20 Curly Mid Fade Haircut Ideas for Men
Curly hair gets wide at the parietal ridge, and a mid fade starts just below it. That is the whole reason this pairing works — the fade removes width at the exact point where curls create it, without cutting into the curl mass above.
In this article · 27
- Where Curls Get Wide
- How to Choose Yours
- The 20 Curly Mid Fade Ideas
- 1. Classic Curly Mid Fade
- 2. Curly Mid Skin Fade
- 3. Curly Mid Taper Fade
- 4. High-Volume Curls Over a Mid Fade
- 5. Curly Mid Fade With a Drop Back
- 6. Curly Mid Fade With a Fringe
- 7. Curly Mid Fade With a Hard Part
- 8. Curly Mid Fade Comb Over
- 9. Curly Mid Fade With a Beard
- 10. Loose 3A Curls Over a Mid Fade
- 11. Springy 3B Curls Over a Mid Fade
- 12. Corkscrew 3C Curls Over a Mid Fade
- 13. 4A Coils Over a Mid Fade
- 14. Curly Mid Fade With Design
- 15. Short Curly Mid Fade
- 16. Curly Mid Fade With a Sponge Twist Top
- 17. Curly Mid Fade With a Middle Part
- 18. Curly Mid Burst Fade
- 19. Curly Mid Fade, Air Dried
- 20. Curly Mid Fade at Week Four
- Styling and Upkeep
- Mistakes to Avoid
- FAQ
- Final Thoughts
Curly hair does not fall, it springs outward, and it springs outward most at the parietal ridge — the widest point of the skull where the side meets the top.
A mid fade starts just below that ridge, between it and the temple. So the fade removes the curl width at the exact height where curls are creating it.
That is why mid is the height for curls. A low fade leaves the widening intact, and a high fade cuts through the curl mass itself and leaves a cap sitting on a bare head.
Where Curls Get Wide
Curl width peaks exactly where the skull is already at its widest, the parietal ridge. Coils stack outward from that line, adding several centimetres to the head's width that straight hair never adds.
A mid fade begins between the temple and that ridge. It cuts the widening off from underneath while leaving the curl mass on top untouched.
Left alone, curly sides grow into a triangle. Width increases faster than height, which is the silhouette most curly guys are actually trying to fix.
Curl shrinkage changes the numbers. Curly hair loses roughly a third of its length as it dries, and tightly coiled hair up to half.
How to Choose Yours
Decide how much curl you want above the line. Two centimetres of curl over a mid fade reads tidy, six reads full, and the fade height is identical in both.
Ask for the top scissor cut, not clippered. Clippers cut every curl to the same measurement and flatten the variation that makes a curly top look like hair rather than a helmet.
Pick taper or skin by curl tightness. Loose curls sit well over a skin finish, tight coils usually read better over a #1 at 3mm because the change is less abrupt.
Ask for a soft top edge on the fade. A hard line at the top of a curly fade shows through the curl and looks like a shelf.
The 20 Curly Mid Fade Ideas
1. Classic Curly Mid Fade
Loose curls kept two to three centimetres long over a clean mid line. The fade takes the width off at the ridge, so the curl reads as height instead of bulk.
2. Curly Mid Skin Fade
The fade taken all the way to bare skin. Maximum separation between curl and scalp, which suits looser curl patterns where the mass would otherwise blur into the sides.
3. Curly Mid Taper Fade
Stopping at a #1 rather than skin. The 3mm floor keeps a shadow under the curls, which reads softer and holds three to four weeks instead of one to two.
4. High-Volume Curls Over a Mid Fade
Five or six centimetres of curl on top. The mid line has to be crisp here, because a big curl mass over a soft fade reads as an overgrown haircut rather than a deliberate one.
5. Curly Mid Fade With a Drop Back
The fade line drops behind the ear while staying mid at the front. Useful on curly hair because it follows the curve of the skull rather than cutting across it.
6. Curly Mid Fade With a Fringe
Curl pulled forward over the forehead with the mid line clean underneath. The fringe shortens the face, which balances the length the fade adds by narrowing the sides.
7. Curly Mid Fade With a Hard Part
A razored line through the curl above the fade. It gives the eye a straight edge to read in a shape that has no other straight lines in it.
