How to get my girlfriend a mohawk?
March 18, 2012 3:14 PM   Subscribe

My girlfriend is hoping to get a mohawk. Any tips?

This coming week my girlfriend is hoping to get a haircut that looks something like this. With that being said, neither of us has any idea of how to go about getting this new style. Would most hair salons be able/willing to cut a mohawk? If not what kind of place should we look into? She currently has wavy, shoulder length hair and we are in the Portland, Maine area on the off chance that someone has a specific place to suggest.
posted by sendai sleep master to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (17 answers total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
If I read that photo right, she's not looking for a mohawk, she's looking for that increasingly-ubiquitous style featured on http://girlsthatlooklikeskrillex.tumblr.com/. Check with her and make sure she prints out pictures/uses "mohawk" advisedly-- a mohaw is more like Travis Bickle's hair.
posted by c'mon sea legs at 3:18 PM on March 18, 2012


Stop someone on the street with a haircut you like and ask what salon they go to. 99% of people will be flattered. Also, I'd stick with the highest-priced salon you can afford - you don't want this screwed up.
posted by desjardins at 3:19 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'd call that an undercut, not a mohawk. (London)
posted by corvine at 3:27 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Hmmm, actually, sea legs, when you put it like that I think she and I read that photo incorrectly. We've been operating with the assumption that both sides of the head were tightly buzzed and that the hair left was kind of just an un-gelled/spiked hawk. On review the physics and length of the hair in the photo probably wouldn't bare that out. That being said, she definitely wants a true mohawk. While I don't think she wants something as short/extreme DeNiro in Taxi Driver we recently passed a kid while driving who has vague liberty spikes and she noted it as a pretty cool mohawk. So I think we're dealing with the two of us reading the photo incorrectly and not lacking an understanding as to what a mohawk is. I appreciate you double checking though.
posted by sendai sleep master at 3:28 PM on March 18, 2012


Sounds like she's looking for something more like what Anya from the last season of Project Runway has (which in my opinion, not that it should matter, looks edgy and chic), and not the Skrillex look (which in my opinion, not that it should matter, looks a little trashy).

If it's the look she's going for, there are tons of pictures of Anya out there that would be good to take in to a stylist.
posted by phunniemee at 3:33 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've never heard of anyone getting a mohawk cut in a salon? Usually you just get a friend with a pair of clippers, fashion some kind of guide to make the cut straight (usually from cardboard) and have at it. If you want longer hair on the sides use a blade guard, they can leave the hair you clip up to an inch long. And always clip against the growth.
posted by fshgrl at 3:34 PM on March 18, 2012 [6 favorites]


When my kid was about 16 (he's now 40) wanted a mohawk, he went to the corner barber. Lon the barber was about 55 at the time, had never cut a mohawk in his life. It came out just fine...

Like fshgrl said, it's pretty simple if it's a classic mohawk she's looking for, a pair of clippers and someone with a good eye.
posted by HuronBob at 3:38 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


I've never heard of anyone getting a mohawk cut in a salon? Usually you just get a friend with a pair of clippers, fashion some kind of guide to make the cut straight (usually from cardboard) and have at it. If you want longer hair on the sides use a blade guard, they can leave the hair you clip up to an inch long. And always clip against the growth.

This. All it takes is a pair of clippers and a few minutes; this is not the hairdressing equivalent of rocket science. We never thought of using a guide, since doing it by eye always worked fine. Getting the hair to stand up is trickier, and sleeping on it isn't always fun.
posted by Forktine at 4:18 PM on March 18, 2012


My 5 year old son got a Mohawk and he loves it! My best piece of advice is Bed Head. That stuff puts a Mohawk up such that he can sleep on it and it's still up. Heck, I took him to hockey photo day with a Mohawk and afterwards, he put on his helmet and did 45 minutes of skating and when he was done, he took off his helmet and it sproinged right back up.

As for getting it cut, his barber (and mine as well), uses a buzzer to get it close to the scalp and then tapers it a but with scissors. I'm told that this is actually a faux hawk, but whatever.
posted by plinth at 4:27 PM on March 18, 2012


She should bring a photo and I can't imagine any stylist will blink at this request a it's a popular haircut for men and women. I suggest bringing a photo because it sounds like she wants something that looks like a grown-out mohawk. I think fauxhawks blurred the line a bit, but a true mohawk usually has clean-shaven sides.
posted by quince at 4:28 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


For putting one up- sit and lay your head sideways on a piece of cardboard. Fan the hair out on the cardboard just so. Apply aquanet or hairspray of choice. Wait for it to dry. Stand up. Perfect 'hawk every time.

Obviously this works better with two people.
posted by fshgrl at 5:02 PM on March 18, 2012


Would most hair salons be able/willing to cut a mohawk?

Aboslutely.

The man who cuts my hair is a pretty conservative guy from Italy. He'll do anything I want to him to do with my hair. When I wanted a mohawk I brought him a picture and he said "WHHHYYYYY?!" and then he did it.
posted by OsoMeaty at 5:18 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, I've done it with clippers as well, by myself and with a friend. Turned out SO MUCH BETTER when my hair guy did it. SO MUCH BETTER. Nice crisp lines, exactly how I wanted, no weird patches. I have a friend who likes to have shapes and designs shaved into her head and she goes to a barber shop.
posted by OsoMeaty at 5:21 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yep, any salon will happily do this. I would NOT recommend doing this yourselves, unless your girlfriend is going for a pretty rough-around-the-edges/punk look. A salon will work with her about the length, the fade, and little touches like leaving it longer just in front of the ears, all of which is going to make a difference.
posted by Specklet at 5:35 PM on March 18, 2012 [1 favorite]


my mohawk was always done by friends and i always cut my friends mohawks. the idea of going to a barber for it strikes me as overkill - unless, she does want some sort of fashion-y take on a mohawk. if she is looking for something like anya from project runway - kesha has also done it, so has rihanna (and again) for more reference.

for putting it up, the cardboard trick works. you can also iron it flat with a low heat iron (like for ironing clothes). if you do it right, a flat iron could do it as well. all of that is for a fan. if you're making liberty spikes, it's more about sectioning the hair evenly and then just pulling it up and putting some sort of binder/glue on it. this usually involves another person holding it up while it drys (depending on length).

as far as keeping it up, egg whites work, so does elmers, so does a healthy dose of aqua net. if it's short, or a faux hawk, or a fashion-y hawk, something like bed head will do.
posted by nadawi at 6:10 PM on March 18, 2012


My good friend got a mohawk done recently (but in LA, so no specific salon rec), it's about a 5" long true mohawk, so basically exactly what you want. She just went to a sort of fashion-y, punk-y salon that advertises as doing lots of fun colors and stuff like that, and they did a great job - shaved designs into the side, did really crisp lines, etc.

For putting it up, I like soaking it in aqua net / super strong hairspray then using a hairdrying on it to dry the hairspray while you're holding it up.
posted by insectosaurus at 7:54 PM on March 18, 2012


Last time I went to a salon for a mohawk I popped into the new salon/spa place down the street instead of making an appointment at my usual place. I told the stylist I wanted a mohawk, about two and a half inches wide, and I wanted the sides about half an inch long.

Then I spent half an hour convincing her that YES, I meant two and half inches wide; the whole top of my head is not the same thing. And YES, I know how short half an inch really is, and YES, that's really how short I want my hair. No, that's not short enough, I really mean I want it as short as I told you I do.

So my advice is to avoid fancy-schmancy salon/spa joints and find a funky, edgy salon that will be excited instead of nervous.
posted by SeedStitch at 5:45 AM on March 19, 2012


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