High And Tight With Skin Fade: Complete Guide [Pics]

Some styles have the benefit of being professional, stylish, and easy to maintain all at once. This is one of them. You’re about to learn everything you need to know about the high and tight with a skin fade. 

Let’s get to it.

What Is A High And Tight With A Skin Fade? 

The high and tight with a skin fade is a style where the back and sides are shaved up to a point above the temples. The hair on top is cropped short, but usually at least a #2 (6mm) and does not blend into the shaved sides. 

Due to the sides being brought up so high, the hair on top has a strip-like appearance when viewed from above. This is due to the harsh transition between the shaved sides and the longer hair on top. 

A skin fade is often included within a high and tight style. In other words, the sides are often shaved down completely. 

However, this isn’t always the case. 

You can also get high and tights where the sides are not completely shaved and simply clipped down to a very short length instead. 

For example, you could get a high and tight with a number 0 or number 1 on the sides. 

It really depends on how short you want to go with it. The shorter you go at the sides, the more striking and bold the style will tend to look because there’s simply more of a contrast between the sides and the top. 

You can’t get any shorter than a skin fade. 

High And Tight With Skin Fade: Examples

Here are a few high and tight skin fades to really serve as inspiration if you were thinking of going for this classic hairstyle. 

High And Tight Skin Fade Long On Top

Here’s an example of a high and tight with a skin fade where the hair on top is relatively long on top. 

But the style is still clearly a “high and tight” as the sides have been brought up so high – well above the temples. 

There’s also a harsh transition between the sides and the top with minimal blending between the two. 

As the shortest length at the sides and back is completely shaved down to the skin, this style can comfortably be called a high and tight with a skin fade. 

It’s important to note that when the hair on top is left long, it may eventually get to a point where it should more accurately be called an “undercut”. 

Undercuts are similar to high and tights in that there’s a harsh transition between the sides and the top. However, the difference is the length of the hair on top. 

With high and tights, the hair on top is short. With undercuts, the hair on top is long. 

High And Tight Skin Fade And Beard

Here’s an example of a high and tight with a skin fade and a beard. 

There are a couple of good reasons why it works so well. 

One is that the contrast between the shaved sides and the fullness of the beard is attention-grabbing. The beard also nicely tapers and blends into the shaved sides. 

Growing a beard like this is also a good way to elongate the face. High and tights are so short up top that people often find that their face looks shorter and rounder after they get the haircut. 

While they may have previously been able to style a quiff (or something similar) in order to add some height up there, they no longer have enough length to do so. 

Growing a beard is a good way to add some length from the bottom end. It’s also a great way to just add some definition to the lower half of the face. 

High And Tight Skin Fade Hard Part

Here’s a high and tight with a skin fade and a hard part. 

While all high and tight styles should technically have a “hard part”, with some, it’s more noticeable than others. 

As you can see here, there’s a clear line in between the shaved sides and the short crop of hair on top. 

This sharp transition and harsh border are what you could call a hard part. 

This sudden transition from the shaved sides to the longer hair on top may not be an ideal choice for everyone. Many do prefer the gradual transition that a more simple fade or short back and sides style would offer. 

But the transition you get with a high and tight is eye-catching because it’s so sudden. It’s a look that appeals to a lot of people. 

If you wanted a complete comparison between high and tight and more simple fade styles, read this article I wrote. 

Benefits Of The High And Tight With A Skin Fade

If you were on the fence about whether to go for this style or not, consider these benefits when making your decision. They may be enough to sway you one way or the other. 

1. It’s Good For Balding Men

The high and tight is a great style for men with receding hairlines and thinning hair. This is even more true when it’s combined with a skin fade. 

With the sides being shaved and brought up so high, it can often make a receding hairline look less obvious. This is especially true when the receding hairline isn’t very advanced, to begin with. 

The shaved sides almost absorb the receding temples, making them simply appear like they were part of the style in the first place. 

In other words, it becomes difficult to know where the receding temples begin and where the shaved sides end. 

They merge. 

In addition, having the hair so short and even on top often makes thinning hair appear less noticeable. There’s simply less contrast between the thin areas and thicker areas when the hair is trimmed so short and evenly like this. 

Overall, this usually makes it all look fuller. 

Finally, as the sides are as literally as short as you can go with a skin fade, there’s a significant contrast with the longer hair on top. So, the hair on top just looks fuller in comparison with the shaved sides. 

It’s an illusion, but it’s effective. 

2. It’s Easy To Maintain

One of the great things about the high and tight with a skin fade is just how easy it is to maintain. 

It’s pretty much a “set it and forget it” hairstyle that will require minimal maintenance. 

Washing and drying become super easy because the hair is so short. On the sides, the hair is literally non-existent. 

In addition, there’s really not much you can do in terms of styling because the hair on top is usually so short. 

It’s known for its simplicity and that’s why it appeals to so many. 

As a side note, you will most likely need to get this style redone every 2 to 3 weeks if you’re looking to maintain the skin fade. 

It’s not easy keeping a skin fade looking clean at all times, simply because after the growth of even a few millimeters of stubble, it no longer looks like a skin fade. 

If you didn’t mind this growth, this is absolutely fine. But if you want a great-looking skin fade at all times, you’ll most likely need to give it a touch-up yourself (if you are capable) or visit a barber every 2-3 weeks. 

3. It Has A Slimming Effect

Finally, the high and tight with a skin fade often has a slimming effect on the face. 

The reason for this is that there’s so much fullness being removed from the sides. Essentially, all of the sides and back are shaved down. As a result, the face will often look slimmer and narrower when viewed from front-on. 

It can be surprising the first time you get it done. The shape of your face may look very different from how it did before. 

While there is a small risk of the face looking shorter when measured from the bottom to the top due to the hair on top being so short, in general, this isn’t usually a problem. 

There’s so much hair and fullness being taken off the sides that the narrowing effect compensates for this. 

It often nicely defines the jawline too. 

Conclusion 

There you have it. Hopefully, everything you could want to know about the high and tight combined with a skin fade. 

What it is, what it looks like, and what it could potentially do for you. 

It could be a pretty drastic change from your current hairstyle, which is why it’s not one to jump into without giving it some proper consideration. 

After reading this, however, you should hopefully be a few steps closer to figuring out whether it’s the one for you. 

Enjoy.