Quiff

Read this out: “Front 3–4 in graduating to 1.5 in at crown; mid fade or taper; texturize the front.” That's 1.5–4 in (4–10 cm) on top with a tapered neckline, recut every 3–5 weeks. Your own barber card adjusts it for your part side and texture.

The quiff and the curtains / middle part share medium length and medium to high density, which is why they get mixed up. The quiff is cut as “Graduate front to crown; texturise the front”; the curtains / middle part as “Point-cut and texturise the ends”. On texture, the quiff takes 1B–2C hair, plus 1A, 3A with adjustments; the curtains / middle part takes 1A–2C hair, plus 3A with adjustments. Beyond the trim the quiff needs volume at the crown, a blowout in humid weather and heat tools, the curtains / middle part 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: curtains / middle part.

Yes: our catalog lists the quiff 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–2C hair at medium to high density, and it still works with a hairline a little higher at the temples. The free check measures your texture, density and hairline, then ranks the quiff against every other men's cut.

It's best on 1B–2C hair and possible on 1A, 3A with adjustments. On 3C–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. Our analysis scores it lower if you have fine hair and low-density hair. 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 3–5 weeks: 10–17 cuts a year, about $300–$510 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. Low-density hair: the cut relies on bulk that thin hair doesn't have. A hairline past Norwood 2: at stage 3 it's shown with a caveat; beyond that we hide it. Barbers also flag: Long or oblong faces; fine, low-density hair; hidden from hairline stage 3.

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