The best curly hairstyles for men all start from the same truth: your curls are the feature, not the flaw. Straight-haired guys shell out good money for texture you woke up with. After 25 years as a fashion designer, I look at a haircut the way I look at a collar — it frames the face the same way a collar frames a neckline. Get the frame right, and everything under it looks sharper. Below are 23 of the best curly haircuts to try this year, from clean tapers to full statement curls. One of them is yours.
1. Classic Curly Taper
A curly hair taper is the tailored blazer of haircuts — structure at the edges, personality everywhere else. The sides shorten gradually around the sideburns and neckline while your ringlets keep their full spring on top. Unlike a fade, a taper never goes all the way down to skin, so the whole look stays soft, classic, and easy to grow out. Office on Monday, barbecue on Saturday. It never misses.
2. Low Fade Curly Hair
The low fade starts just above the ears and keeps the drama subtle. Dense curls stay full and rounded on top while the sides tighten to a whisper — a signature look for men with dark curly hair, and dark Mediterranean men have been proving that for generations. Add sunglasses and a mustache like our guy here, and the whole thing turns effortlessly cool. Quiet confidence, sharp edges.
3. Mid Fade Curly Hair
A mid fade splits the difference, climbing to the temples for contrast that reads bold without going extreme. Fade height changes the entire attitude of a cut, so know your low from your mid before you sit down. A fade haircut on curly hair works hardest when the curls are dense and tightly packed like these — the crisp blend makes the top look twice as full. Barbershop-fresh, every single day.
4. High Fade Curly Hair
The high fade is the boldest of the family — skin-short sides that push every ounce of attention to the curls up top. This is a masculine curly haircut with zero ambiguity: sharp lines, strong contrast, fresh-out-the-chair energy. It also demands upkeep every couple of weeks, so befriend your barber. If contrast is your thing, browse more of the best fade haircuts for men and pick your level.
5. Curly Mullet
Business in the front, ringlets in the back. The curly mullet hairstyle men keep requesting today is nothing like the 1985 version — the sideburns stay tapered while glossy, defined curls spill down the neckline. A hoop earring and a chain finish the look, exactly as our photo proves. Retro attitude, modern execution.
6. Curly Wolf Cut
Part shag, part mullet, all attitude. This is the men’s wolf cut, curly edition: choppy layers stacked through the crown so your curls fall wild past the ears and frame the beard below. The shaggy version was practically made for curly and wavy hair, because the layers feed on natural texture. Throw on a band tee and let it move. Rockstar hair for guys who don’t own a comb.
7. Curly Flow Hairstyle
The curly flow hairstyle men borrowed from athletes and never gave back. Medium-length curls sweep back and away from the face, loose and unhurried, like you just pulled off a helmet and somehow got better-looking. It’s also a men’s hairstyle wavy-haired guys can claim, since looser textures flow even more easily with a little curl cream. Effortless is the entire point.
8. Curly Fringe Haircut
Push your curls forward instead of up, and everything changes. The curly fringe drops a row of defined coils across the forehead while tapered sides keep the shape intentional. It flatters longer faces and hides a tall forehead like it was never there. Moody, youthful, camera-ready.
9. Textured French Crop with Curls
Short men’s curly hair has one undisputed champion: the French crop. Curls are cropped tight on top with a stubby, textured mini-fringe, and the faded sides ask nothing of you in the morning. Pair it with a full beard for balance, exactly like our photo. Low maintenance has never looked this deliberate.
10. Curly Undercut
The undercut is pure contrast — sides taken down close, a heavy canopy of curls left to flop wherever it pleases. Call it the baddie curly hairstyle of this list: a little disheveled, a lot deliberate, made for earrings and attitude. That disconnection makes fine hair look thick and thick hair look untamable. Wear it like you mean it.
11. Slicked Back Curly Hair
Curls, meet control. Slicked-back curly hair sweeps everything off the forehead so the texture ripples backward in glossy, defined waves. A small amount of styling wax or pomade holds the shape without freezing it solid. Add a groomed beard and you’ve got date-night hair that still says you didn’t try too hard.
