Faux hawk

Read this out: “Mid/high fade; 2–3 in strip centre front to crown, pushed to a peak.” That's 2–3 in (5–7.5 cm) on top with a tapered neckline, recut every 3–4 weeks. Your own barber card adjusts it for your part side and texture.

The faux hawk and the high and tight share short length, which is why they get mixed up. The faux hawk is cut as “Leave a 2–3 in strip from the front to the crown”; the high and tight as “Clipper; hard transition at the parietal ridge”. On texture, the faux hawk takes 1B–3B hair; the high and tight takes 1A–4C hair. Beyond the trim the faux hawk needs volume at the crown and a dress code that allows a statement cut, the high and tight needs nothing beyond the trim. 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: high and tight.

Yes: our catalog lists the faux hawk as a men's cut, so it comes up when your check is set to men's cuts, and not in the women's list. That is where gender stops counting: the shape is decided by your hair and your proportions. The spec wants 1B–3B hair at medium to high density, and it still works with a clearly receding hairline. The free check measures your texture, density and hairline, then ranks the faux hawk against every other men's cut.

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

Not as a first pick: the catalog allows medium to high density, because the shape relies on bulk that thin hair doesn't have. Nothing else in its spec marks it down for fine strands or low density. It also needs volume to hold its shape, so anything that flattens your hair works against it. Density is measured in the free check, and our thinning hair guide lists the cuts our engine favours for thin hair.

A trim every 3–4 weeks: 13–17 cuts a year, about $390–$510 at $30 a cut, plus 5 minutes of styling a day.

4A–4C hair (coily): the shape depends on a texture it can't hold, so we rule it out. Low-density hair: the cut relies on bulk that thin hair doesn't have. A hairline past Norwood 3: at stage 4 it's shown with a caveat; beyond that we hide it. Barbers also flag: Long faces; conservative workplaces.

On proportions alone, our engine places it in the top 3 for round and heart 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.

“Fohawk” 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.