Curly hair holds height on its own, so a barber isn’t fighting the texture to build the shape. Here are five ways to wear a medium faux hawk if your hair naturally curls.
1. Classic Medium Faux Hawk
This is the version most barbers default to when a teen says “faux hawk” without specifying anything else. The sides get tapered down short, somewhere around a 1 to 2 guard, while the top stays long enough for the curls to stack into real height, usually 3 to 4 inches at the crown. Curly hair makes this shape faster to build, since the natural coil does half the volume work a straight-haired guy would need product for.
Styling takes about 5 minutes most mornings. A dime-sized amount of curl cream, scrunched upward from the sides toward the center, is usually enough. Skip the comb — combing curly hair flat kills the texture that makes the whole style work. Some guys add a light hold gel on top for days that run humid.
The catch is upkeep. Curls grow outward as much as downward, so the tapered sides need a trim every 3 weeks or the shape starts looking uneven instead of sharp. Skip a cut past week 4 and the faux hawk edges soften into something closer to an accidental curly mohawk.
2. Skin Fade Faux Hawk
Swap the tapered sides for a skin fade and the contrast does most of the work. The fade drops to bare skin around the ear, climbs to about a 2 guard by the temple, and blends into the curly top somewhere above the parietal ridge. It reads sharper in photos than the classic version, which is part of why it shows up so often on barbershop reference boards.
This one is not a five-minute cut. A clean skin fade on curly hair takes a barber who actually works with texture regularly — ask before booking. Rush it on curly hair and you tend to get visible line steps that a straight-haired fade wouldn’t show. Expect to sit in the chair closer to 35 or 40 minutes.
Maintenance runs tighter too. Skin fades need a refresh every 2 weeks to stay clean, more frequent than most teens want to commit to. If that sounds like too much, the tapered version above holds its shape longer with less barber time.
3. Textured Taper Faux Hawk
This variant leans into the curl instead of smoothing it out. Rather than styling the top into one uniform ridge, the curls stay separated and piece-y, so the silhouette reads as textured rather than sculpted. The sides taper down gradually — no hard line — which keeps the whole look softer around the edges.
A texturizing spray works better here than gel or cream. Spritz it into damp curls, scrunch lightly, and let it air dry instead of forcing it with a blow dryer. Heat tends to loosen curl definition on this cut specifically, which is the opposite of what you’re going for.
It photographs a little messier than the classic faux hawk, and that’s the point. Guys who want a cleaner, more defined shape should look at the skin fade version instead. This one is built for texture over precision, and forcing precision out of it usually looks off.
4. Curly Fringe Faux Hawk
Instead of pushing every curl straight up, this version leaves a soft fringe of curls falling forward over the front hairline while the crown and back still build height. It softens the faux hawk’s usual aggressive edge. That’s why it works well as a first faux hawk — less commitment, easier to grow out if it turns out not to be for you.
The fringe needs about an inch and a half of length minimum to actually fall forward instead of sticking straight up with the rest. Anything shorter and you end up with the classic version by accident, since there’s not enough weight to pull the curls down.
One trade-off worth naming: the fringe sits close to the eyes, so it needs trimming more often than the rest of the cut, roughly every 2 weeks just for the front, even if the sides can wait longer. Guys who don’t want to think about their hair daily should skip this one.
5. Line-Up Faux Hawk
Adding a line-up along the hairline and temples gives the faux hawk a sharper, more defined frame without changing the core shape. It’s a small addition, usually 5 extra minutes in the chair, but it changes how crisp the whole cut reads, especially right after a fresh cut.
The honest answer on this one is it depends on your hairline. Guys with a naturally straight, even hairline get the cleanest results. A more uneven or receding hairline can make the line-up look inconsistent, and in that case most barbers will recommend skipping it rather than fighting the shape you’ve got.
Line-ups fade fast, usually within a week as new growth blurs the edge, so this is the highest-maintenance version on this list if you want it looking sharp constantly. For a lower-effort option, the classic tapered faux hawk from the top of this list holds its definition far longer.
