Skin Fade

If we’re looking for a trendy and up-to-date men’s hairstyle then the skin fade cut is the best choice.  This look is classy, contemporary and easy to wear.

2018 has been a year where everyone’s been wanting to get the hairstyles that models and celebrities have. Therefore there has been a surge in the different styles that was requested in the salons this year. The ‘neatly styled’ look is moving out and we’re seeing more of a street culture nowadays. Following are some of the trending hairstyles of 2018:

Buzz cut

It can vary in length. The buzz cut or crew cut suits a person with round, square or a symmetrical face. A dark haired man will look better than a blonde man as blond hair tends to look shorter than dark hair of the same length.

Fringes

This year the trend is for shorter, textured, broken-up fringes. This look suits almost everyone. It will close the face and make our forehead look smaller.

Long hair

This look has many variation such as, parting, fringes, below or above shoulder lengths. This look is versatile as we can wear it in different ways, like sleek, textured or layers. The skin fade look best suits those who have very thick hair.

High fade vs. Mid fade vs. Low fade??

Being one of the most trending haircuts for men, it comes in variety of forms such as high, mid and low skin fade cuts. A low skin fade haircut looks more professional. A mid to high skin fade looks more practical and sporty. Skin fade may involve a technique called ‘The Disconnect’ which adds emphasis and makes the style more of a fashion statement. If we want a super cool hairstyle, the skin fade can often be combined with a stylist quiff, pompadour, crew cut, comb over, or faux hawk. We can create buzz cut, Caesar, waves or French crop by combining short fade with short hair.

High Fade Haircut

The high fade begins the tapering process near the top of the head; creating a contrast between the longer hair on top and the shorter sides. It forces more contrast for a stronger, extreme and a more noticeable look because the cut starts at the highest point on the side of our hair.

Medium Fade Haircut

The medium fades begins the tapering process in the middle of the head. It provides a soft look by trimming halfway up the sides. The mid fade provides versatility.

Low Fade Haircut

The low fade begins the tapering process just above the ear and neckline. It provides less contrast and more texture on the sides. It produces a subtle effect. Low fades work best for office settings and traditional look.

Taper vs. Fade

Taper and fade are different hairstyles although most barbers use these terms together. A fade haircut generally blends into the skin while a taper leaves some hair, though very short.

The taper doesn’t cut down to the skin providing a more discreet cut and style. It is a scissored cut on the sides that does not use hair clippers at all. The longer hair on the sides look less edgy because it exposes less scalp. Thus it is perfect for older men or business professional who requires a more conservative look.

Benefits

Skin Fade style provides a clean, modern look of our shaved sides. This simple and low-maintenance hairstyle is also perfect for summer and spring months. The skin fade is most beneficial for guys with straight or slightly wavy hair. A bald fade is versatile enough to wear to a range of occasions.

While wanting to get a skin fade cut, we’ll have to simply ask the stylist for a fade, and specify the starting point, depending on the exact hairstyle we choose, and tell the stylist that we want the hair to fade into the skin. We must also consider how gradual we want the fade to be. The skin fade look is usually cut using clippers. Using different haircut numbers or clipper guard sizes, our barber will start with a longer length and slowly trim down our sides, back and neckline. To attain the zero fade haircut, the barber may use either a no guard, or an outliner, sometimes he may also use a specialty shaver. We can choose from a razor, bald or skin fade as well as temp, burst, drop, flat top (box) and high top variations.

Things to keep in mind before getting a skin fade

The gradual and seamless shortening and buzzing makes learning how to fade hair one of the most difficult parts of becoming a barber; Therefore, it is important that we go to a stylist who is experienced with the skin fade cut to help us achieve the desired look with perfection. It is also recommended that we take a picture of our desired haircut to the stylist. We must have longer hair on the top of your head, without it, exposing a lot of skin could look too severe.

Skin Fade Variations:  

Skin fade with a Hard Part:  This is the most simplistic and one of the classic skin fade haircut. It has an age-old retro side part with a contemporary skin fade combined.

We will need a comb and a light product such as a pomade or wax to create the style. We can blow dry the hair to the side with a hairdryer for more volume.

Then we can start styling with a clean, towel-dried hair. Then find the natural part in our hair and run the comb through, combing one side over to create a divide. And finally, comb each side and add extra styling or waves as finishing touches.

Skin Fade with Pompadour: The pompadour was a fashionable style in 2016. This look combines old with new, and is a surprisingly versatile look. It has a slightly longer hair on the top, which adds height to the front of the hair giving us a thick and voluminous look.

To style the pompadour, we’ve to towel-dry the hair till it is slightly damp. Then rub the pomade between our hands to produce some heat and apply the pomade to the hair. We then start blow drying the hair while running the comb up and back through the hair. Then we can use our fingers to style details.

Quiff: Is a relative of the pompadour. It has emerged as a men’s hair trend in recent years. A voluminous quiff can make us look retro and natural. We’ll need a good bit of length on top, something like 2 inches. The longer the hair, the taller will be the quiff.

To style the Quiff, we need to use a bristle brush instead of a comb; and brush the hair up while blow drying it at the same time, to give our hair more volume, texture and a natural look. We will also need to use a strong-hold pomade; onto our damp hair, to hold the quiff for a long time so that it stays impressive and tall throughout the day.

Curls: In this style, we should let the hair on top grow out so that our natural curls show, then add a skin fade on the sides and back. We will have unbelievably unique hair. This is similar to the textured curly undercut.

Slicked Back: If we want to go for a look that is sharp, edgy as well as formal and casual at the same time then slicked back hair is a must. This is a great skin fade variation for men who desire a classy appearance. This style can be worn by men whether they are going for a party or first date.

To pull off this look with perfection we just need a comb and some pomade. We have to simply comb our straight hair back and add some pomade to keep it in style. If we want to add more texture, we can run a bristle brush or simply use our fingers to disrupt the comb strokes.

Conclusion: Skin fade styles are numerous, and styling it can enhance the look. Many celebrities, models and men like you and me, have sported the cut, making the skin fade a hot men’s hair trend now.