1. Medium Slick Back with Skin Fade
The skin fade does the work up top so the curls don’t have to fight anything. Sides go down to skin around the ear, then the crown length gets combed straight back with a heavy pomade. On tight curls this reads sharper than a normal slick back because there’s nothing loose around the ears pulling attention away.
Barbers usually leave 3 to 4 inches on top for this one — anything shorter and the curl pattern fights the comb instead of following it. A blow-dryer on medium heat, comb in hand, gets the front section flat before the pomade goes in. Skip the dryer and the curls spring back within an hour.
Upkeep runs every 2 to 3 weeks at the fade line, longer between full cuts. It’s not a wash-and-go style. Budget 8 minutes most mornings, more if you slept on it wrong.
2. Medium Slick Back with Taper Fade
A taper keeps more length around the ears than a skin fade does, which matters more than people think on curly hair. Less bare skin means less contrast if the curls get a little unruly by day three. It’s the softer version of the same idea.
The top still gets combed back, but the taper blends slow enough that you can grow it out a full month without it looking like it needs a redo. That’s the main draw for a teenager who doesn’t want to sit in a barber chair every other weekend.
The honest trade-off: taper fades hide less. Any unevenness in the curl density on top shows up faster than it would under a skin fade’s cleaner sideline. Ask for the taper to start about an inch above the ear if this is a first try.
3. Textured Medium Slick Back
This version skips the heavy, flat-shine finish most people picture and lets some curl show through on top instead of pressing every strand down. A matte clay or fiber paste replaces the usual pomade, which means less weight and real texture holding the shape.
It works best on medium-tight curls, not the loosest ones. Really loose curls tend to lose the slicked-back shape by midafternoon without extra hold. Length stays around 3 inches on top, faded or tapered on the sides depending on preference.
Most guides skip this part, which is why people get it wrong: the product has to go in on damp hair, not dry. Dry application just sits on top of the curl instead of shaping it. Two minutes of extra drying time, real difference in how long it holds.
4. Medium Slick Back with Hard Part
A shaved line on one side turns a fairly plain slick back into something with an actual focal point, and it’s an easy add-on to any cut a barber’s already doing. The line usually sits above the natural part, cut with clippers and a straight edge.
Curly hair holds a hard part surprisingly well once the surrounding hair is slicked flat. The contrast between the shaved line and the smoothed curl is sharper than it would be on straight hair, which is the appeal for a lot of teens picking this over a plain slick back.
It does need touching up every 10 to 14 days or the line grows soft and blurry. Skip it if you’re not going back to the same barber regularly. A hard part done inconsistently looks worse than no part at all.
5. Medium Slick Back with Undercut
An undercut goes shorter and more abrupt than a taper or fade. The sides get buzzed to a uniform short length rather than gradually blending into the top, and the result reads more disconnected on purpose, which some guys prefer over a smoother transition.
On curly hair specifically, the undercut version tends to need slightly more length on top than the fade versions do, closer to 4 inches, since there’s more visual weight underneath it that the top length has to balance out.
The upside is grow-out. An undercut can go 5 to 6 weeks before it looks unkempt, longer than either fade option above. The downside is the sides need their own trim in between full cuts, or the disconnect blurs into an awkward in-between length.
6. Wet-Look Medium Slick Back
This is the version most people picture when they hear “slick back”: full shine, every strand pressed flat. It takes a stronger, oil-based pomade than the matte styles above, and it takes more of it.
Curly hair actually holds this look longer than straight hair does once it’s set, since the curl’s natural grip keeps the slicked shape from sliding as the day goes on. The trade-off shows up at wash time — oil-based pomade needs a real shampoo, not a rinse, or it builds up fast.
This one isn’t for every day. Save it for a specific occasion and go with the textured or taper version above for regular school days. The honest answer is it depends on how much upkeep you actually want to deal with each morning.
