Types of Fade Haircut

Height and depth

Every fade can be described with two words, and once you know them the names stop being confusing.

Height is where the blend starts. A low fade starts just above the ear. A mid fade starts around the temple. A high fade starts up near the corner of the head, where the side turns into the top.

Depth is how short the bottom goes. A standard fade usually finishes at a grade 0 or a half grade. A skin fade goes right down to bare skin with a foil shaver or a razor.

So a "high skin fade" is a fade that starts high and finishes on skin. A "low fade" with nothing else said will usually finish at a grade 0 or half. The shape of the line, curving round the ear or dropping behind it, gives you the burst and the drop.

The types of fade

Fade ridotto

Il dissolvenza bassa starts just above the ear and keeps the shortest part close to the neck and ears. It is the most understated fade, it grows out the slowest and it leaves enough length on the sides to carry a longer top.

Fade centrale

The mid fade starts around the middle of the side, level with the temple. It is the middle ground, with clear contrast from the front but nothing dramatic, and it is the one most barbers default to if you just ask for "a fade". It is covered alongside the low fade on that page, because the two are mostly a matter of a couple of centimetres.

High fade

Il high fade starts near the top of the side and takes almost everything below it down short. It gives the most contrast against the top and shows the shape of the head clearly. It suits thick hair, short tops and anyone who is happy to be back in the chair every fortnight.

Sfumatura della pelle

A skin fade, also called a bald fade, can start at any height. What defines it is the finish. The bottom goes to bare skin, which gives the sharpest contrast of any fade and the shortest life, as stubble starts to show within a few days.

Burst fade

Il burst fade curves in a semicircle around the ear and leaves the hair at the back of the neck longer. It is the fade for curly tops, a strip of length down the middle or a modern mullet, where you want the sides tight and the back kept.

Drop fade

Il drop fade follows the line of the head. It starts higher at the temple and drops down behind the ear towards the nape, in an arc. It follows the natural curve of the skull instead of cutting a level line round it, which suits a lot of head shapes better than a straight fade.

Taper

The taper only shortens the hair at the edges of the hairline, the sideburns and the nape, and leaves the rest of the sides with some length. It is the gentlest member of the family. The dissolvenza conica page covers it and its own low, mid and high versions.

Where each fade starts

Treat the intervals as a guide. The closer to skin and the higher the start, the faster it shows growth.

Fade vs taper vs undercut

These three get mixed up more than anything else in a barber's shop, and the difference matters because the results are nothing alike.

A fade takes the whole of the sides and back down gradually, blended from short at the bottom to longer higher up. There is no visible line anywhere.

A taper does the same thing on a much smaller area, at the edges of the hairline only. The rest of the sides keep length, so it looks more traditional and grows out more gently.

Un undercut has no blend at all. The sides are clipped to one short length and the top is left long, with a clear line where they meet. The undercut page goes into it. It is often confused with a high fade because both leave the sides very short, but an undercut looks like two haircuts sitting on top of each other, and a fade looks like one.

The simplest test is to look at the side of the head from a metre away. If you can see a line, it is an undercut. If you cannot see where the short hair ends, it is a fade. If the sides look normal until you get to the ear, it is a taper.

Picking one

Start with how often you will go back. A skin fade cut every four weeks spends three of them looking grown out. A low fade on the same schedule looks fine throughout.

Then think about your hair. Fine straight hair shows the blend clearly, which looks great when fresh and patchy when rushed, so pick a good barber over a quick one. Thick, curly and coily hair hides the blend well and tends to suit the higher fades, because they stop the sides growing out wide. The hairstyles by hair type page has more on that.

If you are thinning at the temples, a high fade takes away the hair that was hiding it. Keep it low, or look at the haircuts for balding men page first.

And if you only want a fade because you want short sides, a short back and sides by scissor over comb might be what you are actually after. You can see how it compares with the rest in the men's hairstyles directory.

Asking for a fade

Tell the barber three things. The height, low, mid or high. The depth, a grade 0, half or skin. And what you want on top, in terms of how much to take off.

Say how you want the neckline finished, tapered or squared, and if you want a line-up at the front or the natural hairline left as it is. A photo of the side and back helps more than any amount of description.

Frequently asked questions