Okay, so I didn’t set out to get a mid taper haircut. Honestly, I didn’t even know that’s what it was called at first. I just knew my hair was doing this weird in-between thing — not long enough to tie, not short enough to look intentional. Just… blah. Like, unplanned bedhead with a touch of neglect.

I kept putting off the barber visit. Told myself I’d go next week. Or after the trip. Or maybe after that Zoom interview I ended up not even getting. You know how it is — life keeps handing you reasons to postpone tiny fixes until they feel way bigger than they should.

Anyway. One Saturday, I just kinda snapped.

I was halfway through folding laundry, glanced at the mirror, and thought, Nope. This cannot go on.

So I grabbed my keys and walked to the nearest barber shop that didn’t look like it only did military cuts. Which… in my neighborhood, narrowed it down to like two places.

This shop had one of those minimalist black-and-white logos and a guy inside with tattoos up his neck who nodded without really saying much. I didn’t have an appointment, but he waved me in.

And this is the part where I probably should’ve had a clearer idea of what I wanted. Instead, I mumbled something like, “Uh, can you clean it up? But keep a bit on top?” I added a vague hand motion around my head. Very scientific.

He just said, “Mid taper?” like it was the most obvious solution in the world.

I blinked. “Yeah… sure. That sounds right.”

At this point, I wasn’t even pretending to know. But he seemed confident. And honestly, I liked that. Sometimes you want someone else to just make the call for you. Maybe that's lazy — or trusting. Or both.

Anyway, the clippers buzzed to life and that was that.

The sides came down gradually, like a fade but less aggressive. It’s hard to describe unless you've had it — the mid taper hits this nice middle ground. Clean around the ears and neck, but not so low that it looks military, and not so high that you lose the shape of your head entirely. Just… balanced. But not boring.

And here's the thing: I didn’t realize how much it would change how I looked. I know it’s “just hair,” but man — it framed my face better, made me feel cleaner, sharper. Even a little more put together? Like I could walk into a café and not immediately be pegged as someone who forgot to comb their hair for two days straight.

A couple people noticed. My roommate did a double take. My cousin asked if I’d lost weight (I hadn’t). I got one of those rare, golden “something’s different — it looks good” comments from a coworker during a Zoom call, which… I mean, that’s peak validation, right?

What surprised me most, though, was how easy it was to maintain. I’d always assumed anything with the word “taper” meant high upkeep, like you'd need to hit the barber every ten days just to keep it alive. But no — the mid taper kind of fades into itself (pun mildly intended). Even as it grew out, it stayed tidy.

I still mess it up sometimes. Skip the product, let it dry weird after a shower. And yeah, I’ll probably end up going too long between cuts again because, well, old habits.

But now I know what I’m asking for. I’ve found my cut.

If you’re stuck in that weird hair limbo — too long, too bulky, no real shape — and you want something that doesn’t scream “trying too hard,” maybe the mid taper haircut is it. Not flashy. Not boring. Just… solid. Dependable.

Like that one t-shirt you keep wearing because it somehow works for everything — errands, dates, Zoom calls. You never planned on loving it. You just… do.

So yeah. That’s my mid taper journey. From messy to masterpiece… or at least, manageable.