39 Tomboy Haircuts To Radiate Your Strong Personality In 2024 (2024)

Tomboy haircuts are generally the hallmarks of social defiance through a hairdo and general attitude toward norms. While the style itself has become very popular over the course of time, the radical nature underneath still tells a lot of moving tales.

The term ‘tomboy’ has changed meaning over many years, and the one that stuck around means ‘a bold woman’. It’s true that many of these hairstyles are bold – but hey, who doesn’t appreciate women who are confident and dauntless?

You’ll find that most of the hairstyles I’ll be going through reflect the aforementioned values one way or the other. You can be a part of any movement, be bold in nature, or simply someone who’s exploring new styles – there’s one for everyone here.

So, go through the styles and see which one appeals to you the most. Then I’ll say, go get that style – keep your ears shut if the society tells you anything!

What Is A Tomboy Haircut?

The basic philosophy of a tomboy haircut isn’t really to copy over men’s hairstyles, rather it is to work out from low-maintenance hairstyles which happens to be the case for most of the men’s designs.

Tomboys are basically tagged with girls who prefer to be adventurous, run around, climb and transcend the boundaries set by the society for a woman to equate all the men out there.

Thus, their hair must not hold them back in terms of carrying and maintenance. This is where tomboy haircuts set them free into their path.

Such hairstyle and the possessors are often some of the most discussed in gender identity and politics discourses and the word ‘tomboy’ itself dates back a few hundred years.

Currently Trending Tomboy Hairstyles

I’ll be highlighting some of the trendiest tomboy haircuts in 2024 and discuss only the ones that are artistically tasteful. My description covers the good aspects, a basic how-to guide and the suitability of these hairstyles.

Short Bob Cut

This is one of the most iconic variants of tomboy hairstyles that highly rely on the short bob haircut aesthetics. With any length, texture or color, you’ll quite easily be able to draw this style upon your looks and step out the front door with full confidence.

I generally don’t recommend this style to the ones having round-ish shape, as it sits better with face shapes that are naturally longer. It edges out the style’s potential and enhances the raw nature of it.

Taper the sides, all the way around the back with longer hair that barely reaches your eyebrow on top. Highlight the top parts randomly and mess it up a little to complete a captivating look!

Bleached Hair With Sharp Fringe

Another sharp hairstyle that echoes the tomboy vibes is this design with a sharp fringe. It speaks radical from the word go, and yet it’s appropriate for literally any environment – be that a professional space or a private party.

It’s better if you have a honed jawline because it compliments the sudden, straight fringe over the forehead. Thin faces seem to have generated better outcomes after implementing this style, but I won’t discourage oval faces as well.

Bleach your hair to a full platinum-like color and trim it down to a bob length. Trim down the sides up to the temple and have a razor to draw up a sharp fringe should seal the highly desirable effect for you!

Curly With Sides Shaved

Drawing concepts from the shaved hairstyles for women category of hairstyles, the infusion with curls directly takes this version of tomboy hairstyle at the top of the trend. The synthesis between curls and shaved portions give birth to an alluring design that you just can’t ignore!

Let me in on a styling tip: most of the shaved designs work well with thin faces or sharp lawlines. Same ethics work for this specific style as well, and a larger, spaghetti volume, bob shaped curls lying on top speaks out your radiant personality through your styling preference.

Draw the curved line on each side and shave everything beneath that area. For the top portion, grow your curls up until they barely kiss your eyebrows. Shine the curls regularly with pomade or wax, and it’ll glaze everyone’s minds out of the world for sure!

Short & Kinky Bleach

For ones having kinky hair that are quite often challenging to maintain, a very short edition of tomboy haircuts will certainly save you a lot of time and effort. This low-maintenance style is often desired by strong, independent women who don’t prefer spending time on upkeep.

You have to really chop down your hair to the degree of one coil length, or a maximum of two. This length removes all the daily obligation for maintenance and sets you up your path as a free soul, ready to perform anything!

Women with any face shape can pull this style off perfectly. Shampoo your hair weekly and apply sleep-in conditioner overnight to preserve the hair’s integrity. You can bleach the entirety of the hair body to keep yourself standing out from the rest of the crowd.

Pompadour With Clean Sides

As tomboy haircuts are highly renowned for their adaptation from the popular men’s hairstyles, such is definitely the case with this one. A complete pompadour haircut with undercuts all around, this design most certainly will steal all the hearts out there.

You’ll be needing medium length hair to get started with this. Tie your hair up and let the blades clean out the sides. Then focus on the tied portion by applying some mousse or pomade on it. Use your hand to sweep all of it upward and toward the back to get the result.

