Combination

Mid Fade + Quiff

The fade narrows the sides from the temple down and the quiff adds three to five centimetres upward — both push the same direction, which is what makes this the standard prescription for a round face. On a long face it is roughly two inches of visual length you did not need.

Cut lives at guard 0-1

Guard range
0-1
Chair time
45-55m
Back in
2-3 wks
Instrument
Clipper + scissors
The two halves

Two decisions, not one.

Sides

Mid Fade

Guard 0-1 · 30-40m · back in 2-3 wks

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 page

Top

Quiff

Guard 1-2 · 35-45m · back in 3-4 wks

Volume lifted at the front and swept back, shorter at the sides. It adds height, which is why it flatters a round face, and it needs product every morning without exception.

Full quiff page
What to say

Ask 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.

  1. Ask for a mid fade starting level with the temple, blending to a 0 at the bottom.
  2. Say you want the top left long enough to lift — 8cm at the front minimum, or the quiff will not hold shape.
  3. Ask for the back of the top left slightly shorter so the quiff has somewhere to fall away to.
What goes wrong

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 quiff needs product and five minutes every morning. If you will not do that, ask for a textured crop on the same fade instead — same sides, no styling debt.

Living with it

Two to three weeks on the fade. The top would go six, but the fade is what people see first.

Suits these face shapes

Works with this hair

ThickStraightWavy