12 Hairstyles for Men with Narrow Faces

Struggling to find a hairstyle that balances your narrow facial structure? You’re in the right place. The key to styling a narrow face is all about creating the illusion of width, and the right haircut is your most powerful tool. By adding volume on top, incorporating texture, and using strategic lines, you can frame your features for a stronger, more balanced look. We’ve curated 12 brilliant hairstyles, from textured crops to voluminous pompadours, that are specifically designed to enhance your bone structure. Discover your next signature look and learn how to master a style that adds dimension and confidence

1. The Textured Crop

The textured crop is a modern powerhouse for narrow face shapes. By keeping the sides and back tight, the focus is drawn upwards to the crown, creating a sense of width and balance. The key is to ask your barber for plenty of texture and choppy layers on top. This can be achieved with point cutting and thinning shears. Use a matte product, like a clay or paste, to work through damp hair, twisting sections randomly to build volume and a lived-in, effortless feel that counteracts the vertical lines of a narrow face.

Styling this cut is all about embracing imperfection. After applying your preferred product, use your fingers—not a comb—to lift the hair at the roots and create separation. Direct the hair forward and slightly to the side for a dynamic look. The messy, upright texture on top visually broadens the upper third of your face, drawing the eye across rather than down. This style is incredibly versatile, working for both casual daywear and sharper, more polished events, making it a foundational look for any man wanting to add dimension and strength to his facial structure.

2. The Classic Side Part

A timeless side part, or undercut, is a masterclass in creating structure and width. The sharp, defined part acts as a strong horizontal line, which immediately breaks up the length of a narrow face. The contrast between the shorter sides and the longer, swept-over top adds significant volume where you need it most. This style harks back to old-school Hollywood glamour but has been updated with more texture and movement, making it a sophisticated choice that commands attention and adds a powerful, balanced frame to your features.

To style, apply a medium-hold pre-styler to damp hair and blow-dry the top over to one side, using a round brush to create lift at the roots. Once dry, use a comb to define your part with precision. A medium-hold pomade or cream will give you a sleek yet pliable finish, allowing for a natural shine and movement throughout the day. This look proves that classic barbering techniques are perfectly suited to modern grooming needs, offering a clean, intentional aesthetic that expertly addresses the proportions of a narrow face shape.

3. The French Crop with Fringe

The French crop, characterized by its short, textured top and blunt, heavy fringe, is a fantastic choice for adding a strong horizontal element to the forehead. This fringe line acts as a “stop” for the eye, preventing it from traveling straight down the length of the face and instead forcing it to focus on the upper half. The texture on top adds crucial volume, while the typically faded or tight sides maintain a clean, contemporary silhouette. It’s a low-maintenance yet high-impact style that feels both utilitarian and fashion-forward.

Styling is straightforward, which is a major part of its appeal. After washing, simply apply a small amount of texturizing paste or wax to dry hair, focusing on the ends to enhance the choppy, disconnected texture. Use your fingers to push the fringe forward, ensuring it sits neatly across the forehead. The beauty of this cut is its adaptability; it looks equally sharp with a sharp taper fade on the sides as it does with a more subdued scissor-cut finish, making it a versatile tool in your style arsenal for broadening your appearance.

4. The Voluminous Pompadour

The pompadour is the ultimate volume-building hairstyle. With its dramatic height at the front and swept-back direction, it literally builds up the top of your head, creating a new, more balanced oval shape for your face. This style requires some length on top but keeps the sides short to emphasize the contrast. It’s a bold, confident look that draws all attention upward to the height and wave of the quiff, effectively countering the narrowness of the face by adding substantial mass and a strong, vertical-sweeping silhouette that feels powerful and dynamic.

Achieving this look requires a blow-dryer and a strong-hold product. Start with a volumizing mousse on damp hair and use a round brush to pull the front section up and back, drying it thoroughly to set the shape. Once set, apply a strong-hold pomade or gel to the roots and lengths to lock in the volume and provide shine. While it requires more effort, the payoff is a head-turning hairstyle that is guaranteed to add the impression of width and strength, making it a legendary choice for men with narrow faces.

5. The Textured Quiff

A close cousin to the pompadour, the textured quiff offers a more relaxed and wearable approach to volume. Instead of a high, slicked-back silhouette, the quiff focuses on creating a soft, pushed-up wave with plenty of separation and a matte finish. This texture is key, as it creates a wider, more expansive look on top without appearing overly done or rigid. The direction—back and up—is what helps to visually shorten a long face and add fullness through the temples and crown, areas that are crucial for creating a balanced frame.

To master the quiff, work a sea salt spray into towel-dried hair to build a textured base, then blow-dry while using your fingers to scrunch and lift the hair upward. The goal is body, not perfection. Finish with a matte paste, working it through the mid-lengths and ends to define the separation and hold the shape without any shine. This creates a modern, airy feel that is perfect for everyday wear, giving you the height and width-boosting benefits of a pompadour with a more effortless, contemporary edge.

6. The Slicked-Back Undercut

The slicked-back undercut uses weight and direction to its advantage. By growing the top long and using a high-hold product to slick it straight back, you create a broad, flat plane of hair across the top of the head. This horizontal mass directly counteracts a narrow face shape. The sharply faded or undercut sides remove any bulk, ensuring all the visual weight is placed strategically on the crown. This creates a strong T-shape with your shoulders that frames the face perfectly, offering a sharp, masculine, and intelligent look that is both classic and commanding.

This style demands good hair health and the right products. Start with damp hair and apply a high-hold, high-shine product like a gel or slick pomade. Use a comb to evenly distribute the product and pull all the hair straight back, ensuring no strands fall forward to break the line. The result is a sleek, powerful statement that emphasizes the strong bones of your face. It’s a look that communicates confidence and control, using the principles of barbering to masterfully alter the perceived proportions of your facial structure.

