Detailed Hair Length Chart | Visual Guide & Descriptions

Growing your hair out or just curious what length you’re considered? Check out our hair length chart with examples and descriptions to make it easy to label your length goals.

From barely-there buzz cuts to Rapunzel-esque tailbone-length tresses, get inspired for growth with this hair length chart and guide! 

What Is a Hair Length Chart?

A hair length chart gives you a visual example of the different hair lengths and their general labels or names. A basic hair length chart will show you the following lengths:

• Buzz cut length
• Ear length
• Chin length
• Shoulder length
• Armpit length
• Mid-back length
• Tailbone length

You can use a hair length chart to help you match your current length to its common name or label, determine your hair length goals, and find out how close you are to reaching your length goals. 

A basic hair length chart includes general length labels for short, medium, and long hair. Our chart begins with buzz cut length and extends through tailbone length hair. 

We’ll talk more about each hair length below, share detailed descriptions and length estimates for each one, talk about the different types of haircuts that fit within each length, and show you visual examples of the different lengths. Ready? Let’s grow! 

Detailed Hair Length Chart Descriptions and Examples

The great thing about the hair length chart is that its labels are pretty self-explanatory (there’s not much guesswork on how long “chin length” hair is).

But as you reach the longer lengths — armpit, mid-back, and tailbone — there’s a little more ambiguity and it can be difficult to determine when you’ve officially reached these lengths. 

There are some important distinctions between different lengths that you should know about and it’s always helpful to know which types of haircuts fit within the different length labels.

So take a look at the detailed descriptions below to make better sense of the hair length chart and find out where you are on your journey to growth! 

1. Buzz Cut Length

Buzz cut length is the shortest on the hair length chart. It refers to hair that’s cut short and (usually) evenly across the head, typically with clippers. Buzz cut length is somewhere between 1/2” and 1” long, sometimes with longer sections left to make a wider range of styles possible. 

On women, buzz cut length is edgy and easy to care for. One-length buzz cuts, shaved styles, short pixie cuts, short mohawks, and short crops are all included under the buzz cut length category.

One thing all buzz cut length styles have in common: They hug the head and won’t hang freely, with the exception of longer bangs that may accompany some pixie cuts or cropped cuts. 

Buzz cut length generally looks great on oval and heart face shapes. It can work for round faces with longer bangs parted to the side. Here are a few examples of the many ways you can rock buzz cut length!

Pixie Fade and Buzz Cut

A deconstructed pixie fade (left) is a unique way to rock buzz cut length if you’re looking for something a little more intricate than the basic buzz cut (right). Both are examples of edgy looks that put your eyes and facial structure in the spotlight! 

Short Pixie Crop

Tinkerbell’s classic pixie crop is a stunning and feminine choice for women who want to keep things simple with short, easily managed length. A bright, silvery platinum is the perfect color complement for this short and sassy style. 

Vivid Buzz Cut Mohawk

Bright color, a wild and punk-inspired ‘do, and little to no styling – this is the low maintenance look you’ve been dreaming of. Keep a wide strip of buzz cut length hair less than an inch long down the center, dye it your favorite color, and keep the sides shaved short or bald for easy-peasy edge. 

2. Ear Length

Ear length hair is the second shortest on the hair length chart. As the name suggests, ear length hair hits near the ears and may feature blended or tapered lengths. Ear length cuts are typically the longest of the short haircuts for women. 

There’s a little more style versatility with ear length haircuts for women than you’ll find with the buzz cut length. Ear length haircuts include long pixie cuts, short bobs, long cropped cuts, mushroom cuts, and bowl cuts. 

Ear length hair looks great on oval and heart face shapes. It’s not the best choice for round or square faces, which need a little more length to help sculpt or soften the jawline. Here are a few examples of ear length haircuts styled in different ways. 

Ear Length Asymmetrical Pixie 

Shaved on one side for contrast with a deep, alluring copper hue, this ear-length pixie is asymmetrical but balanced. 

Modified Mushroom Cut

A modified mushroom cut keeps the general ear length and tapering that helps stack extra volume around the back and sides of the look.

