Highly technical faded haircuts are ubiquitous in modern barbering. Every classic hairstyle imaginable has at some point been reimagined with a razor-sharp high fade or a seamlessly smooth taper fade, to the point of it becoming the default setting for short back and sides cuts. But barbers haven’t always relied on clippers to get the job done. In fact, even now it’s still entirely possible to get a perfect fade using nothing but a pair of scissors.
The scissor fade is a technique that has been around for as long as people have been cutting their hair.