Faux Hawk

What a faux hawk is

"Faux" is French for false, and that is the whole idea. A mohawk shaves the sides to skin and leaves one strip standing. A faux hawk keeps hair on the sides, cut short and blended, and gets the ridge from length and product rather than from bare scalp.

Three things make the shape.

The centre strip. The longest hair sits in a band roughly as wide as your eyebrows are apart, running from the hairline back to the crown. On a classic faux hawk it is somewhere around 4 to 7cm.

The sides. Short, usually a fade or a taper. The tighter the sides, the more the ridge stands out.

The direction. Everything on top is pushed up and in towards the middle, so the hair meets in a soft peak. Brush it flat and you have a short back and sides with a long top. Push it to the centre and you have a faux hawk. The cut makes it possible, the styling makes it happen.

Faux hawk vs mohawk, and vs a quiff

Faux hawk vs mohawk. A mohawk has the sides shaved to skin with no blend, and a strip that often runs all the way down to the nape. A faux hawk keeps length on the sides and blends it into the top. It is far easier to wear to work, and far easier to grow out, because the sides never had to start from nothing.

Faux hawk vs quiff. Both are short sides and longer top. A quiff lifts the front up and sweeps it back. A faux hawk lifts the whole middle strip and brings it in to a ridge. Same cut, near enough, styled in a different direction. Plenty of men wear one on a weekday and the other at the weekend.

Faux hawk with an undercut. If the sides are clippered short with a clear step where they meet the top, rather than blended, that is an undercut styled as a faux hawk. Sharper, more contrast, more effort.

Who a faux hawk suits

Hair type. Thick, straight or slightly wavy hair is the easiest. It has the body to stand up and hold a ridge with a little clay. Fine hair can wear a shorter faux hawk, but it struggles to hold height and shows scalp when it is pushed up, so keep the top shorter and the product matte and light. Curly and coily hair is very good for it. The curl gives natural height in the middle once the sides are tapered, and the result is often called a frohawk. The hairstyles by hair type page goes into each texture.

Face shape. Height on top makes a face look longer and narrower. That helps a round face, especially with tight sides. On a long face, keep the ridge low and the sides a grade longer so the head does not look taller still.

Thinning hair. A short faux hawk can work with a little recession at the temples, because it draws the eye to the middle rather than the corners. It is a poor choice if the crown is thin, since pushing hair up exposes exactly that area. The haircuts for balding men page has better options for that.

Work and lifestyle. A short faux hawk over a taper, styled flat, passes in most offices. A tall one over a skin fade is a weekend haircut. It takes a few minutes and some product every morning, so it is not for men who want to towel dry and leave.

How to ask a UK barber for a faux hawk

Say "faux hawk", show a photo, and then give the barber the details, because the name covers everything from a barely-there ridge to something close to a mohawk.

The sides. Pick a fade or a taper and how short.

• "Low fade on the sides, grade 2 going down to a 0.5 round the ears."
• "Mid skin fade, foil shaver at the bottom." Only ask for skin if you want to see skin.
• "Taper, grade 3 on the sides going to a grade 1 at the neck, no fade." The office-safe version.

The top. Give the length in centimetres and say where it is longest.

• Short faux hawk: "About 3 to 4cm on top, a bit longer at the front."
• Classic: "Leave about 5 to 6cm through the middle, fringe to crown."
• Long: "7cm or more through the middle so it can stand up properly."

The shape. "Take a little weight off the corners on top so it narrows towards the middle. Texture it so I can push it into a ridge." This is what separates a faux hawk from a quiff in the chair. Without it you are relying on product to do all the work.

The back. Ask whether you want the nape blended short or the strip carried down a little to a point. Most faux hawks stop at the crown.

A desvanecimento reduzido keeps it conservative. A burst fade curves round the ear and leaves more at the back, which suits the shape well. The types of fade page explains where each one starts.

Styling a faux hawk

The cut provides the length. Styling provides the ridge.

1. Towel dry until the hair is damp, not wet.
2. For more lift, blow dry the top upwards, pushing the sides of the top strip in towards the middle with your fingers or a brush. On fine hair, a little salt spray before drying helps.
3. Take a small amount of matte clay or paste, about the size of a pea, and warm it between your palms.
4. Work it through from the back of the top to the front, then push the hair up and in from both sides so it meets in the middle.
5. Pinch the ridge lightly with your fingertips. Small pinches look natural. Hard spikes look like the early 2000s.
6. Check it from the side in a second mirror. Most faux hawks look fine from the front and collapse at the crown.

For curly hair, skip the drying and the clay. Use a little curl cream on damp hair, shape the middle with your fingers, and let it dry on its own.

Matte products suit the cut best. Hard, shiny gel sets stiff and looks dated.

Upkeep and how often to cut

Hair grows roughly 1cm a month. On a faux hawk the sides go first, and once they fill out the ridge stops standing out.

• Skin fade or high fade: every two to three weeks.
• Low fade or taper: every three to four weeks.
• The top: a trim every four to six weeks keeps it from flopping, usually done at the same visit.

Between visits, tidy the neckline and around the ears with a trimmer. Leave the top to the barber. Wash product out properly a few times a week, because build-up weighs the hair down and the ridge goes with it.

If you wear a beard, keep the cheek line and neckline sharp. A neat beard goes with the shape. A scruffy one makes the whole thing look unplanned.

Variations and growing it out

• Short faux hawk. 3 to 4cm on top over a taper. The easiest to wear and the easiest to style.
• Classic faux hawk. 5 to 6cm through the middle over a low or mid fade.
• Faux hawk fade. The sides taken to skin, for the most contrast.
• Long faux hawk. 7cm or more on top. More height, more drying, more product.
• Curly faux hawk. Natural curl left on top over tapered sides, little or no product.

Growing one out is simple, because nothing was shaved. Let the barber soften the narrowing on top and leave the sides a grade longer at each visit. Within a couple of months it reads as a short back and sides with a longer top, and from there you can go towards a quiff, a textured crop or something longer.