How to measure hair length male

The following is our official hair length guide for men. The length categories are near shaved hair, short hair, medium length hair and long hair. We will cover the 4 length categories as well as the haircuts, hairstyles and hair products suitable for each of the categories (listed again below).

• Near shaved hair
• Short hair
• Medium length hair
• Long hair
  

The length of your hair is an important attribute to know as it is part of profiling your hair. Together with your hair type (click link for hair type guide), your hair length will determine what hair products you use or what hairstyles will favor you. Just like with the hair type guide we use in this forum, this hair length guide is based on the length guide as well as teachings of Rogelio, the men's hair guru who published the much-recommended book The Men's Hair Book. The book is full of really valuable hair guides like this guide you're reading on hair lengths as well as many grooming and styling methods that will allow you to fully profile your locks and to exactly tailor your hairstyles and hair care to the specific needs of your mane.

As said, your hair will fall under any of the aforementioned length categories: near shaved, short, medium or long. Your hair grows at an average of half an inch per month, so in a couple of months you may find yourself moving up a length category, the same way you may find yourself a category (or several) down when you get a haircut. Just go by the instructions in this hair length guide and use common sense.

Near shaved hair

Near shaved hair is hair that is, for all aesthetics purposes, stubble. This particular length ranges between a shaved head all the way to a "hair clipper" cut done with no guiding comb attached (also known as a clipper cut with a #0 clipper or lower such as a #000). Because of the extremely short length of the hair, there is no hairstyling requirements unlike the remaining 3 length categories.

For near shaved hair, all you will need is either a good safety razor to shave your hair (like this premium safety razor, avoid straight razors) or a high-quality hair clipper (like this specific clipper) to clip your hair super short without making the clipping of the hair painful (cheap and even regular hair clippers can hurt when clipping the hair very short as the hair is pulled instead of sliced!). Just to avoid the annoying experiencing of pulling your hair when clipping it is one hell of a good reason for owning a high quality hair clipper like the one I've posted in the link (plus that recommended hair clipper will last you years and is really versatile).

Men with near shaved haircuts include Vin Diesel and Bruce Willis.

Short hair

Short hair ranges between a clipper length higher than a #0 (i.e. a #1) all the way to 2 inches. Short hair is very popular among men because this is the length where hair is very convenient to wear and style. Even more so, short hair is the most favorite length for curly hair men as curly hair can be kept easily under control at this length.

Mens haircuts for short hair

The haircuts for short hair include any of the military haircuts as well as all kinds of taper cuts, fades and undercuts. Likewise, short hair can be trimmed with scissors, clipped with a hair clipper or be cut with both (the last option is the most popular with young men). A common haircut for short mens hair is a convertible haircut where the top is trimmed with scissors (1 to 2 inches) while the sides and back of the head are done in a taper.

Mens hairstyles for short hair

In terms of styling short mens hair, you can do most styles with scissor-trimmed hair (hair that hasn't been clipped) such as a side part, a side fringe, spiky hair, a modern slick back, shaggy hair (better with 2 inches though), a quiff, a faux hawk and even recreate layers with a hair straightener.

Mens Hair products for short hair

A hair clipper like the one recommended for near shaved hair is an excellent styling tool to own for short hair. Furthermore, because short hair (as opposed to near shaved hair) requires a clipper length higher than a #0, you should also purchase this set of guiding combs which are easily attached to the hair clipper recommended for near shaved hair and which will widen your range of haircut lengths (in fact, get both the clipper and set of guiding combs recommended regardless of the length of hair you want to sport, as the clipper and guiding combs will be very useful in the future when you want a new haircut!).

With regards to styling products, you have three products that will be great to style short hair: a wax, a pomade and a gel. Get this hair wax for great hair control while having your hair look natural and glossy (great for a quiff and shaggy/messy hair). Get this pomade for side parts and side fringes of all kinds. And get this hair gel for spiky hair and for a faux hawk. You can use these products for other hairstyles you have in mind, and my recommendation is to own the 3 products (the ones in the links posted have great prices) as those 3 products are the bare styling essentials for mens hair.

Guys like Cristiano Ronaldo and Taylor Lautner have short hair.

Medium length hair

Medium length hair is hair that ranges in length between 2 inches up to 6 inches. Medium length hair is a very popular length with straight haired men as straight hair remains easy to control at these medium lengths while curly hair tends to stick out and puff at any medium length (the latter being a common complaint among curly haired men).

Mens haircuts for medium length hair

The haircuts for medium hair are similar in shape to the ones for short hair, although the Undercut is a trendy haircut for young men where the hair is sharply clipped with the same length on the sides and back of the head (a hair clipper like the one recommended earlier is great for giving yourself an Undercut).

Mens hairstyles for medium length hair

For styling medium length hair, all the hairstyles for short hair are equally applicable, but, as an addon, the side swept style and slicked back hair style are 2 hairstyles that are suited for medium length hair. Furthermore, a shaggy hairstyle done with a good hair straightener (individually iron each lock you want to have textured) works really well for medium length hair too. Lastly, the brush up hairstyle and the quiff are also great hairstyles for medium length hair.

