12 Fierce Tapered Cuts for Natural Hair

Natural hair tapered cut ↓ Jump to Photo Gallery
Cindy Marcus
Cindy Marcus Hairstylist, Editor-in-Chief

A natural tapered cut is a natural haircut that gradually gets shorter as it goes down the back of the neck and behind the ears. Tapered short black haircuts are incredibly chic and hassle-free when it comes to upkeep. Plus, you’ll get excited once you learn how crazy versatile this natural hairstyle is!

With your lengthy hair on top, locs and knots are just two things you can do to your mane, and your cleanly tapered sides can serve as a canvas for a cool-girl shaved design.

Tapered ‘fros come in different colors and forms – pixie, bobs, faux hawks, with or without bangs, crochet, twist-outs, or natural hair – as proven by The Taper Queen, Karess Sydnor‘s feed showing her award-winning creations!

Products and the right tools are key to rocking edgy black short haircuts. Moisturizing and hold products seal your strands and let you style them easily.

Before your next hair appointment, check out these photos of the boldest natural tapered cut and style ideas.

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Women's curly frohawk with tapered sides
Instagram @kennybarbeiro

#1: Women’s Curly Frohawk with Tapered Sides

Go for a women’s curly frohawk with tapered sides when ready for a sharp cut with limitless design options. Perfect for women living a more free-spirited life, ladies can embrace their natural curls with volume at the front and center. Achieve this fun short haircut for black women by asking your barber to freestyle different designs on the sides and back.

#2: Unique Natural Tapered Cut on Pixie

A receding taper cut from jam-packed curls will forever be a combination to admire. This also proves that tapered natural hairstyles on African-American ladies make a neat and head-turning finish!

👉 See more pixies for black women.

Tapered Undercut for Black Women's Natural Hair
Instagram @ofa.04

#3: Tapered Undercut for Black Women’s Natural Hair

The curls on top with the tapered undercut are the maximum coolness you can achieve. With such beautiful short haircuts, black women can show off their confidence. Chic short styles and masculinity in a lady look so good!

Messy Tapered 4c Hair with Blonde Color
Instagram @janainaaisha

#4: Messy Tapered 4c Hair with Blonde Color

It may be hard to maintain, but this 4C natural hair with a tapered cut is so worth it! For black women, short hairstyles add a pop to your look if painted with a bright hue. The warm honey blonde hair color adds dimension and vividness to such tapered natural hair.

#5: Cute Tapered TWA For a Round Face

Go for clean edges of this short teeny weeny afro (TWA), creating a stunning tapered TWA haircut to flatter the wide features of a round face. This natural tapered cut with the color job gives nice depth, too. With these short hair cuts for black women, feel free to add a shaved line to one side for extra flair.

#6: Beautiful Tapered Cut For Natural Long Hair

A tapered cut on long natural curls? Why not! This sister got her curly hair all locked up to make y’all swoon! Short haircuts for black women look even more pretty with highlights and layers.

Taper and Twist Out for Ladies' Coils
Instagram @chasity16janae

#7: Taper and Twist Out for Ladies’ Coils

Keep those tight twist-outs with the hidden taper haircut, and add some hair accessories! With volume, body, and attitude—natural black hair has never been this good!

Casual Tapered Cut For Thin Hair
Instagram @blkhairstory

#8: Casual Tapered Cut For Thin Hair

The short taper fade gives a certain dimension to the whole style. This helps thin-haired girls appear to have fuller hair. Such black short hairstyles work well with oval or heart face shapes.

Tapered Sides Perfect for Growing Out Curls
Instagram @natalliapekena

#9: Tapered Sides Perfect for Growing Out Curls

Don’t be shy—give your natural hair a tapered cut because short natural hairstyles deserve all the rave they receive today. For black women, short haircuts are ideal for easier maintenance. Bring out the natural texture by using a boar bristle brush.

#10: Big Chop with a Taper Fade

This tapered haircut makes a modern look for a woman who is empowered. I think this natural tapered hairstyle is a 21st-century look. I see a lot of women doing the same cut because it feels beautiful, and we don’t feel like we need to have long hair anymore. I have never had such black short hair like this, and I couldn’t love it more.

To recreate this natural hairstyle, use products that will not give it such a curly definition because it will make it stuck in the head. You can use a very simple leave-in and a lot of fort comb, and you’re ready. This particular short hair for black women doesn’t need a specific face shape to match.

#11: Low-Maintenance Short and Natural Tapered Cut

This short and natural tapered haircut is perfect for a lady who wants to spend less time styling their hair due to a hectic professional or social lifestyle and women looking for something edgy and easy to maintain. The best thing about such short black hairstyles is the length on top, which allows you to have different styling options for different hair types like finger coils, twist out, Bantu knots, rod sets, blowouts, and a regular wash-and-go.

Short natural haircuts for black women like this can be customized by working with the shape of the head and face. It’s a great option for transitioning women or those who want a shorter, more manageable length but are still looking for styling options. You can allow your short black hair to fall free over your face or push back for a frohawk look.

Edgy Faux Hawk and Natural Tapered Hairstyle
Instagram @jmb.hair

#12: Edgy Faux Hawk and Natural Tapered Hairstyle

This natural tapered haircut is jazzed up with a dark copper ombre color. It’s an editorial-style mohawk that’s able to be worn day to day. Some positives of a pixie cut on tapered hair are that it’s so simple to style and that you use less product. Having short hair is much easier to manage when doing a wash-and-go style. Whether on 2a or 4c curls, short cuts for black women are super simple!


Posted In: Black Hair