Low Taper Fade: The Trending Cut That Keeps Your Side Length

Two small blends, everything else left alone

A low taper fade is really two small blends: one at each sideburn, running down in front of the ear, and one at the nape, running across the neckline. Between them, above and behind the ears, the hair keeps its length.

At the sideburn, the taper usually starts level with the middle of the ear and fades to skin or a half guard at the bottom. At the back it covers the lowest two or three centimetres of the neckline. From the front, you see a clean edge; from the side, you see a full head of hair with tidy corners.

It is not a low fade, and the difference matters

A low fade takes a band all the way around the head down to short, while a low taper fade only touches the edges. Ask for the wrong one and you can end up with much less hair on the sides than you wanted.

The quick test: if you want to see skin above your ear, you want a low fade. If you want hair covering the area above the ear and only the sideburn and neck cleaned, you want a low taper. The side-by-side is on low taper vs low fade, and the wider distinction is on fade vs taper.

Why this cut took off

The low taper spread fast because it fits the tops people want now: longer, messier and more natural. A full fade can make a big curly or fluffy top look like a mushroom perched on a narrow base; a low taper keeps the sides soft so the whole shape flows.

It spread through social media and athletes' haircuts, and it is now the default request for high school and university students in Mississauga. It also works for older clients who want a tidy outline without looking like they are chasing a trend, because the taper itself is a very classic barbering technique.

• Teens and students: paired with curly fringes, textured tops and blowouts.
• Twenties and thirties: paired with medium-length tops, waves and beards.
• Forty-plus: paired with side parts and scissor-cut sides, where the taper just sharpens the edges.

Tops that suit a low taper

A low taper suits any top that has volume or movement, because the full sides support it rather than competing with it. The four we cut most:

How it grows out

Because only the edges are short, a low taper fade grows out gracefully over three to four weeks. The sideburns go fuzzy first, then the neckline, but the overall shape barely changes.

If you are growing your hair out, keep the low taper as a clean-up every four to six weeks. It keeps the cut looking intentional while the top and sides gain length, and you can later switch to a neck taper once the sides are long enough to cover the ears.

Getting a low taper fade at Markcutit

Marcel Shabo specialises in tapers and texture, and you can see his work on his barber page. We start by agreeing how high the sideburn taper goes and whether the bottom is skin or shadow, then shape the top with scissors to suit your hair type.

Book a Haircut Only through our taper fades service; the lineup, hot towel, wash and head massage are part of it.