Hair products for medium length hair

Medium length hair could be considered as the perfect length for mens hair products. You can use any styling products available on top of the wax, pomade and gel recommended for short hair.

Mousse works great for medium length curly hair as well as for getting big volume for straight hair (such as in a brush up), a great styling mousse for this length of hair is this specific mousse.

Styling creams work very well to shape your hair while fighting the frizz (i.e. frizzy hair) and flyaway hairs as well as to yield and enhance a wet look effect, so styling creams are quite versatile styling products and work for just about any hairstyle too (a great styling cream is this one here).

Hair spray is also another great product for medium length hair. You can use hair spray to keep your hair secured into any shape or style that defies gravity such as a quiff, brush up hairstyle or medium spikes. A good hair dryer will also provide flexibility to your hair instead of leaving it stiff, so it's always a good decision to buy a good hair spray (this hair spray works really well for men).

By now, a hair dryer will also be a great addition to your hairstyling weaponry. A good hair dryer will dry your hair faster while providing extra gloss, fighting frizz and enhancing your chosen hairstyle! It will also allow you to get more volume on your hair (as much as you want), so a good hair dryer is a great choice for men with medium straight hair (which naturally lacks in volume) and men with thinning hair (since overall volume is drastically reduced with thinning hair). For an excellent hair dryer that will do all I have listed and treat your hair with great care, go with this hair dryer, which will will perform optimally for years and always deliver epicness to your hair.

Popular celebrity men with medium length hair include Zayn Malik and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Long hair

Long hair is any hair that is longer than 6 inches. At such lengths, straight hair will naturally begin to gain volume (the longer it is, the more volume it gains) while curly hair will start hanging down instead of puffing out as it otherwise does at medium lengths. Long hair is not a popular length for men although most long hair men have straight hair and not curly hair since long curly hair is prone to tangling and forming knots (which can be a pain to fix!).

Considering that hair grows on average half an inch per month, expect to take at least a year to be able to own long hair when growing it from short hair. If you're serious about growing your hair long, then we highly recommend you to get The Men's Hair Book as you will find tables on hair growing "time frames" for your hair type as well as lots of relevant and highly useful advice for male hair (even if you don't plan on growing your hair long, get the book as it is a life saver and will help you tremendously in maximizing your hair and its aesthetics).

Mens haircuts for long hair

The main mens haircut for long hair is the one done on layers to graciously keep the long locks at shoulder length. On the other hand, for men with hair that is longer than the length to reach the shoulders, haircuts are uncommon and instead the hair will be minimally trimmed to fix any split ends or "broken" hair tips. Lastly, you may get a side undercut in the veins of the Skrillex haircut where one side of the head is shaved or clipped near shaved to add a contrasting look to the hair (I highly recommend against a Skrillex haircut as you will throw away years of hair growth to have your hair look awkward for many years ahead!).

Mens hairstyles for long hair

The main hairstyle for long hair is a loose style or "dangling" style. By all means, you can side part, middle part or slick back your lengthy locks, but the most favorite overall style for long hair is wearing it loose. Other than a loose hairstyle, tying the hair into a ponytail is a popular hairstyle as is the man bun hairstyle where the hair is tied into a bun or half bun to make a ponybun (the man bun has become trendy among men in recent times).

Mens hair products for long hair

The only styling products that are highly recommended for long hair are hair mousse and styling creams (see the particular ones we recommended for medium length hair as they are very useful for long hair too). Hair gel and pomade can be used on long hair but only for straight hair and wavy hair that doesn't exceed the shoulders as those two hair types at those length can only tolerate gels and pomade. If you have coiled curly hair or kinky curly hair, you are better off using hair mousse, a styling cream (the one recommended for medium length hair is excellent for this curly hair) or even using some coconut butter to not only keep the curly hair in good shape but also keep it conditioned and moisturized (this particular coconut butter is an excellent choice as it is not only pure but also raw and organic).

In terms of styling tools, a hair dryer is of great use for long hair as long hair takes a long time to fully dry, so using a hair dryer will be a life saver on cold mornings where leaving the house with minimally damp hair will not be a pleasant experience. Furthermore, hair dryers like the premium hair dryer recommended above for medium length hair will enhance your lengthy locks and add a glossier look while fighting frizz (frizzy hair can become a big issue with long hair). If you want to tie your hair into a ponytail or man bun then consider male hair accessories such as headbands, hair elastics, scrunchies and even bobby pins!

A hair straightener (aka flat iron) is also a great styling tool to own for long hair. A good straightener will make any of the curly hair types (wavy, coiled and kinky) fully straight without damaging the hair (cheap straighteners will damage your hair so beware!). Even with long straight hair, using a straightener can be of great styling use as "straightened" straight hair will have a different look and texture from the rest of the naturally-straight hair on the head.

An excellent hair straightener to own is this one from BabyLiss as it not only does the job perfectly but it will also last without breaking a whole lot longer than just about all the rest of hair straighteners (including much more expensive straighteners too). For what is worth, the recommended hair straightener in the link is also great for straightening medium length hair, so get that straightener if you plan on having any hair that is longer than 2 inches and you want to have a wider range of hairstyling options available.

Popular celebrity men with long hair include Jared Leto, Johnny Depp and Troy Polamalu.

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