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Mid Taper Fade on Black Hair: The Everyday Cut in Southeast Queens

By The Lilacroix barbers · October 26, 2026 · 2,406 words

If you asked every man who sat in our chairs this week what he wanted and wrote it down, mid taper would be the most common answer. It is the cut for the school run, the office, the church pew and the cookout, and it looks right on a nine year old and on his grandfather.

The direct answer: a mid taper fade blends the hair at the sideburns and neckline from skin or a 0 guard up to a 2 or 3 guard, with the blend finishing around the top of the ear, about an inch and a half to two inches up. It keeps most of the sides and all of the top. At Lilacroix Barbers in Laurelton it is cut as a fade at $30, or $20 for kids. Below is who it suits, which styles go on top of it, how it compares to the low and high versions, and how to keep it clean.

What a mid taper fade is and why it is the everyday cut

A mid taper fade is a taper whose blend ends at about the top of the ear. The sideburn and nape go short, the hair climbs through the guards over roughly two inches, and the blend stops before it reaches the temple. The top and most of the sides are untouched by the fade.

It is the everyday cut for a simple reason: it sits in the middle of every tradeoff. It shows more contrast than a low taper, so the cut looks fresh from a distance, but it does not expose the temples the way a high taper does, so it survives three weeks instead of two. It works under a short crop, under waves, under twists, under a small afro and under a beard. It is also the easiest taper to grow out, because the blend is long enough to soften gradually instead of leaving a line.

On Black hair there is one more reason. Coily hair at a 2 or 3 guard looks dense, and skin at the sideburn looks clean, and the mid taper puts those two next to each other right where the eye lands when someone looks at you from the side. The cut reads as sharp without reading as shaved, which is why it is the one men pick for work, school and photos. Our services page lists it under fade at $30 and under kids cuts at $20.

Mid taper by age and lifestyle: school cuts, work and older men

The mid taper fits every age, but the version changes. Boys get it tighter and simpler, working men get it cleaner at the hairline, and older men get it blended softer with less skin.

Boys and teens

For school the mid taper is the cut parents ask for because it looks neat for three weeks and does not need product. We cut it at a 1 or 1.5 on the sides with the blend finishing at a 2, a short crop or a sponge top, and a natural line up that does not push the hairline back on a kid whose hairline is still settling. Teens tend to want it tighter, with skin at the bottom and a sharper line up, and a design cut into the side is popular. Kids cuts are $20 and we are patient with first haircuts and with boys who do not love the clippers yet.

Working men in their 20s and 30s

This is the office version: skin or a 0 at the bottom, a 2 at the top of the blend, a squared line up and a clean neckline. It photographs well, it fits a suit and it fits a uniform. Most men on this version come in every two weeks and take a line up in between.

Men in their 40s and beyond

With gray and with hairlines that have moved, the mid taper gets softer. A 1 at the bottom instead of skin keeps thin spots from showing, the blend finishes at a 3 so the gray on the sides reads as a gradient rather than a stripe, and the line up follows the natural hairline instead of forcing a corner. Men who color the beard or the hair can keep the mid taper as is; the fade does not interfere with the color service.

Styles that sit on a mid taper

The mid taper is the base. The top decides the style, and the styles sort by length.

Short: buzz, crew and Caesar

A buzz at a 2 or 3 on top with a mid taper is the lowest maintenance cut in the shop. A crew cut adds a little length at the front, and a Caesar brings the front down into a straight fringe with a line up. A line design on the side, a single part or a double part dresses any of these up for the weekend.

Medium: textured crop, curly crop and low afro

One to two inches on top, sponged into coils or picked into a low afro, with the mid taper keeping the sides clean. The curly crop is the most requested version on 3C and 4A hair. On 4C it is picked out and shaped, and the taper gives it an outline so it does not look like it is growing wild.

Long: high top, twists, locs and braids

Three inches or more on top with a mid taper is a modern high top: squared at the sides, tapered at the perimeter. Twists and starter locs sit over a mid taper with the sides at a 2 so the parting pattern stays hidden. Box braids and cornrows take a mid taper at the nape and sideburns only, which keeps the braid pattern intact while the edges look fresh.

Details: line up, beard connect, designs and color

A hard line up turns a plain mid taper into a finished cut, and a razor line at the beard connects the sideburn taper straight into the beard so the two read as one shape. Designs, from a single line to a full pattern, go into the faded part of the side where the hair is short enough to hold a clean edge. Dyed tips or a full color on top come as a separate hair coloring service and look sharpest when the taper underneath is fresh.

By hair type and texture: 4C, coily, dense and curly

The mid taper works on every texture, and the only thing that changes is which guard the blend finishes at and how the top is cut.