My suggestion for such styles is a full commitment. Dress up in t-shirts or jackets with jeans, add one or more earrings and even throw in a nose ring if needs be.

Short Mohawk Fade

Mohawk styles always read the word ‘anti-trend’ in their design, and it’s an ideal tomboy category that makes good style meet edginess. The short mohawk fade in the tomboy haircut arena calls for a low-maintenance high-outcome style which fulfills every aesthetic desire.

The title suggests you’ll be dealing with a short length of hair. Remove everything from the side and around the back into a skin fade. For the sake of aesthetics, I sometimes suggest my clients keep a shadow fade for some contrast.

Spike up everything on the top and settle it down with a sealer. With that done, you’ll be the proud owner of one exciting hairstyle that dates back to the 60s and 70s counter cultural trends!

Faded Spiky Cut

When you find spikes in a haircut, you’ll know then & there it’s a part of the radical trend in fashion. The defiance of the hair has inspired many tomboy haircuts, among which my current variant pairs up with the high fades all around.

It’s quite a long way up the spike to be honest, and that enhances the edginess even further than regular ones. You’ll have to apply some holding spray or hair mousse to keep all of it standing upright.

If you ask me about face shapes, I’ll say it’s a matter of preference since I’ve seen women with all sorts of facial contours pulling it off effectively.

As for the setting, this style isn’t meant for formal spaces, but many offices nowadays allow it so it’s better if you speak with your boss beforehand.

Two-Tone Swept Back

This style belongs to the classy gradient of tomboy haircuts as it exhibits true artistic qualities that are adored by styling professionals like myself. Be that the nature of hair, color combination or the way it’s laid back – it all comes down to produce this fabulously tailored design.

You must separate the top portion of your hair from the rest of it. Trim down the sides and the back to a very short length to create a clear contrast. Then for the top part, bleach it completely so that the two-tone effect formulates.

When you sweep it back, it’s going to radiate glamor immediately and you’ll most certainly notice the enhancement it has brought to your look in a captivating manner.

Platinum Spiky Undercut

Wanna know what’s more alluring than a spiked haircut? A spiky style that’s endowed with a discerning color like full bleach with a platinum touch. This is a trademark tomboy haircut feature that has contributed to popularizing this trend in a major way.

Let me teach you how to deal with shorter hairstyles as such. You must create a contrast of colors or style differences for this to work properly. As for this one, the color remains seamless while the sides go through an undercut as opposed to the spiky top.

Take all of the top hair and spike it up radically. Don’t worry about your face shape, it literally works with anything. You can wear it in your office and in your class without any interference from the HR.

Designed Side Pompadour

If you’re someone who’s all for creative designs and prefers pushing generic designs the extra distance, then you should pay close attention to this style. It’s based on the basic pompadour haircut but with additional design on the sides to make it look extra-attractive.

To make it work, I generally draw a shaving line at the meeting point between the sides and the top. Then I create another shaved line following the wavy path over the ear.

Using these two lines as my guide, I fade down the portion in the middle with leftover shadows at the fringes.

Treat the top the way I described the pompadour previously. Throw in an earring or two to highlight the aesthetic nature of this style and dazzle with every step!

Short Afro With Headband

For the ones having afro hair and find it difficult to try out new styles in the radical scheme, I have great news for you! You can now obtain a trademark tomboy hairstyle with ease, even within the comforts of your home!

Trim down your hair at a couple inches length. Keep the shape seamless all across your head. Tie a headband or a scarf on your forehead to give this look an additional vibe.

It’s a regular style with the flexibility of wearing it at any place. Face shape doesn’t matter for this look as it works out universally.

One Sided Overflow

This is one of the most glamorous styles of my list that mimics the pop cultural trendy style values. It merges between sharp & smooth grooming techniques to trim down the sides while maintaining a hair overflow up top.

For ones with longer faces, you’ll directly benefit from this style. And if you have a more oval-ish face shape, this is going to render your face longer as it completely removes the side hair from the equation and focuses more on the top.

It’s not the most formal of looks, but I’ve seen people walking around in offices wearing this style without raising any eyebrows.

Spiked-Up Dreads

Another low-maintenance curly hair trick I’m going to show you that features medium length hair. Keeping this on is a piece of delight and yet it’s classified as a desirable tomboy haircut.

What you need to do is, divide your hair into smaller sections and wrap them into smaller dreads. Upon completion, it radiates a Goku-like effect with all those spikes that don’t demand much maintenance.

You can spray some holding solution over and wash them weekly. Leave-in conditioners can be a great trick to spare the curls from some damage. Add some highlights to some of the curls to push it up a notch.

