Making It Modern: How to Texturize Men's Short Hair (2025)

If there’s one thing we love when it comes to men’s styles, it’s mixing the old with the new. We’ve already covered some of our favorite modernized haircuts like the undercut fade. But today, we’re going to tell you exactly how to texturize men’s short hair. Because—newsflash!—short and sleek can read a bitold-school when styled incorrectly. We love texturized styles for men because they make classic cuts more casual.

When you add texture to men’s short hair it can do two things: 1, create a fuller-looking head of hair on thinning hair, and 2, tone down the volume a little on thick hair. No matter which hair type you have, adding texture to your hair can be beneficial in multiple ways.

Step-by-Step: How to Texturize Men’s Short Hair

Read on to learn how we style texture into men’s short hair:

1. Start Off Clean

As with any other style, we suggest starting with freshly washed hair; it just looks better and helps you style your hair appropriately for this look. We suggest you useSuave Men 2-In-1 Ocean Charge Shampoo + Conditioner when going for the texturized look. This product will also help any product buildup you may have. The oceanic scent alone will get you ready for some windswept feels. The added moisture also helps keep your hair soft when using hair products.

2. Prep Your Style

For the short-but-textured look, we suggest drying your hair angled forward, towards your face. This goes for both super-short hair and hair that’s a few inches long. Using a hairdryer is optional, but will also get you ready much faster. You want your hair to dry in a forward direction so that when you add the texturizing product, you’ve got more contrast. Trust us, it’s totally worth it.

3. Texturize With a Razor

This step is completely optional, but if you’re looking to achieve some additional texture before adding to your products, you can use a razor. If you’re comfortable yourself—or ask your barber—you can twist small or large sections of hair, and then gently lift the razor up. This will help create more variation in your hair in addition to the products. One thing to note is, this works best on thick, curly hair!

4. Explore Your Product Options

We have two favorite products to choose from to texturize men’s short hair; they both create the same look but have different textures depending on your preference. For a creamy, wax-like product useBed Head For Men By TIGI Pure Texture Molding Paste. It gives that rough, textured look, but stays soft, and you can change the look throughout the day.

Another option is AXE Messy Look: Matte Gel. It’s a non-shiny gel obviously, so you aren’t going to get that quintessential high-sheen, gelled-up look. But as a gel, once it dries, that’s it: Your style is locked in place, for better or worse. We suggest using the gel if you have very short hair, as longer hair can feel too stiff.

5. Practice Correct Product Application

The trick to making the texture stand out in this style is applying the product to dry hair. You really only want to use a very small amount of product, around a dime-sized amount. The smaller the better really, so make sure you aren’t applying too much. You can always add more!

6. Tousle It Out

Just rake that product in and shake your hand throughout the tops of your hair. After the product is applied, you can pick and choose individual sections that you may want to add a little more product for a piecey effect. If you are using gel, make sure you’re happy with the result before you let it dry.