Numerous men’s hairstyles and cuts can help disguise a receding hairline, at least in the short term, and boost confidence and self-esteem. However, changing your hairstyle is a temporary measure, and a permanent fix such as a hair transplant may be ideal if you want a final solution.
Receding hairlines are incredibly common in men of all ethnicities, with as many as 53% of men between the ages of 40 to 49 seeing indications of baldness around their temples or a hairline that moves backwards towards the crown. [1]
In many cases, a receding hairline is caused by androgenetic alopecia [2] or male pattern baldness, which is genetic. That means receding hairlines will typically continue to worsen gradually over time, either creating a W or M-shaped hairline or resulting in hair loss across the temples.
Styling Your Hair to Hide a Receding Hairline
- Several styles make a receding hairline less noticeable, especially if you have naturally thicker, more textured, or curly hair that you can comb forward or style with greater volume to cover your temples.
- Although some hairstyles and cuts can help conceal receding hair, they often remain effective for a limited time or until the receding hairline progresses further away from the face.
- Permanent treatments such as hair transplants or medications and therapies to slow hair recession may provide more long-lasting results, although much may depend on your preferences and the underlying reasons for your hair loss.
Great Hairstyles to Minimise the Appearance of a Receding Hairline
One of the simplest ways to make a receding hairline less noticeable is to trim your hair shorter or have your barber cut your hair into a popular fade style.
It might seem counterintuitive to cut your hair shorter, but this reduces the contrast between your skin and hair, especially if you have blonder hair and darker skin or vice versa.
We’ve put together some recommendations below for other styles that can help to conceal a receding hairline.
Fade Cuts That Help Hide a Receding Hairline
A fade involves shaving hair in varying degrees, creating a smooth and gentle blend of hair from shorter to longer. Having a higher fade helps to reduce the sharp differences between your forehead and the rest of your hair.
Another option is to opt for a full buzzcut. This hairstyle is preferred by some men looking for low-maintenance options, although you could go for a less drastic change by having your hair shaved to a number two or three length rather than all the way down to the scalp.
Combining a shaved or buzzed haircut with a fuller beard is on-trend and can help balance your facial proportions and characteristics.
If you’re interested in easy-to-care-for hairstyles, you might like a longer crew cut, similar to the conventional style but with extra weight and volume left in the hair to the top of your head. Brushing this forward or styling with wax can shift that hair to the front of your head.
Textured Male Haircuts That Can Disguise Receding Hair
The thicker, curlier, and more textured your hair is, the more options you may have. Adding texture with a grippy wax or mouse or a salt spray also works well, ensuring you can wear your hair brushed or finger combed forward without it looking overly styled.
This approach works well with slightly longer or grown-out hair, using curls and shape to create the appearance of more hair, and having regular micro trims to keep the ends healthy and strong, without extra weight that can pull the hair downward.
Some men add a fringe, using the density of hair elsewhere on their scalp to hide their forehead. Barbers usually recommend you have a longer, less rigid fringe that falls to around the eyebrows to ensure you have plenty of styling options.
Get a cost for your hair transplant
Looking for a consultation regarding the hair transplant cost? Book a free consultation with us today to see what we can do for you.
Formal Men’s Hair Cuts and Styles for a Receding Hairline
If you need to look smart and well put together for work, you could opt for a classic ‘regulation’ cut, so-called due to the way it mimics very smart traditional haircuts with the hair parted at the side and combed backwards or across the crown using wax or gel to set.
Unlike a military haircut, where the hair is cut very short, you can keep the length in your hair, which enables you to comb or style it in any direction you wish, often towards the area where your receding hair is most obvious.
A French cut has a similar impact, with a shorter fringe that doesn’t extend down to your eyebrows but that incorporates a lighter fade at the base and an undercut for easy maintenance, with the hair brushed forward over the crown to conceal the temples.
A summary of men’s haircut styles for receding hairlines:
- Buzz Cut: Keeping hair short and close to the scalp, the buzz cut minimizes contrast between thinner and thicker areas, giving an even, fuller look.
- Crew Cut: Slightly longer on top with short sides, a crew cut adds subtle height to the crown, which can create the illusion of more volume without needing much styling.
- Textured Crop: A modern look that keeps the hair short but with a lot of texture on top, the textured crop adds volume and works well with hair products like matte clay for a thicker appearance.