Scarlet Overflow With Undercut

Have you ever laid your eyes on any look and the word ‘stunning’ automatically ejacul*ted itself from your mouth? Well, this tomboy haircut will surely do that to everyone should you choose to endorse it as your latest design!

With a deep undercut all around and some shaved portion even at the front, you’ll have to create a divider at one side of your head. Then, the shorter area should contain short-length hair while the opposite side with much longer overflow.

Color the top portion with a striking scarlet and apply some holding gel so that the overflows maintain their shape when you’re outside.

Pompadour & Striped Side

Neat styles don’t always fit the description of tomboys, but then again, if your adjustment is radical enough, it can precisely do the trick for you. Take pompadour as your foundation and organize it well enough to produce the most astounding effect!

I recommend sorting the top hair in portions and combing it backward in layers. This pompadour somewhat resembles a mohawk in a more sophisticated way.

For the sides, taper as high up the halfway mark and draw out a sharp razor. With that, sketch out a few stripes to enhance the neat aspect that’s prominent in this design.

Wet Medium Curtain Bangs

Pay homage to the 80s and upgrade it to the modern trends by adjusting a few properties so that it speaks its own language to the onlookers. This particular curtain bangs style is enough to express your radiant personality.

You’ll be needing medium length hair that touches the middle portion of your cheeks in front and rests on your shoulder at the back. With this, create a curtain bang which is not neatly placed down the middle, but a little toward one side.

Spray up to give it a wet look so that it doesn’t remain a regular style and be categorized under the alternative trends.

Androgynous Tomboy

A lot of the tomboy hairstyles are unisex, meaning it can be worn by both men and women without altering any aspect of the design. Such is the case for this androgynous style as it caters to a wide tastebud of fashion enthusiasts.

It features an undercut with a swept back style, which is preferable to be implemented on hair with a lighter tone. You can be naturally blonde or apply bleach to reach the result, because such a color allows you to texturize the flow of hair.

This generally enables you to flex a more macho attitude and works well in every setting.

Short & Green

This is going to stand out of the lot like parking a green Lamborghini among classic sedans. It relies on short hair with strong coloring of a punchy green so that your hair can be seen from miles out, and of course, appreciated with hearts out.

Apply a short bowl cut on top and trim down the sides. Then you’ll have to apply bleach and put on the mentioned color for the final effect. To size it off, create a neat line on your forehead to add more to the glory.

It’s not a widely accepted hairstyle in formal spaces, but will work in many different scenarios like a charm.

Caramel-Blonde Pixie

Pixie hairstyle is a classic gateway for many of the tomboy haircuts. I generally play with pixie in different ways so that it creates a unique style at each attempt. For this one, it revolves around soothing colors and smooth transition over the head.

Create a neat pixie style as the mold of this design. Take the front bits and bleach it completely and add some highlights on the sides. Sweep it across your forehead in a 45-degree angle to cover the major portion of it.

Comb neatly and spray some holding solution to keep everything in place. It helps out even further if the rest of your hair body is caramel-toned.

Skin-Faded Side-Swept Long Hair

This is one of my personal favorites from this list, as it takes the tomboy haircuts trend to a whole new level that very few others have been able to reach. It literally has everything one can excerpt out of an edgy yet classy hairstyle.

You’ll need quite a long hair to get started with this hairdo. Create a hairline on one side and flick the major portion over in a side-sweep. On the other side, trim off all of the hair and reduce everything down to a skin fade.

On the exposed portion, you can put on some tattoo or shaved design to solidify a ravishing look!

Korean Tomboy

Due to the explosion of globalized pop culture, the Korean tomboy haircut is currently a trending design choice in the market. The basic idea of this is to work up on a sleek bob cut that’s interpreted in a very unique manner.

Draw out a hairline on one side and trim down the front portion of that line for an unorthodox approach. Then, brush down your hair covering one side of your forehead. Lastly, apply a bleach followed by silver color only on the top layer of the hair body.

Dark Feather

Tomboy trends often rely on iconic designs from the past and reinvent themselves through the most captivating approaches. Take this one for example: it completely applies a feathered look to a dark hair – a combination of which is quite unprecedented.

Shoulder length hair should suffice for this to get started with. Create hair layers and keep everything up the front a little shorter. Feather it up nicely using combs & brushes and be ready to ooze elegance at every step!

Messy Round Bob

It’s one of those casual and care-free designs that does highlight some of your personal traits. Maintaining it is quite easy as you barely have to do anything with your hair after getting it done.

