Last Updated on January 6, 2021 by Robert Price

There’s no reason you can’t rock your receding hairline with style and confidence. As long as you don’t look like Dr. Phil, chances are you have options.

This article will review the 9 most effective receding hairline style techniques. Ready to find your next great look? Excellent, let’s begin! Here are the 9 best ways to downplay your receding hairline.

1. Side Part It, Just Before the Recession

Josh Earnest always looks dapper. He does sort of three-quarters side part, and swoops up his hair right in front of the receded area.

This is a great technique that many men in the news and political world employ. Josh Earnest, the most ironically named white house press secretary of all time, appears to have some mild recession at his corners — and he uses this technique. Jake Tapper of CNN also typically parts his hair right before his recession area. You can use this trick with a wide variety of short, medium, and longer men’s hairstyles.

2. Straight Down the Middle

Chef Gordon Ramsey has admitted to having a hair transplant. He often sports a messy middle-part style.

This can look a little cheesy on older guys, but some can pull it off. If you’re like most guys with a receding hairline, you have more hair toward the center of your forehead than on your sides — so you can use those extra strands up front to give you additional coverage where you need it.

3. Comb it Up & and Let The Bangs Fall Forward

Tom Hiddleston typically uses some variation of the “fall forward” technique, as does Harry Styles of the boy band One Direction. David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Colbert, and many others routinely sport “fall forward” styles. Can work with a receding, high, or mature hairline.

This is an excellent receding hairline style technique employed by countless movie stars, athletes, and public figures. Whether you just have a mature hairline or your hairline has receded beyond that point, you can’t go too wrong here.

It’s fairly easy to execute and self-explanatory almost: you puff your hairline up and let it fall forward a little bit, minimizing your recession. There are countless styles you can try using this technique, including the Ivy league, blunt cut, slicked back undercut, businessman, and many others. You can comb comb it straight back, to one side, or even in a haphazard manner if you’d like.

4. Go Long

Joe Walsh has a receded, Norwood type 3 hairline with little to no significant thinning, making him a perfect candidate for the receding hairline rocker style!

Long hair can hide a receding hairline. This approach will work especially well if your hairline has already receded to a type 3 on the Norwood scale, or if you only have minimal thinning. I believe Joe Walsh has had a receded, type III hairline for decades, but when his hair is long, you can’t really notice his recession at all. Be careful though. If you have a prominent bald spot on the back of your head like David Crosby, this look probably won’t work too well for you.

5. Bang it Up, Like a Gallagher Brother

In other words use that fringe! Let those bangs wrap your forehead.

Obviously the Gallagher’s aren’t balding. They have exceptional hair genes, actually. Noel is like 50 and he’s got a hairline like a Latin schoolboy. But anyway….

Letting your bangs fall across your forehead could be a brilliant move on your part. So don’t look back in anger or get caught beneath a landslide because you’re going bald. After all, there are myriad fringe styles for you to choose from!

Straighter hair will be easier to manage with this approach. Wavy, curly, and/or multi-directional hair could pose styling challenges. Talk to your stylist or barber. They may need to modify the way they cut your hair if you’re going to start rocking a bangy, Oasis-inspired look.

6. Do “The Sweep Over”

Singer Charles Kelly of Lady Antebellum appears to use the “sweep” method at times, as do a number of other country stars like Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean.

With this style, you “borrow” some of the hairs on the side of your head or from the area just beyond your hairline and redistribute them as needed. People pay most attention to your hairline, obviously — so it’s unlikely you’ll get caught, as long as you’re careful.

Beware though: the sweep-over trick can resemble a comb over if you do it too hastily, so you should take it for a test drive before you use it at work or school or for any other important function. Can work great with textured or tapered hairstyles.

7. Push It Into Place

Bad picture. But yeah, I’ll explain.

This is similar to the sweep-over technique. Some guys can simply push their hair into place via a side-part style of sorts. Basically, you just manipulate your hair along the edge of your hairline — kind of curl it around so it covers your recession.  The best time to attempt this style is probably after a shower when your hair is partially but not completely dry.

8. Straight-Forward “Caesar” Style

Clooney made the Caesar cut famous and wildly popular in the late 90s. Again, this one will probably work best if you only have minor or no thinning. You don’t want to look like Chuck Todd of NBC!

The Caesar cut can conceal a receding hairline. It can also look like sort of a new-age, lazy man’s version of the combover. Proceed with caution. If the front of your hairline looks overly “wispy,” this may not be the haircut for you.

 9. Just Keep it Short

Rock the Jesse Pinkman. Always a good choice. Bitch!

Sometimes honesty is the best policy. The crew cut, butch cut, and high and tight hairstyles are all viable options. Alternatively, you could opt for the clean, buzzed look. You can find out if you’ll look good bald in this article.

#10 (Bonus) – Don’t Hide It, Put it on Display like a Boss!

I’d argue that the mob-boss hairstyle is the most alpha of them all!

Top 6 Receding Hairline Style Tips

1. When in Doubt, Keep it Short – If your thinning is starting to become apparent, keeping your hair short, say 2 inches or less, is probably wise.

2. Keep the Part Imperfect – This isn’t a requirement, but a perfect part line may accentuate your hair loss. Keeping your part casual and imprecise may help your cause.

3. Say No to Combovers! – I’m not talking about side-part styles, though sometimes combover and side-part are used interchangeably. I’m talking about letting the hair on your sides grow out extensively and swooping it across your balding areas, if applicable. That was fine in 1970, but it’s not kosher today.

4. Seek Professional Help – Seriously. A good hair stylist or barber can help you get the most mileage out of your remaining hairs. They can also help you gracefully adapt your look over time if you continue to thin and recede.

5. If It Bothers You, Consider Treatment –  There are two ways to approach hair loss: you can fight it or embrace it. There is a bright side to baldness, I assure you! But if you want to fight it, the sooner you start, the better. And if you’re interested, you can read about the top 7 hair loss treatment options here.

6. Nothing Wrong With Using a Little Makeup – Women use makeup everyday. Now there are hair fiber products like Topikk that can conceal baldness and are largely undetectable. They’re basically like makeup for your thinning and bald spots.

Lebron paints his head, and it looks like Jamie Foxx does too. Sweat and rain may cause issues, though! Many men don’t want to go this route, but if you want a little extra coverage, I say go for it.

Conclusion – Best Receding Hairline Styling Techniques

So there you have it. Those are the top 9 ways to minimize the appearance of a receding hairline, in my humble opinion. Did I miss any techniques here? Which approach do you intend to take? If you have any questions or thoughts on the subject, sound off in the comment section.

Robert Price

Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.