Haircut & Style- Textured Crop
The Textured Crop with a more natural fringe.
If you're like me and you're just not a big fan of having long hair or having to spend a lot of time with styling your hair, then you may want to consider the textured crop haircut as your next style.
This was a cut that was trending in 2017 and is still a style that continues to have a strong presence in Europe to this day.
The popularity of this style can be attributed to its low-maintenance nature while still appearing very put together.
It's not for everyone, but for anyone who can pull it off, you'll find it to be one of the easiest hairstyles for getting up and going through your busy mornings.
What to ask for
Simple Answer
"Textured crop, fringe is cut to halfway up the forehead. A low skin fade for the back and sides."
Long Answer
As I mentioned earlier, not everyone can pull off this style.
However, it can be customized in various ways to try to accommodate different hair types and textures.
Considerations for Different Hair Types
If you’re someone with a medium hair type, where the strands are not too fine or too thick, then you will be able to pull off this look best as the hair will lay flat enough at shorter lengths while maintaining a lot of movement and texture within the style.
Paired with straight to slightly wavy textured hair, and you'll have the perfect combination to get the ideal look of this hairstyle.
Simply adding a small amount of matte clay and giving your hair a shake and scrunch will be enough to bring the style to life.
If you are someone with wavier hair, then the look needs to be adapted more into a messy fringe, than a full crop (which has a more blunt finish to the fringe).
Your hair naturally does not lay straight, but you'll get a lot more of a natural texture and volume. I would suggest embracing the "messy" nature of your hair for that effortless styling.
If you're someone like me with really straight, coarse hair that is typically found in Asians, then you will have to be mindful that your hair cannot be cut too short.
With this specific hair type, it's almost as if you have to add an extra inch or two to the suggested length of the cut to mimic the results.
So if you've been told you should cut the top to about 3 inches, you'll actually find more success with 4-5 inches of hair on top (based on my own experience of course).
Considerations for the Top
When it comes to the fringe, you'll also want to keep in my that there is usually more weight left in this area. It's a bit deceptive, as the cropped fringe is usually cut short, but the section behind the front hairline is usually kept as the longest point of the haircut.
Any good barber will know this and will cut the hair accordingly. So if you're noticing that the top isn't as short as you imagined, don't panic. It is supposed to be like that.
You definitely don't want the same length from front to back, as that will leave you with more of a crewcut.
The fringe is meant to be the shortest point and can be cut as high up your forehead as you'd like, but I'd suggest somewhere between the halfway point and the eyebrows.
People with softer hair can take it high, while those with stiff/stubborn hair should err on the side of caution and preserve a bit more length.
Considerations for the Back and Sides
The textured crop tends to work best when combined with a fade.
The sharpness of the fade with the messy nature of the top has a unique contrast that makes the style look intentional instead of like an overgrown haircut.
Ideally, the line of the fade will be at the same level as the fringe and they connect almost seamlessly into each other for a cohesive look.
However, this may not always be doable when considering hair type, density, and face shape.
For example, those with really straight, stiff hair may find that they have to preserve a lot of length on the sides to ensure the fade line sits in line with the fringe but may notice that their hair then sticks out a bit much.
I personally prefer a tighter fade for myself, as it compliments my own head shape, but doing so brings the fade line much higher than where I'd want the fringe to sit.
This is where personalization plays a big part. You may have an idea of what you want or have pictures for reference, but you're not going to get the exact look of someone else.
A haircut has to be adapted to your unique characteristics in order for it to be right for you.
For this client, a low fade worked best for making sure everything was balanced.
How to Style
This is a style that doesn't require many steps to do right. On a lazy day, you can simply apply a matte styling product to your dry hair and mess it up.
The whole point is to showcase all the texture in your hair. No need to find a specific parting or build a ton of volume.
However, if you want consistent results from one day to the next, then you'll want to adopt a bit more steps into the routine.
With damp hair, apply a texture spray.
Blow dry hair, focusing on directing forward.
As the hair becomes drier, begin to scrunch and add texture. (You may find that this is enough to achieve the look, but I recommend adding a bit of matte clay for extra hold throughout the day.)
Taking a pea-size amount, rub between hands and then gently apply to hair. Make sure to coat every strand.
Once product is applied, you can fine tune everything into place making sure the hair goes forward and has plenty of texture.
Products for this style:
Salt Spray
Matte Clay
Thanks for reading!
My name is Wesley, I am a Barber located in the city of Calgary helping my clients become more confident with all things related to their hair by providing customized haircuts that suit them best while demystifying all the complicated hair information out there!
