: Short haircuts can be amazing for accentuating a strong jawline. Pay careful attention to which short cut you go for, though, as some are more flattering on others, depending on your face shape.

Square face shapes tend to have wide cheekbones and an angular jawline. In this case, very close cuts are preferable. Think a military cut, crew cut or buzz cut to draw attention to those angles.

Oval shaped faces allow more freedom— as a user-friendly face shape you’re free to experiment. It is recommended that you don’t go for too much volume on top, even with short hair, as this can elongate an already lengthened face.

Round face shapes are quite the opposite, you want to create the appearance of length by balancing a rounder face with more volume on top. Feel free to keep the back and sides shorter, but ensure your barber leaves enough hair on top to play with. A small quiff or no-fuss messy style could be perfect for balancing your face here.

Triangular faces, take heed: while most short haircuts will be flattering, it’s best to have a little more volume on the sides. Generally, if you’re going for a fade or taper, ensure that your hair isn’t cut too close to the skin around your ears and below— try to keep some length.

Diamond face shape? Try to grow out the top of your hair a little (while keeping it a short cut in essence)— diamond faces tend to have strong cheekbones and a smaller upper head. Therefore, maintaining a voluminous fringe will help to balance everything out.

Age: Short cuts on men are a failsafe way to retain a youthful aesthetic— not only are they easier to manage, but as we’ve said, they help to create the idea of thickness. This can be an attractive quality in mature gentlemen who want to enhance thinning hair.

On younger men, shorter cuts are perfect for those who prefer a neat, shipshape style, with less room kinks or need for product. 

The skilful use of clippers is the method by which barbers achieve many of the following styles, along with traditional barbering shears:

Fade:

Though often interchanged with the tapered cut, the fade cut does have its own trademarks. Shorter than a tapered cut, the hair is often shaved right down to the skin at the shortest parts, with gradual lengthening when ascending the head, leaving longer hair on top.

There are variants in fades, too. A low-fade is conservative and low-key, beginning just above the ear. In contrast, a high fade begins much higher on the head and curves around, creating a more edgy, striking look.

The fade technique can be used to complement other styles, such as the combover and the undercut.

Taper:

When you request a tapered cut, you’re asking for your hair to literally be ‘tapered’ from the shortest at the nape of your neck, to longer (but still close cut) above your ears. Tapered cuts typically involve slightly longer hair on the sides, with the longest hair on top.

Undercut:

The undercut has become a mainstay in edgy haircuts. When you ask for an undercut, you’re asking for shaved back and sides, sharply contrasting with considerably longer hair on top.

You can have the shorter parts cut with a fade, or with an all-over close cut to further dramatise this edgy style.

Bangs or Fringe:

Not just for women. We promise. ‘Bangs’ and ‘fringe’ are different words for the same thing (depending on which side of the pond you are): short hair falling onto the forehead and surrounding the face.

Messy, short fringes look smart on men when they’re swept to the side. Neat, cropped fringes also complement the crew and buzzcuts very nicely.

Quiff:

You’d be forgiven for thinking the quiff should stay safely in the s, or on John Travolta in Grease. However, done correctly, the quiff can be a truly flattering style. Ideally, you’ll have grown your hair out a little so the barber has enough to work with. Lots of product is vital to retain that retro ‘bounce’ associated with the quiff.

It can be happily paired with fades and undercuts, as this style is more about pushing the top hair up and forward to achieve that iconic shape.

Pompadour:

To rock a true pompadour, you’ll need your hair to be long enough to lay flat on top of your head when combed back. Similar to a quiff in cut, it’s the styling that’s key here. The ‘pomp’ is styled back, as opposed to the ‘up and forward’ of the quiff. Classically, they’re set firmly in place with a strong pomade.

Modern bowl cut:

Now’s the time to eradicate any presumptions you had about the bowl cut. The modern bowl cut has actually become a favoured style of late. Ask your barber for a subtle fade from long to short, while keeping the longer top choppy and uneven.

For a more individual look, ask for an undercut to achieve a starker contrast between the ‘bowl’ and the shorter hair.

Military or short crew cut:

A military or short crew cut is a very short fade, culminating in slightly longer hair on the top. However, the top hair remains very neat, sharp and short too, therefore differing from the classic taper. Characterised by neatness and simplicity, this cut is daily maintenance-free but requires trimming fairly frequently.

Men&#;s short hairstyles: Frequently asked questions