Were you thinking that only women care about their hair and grooming? You thought wrong! Men also pay attention to their hairstyle, which in most cases involves a nice and clean haircut.
But how often should men get a haircut? Read on as we answer this vital question.
How Often Should a Man Get a Haircut?
How often a man should get a haircut depends on the cut, the hair length, and how fast the hair grows.
1. Cut and Hair Length
Generally, the shorter the hairstyle you maintain, the more often you need a haircut.
Shaved heads – If your style is shaving everything off your head, you will need a haircut every 2-3 days.
The main thing to consider regarding whether to shave every 2 or 3 days is the sensitivity of your scalp. If your scalp is prone to irritation and razor burn, you should stick to getting your shave every three days, but if your scalp has no qualms about the constant razor abuse, then you can have your shave every two days.
Short hair and hairstyles with details – You need to get a haircut every 1-2 weeks if your hairstyle is very short (like a buzz cut) or includes details, fades, taper, line-ups, and other designs.
Waiting for more than two weeks will cause your hair to overgrow such that the details will no longer be clearly defined. Thus, your hairstyle will lose its clean and crisp look.
Medium-length hair – You should go for a haircut every 4-6 weeks if you keep medium-length hair. However, if your mid-length hairstyle does not come with details like undercuts or fades, going for a haircut once every 2-3 months would suffice.
Thanks to a variety of cut options, medium-length hair is now more popular than ever.
Some of the most popular include the classic pompadour, the stylish quiff, the casual-looking blowouts, the suave and sophisticated slick back, naturally curly hair, the care-free surfer hairstyle, and the old-good afro. These types of cuts don’t need cutting too often unless they are paired with a short fade.
Keeping medium-length hair comes with the advantage of having different styling options to transform your look. But an even bigger advantage is that you won’t need to visit your barber every week.
Long hair – If you keep long hair, you can go for a haircut every 6 months, or even longer.
When growing your hair out, you can leave it a very long time without getting a haircut. One long hairstyle that requires you to visit your barber the most is the layered shag.
The shag usually has lots of layers of different lengths, so it needs more maintenance to clearly define the different layers. The shag often has long sideburns which can easily become overgrown and unsightly.
Like the shag, if your long hair comes with fringes, you should not wait for more than 6 months to get a haircut. The fringes would easily overgrow and begin to cover your face.
When your long hair does not have layers or fringes, you can wait for longer between visits to the barbershop. The trip to the barber will be necessary if the ends of the hair get frizzy, such that split ends appear.
2. How Fast the Hair Grows
How fast your hair grows also determines how often you need to get a haircut. Genetics is the main factor when it comes to how fast a hair can grow.
On average human hair grows between 0.5-1.7 centimeters (about 0.2-0.67 inches) per month. Of the three major ethnicities, Asian hair grows fastest, followed by Caucasian hair, while African hair has the slowest growth rate.
Asian hair – It grows at about 1.4-1.7 centimeters (0.39-0.67 inches) per month. It grows perpendicular to the scalp and has the lowest density of the three ethnicities.
Caucasian hair – It grows at about 1.2 centimeters (about 0.47 inches) per month. It grows diagonal to the scalp. Of the three ethnicities, Caucasian hair is the fullest as it has the highest density.
African hair – It grows at about 0.5-0.9 centimeters (about 0.2-0.36 inches) per month. Its slow growth is because it curls upon itself during growth, causing it to lie almost parallel to the scalp. African hair is denser than Asian hair but not as dense as Caucasian hair.
Thus, when the same haircut is maintained, an Asian American man will need a haircut more often than an African American man.
What are the Signs That a Man Needs a Haircut?
As a man who is concerned about his hair and grooming, there are some signs that tell you that you need a haircut.
These signs include:
- The hair is looking overgrown
- Details are no longer defined (e.g., fades, neckline, line-ups have faded away)
- Fringes are beginning to cover your face
- Hair has splits or dry ends
- Hair sticks out at weird angles
- The hair is now difficult to style (you need tons of product to keep it in shape)
- You need a new look
Final Thoughts
How often a man should get a haircut mainly depends on the hairstyle the man maintains and how fast his hair grows. Shaved men need a trip to the barbershop (or a home cut) every 1-3 days, short-haired men need that trip every 1-2 weeks, mid-length hair men need that trip every 4-6 weeks, while long hair men may not need that trip until after 6 months.
