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30 STYLISH TAPERED HAIRCUTS TO ENHANCE NATURAL CURLS

Natural hair offers a wealth of stunning styling options. There’s a vast array of protective styles, creative ways to enhance and volumize curls, and numerous methods to rock shorter lengths. Additionally, you can explore various undercuts, mohawk-inspired designs, and sleek looks. Among these, tapered haircuts stand out as a favorite for styling natural hair.

Tapered haircuts feature varying lengths that create a distinctive gradation, ranging from low fade buzz cuts to asymmetrical bobs and long curly layers. The beauty of tapered haircuts lies in their versatility; they can be tailored to match your hair type, curl pattern, length, and face shape, resulting in a personalized style that suits you perfectly.

To spark inspiration for your next salon visit, we consulted two professional hairstylists who have curated a list of the 30 best tapered haircuts for natural hair, along with expert styling tips. From Amandla Stenberg’s tapered box braids and Angela Bassett’s layered curls to Danai Gurira’s buzzcut styles and Zendaya’s modern pixie, explore these top looks to find the perfect tapered haircut for you.

CLASSIC POMPADOUR

A modern twist on the pompadour focuses on achieving maximum volume. You can replicate a tapered cut by pinning the hair to the sides or keep the hair trimmed or buzzed everywhere except the top. This approach allows you to maintain a striking, voluminous style with a contemporary edge.

SIMPLE SALT & PEPPER

Simplicity has its own charm, especially in the natural hair world. You don’t need elaborate designs, complex dye jobs, or long lengths to make a statement. Embrace a chic, peppery short ‘do and let your unique features shine through effortlessly.

SHORT POMPADOUR

The timeless pompadour consistently enhances one’s style, as perfectly exemplified by model Maria Borges.

ASYMMETRICAL SIDE

Don’t hesitate to get creative with your haircut. For example, this asymmetrical cut features soft edges on both sides, forming a striking geometric look that showcases inventive styling.

CONVENTIONAL CUT

If you’re not keen on getting too close with the clippers, consider a long, layered pixie tapered haircut. This classic and timeless style complements curly textures and beautifully frames the face. It’s also a great option for naturals with fine hair who want to add more volume and depth to their look.

PIXIE WITH BANGS

Add a boyish-glam touch to your pixie cut by incorporating sweeping bangs. Finish off the style with a shine spray to enhance the sleek, polished effect.

FRIZZY FRO

Embrace the humidity and its natural frizz. Your curls will appear even more voluminous, creating a halo-like effect around your face.

ACCESSORIZED WITH A HAT

Choosing a tapered haircut doesn’t mean you have to forgo dressing up your natural curls. In fact, you can experiment with colors and accessories to enhance your look. A wide-brimmed hat is a chic way to complement your tapered style and add an extra touch of flair.

CURLY FADE

We adore Cynthia Erivo’s subtle, curly fade haircut. It adds texture and dimension to her look, striking the perfect balance between laid-back elegance and high glamour.

GROWN OUT TAPERED CUT

A tapered cut is stylish, but it also looks fantastic as it grows out. When your curls lengthen, you can use techniques like finger coils and twist-outs to define and enhance your hair’s shape and texture.

DIP-DYE FRO

While fro-hawks are popular, this dip-dyed tapered haircut offers a fresh twist. Shave your sides and create a large “Z” pattern for a unique look. When you’re heading out, style your hair to the front and pin or tie it in place to showcase your lightened curly ends.

COMB-OVER FRO-HAWK

Make a statement like Rihanna with this dynamic haircut. “I love seeing women rock a fro-hawk,” says Bailey. “The fro-hawk is a daring style with versatile options. With the sides typically faded, tapered, or closely trimmed, the real drama happens at the top or along the center of the head.”

SOFT CUT

Channel Rihanna’s bold style with this striking haircut. “I love seeing women embrace a fro-hawk,” says Bailey. “The fro-hawk is a fearless choice with lots of versatility. While the sides are usually faded, tapered, or closely trimmed, the real impact is made at the top or along the center of the head.”

TAPERED BOX BRAIDS

Elevate your protective style with a touch of tapered length for a subtle yet eye-catching detail that adds a hint of flair.