It’s modified because it features disconnected length instead of seamless, gradual tapering in the front. The front is brushed forward, but you can easily style it with a side part for a different look! 

Short Layered Bob

Is it a super-short bob or a very long pixie cut? The label is up to you, but it’s definitely a cute example of ear length style! Heavy layering throughout the cut creates tons of movement and lightness that keeps bulk at bay. Change the part to style the bangs side-swept, straight forward, or off-center. 

3. Chin Length

Chin length hair is the next category on the hair length chart. This refers to hair that hits at or very near the chin or jawline. There’s a fine line between ear length and chin length styles, but the difference is important for certain face shapes. 

Chin length hair looks great on oval, round, square, and heart face shapes. It’s one of those rare lengths that anyone can rock successfully! With length hitting at or very near the chin/jawline, these types of cuts can help sculpt, mold, or soften the face shape to appear a little more oval and symmetrical. 

Chin length haircuts for women include many types of bobs (asymmetrical, inverted, graduated, etc.), bixie cuts (bob + pixie cut), and pageboys. Here are some pretty examples of chin length hair in different cuts and styles. 

Blunt Chin Length Bob

Precision, stark lines, and straight texture characterize this fun, blunt bob. The precise line makes it look polished and neat, putting your hair color and facial features in the spotlight. Part it down the center for a quick and easy style. 

Layered Bixie Cut

The 90’s bixie cut includes elements of the popular bob and pixie haircuts for a unique, on-trend chin length cut that suits pretty much everyone.

Long layers and bangs, attractive length that just hits the chin and jawline, and a boost of volume around the crown and sides makes this a great option for going shorter without losing all your length. 

Wavy Chin Length Layered Bob

A layered bob is another fun way to rock chin-length hair. If precise blunt cuts and their increased maintenance requirements aren’t for you, you’ll love the laid-back, lived-in look of a wavy, layered bob!

With flattering volume, tousled style, and in-between length, this is a perfect choice for all face shapes and most hair types. 

4. Shoulder Length

Shoulder length hair is where the hair length chart moves from short to medium length. This length hits at or near the shoulders or collarbones for a swingy, casual vibe that is balanced and great for all face shapes. 

Oval, round, square, and heart face shapes can all benefit from the general shape and silhouette of shoulder-length haircuts. Since the hair is long enough to hit the shoulders, this length is great for showing off your shoulders, collarbones, or decolletage. It can also highlight, sculpt, or soften your jawline area. 

Shoulder length haircuts include long bobs or lobs, shag haircuts, wolf cuts, mullets, and shaglets (mullet + shag haircuts). Let’s take a look at some examples of shoulder length styles for women! 

Deeply Tapered Lob

Round and square faces especially can benefit from a deeply tapered lob like this – it removes most of the bulk and weight from the ends for a lightweight, freeform style with lots of movement. It visually slims the lower portion of the face and keeps the jawline soft with wispy layers surrounding the face. 

Tucked Shoulder Length Bob

Tucked-under ends give any blunt bob a sweet, “who me?” look that we absolutely love. With vintage vibes and an off-center part that looks great on a variety of face shapes, this is definitely a cut to try if you’re thinking of going shoulder length soon. 

Collarbone-Grazing Lob With Bangs

Blunt bangs can be a great feature to add to a long, collarbone-grazing lob. They help break up the length a bit to keep it from elongating the face (great for oblong and oval faces) and cover some of the forehead for additional balance (good for heart and diamond face shapes).

This length is slightly beyond the shoulders, but still considered a shoulder length as it’s shorter than the next category on the hair length chart: Armpit length. 

5. Armpit Length

Armpit length hair reaches to or near the armpits, hanging well beyond the shoulders and collarbones but not quite to the bra strap length. Armpit length hair is where the hair length chart officially moves into the “long” length territory. 

Once you’ve reached armpit length, you have more style options available to you that shoulder-length hair can’t quite accomplish.

While there aren’t many specific haircut names for this length, it’s easily recognized by the cascading appearance that drapes over and beyond the shoulders near the breast level. Armpit length hair can work for all face shapes with the right part and haircut shape/silhouette.

