The Garnacho Cut: What It Is & How to Get It

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Find out how to get & maintain the footballer's trendy hairstyle

Co-authored by April Ferri and Jennifer Vasquez, BA, MA

Last Updated: June 19, 2026 Fact Checked

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• What is a Garnacho haircut?
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• Getting the Garnacho Cut
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• Styling
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• Maintenance
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• Video

|Show more |Show less

Soccer player Alejandro Garnacho has fans going crazy over his hairstyle. He may be a pro on the field, but he’s proven he’s got good hair game, too! He’s achieved a signature look with his locks that many people want to imitate. If you want to get the hairstyle but aren’t sure how, we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we partnered with wikiHow’s expert hair stylists to find out what the Garnacho haircut is, how to ask your hair stylist for the cut, how to style it, and more!

What is the Alejandro Garnacho haircut?

The Garnacho haircut is essentially a textured French crop with a blowout taper fade. The top of the hair is full and long, while the sides are a mid-face or blowout taper that drops in the back. Following Garnacho’s real-life hairstyle, the color is a bleached or platinum blonde hair dye.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

What is a Garnacho haircut?

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   The Garnacho haircut is a textured French crop with a blowout taper fade. It consists of a choppy top with a short fringe that fades cleanly on the sides. Master barber Craig Whitely gives more perspective, explaining that “the haircut is full up until about the temple, where it's faded out. The haircut is very full right above the temple. The goal is basically that 70% of the haircut is hair and 30% of it is gone." Whitely also mentions that people can choose to go longer or shorter on the textured French crop portion.

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Craig Whitely is a master barber who uses his knowledge on shaving and grooming techniques to train barbers and stylists.

   Danielle Chiz is a professional hair stylist and the owner of bubu nyc Hair Artist Studio. Her specialties include hair coloring and styling.

   April Ferri is a professional hair stylist who has over a decade of experience transforming her clients’ locks with hair coloring.
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   The blonde hair color is another element of the Garnacho haircut. To get the full effect of Alejandro Garnacho’s signature hair, you need to bleach your hair to blonde or platinum blonde. As of April 2026, Garnacho has recently updated the hue of his locks to a bright, bleached-blonde. His hair color has varied over the years, and in the past, he’s done blonde highlights with his natural brown hair. The route you choose to go depends on which hair color you like best!

   • To decide if blonde hair is right for you, think about your skin tone. There are various shades of blonde, and certain hues flatter certain skin tones. Here’s a quick guide:
     • Cool skin tones: Ash blonde, platinum
     • Warm skin tones: Honey/golden blonde
     • Neutral skin tones: Beige/sandy blonde
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Section 2 of 4:

How to Ask Your Stylist for the Garnacho Cut

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1. 1
   Bring a picture of the Garnacho cut to your stylist. Don’t assume your barber or hairstylist will be familiar with the soccer player. Have a few photos of Alejandro Garnacho with the hairstyle you’re after, so they can get a clear idea. Professional hair stylist Danielle Chiz says bringing in pictures of the specific style you want is one of the best things you can do. She also says that having multiple pictures of what you want is good because it gives a variety of ideas of what you like and don’t like.

   • In a TikTok video posted by user @dangregoryhair, the stylist demonstrates a Garnacho-inspired cut on his son.
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   Say you want a mid fade with a bold, clean line. This is what makes the top of your hair look more voluminous and full. The shorter you go with the fade, the better, because it’ll make the line separating the top and bottom halves of the cut stand out more. Also, mention that you want the back of the fade to drop down a bit.
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   Ask for a long, textured fringe at the top. The length of your hair should hit right above your eyebrows at the front. Aim for around 3 to 4 inches (7.6 to 10.2 cm) long. This way, as your hair grows out, it naturally falls to the front and grows a little over the brows. The sides and back of the hair are a medium-length cut and should be well blended.

   • Ask for a lot of texture at the top. This helps the choppy pieces of your hair flop naturally to the sides as it grows out, giving an effortless styling look.
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Section 3 of 4:

How to Style the Garnacho Cut

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   Spray damp hair with sea salt spray. Begin with clean, damp hair, and spritz it with your sea salt spray to create texture and volume. Make sure to saturate all of your strands evenly with the spray, using your fingers to lift the hair as you apply the product. The spray will help to give your hair a messy, choppy appearance.
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   Use a blow dryer to dry your hair in the direction of your forehead. Put the dryer on medium heat, and blow dry your hair forward. Move the blow dryer from your crown to your forehead, taking your time to ensure the sea salt spray sets in your hair. Lift your hair with your fingers as you dry it to give it more volume. This also helps you get the floppy texture.

   • You can also use a diffuser, moving it in a circular motion across your scalp to work in the sea salt spray.
   • If you don’t have or want to use a blow dryer or diffuser, let your hair dry naturally and scrunch it with your fingers to create texture.
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   Apply a styling product to hold the texture. Use a matte styling paste or a styling powder, and work it through your hair. Coat every strand to give your hair a medium hold and matte finish. This is also how you can get your hair to fall the way you want it to. Style the front of your hair so it falls just above your eyebrows. For a more choppy, relaxed look, separate your hair strands with your fingers.
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Section 4 of 4:

Maintaining the Garnacho Cut

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1. 1
   Maintain the taper fade every one or two weeks. To stay true to the Garnacho cut look, get a top-up regularly so your hair doesn’t grow out too much and diminish the fade. Doing this every one or two weeks is best, but it also depends on how fast your hair grows out.
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   Wash dyed blonde hair with purple shampoo or conditioner. According to professional hair stylist April Ferri, you want to invest in a good purple shampoo, especially with silver or platinum [blonde hair]. She goes on to say, “I like one that's not overly drying because the problem sometimes with purple shampoos is they are clarifying. So, they're made for pulling out any impurities in the hair, as well as depositing purple. That will cancel any of the yellow in your hair to keep it that silvery color.”

   • When it comes to how often you should use a purple shampoo, Ferri recommends that her clients use it about once every few [washes].
   • However, washing your hair too often with purple shampoo can overintensify the color, Ferri cautions. Instead, she says you can use a tinted conditioner to refresh any color you have in your hair.
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