VOLUMINOUS BOB WITH BANGS

Boost the volume of your curls for a tapered, stylish look. Simply apply a curl-defining product to your strands to achieve a well-coiffed and controlled style, reminiscent of Solange’s signature flair.

TAPERED AFRO

For naturals in stage two of their hair journey, joining the tapered haircut trend is easy by keeping the hair shorter at the back. This creates a choppy, medium-sized afro that retains definition while adding style. To enhance the look, fluff up the front and pull a few strands to achieve wispy curls, making your cut truly stand out.

CURLY COIFFURE

Keep your curls voluminous at the top of your head while tapering the rest to a shorter length, drawing attention to your crown. If you love this style but prefer not to commit to a tapered cut, achieve a similar effect by gathering your hair into a high puff.

PEEKABOO CUT

Surprise and captivate with a hidden undercut design. Style your box braids into a high bun to showcase your shaved sides, creating a visually striking contrast. Pulling your hair up will reveal the tapered cut, offering a stylish and attention-grabbing twist.

ASYMMETRICAL CURLS

An asymmetrical cut is a timeless choice, and you can personalize it by embracing your natural texture. This style remains stylish and allows you to highlight the unique qualities of your curls or waves, making the look distinctly your own.

AUBURN WAVES

Naturalistas looking to enjoy the benefits of short hair without a drastic chop can enhance their look with a teeny weeny afro. The key to this style is to keep your hair short enough to stay manageable while long enough to showcase your natural texture.

Use a boar bristle brush to smooth baby hairs or create soft waves, and consider a monthly (or weekly) auburn rinse for a touch of color. The Mason Pearson Handy Mixture Bristle Hair Brush is ideal for achieving the perfect finish.

ASYMMETRICAL BUZZCUT

Embrace a punk-inspired look by shaving one side of your hair, while letting the other side showcase your curls or featuring box braids for a stylish protective option. This contrast creates a bold and versatile style that combines edgy flair with practical hair care.

HIGH FADE

A high fade allows you to achieve the flat-top look without the hassle of maintaining height. Simply buzz the sides of your head for a clean finish. The contrast between the shorter sides and the longer top creates a striking, gender-neutral style that’s both sleek and sophisticated.

BOLD FRO-HAWK

If daring is your style, you’ll love the idea of a colorful frohawk. Ask your stylist to buzz the sides, create a distinctive shape—like a shaved lightning bolt—and add some bleach for extra impact. Choose any color you like, but a vibrant shade adds personality and pairs well with neutral outfits. The standout feature is the playful shape, which adds a fun, bold touch without taking itself too seriously.

LONG, TAPERED CURL

Anyone with curls knows that each bend can create a trompe l’œil effect, but you can enhance this illusion by adding real layers for even more shape and dimension. This approach not only emphasizes the natural texture but also adds depth and movement to your curls, making your hairstyle even more striking.

BUZZ CUT WITH DESIGNS

Keep your style sharp and eye-catching with a buzzcut that incorporates unique designs. Whether you opt for various sizes, shapes, or personal messages, your scalp becomes a canvas for creativity. The possibilities are endless, allowing you to make a bold statement with your haircut.

GINGER SNAP

No matter which tapered haircut you choose, adding a ginger hue can give your style an edgy, alternative vibe. This vibrant color enhances the look, providing a fresh and eye-catching twist to your tapered cut.

ICY TRAIL

If you’re ready to transition from long natural hair to a vibrant fashion color, this clean fade is the perfect choice. Opt for a close shave on the sides to let the deep side steal the spotlight, and add an icy, gunmetal blue for a striking, contemporary look.

TAPERED PIXIE

Pair a pixie cut with tapered sides for a wispy, stylish look that’s both cute and easy to maintain—just remember regular touch-ups with clippers or your stylist. For an extra touch, sweep the top into a soft mohawk for added flair and versatility.

ARTSY COLORS

“Tapered cuts are like blank canvases, offering clients the chance to get creative and express their style almost artistically,” says Dent. “You can opt for cut designs that reflect your personality or mood, incorporating clean lines, swirls, or even shaved artwork. Plus, you can style it with curls, twists, faux locs, and coils—or, in this case, with vibrant dye.”

CURLY FRO-HAWK

For a timeless yet edgy look, sweep the sides of your hair up and style them into a curly faux frohawk. To add even more impact, stretch out your curls to enhance their volume and create a bold, standout style.