Since armpit length hair is much longer than medium shoulder-length strands, it usually looks best with some help from layers, bangs, boosted texture or volume, or a combination of these elements.

Otherwise, it can artificially elongate the face or weigh slight textures down. Here are a few examples of cute armpit length haircuts and styles. 

Armpit Length Strands With Long Swooping Side Bangs

The swooped side bang is a great way to shake up an armpit length style a bit and break up the length. By creating a deep side part and dramatic swooping shape for the long bangs, you direct the eye upward and across.

This prevents armpit length hair from elongating or drawing out the face. Blended layers keep the style lightweight and introduce a little more movement. 

Armpit Length Straight Strands With Graduated Layers

Layers that graduate in length from short to long toward the bottom of the style are very flattering on armpit length cuts. They remove a little weight to keep the ends pliable with plenty of movement and swing.

Straight texture steals the spotlight, showing off the softly blended layers that shape and taper the length nicely. 

Armpit Length Billowing Layers and Waves 

Spiral curls directed away from the face put your eyes front and center, highlight your cheekbones, and sculpt the jawline nicely.

Layers that taper in toward the bottom of the cut remove some of the bulk and weight from the ends for a nicely pointed silhouette that’s very flattering on heart, round, oval, and square face shapes. 

6. Mid-Back Length

Mid-back length hair is where we move deeper into long hair territory within the hair length chart. It refers to hair that reaches beyond the armpit/bra strap zone and all the way down to the mid-back. It can also include waist length hair.

This length is a little trickier to define since it can refer to strands that reach just past the bra strap zone all the way down to the waist area or small of the back.

Mid-back length is seriously long and requires more care and maintenance than armpit length strands. Once your hair reaches mid-back length, you’ll find that you spend more time washing, drying, styling, and maintaining it with regular trims and treatments.

Mid-back length styles are beautifully feminine due to their long, flirty length that creates lots of style opportunities.

Many women find that adding elements like bangs, layers, and playing around with extra volume or texture are the best ways to keep mid-back length hair looking gorgeous. Here are some examples of beautiful, mid-back length haircuts and styles.

Mid-Back Strands With Subtle U-Shaped Cut

U-shaped haircuts are a great option for strands that have reached the prized mid-back length. This adds an alluring, subtle curve to the cut and gives it a great shape and silhouette from every angle.

You’ll get beautiful face-framing, graduated layers on the side and you’ll keep every inch of length in the back with this option. 

Tapered Mid-Back Length Curls

Curls add so much interest with their curving, light-reflecting texture. If you’re feeling bored with mid-back length strands, curl it up (though you may lose a few inches of hanging length) to shake things up! A side part and soft, face-framing bangs can add a lot to this style as well. 

Loose Mid-Back Casual Waves

Casual, laid-back waves are another great way to style mid-back length hair. This is a gently U-shaped cut with slightly shorter length on the sides. From the front, you’ll see soft, face-framing layers that help sculpt the jawline and break up the length in a more flattering shape. 

7. Tailbone Length

Tailbone length is the longest on our hair length chart since it’s generally the longest length you can comfortably manage. You can certainly grow your hair past this length if you’re aiming for Rapunzel status, though!

Tailbone length hair reaches beyond the mid-back and waist level all the way down to the tailbone zone. Tailbone length hair is not quite long enough to sit on – it just reaches the tailbone.

As a rare length, you’re sure to get lots of compliments and adoring stares when you rock beautiful tailbone length strands. Like the other “long” length categories, tailbone length hair looks better when you dress it up a bit with bangs, layers, boosted volume, or pronounced texture and shape.

You can accomplish this with long layers, any type of bangs that suit your face shape, a gentle U- or V-shape cut, or blended layers that help create extra volume around the crown, top, and sides. 

Here are some pretty examples of ultra-long tailbone length haircuts and styles! 

Tailbone Length Mermaid Waves

Loose, beachy S-shaped waves at the tailbone length will make you look and feel like a mermaid. With these far-reaching strands, some soft layering is needed throughout the style to remove some of the excess weight that can pull the life right out of waves and curls. 