A round bob style is the basic principle for this look and any texture of medium length hair should work well. To add more to the effect, you can make the round like at the back in a curve or wave.

Brushed-Back Mane

At first glance, you might feel like you’re looking at a Witcher haircut. It does have quite a similar touch and approach into its aesthetics. The brushed-back mane works for tomboys really well, and it’s brushed back neatly to seem like a lion’s mane.

Shoulder length hair is what you’ll be needing to get started with. I’ll suggest going for it if you work at a corporate office, as it suits that formal space demands effortlessly!

The E-Girl Tomboy

The e-girl look is one of the most highly demanding hairstyles in the current decade. It borrows concepts from the likes of classic Chelsea hairstyle and converts it into a neon-glowing tech-looking fashion statement.

Any length between medium to long is able to uphold these aesthetics. It works mostly with the bangs and fringes as you have to saturate them up with vibrant colors like: neon-green, sky-blue or punchy pink.

For long hair, you can tie up the rest of the body back into a bun at the nape.

Springy Highlighted Bob

Another astonishing hairstyle for the ones with tight curls is this springy bob look. You don’t have to change much about it, just make sure that you have the volume for it. Shoulder length hair is optimal for this densely textured hairstyle.

You can apply some highlights to your coils randomly so that the contrast plays well into the hand of modern trends and visual pleasure. Use the coils up front to cover your forehead so that there’s no visible vacuum remaining at any portion.

The Mid-Part Nerd

Did you know that the nerdy styles are also endorsed by the tomboy haircut aesthetics? For minimalists, it’s a great way to be one with this trend and yet look fashionably tasteful within a very short period of time.

This style too is for ones with shoulder length hair. Create a distinct mid part style and comb everything toward the opposite directions. Chop the fringes down at half length of the rest of the body to generate a varying length effect.

Snap on that pair of glasses to be regarded as the edgy nerd in the class!

Medium & Casual Round Hair

This is another rendition of the round hairstyle tactics that goes beyond playing around with just the length. Hair that reaches your shoulder is the ideal basis for the design to work out properly.

Create a round cut with sharp ends and a mid part to distribute hair evenly at all sides. Add some highlights randomly on the hair body but don’t overdo it. It’s more of a casual hairstyle that you can wear everyday without much effort.

Dense Shag

This is another version of the popular korean tomboy hairstyle and highly resembles the design Zooey Deschanel carried in the TV series New Girl. The density of your hair matters as well as the shoulder length on either side.

The frontal hair populates the forehead with a thick fringe that’s left uneven and messy intentionally. To push it through the roofs, apply a solid highlight on an entire side of your hair, and thus the K-Drama philosophy is surfaced.

Suave & Corporate

Who says tomboy haircuts can’t be a part of complete corporate looks? Take this one for example! It’s a very minimal hairstyle with maximum effect, and it’s so easy to do that you’ll be able to maintain it everyday!

Part it down the middle and lay it over your shoulders. For the front bangs, tuck it beneath the longer parts on each side for this corporate tomboy look!

Edgy Side-Swept

This one is similar to the long side-swept style, but it’s more prone toward edginess as it contains a few more attributes than the former.

For instance, the hair is completely bleached and the faded side contains a zig-zag shaved line. If it exposes your tattoo side, then it’s a grand victory for design exposition.

Dreaded Mohawk

Go for mohawk if you’re getting bored of your medium dreads. Much like the regular mohawks, create a halfway undercut with short hair for the rest of the sides.

On top, take your dreads to a complete knot at the top of your head. Bleach the tips and decorate the body with meaningful rings and preferred artifacts.

Ponytail Dreads

This design too works with dreads in a similar fashion like the mohawk style. This goes a little extra by fading the sides and creating parallel shaved lines.

On top, the dreads are tied back to a ponytail and the latter half of that portion is bleached completely for a stark contrast.

Zig-Zag Rows With Thin Braids

It’s for the ones with longer hair who don’t prefer to cut it short for a tomboy haircut. You can put a few of the trendy designs together to achieve this alluring hairstyle!

For the roots, go for zig-zag rows, upon which you’ll be creating four to five thin braids. Polish it up with hair wax and tie the ends into a knot for safely traveling around.

Celebrities with Tomboy Haircut

The following celebrities have flaunted some of the leading tomboy haircuts that left the fans inspired to try them out. Be a part of that trend with a matching design to your favorite idol today!

Ruby Rose Buzz Cut

Ruby Rose is one of the most iconic figures in the tomboy haircut industry. She has popularized numerous hairstyles of such class in her movies, promos and modeling career. The buzz cut she endorsed is one similar case that has left millions to follow in her footsteps in order to achieve that.

