15 Haircut Ideas for Men With Thick Hair
Thick hair is not a length problem, it is a volume problem, and cutting it shorter usually makes it worse. The only real decision is where the bulk comes out, and getting that wrong is why so many thick-haired men hate their cut.
In this article · 22
- Where the Bulk Can Come Out
- How to Choose Yours
- The 15 Cuts for Thick Hair
- 1. Textured Crop With Internal Thinning
- 2. Low Taper With a Longer Top
- 3. Mid Fade With a Scissor-Cut Top
- 4. The Ivy League
- 5. Layered Medium Length
- 6. Buzz Cut at a #3
- 7. Slick Back With Weight Removed
- 8. The French Crop
- 9. Side Part With a Hard Line
- 10. Textured Quiff
- 11. Grown-Out Flow
- 12. Crew Cut With Graduated Sides
- 13. Thick Curly Top With a Taper
- 14. The Undercut, Blended
- 15. Long on Top, #2 All Round
- Styling and Upkeep
- Mistakes to Avoid
- FAQ
- Final Thoughts
Thick hair gets treated as a good problem to have, which is why nobody explains what to actually do about it. Density behaves nothing like length.
Thick hair is a volume problem, not a length problem. It grows outward as well as upward, and every centimetre you remove takes away weight that was holding it down.
The only real decision is where the bulk comes out. From underneath, from the perimeter, or not at all — and getting that wrong is why so many thick-haired men leave the chair unhappy with a technically good haircut.
Where the Bulk Can Come Out
From underneath. Weight removed deep in the section, leaving the surface length untouched. This is the answer for most heads.
From the perimeter. Shorter sides and a shorter outline, which controls the silhouette but not the density on top.
From the surface. Thinning near the tips, which almost always creates frizz because short ends stand up through the longer ones.
Not at all. Length itself is weight, and on some heads the fix is to grow it until it lies down, which is the whole argument for medium-length haircuts with layers.
How to Choose Yours
Decide whether you want it flatter or shorter. They are opposite requests on thick hair and you cannot have both.
Say internal weight removal out loud. It is the phrase that stops a barber reaching for the thinning shears at the ends.
Match the sides to how wide your head already is. Density at the temples adds width nobody needs on a round face.
Count your styling minutes honestly. Thick hair rewards a cut that lies down on its own more than any product will.
The 15 Cuts for Thick Hair
1. Textured Crop With Internal Thinning
Choose this if your hair stands up at short length. Bulk is taken from deep in the section so the surface keeps its length, and the top lies forward instead of forming a dome.
2. Low Taper With a Longer Top
Choose this if you want the density kept but the outline controlled. A taper leaves a #1 at the neckline and holds three to four weeks, so the silhouette stays tidy for a full month.
3. Mid Fade With a Scissor-Cut Top
Choose this if your head is wide at the temples. The mid fade cuts in between the temple and the parietal ridge, which is exactly where thick hair adds unwanted width.
4. The Ivy League
Choose the ivy league if you need a cut that works in a formal setting without daily styling. The graduated length gives thick hair somewhere to sit, and the shape holds without product.
5. Layered Medium Length
Choose this if you have tried short and hated it. Length is weight, and past about four inches thick hair begins to pull itself down instead of standing out.
6. Buzz Cut at a #3
Choose this if you want density to be irrelevant. At 10mm there is not enough length for weight or direction to matter, which is the one cut where thick hair is an advantage rather than a variable, and it is why the buzz cut styles that suit thick hair differ from each other by guard number and almost nothing else.
7. Slick Back With Weight Removed
Choose this if you want the hair back but it will not stay. Thick hair has the grip to hold a slick back, but only once the underneath has been thinned enough to sit close to the skull.
8. The French Crop
Choose this if you want the shortest sensible option. The forward-falling front settles the direction question, and short thick hair pushed forward reads as deliberate density rather than bulk.
9. Side Part With a Hard Line
Choose this if your hair refuses to part. Thick hair has enough spring to close a soft part within an hour, and a shaved line is the only version that survives a working day.
10. Textured Quiff
Choose this if you want height. Thick hair is the only density that will hold a quiff without heavy product, because the strands support each other.
11. Grown-Out Flow
Choose this if you are prepared to wait four months. Thick hair passes through an awkward middle stage where it widens before it lengthens, and most men give up during it.
12. Crew Cut With Graduated Sides
Choose this if you want low effort and no fuss. The graduation removes weight progressively, so the head keeps its shape as it grows rather than expanding at the sides.
13. Thick Curly Top With a Taper
Choose this if your thickness comes with curl. Curl loses around a third of its length as it dries, so a thick curly top needs to be cut generously and shaped rather than shortened.
14. The Undercut, Blended
Choose this if you want maximum contrast between top and sides. Blend it rather than disconnecting it, since a hard step on thick hair leaves a visible shelf as it grows.
15. Long on Top, #2 All Round
Choose this if you want to stop thinking about it. A 6mm guard everywhere below the parietal ridge with length kept above it is the simplest instruction a thick-haired man can give.
Styling and Upkeep
Use cream, not clay. Thick hair needs weight to lie down, and clay adds grip without adding weight.
Dry it downward, not upward. Thick hair will take any direction it is given and hold it all day.
Book on the silhouette, not the length. Thick hair stops looking cut when it widens, which happens before it gets long.
Wash less often than you think. Natural oil is the cheapest weight available.
Ask for the same weight removal each visit. It is the part of the cut a new barber will skip.
Mistakes to Avoid
Cutting it shorter to make it flatter. Past a certain point short thick hair stands up instead of lying down.
Letting thinning shears near the ends. Short pieces stand up through the surface and read as frizz.
Using a heavy pomade with shine. Thick hair already has volume, and gloss makes it look like more of it.
Asking for a disconnect. The step becomes a shelf as the top grows over it.
Giving up during the grow-out. Thick hair widens before it lengthens, and month three is the worst of it.
FAQ
Does shorter mean easier? Only to a point — past it, thick hair grows outward.
What do I ask for? Internal weight removal, surface length left alone.
Are thinning shears bad? Only near the ends, where they leave pieces that stand up.
Final Thoughts
Walk in with one sentence — take the weight out from underneath and leave the length on top — and you will get a better result than any photograph will get you. Density is a technique conversation, and technique is the one thing a picture cannot show.
For more on density-specific cuts see men's haircuts for thick hair, and for the shortest sensible version see the French crop haircut. More in Men's Haircuts.