FAQ

1.How can I maintain a natural tapered cut?

One key aspect of tapered cuts is their tendency to grow out quickly. To keep your style looking sharp and fresh, aim to schedule a barber appointment every 2 to 3 weeks.

2.How can I fake a tapered cut?

If you’re drawn to the tapered sides but hesitant to fully commit, try creating a faux hawk. Divide your hair into 2 or 3 vertical sections, slick up the sides to form ponytails, and fluff each ponytail to achieve a cohesive, uniform look.

30 Brown Hair with Highlights Inspos that You Will Fall in Love with

There’s a joke that says all ladies need to do is weave their straight hair, relax their curly hair, trim their long hair, and stretch their short hair. We may continue by saying that girls with dark hair imagine themselves as blondes in their dreams, and blondes wish to be brunettes. Any change in the color of hair is softer with highlights. It can be really subdued and perfectly complement your natural hair color. If you are ready to change, these 30 brown hair with highlights inspo will make you want to run to your favorite salon place ASAP.

Icy Blonde Chunky Highlights

In 2023, bold hair color is going to be very popular. If you haven’t seen brown hair styled in this way yet, you will adore how this color pairs with blonde highlights to frame the face! To get this dye replicated at a salon, show your hairstylist this picture.

Light Brown Balayage

For dark hair, a light brown balayage creates a stunning gradient appearance. The application of highlights creates the illusion that the sun has truly kissed your black locks. In contrast to other highlighting methods, the balayage is not only delicate and unobtrusive but also simple to maintain.

Dark Brown Hair with Bronze Highlights

A layered haircut will give your waves more depth, and if you opt to add some subtle highlights to your dark brown hair, the result will be a sophisticated look that looks stunning both up and down. Take a look at it, please! It has substance, texture, and flawlessly harmonized colors. If you desire this appearance, a layered haircut with choppy ends is also an excellent choice.

Steel Grey Highlights

It’s no longer only for your elderly folks! Gray hair dyeing has gained popularity, particularly among younger audiences. However, if you want to experiment without fully committing to a new shade, soft gray or light blue chunky highlights work well.

Sun-Kissed Balayage

Your hair can completely change with blonde highlights. Transform your ordinary, boring look into something glitzy that will get you compliments all the time. If you want to preserve that special summertime shine in your hair, nothing compares to the balayage effect.

Ash Brown Highlights

Subtle highlights are a must-try for anybody looking for a little glitz, no matter the season. You’ll adore the lovely gloss they impart to your hairstyle.

Dark Brown Mane with Caramel Balayage

Caramel balayage on dark brown hair with highlights is quite striking. In this case, the transition is seamless yet still looks really fashionable. For added dimension, dark fragments have also been placed on the bottom.

Dark Chocolate Bob with Babylights

If you love your dark brown hair and just want to jazz it up a bit, create some cool curls with a straightening iron and add a sprinkling of babylights. These brown hair highlights can certainly redefine your look.

Lob with Thin Caramel Highlights

Dark hair highlights can turn any boring locks into a sophisticated, diva-like style. You’ll feel fantastic and your hair will be glossy and shiny! Isn’t it, after all, what we all want from a makeover?

Chocolate Copper Balayage


The vitality and richness of both colors combine to create a visually striking effect when copper hair highlights are applied to black hair. Ask your hairstylist to take the highlights all the way up to your roots if you want the copper hue to steal the show.

Shaggy Bob with Subtle Partial Highlights

Broad highlights and striking hues aren’t always necessary. In this instance, keeping things simple is ideal. Subtle brown accents can be used to achieve that effect.

Chocolate Brown Highlights

Light brown highlights can instantly alter the style of medium-length chocolate hair. Any length looks excellent with this color combo, but to get the complete effect, wear it wavy.

Natural Striped Highlights

A closer inspection reveals that these are actually perfectly integrated with the light chocolate ribbons, even though at first glance they appear to be just basic blonde highlights. You’ll stand out from the crowd with this bohemian-chic ombre effect. Who wouldn’t love to have blonde highlights paired with shimmering dark brown hair?

