High-top fade

Read this out: “Skin fade sides; top 3–6 in shaped flat and squared.” That's 3–6 in (7.5–15 cm) on top with a blocked neckline, recut every 2 weeks. Your own barber card adjusts it for your part side and texture.

The high-top fade and the twists / starter locs share medium length, the same best textures (4A–4C) and medium to high density, which is why they get mixed up. The high-top fade is cut as “Shape the top flat and squared”; the twists / starter locs as “Two-strand twists or comb coils on an even parting grid; retwist every 3–6 weeks”. The neckline differs too: blocked against tapered. On texture, the high-top fade takes 4A–4C hair; the twists / starter locs takes 4A–4C hair, plus 3C with adjustments. Beyond the trim the high-top fade needs volume at the crown, the twists / starter locs 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: twists / starter locs.

Yes: our catalog lists the high-top fade 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 4A–4C hair at medium to high density, and it still works with no recession. The free check measures your texture, density and hairline, then ranks the high-top fade against every other men's cut.

It's best on 4A–4C hair. On 1A–3C 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 2 weeks: 26 cuts a year, about $780–$780 at $30 a cut, plus 5 minutes of styling a day.

1A–3C hair (straight, wavy and curly): 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 1: at stage 2 it's shown with a caveat; beyond that we hide it. Barbers also flag: Long faces; hidden from hairline stage 2; a retro look that depends on trends (Janif 2014).

“High top” 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.