8. Curly Mid Fade Comb Over
Curls directed to one side across the top. Because the mid fade starts below the ridge, the sweep has weight to travel through before it reaches the faded panel.
9. Curly Mid Fade With a Beard
Curl above the fade and beard below it, with roughly four centimetres of gradient in between. Keep the fade's lowest guard off skin so the texture change is not also a length cliff.
10. Loose 3A Curls Over a Mid Fade
Wide, soft spirals that lose only a little length as they dry. They sit down rather than out, so the mid fade can be cut tight without the top looking thin.
11. Springy 3B Curls Over a Mid Fade
Tighter spirals with real spring. Expect around a third of the length to disappear on drying, so ask for the top to be left longer than the finished look you want.
12. Corkscrew 3C Curls Over a Mid Fade
Dense, narrow curls that build width fast. This is the pattern the mid fade helps most, because the ridge is where 3C hair stacks outward hardest.
13. 4A Coils Over a Mid Fade
Tight coils that shrink up to half, which is where the curl type scale crosses from curl into coil. The mid line reads very sharply against coiled hair, so a slightly softer top edge on the fade stops it looking cut with a ruler.
14. Curly Mid Fade With Design
A line cut into the faded panel below the curls. The panel between the ear and the ridge is the flattest part of the head, which is why the design holds its shape there.
15. Short Curly Mid Fade
Curls cropped to a centimetre or so. Almost no width above the ridge, which makes this the version that works on a rounder face.
16. Curly Mid Fade With a Sponge Twist Top
Small circular passes with a curl sponge knot the ends back on themselves until every curl holds a separate twist. Defined coils have visible edges, so the mid line has to be equally clean or the two finishes fight.
17. Curly Mid Fade With a Middle Part
Curl split down the centre over a mid line. The part opens the top and reduces height, so it suits men whose curls already add plenty.
18. Curly Mid Burst Fade
The fade arcs around the ear rather than running horizontally, which is the whole idea behind a burst fade on curly hair. On curly hair the arc follows the natural round of the curl outline more closely than a straight line does.
19. Curly Mid Fade, Air Dried
No product, no diffuser, curls left as they fall. The fade is doing all the shaping, which is a fair test of whether the height was set correctly.
20. Curly Mid Fade at Week Four
The curl mass has grown outward again and the fade line has blurred. On a taper finish this still reads deliberate, which is the practical case for not going to skin.
Styling and Upkeep
Apply product to soaking wet hair. Curl cream on damp hair coats the outside of the curl instead of setting the shape from inside it.
Dry with a diffuser on low speed. High airflow separates the curl clumps that give a curly top its volume above the fade line, and the rest of the sequence is covered in this routine for styling curly hair.
Rebook by finish, not by feel. Curl grows outward and hides the blur from you, so the calendar is more honest than the mirror here: a mid skin finish is gone in one to two weeks, a mid taper is still readable at three to four.
Leave the top alone between cuts. Trimming curls yourself removes length unevenly, and shrinkage hides the mistake until it dries.
Sleep on satin or in a bonnet. Cotton drags on the curl and flattens the side nearest the pillow, which shows against a clean fade.
Mistakes to Avoid
Letting the barber clipper the curly top. It cuts every curl to one length and removes the variation the shape depends on.
Judging the length while the hair is wet. Curly hair loses about a third of its length drying, and coiled hair up to half.
Asking for a high fade to look tidier. Above the parietal ridge you remove the curl support as well as the width.
Brushing dry curls. It breaks the clumps apart and turns defined curl into volume with no pattern.
Leaving a hard top edge on the fade. A ruler-straight line under a curly mass reads as a shelf rather than a blend.
FAQ
Why mid and not high for curls? Mid removes width below the ridge without cutting into the curl mass itself.
How much length do curls lose drying? Around a third for curly, up to half for tightly coiled.
Clippers or scissors on top? Scissors, so the curls keep their natural variation.
Final Thoughts
The mid fade earns its place on curly hair for one geometric reason — it cuts in below the parietal ridge, which is where curls turn height into width. Get the line set there and the top can be as short or as full as you like without the silhouette going triangular.
For the wider guide see the mid fade haircut, and for the taper version on the same texture see curly taper fade haircut. More in Fade Haircuts.
