Cowlick or double crown: the best haircuts for men

You leave the barbershop looking sharp, then the next morning a patch at the back of your head is standing straight up. That's a cowlick: a natural whorl in the direction your hair grows. Almost everyone has one, some people have two, and plenty of men spend years fighting it with gel. The good news: you don't beat a cowlick with product, you beat it with the right length.

Cowlick, double crown, front cowlick: what's the difference?

At a cowlick, hair grows in a spiral around one point, so it can't all fall the same way and some of it lifts. Where it sits changes everything:

• Crown cowlick: the most common. It creates a tuft that sticks up or a small visible gap at the back.
• Double crown: two whorls side by side, often turning in opposite directions. The hair between them fights itself.
• Front cowlick: on the hairline. It stops a fringe from lying flat and lifts the hair at the front.

A cowlick is not a sign of balding. A whorl has a clean spiral shape with normal density around it. If you see more and more scalp every year and the area keeps widening, talk to a dermatologist instead.

The golden rule: avoid the in-between length

A cowlick causes the most trouble at roughly 2 to 4 cm (about 1 to 1.5 inches). That's too long to stay short and upright, and too short for the hair's weight to lay it down. So two strategies work, and a third almost always fails:

• Short: under 1 to 1.5 cm (about half an inch) at the crown, the hair isn't long enough to stand up. The cowlick becomes just a pattern.
• Long enough: past 5 to 7 cm (2 to 3 inches) on top, the weight lays the hair down and covers the area.
• The in-between: exactly the length where the tuft stands up — which is often what happens three weeks after a short cut.

Cuts that work with a crown cowlick

The textured crop

The top is cut for texture and pushed forward with a matte finish. The messiness is intentional, so a lifted tuft disappears inside texture that already moves. It's the most forgiving cut for a crown cowlick.

The textured crop, on your head?

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The buzz cut or crew cut

Keeping the whole crown very short removes the problem at the root. A crew cut leaves a little more length at the front, which stays easy to style even with a front cowlick.

Medium-length cuts

If you like length, commit to it: a messy medium cut or a flow swept back lets the weight do the work. The growing-out phase is the tricky part, so ask your barber to keep length at the crown while you get there.

With a double crown

A double crown doesn't like very structured styles (a sharp side part, a slicked-back look), because both whorls show as soon as you try to line the hair up. The reliable options: very short at the crown, or a textured top that embraces a bit of movement. On a short cut, ask for a fade that goes high enough to keep the area between the two whorls short.

With a front cowlick

Don't force a flat fringe: the cowlick will always lift it. Follow its direction instead. A quiff or a top styled upward turns the lift into intentional volume. If the cowlick turns left, a side part on that side will fall naturally.

A quiff, with your front cowlick?

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What to tell your barber

• Point out the cowlick and ask them to cut with its direction, not against it.
• Ask them not to thin out the crown too much: over-thinned hair stands up more.
• If you want it short, ask for a length that stays short until your next cut, not just on the day.
• When drying: blow-dry in the direction of the cowlick, then press it down with a matte paste rather than a shiny gel.

See the cut on your own head first

You never see the model's crown in an Instagram photo. The real question is: with my head shape and my hair, what does this cut look like? With BARBERme, you take a selfie and try a textured crop, a quiff or a crew cut on your own face in seconds. The 180° mode adds both profiles, so you also see your head from another angle.