This version is actually a very basic buzz cut without any alteration of modification. It’s generally done by a hair clipper set at its maximum length setting. Then, it’ll perform all across your head seamlessly to remove the large chunk of hair.

Finally, with a few more passes to ensure that it’s evenly trimmed, you’ll be all set with a Ruby Rose style!

Kristen Stewart’s Messy Bob

Kristen Stewart’s hairstyles over the years have leaned more toward tomboy haircuts rather than any other area of hair design. Maybe it’s due to the fact that she’s come out as a queer and the fluidity demands her to carry hairstyles that don’t seal her identity at any extreme side of the gradient.

Her messy bob is a captivating hairdo that can be mimicked by literally anyone. With a medium length bob cut, the goal is to keep it messy and not organize it properly. Use your fingers instead of your combs to push everything upward to uphold the Stewart style!

Keira Knightley – Long In Front

Keira Knightley has always been one of the most adorable personalities in the film industry. Each of her steps speaks confidence as well as brilliance, and her hairstyles often give us an insight into her vibrant persona.

The long in front, short in back hairstyle that she wore has become a trademark tomboy haircut ever since. It’s classic, it’s attractive and it’s quite easy to get. And not to mention, it’s going to upgrade your look so upward that it’ll only be a matter of time before you start seeing yourself as Keira herself.

Keep your hair longer up front and brush it over your forehead. The rest of it is going to be shorter – and that’s it! It’s so easy to do!

Rihanna’s Flat Caramel Bangs

Style it like Riri in the simplest of manners! With some short hair and toned it into a bright caramel, all you’ll need to do is to condition everything for smoothing up. Then, allow your combs to guide everything down into flat bangs and dry it up to solidify the style.

This is one of the easily achievable tomboy hairstyles because it doesn’t require any extensive cutting action. Only coloring and combing everything down will suffice.

The Cara Delevingne Bob

When it comes down to common tomboy haircuts, you’ll see the bob cut always being there sitting alongside. Cara Delevingne has recently made a habit out of playing around with different bob cuts, and this one seems to have stuck a solid landing.

With very short hair but not as short as a buzz cut, you’ll keep your hair around 2” length. Then, use your fingers to guide the hair body so that it remains casual and not a neatly-maintained hairstyle.

This is what Cara has done, and look how beautiful of a human being she looks with this style!

Top-Criterias To Be A Tomboy Hairstyle

Let me explain what actually makes a tomboy haircut and the must-have features to be classified under this umbrella of hair designs.

Generally Short

In most cases, tomboy haircuts are based on short or medium length hair to mimic the men’s hairstyle features. Doesn’t necessarily mean all tomboy hairstyles will be short, but most of them are and that’s the reality.

Needs To Be Edgy

What sets such haircuts from the rest is the radical nature embedded in the designs. It can be spiked up hair, shaved sides, sharp lines and so on that’ll instantly display the rebellious side of the one who’s carrying it.

Merges Up Hairstyle Aesthetics

A lot of tomboy hairstyles isn’t a single design, rather a fusion between multiple hairstyle aesthetics. This creates room for experimentation and generating unique designs each day!

Looks Boy-ish

This is the most important criteria – which is to radiate a boy-ish vibe after getting such a haircut. It’s a combination of a lot of things like the hairstyle, dress-up and overall attitude.

FAQ

I’ll answer a couple of FAQs from the internet to further your knowledge about this particular choice of hairdo.

Q: What are the benefits of getting a tomboy haircut?

A: There are quite a few benefits to getting a tomboy haircut. Some of them are: it’s low-maintenance, you’ll stand out from the rest, your hairstyle will reflect your personality and it’s very inexpensive to get.

Q: What should I do when I want to cut my hair like a boy as I’m a tomboy, but my family won’t let me do it?

A: Well, in such cases, you can either try to convince your family more with the knowledge you’d have earned from this article, or just save a few bucks yourself, go to a parlor and ask them to do your preferred style for you.

Final Thoughts

As I’ve reached the last portion of my article, I’ll say one very important thing: tomboy haircuts are transgressive by nature. So applying one of these styles does come with some responsibilities of not giving floor to opinions about yourself by the others.

This is the beauty of this style – to make that room for you where you can be your true self without seeing yourself through other people’s eyes, free from their judgements and their criticisms.

So, assess which of the styles cater to your taste and will supposedly make you look captivating & like your true self. Most of them are very straightforward to achieve and very low in maintenance terms.

Thus, these styles are bound to set you free from a lot of obligations and give you freedom to focus on other aspects of life – including your own self!

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