Who it suits
Round faces benefit most. The central strip pulls your eye straight up the middle of your head, which visually narrows a wide face. The faded sides remove volume exactly where a round face is widest. It is one of the strongest slimming shapes in short hair.
Straight, wavy, thick and curly hair all work. Curly hair suits it especially well, because the central strip becomes a natural mass of curl with no styling fight. Thick hair holds the peak without much product.
Avoid it if your face is long or narrow. The central height makes a long face look even longer. Also avoid it if you need a formal, conservative look, since the shape reads as youthful and bold no matter how you style it.
How to ask your barber
Say: "Faux hawk with a fade. Leave a strip about 8 cm wide down the middle, longest at the front. Fade the sides from a number 1 up into the strip. Do not disconnect it, blend it."
Most people take a mid fade here. A low fade makes it subtle enough for work. A high fade or skin fade makes the strip look like a real mohawk.
Ask them to keep the strip longer at the front than at the crown. The peak lives at the front. If it is even, you get a ridge, not a hawk.
Do not let them shave the sides right down to a hard line unless you want a genuine mohawk. The blend is what makes it a faux hawk.
How to style it
- Towel-dry to damp.
- Apply sea salt spray or mousse to the roots of the central strip only.
- Blow-dry the strip upward and slightly inward from both sides, so the hair meets in the middle. Aim at the roots. Two minutes.
- Cool shot to set.
- Warm a small amount of fibre paste or matte clay.
- Press both palms against the sides of the strip and push the hair together and up.
- Sharpen the front peak with your fingertips.
Fibre paste works better than clay here, because the fibres help the strands cling together into a peak.
Maintenance
Trim every 3 weeks, or every 2 weeks if you went with a skin fade. The whole shape depends on the contrast between the strip and the sides, so a blurred fade kills it.
As it grows out, the sides catch up with the strip and you slowly get a normal messy short cut. That is a soft landing, at least.
Daily effort is about 5 minutes.
Variations
Low fade faux hawk. Subtle enough for an office. The strip still stands, but the sides stay covered.
Curly faux hawk. The strip is left as natural curl. Use curl cream, skip the blow-dry.
Burst fade faux hawk. The fade curves around the ear in an arc instead of running straight down. Sportier and very common on younger men.