Long pixie / bixie

Read this out: “2–4 in top and sides, ears half covered; tapered nape; long side-swept fringe.” That's 2–4 in (5–10 cm) on top with a tapered neckline, recut every 5–7 weeks. Your own barber card adjusts it for your part side and texture.

The long pixie / bixie and the italian bob share short length and any density, which is why they get mixed up. The long pixie / bixie is cut as “Soft layers; tapered nape; debulk very thick hair”; the italian bob as “Invisible internal layers (point or slide cutting); keep the perimeter solid; curly hair: cut it a little longer, dry”. The neckline differs too: tapered against blocked. On texture, the long pixie / bixie takes 1A–2C hair, plus 3A with adjustments; the italian bob takes 1A–2B hair, plus 2C–3A with adjustments. Our engine scores both against your own texture, density and hairline, so the free check tells you which of the two ranks higher for you. Full spec: italian bob.

Yes: our catalog lists the long pixie / bixie as a women's cut, so it comes up when your check is set to women's cuts, and not in the men's list. That is where gender stops counting: the shape is decided by your hair and your proportions. The spec wants 1A–2C hair at any density, and it still works with a clearly receding hairline. The free check measures your texture, density and hairline, then ranks the long pixie / bixie against every other women's cut.

It's best on 1A–2C hair and possible on 3A with adjustments. On 3C–4C hair the shape doesn't hold, so our analysis rules it out.

Yes: the catalog allows any density, so low-density hair isn't ruled out. Nothing else in its spec marks it down for fine strands or low density. Density is measured in the free check, and our thinning hair guide lists the cuts our engine favours for thin hair.

A trim every 5–7 weeks: 7–10 cuts a year, about $210–$300 at $30 a cut, plus 5–10 minutes of styling a day.

3C–4C hair (curly and coily): the shape depends on a texture it can't hold, so we rule it out. A hairline past Norwood 3: at stage 4 it's shown with a caveat; beyond that we hide it. You want to keep your length: from typical medium hair this is a big chop. Barbers also flag: Very thick, coarse hair needs debulking.

On proportions alone, our engine places it in the top 3 for square faces. Proportions are the smallest part of a real score; texture, density and hairline count for more, which is why the free check looks at your hair first.

“Pixie bob” is one of the names people use for it. Ask for it by the spec above rather than the name, since names vary between barbers.