Curl gives a faux hawk the volume and texture that straight hair has to fake with product, and past 40, that natural lift does a lot of the styling work for you.
Classic Medium Faux Hawk
The classic version doesn’t try to reinvent anything. Sides taper down to somewhere around a number 2, the top stays around 2 to 3 inches of curl, and a barber lifts the center into a ridge with a matte paste. Not gel. Gel just weighs curls down flat by noon.
This is the one to start with if you’ve never worn a faux hawk before. It reads as put-together in a way a buzzed crop doesn’t, but it still takes under 10 minutes to style most mornings. Sixty seconds of scrunching with a curl cream, then a light push up the middle.
The catch: it needs a trim every 4 to 5 weeks to keep the sides from creeping past the taper line. Skip that window and the whole shape starts reading more like an awkward mullet than a faux hawk.
Skin Fade Faux Hawk
Swap the tapered sides for a skin fade and the same haircut suddenly looks 10 years younger. The bald strip right above the ear gives the curls on top something sharp to contrast against, which matters more after 40, when hair can start thinning at the temples anyway.
Ask for a mid or high skin fade specifically. A low fade barely clears the ear and won’t give you that contrast. Expect to be back in the chair every 2 to 3 weeks, because fades grow out fast and a blurry fade looks unfinished, not stylish.
It’s the highest-maintenance option on this list. Worth it if you already get regular cuts anyway. Skip it if a 6-week gap between appointments is more realistic for you.
Salt-and-Pepper Faux Hawk
If gray has started coming in through your curls, don’t fight it with dye. A faux hawk actually shows off natural salt-and-pepper better than almost any other cut. The mix of gray and brown catches light differently depending on the curl pattern, and a barber can use that instead of hiding it.
Keep the sides a little longer than the classic version, maybe a number 3 instead of a 2. Fully exposed skin next to gray hair can look stark under bright light, and a bit of length softens that transition.
This one photographs better than it looks in bathroom-mirror lighting. Most guys who try it end up surprised by how much younger it reads in daylight, not older.
Undercut Faux Hawk
The undercut version disconnects the sides entirely from the top, leaving a hard line instead of a gradual taper. On curly hair, that line stays crisp for weeks longer than a fade’s does, since there’s no gradient to grow out unevenly.
Top length runs longer here too, often 3 inches or more, which gives curls more to work with when you’re pushing volume into the center strip. And because the sides sit so short, this is genuinely a wash-and-scrunch style most days.
The trade-off is the hard line itself. It grows out messier than a fade’s soft edge, so most guys need it touched up every 3 weeks, not 5.
Textured Crop Faux Hawk
A receding hairline changes what a faux hawk should do at the front. Instead of raising curls straight up, ask your barber to push the front section slightly forward and down, breaking up the hairline rather than exposing it.
Keep the crown shorter than you’d think. Long curls at the crown on a receding hairline just draws more attention to the gap. Around 2 inches at the crown, tapering to 2.5 to 3 at the front, works for most face shapes.
This is a cut where the barber’s opinion matters more than any photo you bring in. What works on someone else’s hairline pattern won’t necessarily work on yours.
Bearded Faux Hawk
Pairing a medium faux hawk with a full beard is the move if you want the cut to look deliberate instead of accidental. The beard balances the height on top, especially on rounder face shapes, where a tall faux hawk alone can look top-heavy.
Keep the beard at least half an inch long. A stubble beard next to raised curls just looks unfinished. Trim the beard’s neckline and the faux hawk’s sides on the same visit so the two edges match up.
The honest answer is this combination adds real time to your routine. Figure on 15 minutes most mornings between beard oil and curl product, not 5.
Low-Maintenance Curl Faux Hawk
Not every faux hawk needs daily styling. This version leans on the curl pattern doing most of the work: cut the sides short, leave the top at its natural length, and let curls fall into a rough center ridge on their own after a wash.
A curl-defining cream applied to soaking wet hair, then air-dried or diffused for 5 minutes, gets you most of the shape without touching a comb. It won’t look as crisp as the styled versions above, and that’s the point.
This is the one for guys who’d rather spend those extra 10 minutes on coffee than on hair. Just know it reads more casual. Save the sharper fades above for anything that calls for looking put together.