Tailbone Length V-Cut Straight Strands

A sharper V-cut is a great alternative to the more subtle U-cut we checked out in the mid-back length section. This gives you a bit more length variation.

This allows shorter layers in the front that allow you to move as much hair in front of your shoulders as you want for shorter or longer looks. It also keeps a lot of the weight and bulk out of the style – perfect for this ultra-long tailbone length when worn sleek and straight! 

Tailbone Length Chocolate to Auburn Balayage

Pretty balayage color in a unique chocolate brown and auburn red transform basic waves and tailbone length into something truly special. The cascading waves can be accomplished with an easy trick.

Pull your hair into a scrunchy, then curl large 2-inch sections around a large-barreled curling iron. Release your hair from the scrunchy to reveal casual, softly-textured waves that don’t take long to style! 

Final Things to Consider

Using a hair length chart is very easy and straightforward. Once you’ve located your general current length on the chart, you can use it to find out how much more you’ll need to grow your hair to reach your goal length.

You can also use a hair length chart to determine how much hair to cut to reach a shorter length you’re considering. Keep these tips and considerations in mind to get the most use out of our hair length chart! 

• Measure your length in appearance, not inches. Different hair textures (straight, wavy, curly, coily) and types (fine, medium, coarse) can require more or less length in inches to appear the length you want. Likewise, physical body differences can mean your hair reaches ear length or armpit length while being shorter or longer than someone else’s. Don’t pay so much attention to your actual length in inches – look to reach physical length milestones and markers to track your progress. 
• Length differs with textured styles. If your hair is barely mid-back length and you style it in tight, spiral curls or get a perm, you’ll “lose” several inches. If your hair is naturally curly and you straighten it with a flat iron or chemical hair straightening treatment, you’ll appear to gain a few inches – and the amount of extra length may surprise you! 
• Take a supplement to supercharge growth. If you’re trying to grow your hair out, taking a daily supplement with growth-boosting vitamins, minerals, and botanical extracts is the fastest way to get to your length goals. We like Folexin the best because it gives the quickest results. It also strengthens your hair from follicle to tip, makes it feel soft and healthy, and reduces breakage so you don’t lose the precious length you’ve earned. Check out other customers’ Folexin reviews here.
• Take better care of your mane to accumulate more length. Breakage can get in the way of your hair growth goals, fast. To avoid losing length to needless breakage, you need to focus on strengthening your hair and being as gentle as you can with it. Protein-enriched keratin treatments and once- or twice-monthly hair masks (we love Marc Anthony Grow Long Deep Conditioning Hair Mask for Dry & Damaged Hair can help make your hair more breakage-resistant. Not sure if your hair needs protein? Take our quiz now: Does My Hair Need Protein? Quiz | It’s Only 5 Questions! 
• Protect your mane while you sleep. Achieving longer lengths to meet your hair length chart goals is a lot easier when you’re not causing friction that leads to breakage while you sleep. Switch to a satin or silk pillowcase to cut down on friction between your strands and the pillowcase or sleep in a satin bonnet. It also helps to wrap your hair into a tightly coiled bun (don’t wrap your elastic too tight) or braid while you sleep to protect your hair. Bonus: You’ll wake up with zero-effort waves or curls! 

Use Our Hair Length Chart Today

Consulting the hair length chart is just the starting point for growing your hair out. You can use the chart to pinpoint where your current length is and how long you want it to be, but the rest is up to you. 

Be realistic when you set your length goals – remember, hair grows at a rate of about half an inch per month on its own. If you’re hoping to grow your hair around 6 inches, this means it’ll take about a year to reach your length goals.

Slow and steady wins the race! You can speed up the process a bit by taking a daily supplement like Folexin, babying your hair with overnight protection and gentle brushing/styling, and introducing more strengthening protein to your strands with treatments, products, and even ingested protein.

With your best efforts and a commitment to longer locks, you should be able to achieve your length goals from the hair length chart before you know it.

Whether you’re aiming for your mane to finally reach your chin, shoulders, armpits, mid-back, or tailbone, it’s only a matter of perseverance and staying on track. Here’s to your length goals and hitting new mane milestones along the way – you’ll love how many ways you can style your new, longer locks!