Combination
Mid Fade + French Crop
The blunt fringe draws a hard horizontal that cuts across the vertical the mid fade is drawing — the two tensions are what make this read as designed rather than default. The most graphic of the short combinations.
Cut lives at guard 0-1
- Guard range
- 0-1
- Chair time
- 35-45m
- Back in
- 2-3 wks
- Instrument
- Clipper + scissors
Two decisions, not one.
Sides
Mid Fade
The gradient begins around the temple, halfway between a low and a high fade. It gives more contrast than a low fade without the severity of a high one, and it is the safest place to start if you have never had a fade.
Full mid fade pageTop
French Crop
Short back and sides with the top left textured and pushed forward into a blunt fringe. It shortens a long face and it is one of very few cuts that genuinely helps a receding hairline, because the fringe does the covering.
Full french crop pageAsk for it like this.
Two decisions means two sets of instructions, and the third sentence is usually the one that decides whether they meet in the middle.
- Ask for a mid fade level with the temple.
- Say the fringe is blunt and straight, cut high on the forehead.
- Ask for the corners taken back slightly so the fringe follows your hairline rather than fighting it.
The failure mode.
Every pairing has one specific way it goes wrong, and it is almost always at the join between the two halves rather than in either one of them.
A high blunt fringe over a mid fade is a strong look with nowhere to hide. If you are unsure, ask for it cut low first — it can always come up.