12. Side Part Curly Hairstyle
A side part gives curls something they rarely get: direction. Sweep the bulk of your curls to the heavier side, keep the other side tighter, and suddenly the whole cut reads polished. It’s the most interview-friendly style on this list, no contest. Classic never begs for attention — it simply gets it.
13. Broccoli Curly Haircut
Laugh at the name all you want — the broccoli haircut owns TikTok. A rounded dome of loose curls sits on top while a low taper fade cleans up the ears and neckline, exactly as our back-angle photo shows. The trend exploded during the lockdown era, when teens started perming their way into it. Gen Z’s favorite vegetable, and it isn’t close.
14. Modern Curly Shag
The shag layers your curls from crown to collar so they fall in soft, undone ribbons around the face. In my design work I treat volume like fabric — you shape it the way you drape cloth, you never flatten it — and no haircut understands that better than the shag. Fringe pieces graze the eyebrows for a ’70s echo. Lived-in, romantic, quietly rebellious.
15. Long Layered Curly Hair
Long curly hair cuts for men live or die by their layers. Cut right, the layers remove bulk at the sides and stack movement through the lengths, so big curly hair looks sculpted instead of swollen. Grown past the chin, glossy and defined, it’s the most head-turning length there is. Patience, rewarded.
16. Shoulder Length Curly Hairstyle
This is the no cut curly hair endgame — what happens when you skip the barbershop for a year and moisturize like you mean it. Shoulder-length curls swept back off the face read equal parts surfer and philosopher. A light trim twice a year keeps the ends honest. Freedom, at full length.
17. Man Bun for Curly Hair
Long curls come with a superpower: the man bun. Twist everything up at the crown, let a few rebel curls escape at the neck, and you’ve turned one haircut into two hairstyles. It also clears the stage for glasses and a beard to do their work. Tied up by day, tumbling down by night.
18. Curly Hair with Beard
Curls on top, a full beard below — now the frame is complete. Keep the curls defined and the beard sharply lined, and the pairing elevates even a simple cut into something distinguished. In a pinstripe suit, as our photo proves, it’s boardroom-ready. This is more than a hairstyle. It’s an entire presence.
19. Messy Natural Curls
Easy curly hairstyles peak right here: wash, scrunch, walk away. Messy natural curls celebrate your texture exactly as it grows — a close cousin of the proudly worn Jewfro haircut and every other embrace-what-you’ve-got style. The tousled, air-dried finish looks accidental and flatters almost every face shape. Five minutes flat, and out the door.
20. Tight Coily Curly Hairstyle
Very curly hair men, this one is yours. Tight coils get defined with a curl sponge or a twist technique on top while a clean taper fade sharpens the perimeter. That definition turns dense texture into a pattern people notice from across the room. Precision meets spring.
21. Voluminous Afro Curls
The afro is more than a hairstyle — it’s a statement of confidence that has never gone out of style. Grow your coils round and full, let a few fall over the forehead, and smile like our guy here, because volume this good earns it. Moisture is everything: hydrate first, then seal it in with oil so the softness lasts all day. A crown, worn daily.
22. Curly Hair with Tapered Sides
Want a curly haircut for men with no fade in sight? Taper only the sideburns and the neckline, leave everything else full, and let the curls dominate the silhouette. The transition is soft enough that the cut grows out gracefully for weeks. Maximum curl, minimum barbershop.
23. Buzzed Sides with Long Curly Top
The loudest contrast on the list: sides buzzed to almost nothing, a full mane of curls left long on top and spilling toward the back. Let the length drift toward the neckline and add facial hair, and you’ve built the modern mullet curly hair with beard combination — our red-bearded friend nails it. Every ounce of thickness goes exactly where it counts. Bold isn’t asked for. It’s taken.
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Final Thoughts
Twenty-three curly hairstyles, and every single one starts with the same decision: working with your curls instead of against them. That decision separates the guys with great hair from the guys who fight the mirror every morning. Screenshot your favorite, book the chair, and let your barber handle the rest. The best curly haircuts aren’t found — they’re chosen. Yours is waiting. Stay curly and confident!