- Short Pompadour: For those with enough hair in the front, a short pompadour with a bit of volume on top can create a fuller look. Keeping the sides short enhances the contrast and focuses attention on the volume at the crown.
- Side Part: A classic side part can help to create a more structured look, which can be helpful for areas with more thinning. The part can give the illusion of fullness when styled correctly.
- Fade or Undercut: By keeping the sides very short or faded, the focus shifts to the top of the head, creating a thicker appearance overall.
- Shaved Head: Embracing the shave is a popular choice for many men with thinning hair. It creates a clean, confident look that eliminates any contrast between areas of thickness and thinness.
- Slick Back: For men with thinning hair around the temples but fullness on top, a slicked-back look can keep hair in place and offer a refined, classic appearance.
These styles can be enhanced with texturizing products, like matte pomades or clays, that add volume without weighing hair down.
How to Prevent Further Hair Loss Once Your Hair Starts to Recede
KSL Clinic is known for our team of highly accomplished hair transplant surgeons and technicians, and we speak with hundreds of clients every month who have been worried about a receding hairline or have found that styling their hair no longer conceals the problem.
You might also feel that you prefer a specific hairstyle that suits your personality and face shape and be unwilling to commit to extra time having your hair cut and styling it every day, in which case a hair transplant may be the ideal solution.
Here are a few other suggestions that can either restore a receding hairline or make it less noticeable:
- Medications like finasteride [3] and minoxidil are often used to slow down the rate of hair loss or prevent ongoing hair loss, protecting the health of your scalp and hair and reducing hormone levels that contribute to receding hair. [4]
- Stimulating blood flow and cellular activity around your scalp using massages or clinical treatments like Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy may help. This treatment is non-invasive yet activates dormant follicles to improve growth.
- Reviewing your diet and nutrition, ensuring you are hitting your macros, and introducing beneficial vitamins and minerals might also be key to hair growth and repair.
afro hair receding
We may recommend one of these treatments, or regenerative laser therapy, if you are not keen to proceed with a hair transplant, wish to explore other options or have a receding hairline but are not currently a hair transplant candidate.
Stimulating fresh hair growth and improving the general health of your scalp may slow down the speed of natural hair loss, stop you from losing further hair from around your hairline, or activate new growth – which may be important if you’re considering a hair transplant in the future.
Dr Matee, KSL Clinic’s Director of Surgical Services, says, ‘The first step to correcting a receding hairline is to book a consultation with our specialist hair restoration experts.
Whether you opt for a permanent hair transplant or a restorative treatment like PRP therapy, we’ll advise on the best ways forward to stop your hair from receding further and to create the aesthetic and appearance you aspire to.’
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it Possible to Keep My Hair Longer Once My Hairline Starts Receding?
There might be conventional ways to hide a receding hairline, but there is no suggestion you should cut your hair if you don’t wish to or indeed make any changes to the length or styling of your hair.
Longer hair can make it trickier to cover receding hair, mainly because the weight and length pull the hair downward and backward rather than over the front of your hairline. However, you can try different partings and might find this works effectively for you.
Can Thicker Facial Hair Counteract the Appearance of a Receding Hairline?
Fuller beards and facial hair have become more on-trend as of late, and some men like the aesthetic of a beard – others feel this conceals a sharp, attractive jawline, and therefore prefer a clean shave.
There is no correct solution, but you can certainly experiment with growing your beard out or changing the length to which you trim it to see if this evens your look or helps you feel more confident.
What Happens if I Change My Haircut and My Hair Continues to Recede?
We’ve briefly run through some of the more long-term resolutions to a receding hairline, but much depends on what you’d like to do.
For many, a haircut designed to cover receding hair might start to become less effective as hair loss progresses, and for others, they might prefer to stick with a cut they like.
However, the normal pattern of hair loss in men is for a receding hairline to travel backwards towards the crown, which could mean changing your style accordingly or going for a permanent hair transplant or restoration treatment.
Can I Have a Hair Transplant as Soon as I Notice Hair Receding?
We always require a clinical assessment before we make recommendations since a transplant might not be ideal in the very early stages of a receding hairline.
If there is a good indication that the hair will recede further, reacting too soon may mean having additional procedures in the future, making timing and independent advice essential.