• 4C hair: the blend can finish at a 2 and still look smooth, because dense coils hide the steps between guards. Shrinkage means a two inch taper looks like an inch and a half once the hair dries, so let the barber place it a touch higher than the photo if you want the photo look.
• 4A and 4B coils: finish the blend at a 2 or a 2.5 and cut the top with shears or a sponge, not a guard, so the coil pattern on top stays visible.
• 3C and 3B curls: the blend shows more, so ask for the finish at a 3 and keep an extra half inch on top for balance. Curls on top get shears only.
• Thick, dense hair: the barber may use the clipper lever to add half steps between guards so the blend does not bulk up at the top. A mid taper on dense hair looks best with the sides at a 1.5 rather than a 2.
• Fine or thinning hair: keep the bottom at a 1 rather than skin, and finish at a 3, so thin spots at the temple stay covered and the taper reads as fullness rather than exposure.

Whatever your texture, the top of a mid taper should not meet a clipper guard unless you asked for a buzz. The pattern on top is the part that makes the cut yours.

Face shape guide for the mid taper

The mid taper is the safest taper for most faces because it neither stretches nor widens the head the way the high and low versions can. Here is how to tune it.

• Oval: everything works. Skin at the bottom, hard part, sharp line up, any top.
• Round: keep height on top, an inch and a half or more, and let the barber take the taper a touch higher at the temple to add length to the face.
• Square: a mid taper with rounded corners on the line up and some texture on top softens the jaw.
• Heart: the mid taper leaves fullness at the temples, which balances a wider forehead. Avoid a high taper, which narrows the temples further.
• Long or rectangular: keep the top under an inch and a half, finish the blend at a 3, and keep the sides fuller so the face does not read as longer.
• Diamond: a mid taper with a bit of length at the sides and a soft front fringe hides narrow temples and a narrow chin.

Your barber will read your face in the first few seconds. If you tell him the one thing you do not like about your face, he can cut around it.

Mid taper vs low, high, drop and high top

The name tells you where the blend stops. The table shows what that means on your head and how long each one holds up.

If you are choosing between the mid and the low, the low is the one that keeps the most hair and the mid is the one with more contrast. If you are choosing between the mid and the high, the high shows more skin and needs a visit every two weeks without fail. We cover both ends in the low taper guide and the high taper guide.

How to ask your barber for a mid taper

Say mid taper, say what you want at the bottom, say the guard at the top of the blend, and say how you want the top and the line up. That is all the barber needs, and a photo of someone with your texture fills in the rest.

1. Mid taper, not mid fade, unless you want the whole side short.
2. Bottom: skin, a 0 or a 0.5. Men who get razor bumps should ask for a 0 guard and no razor at the nape.
3. Top of the blend: a 2 is standard, a 3 is softer and grows out slower, a 1.5 is tighter.
4. Top of the head: inches or a guard number, and sponged, picked, brushed or left.
5. Line up: natural, squared or rounded corners, and whether to leave the hairline where it is.
6. Neckline: tapered (grows out invisibly) or blocked (sharper, grows out with a ledge).

The mistakes we fix most often are a blend taken too high, which turns the mid taper into a high one, a line up pushed back at the corners, and a guard run through the curls on top. Say what you want to keep and the barber will keep it.

Aftercare and the two week rhythm

A mid taper looks sharp for two weeks and clean for three, and a line up at the halfway point stretches it. The aftercare is short: moisturize the top, oil the taper, sleep in a durag, and keep your own clippers away from the edges.

Daily and weekly care

Wash once or twice a week with a sulfate free shampoo so the coils keep their oil, and use a leave in conditioner or a curl cream on damp hair every morning. Brush or sponge the top, then put a drop of light oil on the faded part of the sides, which dries out first and turns ashy on dark skin. A satin lined durag or cap at night keeps the top from flattening and keeps the pillow from pulling the moisture out. If you get bumps at the nape, an alcohol free aftershave for the first two days and a salicylic acid wash a few times a week may help; persistent bumps are a job for a dermatologist, not the chair.

Between visits, leave the edges alone. A mid taper grows out evenly by itself, and the one thing that makes it grow out badly is a household clipper at the sideburn. If the wait is a concern, our packages bundle the cut, line up and detail in one visit; see the groom packages for what is included.

Get a mid taper at Lilacroix Barbers in Laurelton

Lilacroix Barbers is at 232-12 Merrick Blvd in Laurelton, Queens, and the mid taper is the cut we do more than any other. Walk ins are welcome seven days a week, and you can call (718) 749-5800 to check the wait. Hours are Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM to 7 PM, Friday and Saturday 7 AM to 7 PM, and Sunday 7 AM to 5 PM, so a cut before school or before work is easy.

The Q5, Q86 and Q87 stop at Merrick Boulevard and 233rd Street outside the shop, and the QM63 and QM65 express buses stop there too. Cash and major cards accepted. The fade is $30, the taper $25, the line up $16 and kids $20; the full list is on our services page.

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