The honest answer
Three to six weeks, for most men.
That range is wide because it is doing real work. Hair grows at about half an inch a month for everyone, so growth rate is rarely the variable. What changes is how much length a given cut can absorb before it stops looking intentional — and that is set by the style, not the man.
What sets your interval
Four things move the number, and none of them is vanity.
How short you keep it. A cut taken short has less material to lose, so the same month of growth changes it more. A cut left longer hides the change in its own weight.
The neckline. It grows out in about two weeks regardless of everything else, because it is the shortest line and sits on the part of the neck that bends and shows.
How the cut was built. A line cut to its natural fall grows out cleanly for longer. A line cut against the growth looks sharp for a week and then fights you.
What you do all day. A cut that has to hold through meetings, clients and cameras has a shorter useful life than one worn under a hat on a weekend.
Since 2008
A well-cut line has a longer life than the visit that made it.
The New York Times
Signs you waited too long
The tells arrive in a fixed order, which makes them easy to read.
First the neckline passes the collar and the back of the cut goes soft. Then the sideburns lose their taper and read as stubble at the top of the ear. Then the ends get heavy and the shape stops holding when you wake up. By the time the length itself reads long, the cut has usually been gone for a week.
The point is that a haircut does not look its age evenly. If the neckline is the only thing that has gone, the haircut is not overdue — the edges are. See the neckline for the two-week rule, and sideburns for the taper that follows it.
The two visits most men actually need
Between the haircuts, book the tidy. It restores the neckline and the sideburns — the two lines that decide whether a cut reads new — without removing length you wanted to keep. It is the shortest service on the menu, and for a man on a four-week cycle it is the difference between a month that looks groomed and a month that looks like a wait.
The full menu and prices are here, including the beard trim and the hot-towel shave that pair with a tidy in the same visit.
Questions
How often should a man get a haircut?
Every three to six weeks for most men. Short cuts at the top of the range — every two to four weeks — and longer cuts at the bottom, every five to eight. The interval is set by how fast your hair grows, how short you keep it, and how much you care about the shape holding.
How fast does men’s hair grow?
About half an inch a month, or roughly a centimetre. It is the same for everyone within a small margin, which is why the difference between men is not how fast the hair grows but how much length a cut can absorb before it stops looking intentional.
What makes a haircut look grown out?
The neckline, almost always before the cut itself. It is the shortest line and the one that moves most, so it goes soft in about two weeks while the cut on top still reads sharp. A tidy between haircuts is what keeps a cut looking new.
Can I go longer between haircuts if I grow my hair out?
Yes. A cut with weight and length holds its shape for six to eight weeks; a short, tapered cut gives up its shape in three. If you are growing your hair out, the visits get further apart but the neckline still wants tidying on its own clock.
Is it worth getting a haircut if I only need the edges tidied?
Often, no — book the tidy instead. If the shape on top is still right and only the neckline and sideburns have gone soft, a short visit restores the polished edge without cutting length you wanted to keep.
Book
Choose your salon to book online.