Notes on tapers vs. fades
For a while now I’ve been struggling to separate tapers and fades (or tapering and fading? more on that in a bit). In an effort to achieve smooth blending, I kept creating gentle, taper-style graduation, and knowing I needed a fade to be “sharper” or “more dramatic” didn’t really help me figure out how to change my approach. So I dug in on researching the topic. I don’t know if the following is what other people would consider “correct,* but I think this framework will help me create the right kinds of graduation when I need them.
What distinguishes a taper from a fade?
In short:
- A taper preserves the natural hairline.
- A fade erases the natural hairline.
There are other ways to distinguish these cuts, of course. Broadly, tapers feature gentler graduation over a larger area, while fades grade more quickly from the desired length to 0 or skin, creating a distinct line around the head and leaving much of the scalp bare. But to me, the differing approach to the hairline is the core distinction and what makes a fade in particular immediately recognizable as a fade.
Can you illustrate the difference?
Sure! INSERT PICTURES HERE PLZ
What about distinguishing different types of fade?
Fade vs. skin fade:
- A traditional fade leaves stubble (that is, you grade to a 0).
- A skin fade is shaved smooth with a foil shaver or straight razor.
Fade vs. drop fade vs. burst fade:
- A traditional fade creates a straight line around the head.
- A drop fade dips down in the back (typically to the occipital bone), creating a curved line.
- A burst fade radiates out from the ears and typically leaves the back of the head untouched for other cutting and styling.
In other words, a drop fade still has you setting a line around the head; the line just travels differently. A burst fade doesn’t travel around the head and can be fused with styles like mohawks and mullets.
Worth noting: currently, drop skin fades are very popular, so when some people say “a fade,” they specifically mean “a drop skin fade.”
Why was this difficult for me?
Originally, I thought of “tapering” and “fading” as techniques. I don’t think that’s wrong, exactly, but I think it’s easier and more accurate to conceptualize tapers and fades as cuts. Both cuts involve creating graduation from longer to shorter as you move down the head. If you assume, like I did, that “taper” and “fade” refer to the technique of creating graduation, it’s understandable that you might think they’re synonymous terms, or that they refer to different extremes on a scale of graduation techniques.
Some barbers get in the weeds trying to explain the differences between grading for a taper and grading for a fade, or between low-contrast, gentle graduation and high-contrast, sharp graduation. These explanations have been useful to me now that I have a better grasp of things, but early the focus on grading contributed to my confusion.
Tapers aren’t just gentle fades, and fades aren’t just sharp tapers. They’re two different categories of cut. They take different approaches to the hairline and create different shapes and silhouettes.
Attempts to define strict heights for tapers and fades were similarly unhelpful. Both tapers and fades can begin grading at different positions on the head. High, tight tapers can look like fades, especially if the person has a hair color that blends with their skin. Low and drop fades can look like tapers, especially if the person has a hair color that contrasts with their skin.
Explanations like these raise more questions than they answer, and they’re unnecessary when clearer explanations are available.
What’s next?
It’s become clear to me that when I thought I was practicing fades, I was mostly practicing tapers. But in revisiting my mannequin heads since I started drafting this post, I’ve already seen improvement! Reminding myself that the goal is to erase the hairline helped me know where I should focus my clippers and why.
I still find it hard to achieve the swift graduation a fade. I know I need to practice flicking out from the head more, but this is also a good time to revisit my learning materials, especially the videos.
Last but not least: I need to remember that clients won’t know all this. Clients will use the wrong terms for things, and it’s on me to help us both figure out what they really want.