Golden Bronde Color Melt

Blend highlights and lowlights for a hairstyle with endless depth. This gorgeous colormelt is ideal for noncommittal people. A bit blonde and a little brown gives you the best of both worlds. When the colors work so well together, there’s no need to make a decision.

Light Caramel Balayage 

Enhance the brightness of your swoopy shoulder-length waves by adding deep caramel highlights. The peek-a-boo, side-parted bangs give off a little Hollywood glitz.

Angled Bob with Light Brown Highlights

This hair color’s caramel and ashy tones are really lovely! Just a few thin blonde highlights give it a really trendy and fresh look. Choose a choppy bob without bangs to maintain a modern look. Style it with bendy waves for a stylish urban appearance.

Thin Beige Highlights 

If you want a more natural look, thin highlights are a fantastic option because they blend in smoothly with the hair. Going a few shades lighter is more than sufficient to create a noticeable difference.

Bright Blonde Contour Highlights

Enjoy yourself while highlighting and balayaging. You are not limited to the typical ombre-inspired style. Wear the lightest items closest to your face to highlight and brighten it. The bolder the style, the greater the contrast between the highlights and your natural color.

Cool Toned Highlights

Twisting together in loose curls are highlights and lowlights? Yes, please! On the top and rear of the head, the brown lowlights are more noticeable, whilst the blonde tones are more noticeable in the front. It’s not quite ombre, though. Absolutely stunning.

Chocolate Bob with Golden Blonde Highlights

Blonde accents in light brown hair make it seem delicate and feminine. The lengthy, honey-colored streaks run the length of the wavy, neck-length bob, emphasizing the flirting, seductive peek-a-boo bangs.

Highlights on Sandy Brown Hair

In order to get a natural look, some of the best highlight ideas for light brown hair revolve around this concept. Consider this look to be a reproduction of the highlights you remember receiving as a child following exhausting outdoor activities. That kind of inspiration will help you achieve a youthful look.

Painted Balayage Highlights

This style with the light brown hair is amazing. These appealing textures and tones are sure to please. Ask your stylist for highlights that are painted on (also known as balayage) and brighter in the facial area. Next, ask her to style it with contemporary, loose waves.

Messy Bob with Face-Framing Balayage

Light brown hair can look adorable with balayage, even on a short bob. Given your limited hair length, choose a striking contrast between the blonde and brown to maximize the amount of hair you have. In fact, the untidy finish and jagged ends add to the cut’s edge.

Honey Light Brown Locks

One of the most well-liked choices for light brown hair highlights is this warm, natural look. Your stylist will work with caramel highlights to create an even, appealing pop of color enhancement, starting with your foundation color.

Shiny Bronze and Blonde Balayage

Hair with lowlights always obtains the necessary depth and brings out highlights, even if your color job is low contrast. An absolute masterwork, this balayage is the go-to option for skin with warm, neutral undertones.

Caramel Highlights on Choppy Cut

For people with fine hair who don’t want to bother with a lot of maintenance, a choppy haircut is a great look. Having light brown hair with caramel-colored highlights can definitely bring out the best in your new cut and face.

Cool and Neutral Blonde Balayage Highlights

The cool element of the balayage is well-known. To make the look seem specifically your own, there are lots of options for you to try out and play with. Even though warm and golden tones are often preferred, your complexion might look better with a neutral blonde tint.

Dimensional Highlights

Brighter is what is lighter! Use bold streaks of blonde hair to provide some color to your traditional bob haircut. This will give your natural brown color greater depth and structure, giving the illusion of thicker hair.

White Blonde Ribbons on Brown Hair

This pairing of frosty blonde and dark brown is really cute! Ribbons that frame the face give the face more brightness and depth in the front portion. An adorable fringe that is accentuated can further improve this appearance.

Chunky Highlights and Curtain Bangs

Combine chunky blonde highlights with your natural hair to give your fine, straight hair more volume and thickness. Your hairstyle will appear even more voluminous and accentuate your facial features if you add a curtain fringe.

Your light brown or dark brown hairstyles are enhanced by highlights. When the highlights are properly picked and applied, even the most basic haircut looks stunning. They will enhance your skin tone and eye color, give your hair more substance, and make you appear amazing whether you wear your hair loose or in elegant styles. Check out 30 inspo above for the best “New Year” hair look.