7. The Messy, Long-Layered Look

Growing your hair out can be a game-changer for a narrow face, provided it’s cut with layers. Long, layered hair adds width through its sheer volume and movement. The layers remove weight, allowing the hair to fall and bend in ways that create a fuller, more rounded silhouette around the face. This softens sharp jawlines and adds mass at the cheeks and temples. A center part with this style can be particularly effective, as it creates two broad sections of hair that frame the face on either side, further enhancing the appearance of width.

The styling philosophy here is “effortless.” Embrace your hair’s natural texture. After washing, use a leave-in conditioner or a light texturizing spray to enhance waves and reduce frizz. Let it air-dry for a soft, Bohemian feel, or use a diffuser to accentuate curls and volume. The goal is to avoid anything too geometric or flat. This lived-in, dynamic style is perfect for the creative and free-spirited man, offering a way to balance a narrow face with a look that is both romantic and ruggedly appealing.

8. The Curly High Top Fade

If you have naturally curly or coily hair, a high top fade is a spectacular way to celebrate your texture while perfectly balancing a narrow face. This iconic style features the hair on top grown out and shaped into a rounded or square form, creating immense height and volume. The high fade sharply tapers the hair down to the skin on the sides, creating a stark contrast that makes the afro on top appear even more prominent and wide. This shape directly adds the necessary horizontal volume to the upper half of the face, creating a powerful, balanced, and bold statement.

Maintaining this look requires regular trims to keep the shape crisp and the fade fresh. For styling, use a curl-defining cream or moisturizer to keep your curls healthy, bouncy, and free of frizz. Picking out the roots slightly can help achieve a perfectly rounded shape. This hairstyle is more than a cut; it’s a celebration of identity and texture. It commands attention and uses the natural volume of your hair to its fullest potential, making it one of the most effective and striking hairstyles for men with narrow faces and curly hair.

9. The Brushed-Up Fringe with a Hard Part

This style combines several width-enhancing techniques into one sharp look. The brushed-up fringe creates vertical volume, while the hard part introduces a clean, striking horizontal line that breaks up the scalp. Keeping the top section long and textured allows you to brush it up and slightly back, adding crucial height. The hard part, shaved in with a razor, adds a custom, intentional detail that draws the eye sideways. Combined with a skin fade, this look is a masterclass in modern barbering, using sharp lines and contrasting lengths to build a perfectly proportioned frame for your face.

To execute, you’ll need a strong-hold blow-dry cream and a texture spray. Blow-dry the hair up and away from the face to build maximum lift at the roots. Once dry, use a fine-tooth comb to sharpen the hard part line. A matte wax can then be used to define the ends of the brushed-up fringe for a piecey, textured finish. This style is for the man who appreciates detail and wants a contemporary, fashion-conscious look that is scientifically designed to add balance and strength to his facial features.

10. The Side-Swept Curls

For men with wavy or curly hair, a side-swept style is an excellent way to harness volume and movement. By allowing the curls to build height on top and then sweeping them to one side, you create a soft, voluminous shape that adds significant width through the crown and temple. This movement creates diagonal lines that are more flattering than straight vertical ones, effectively breaking up the narrowness of the face. The layers within the curls catch the light differently, adding depth and dimension that further enhances the feeling of a fuller, more balanced face shape.

Styling is all about enhancing your natural curl pattern. Use a curl-defining mousse or cream on wet hair to control frizz and encourage clumping. As you dry it (preferably with a diffuser), gently push the hair over to your preferred side. Avoid over-handling it once it’s dry to prevent frizz. The result is a romantic, soft, and approachable look that feels both sophisticated and effortless. This style proves that working with your natural texture is the key to a hairstyle that is not only flattering but also uniquely yours.

11. The Textured Fringe with a Low Fade

This versatile cut offers a softer alternative to the French crop. It features a longer, textured fringe that falls over the forehead, creating a strong horizontal line, paired with a low fade that keeps the sides neat without being too severe. The texture in the fringe is crucial—it should be choppy and piecey, not blunt or heavy. This allows for movement and airiness, which adds volume and prevents the style from looking flat or dated. It’s a fantastic, low-commitment look that is easy to style and works for a wide range of hair types, from straight to wavy.

To style, apply a texturizing spray to damp hair and blow-dry it forward, using your fingers to create separation. Once dry, rub a small amount of matte paste between your palms and work it through the ends of your hair, focusing on the fringe to accentuate the texture and give it a slightly piecey, disconnected feel. You can style the fringe to sit straight across or slightly to the side for variation. This look is modern, youthful, and perfectly designed to use the fringe as a tool to shorten the face and add balance.

12. The Modern Shag

The modern shag is all about strategic, layered chaos. This cut is defined by its multiple layers of varying lengths, which create an overall shape that is full, voluminous, and perfectly rounded. For a narrow face, this rounded volume is the ultimate goal, as it adds width at every point—the temples, the crown, and around the jaws. The shag’s signature curtain bangs are also a major asset, falling on either side of the face to create a flattering, wide frame that softens features and directs the eye horizontally, effectively balancing the face’s natural length.

This style thrives on a “wash-and-wear” mentality, though a little product enhances it beautifully. Use a sea salt spray on damp hair to encourage wave and texture, then let it air-dry for a truly effortless vibe. For more definition, scrunch in a light-hold mousse before drying. The beauty of the shag is its intentional imperfection; the more movement and separation, the better. It’s the ideal cut for the individualist who wants a hairstyle that is both retro-cool and perfectly tailored to create a harmonious, wider-looking facial structure.