For the history of the mohawk see How To Look Punk Volume Vol. 3 – History of Mohawks

Giving yourself a mohawk is a little difficult. It’s a lot of hair in very certain places. Here’s a quick breakdown of how to style your hair so you can look punk rock.

Special thanks to Hollie Joy for her help with this article!

Basic mohawks.

This is a fairly standard mohawk. The sides are completely shaved, and the hair is worn straight up.

All mohawks require shaving the sides of your head (except for fauxhawks, see below) and if you already have a lot of hair this can be a bit tricky. Try using clippers to reduce the majority of the length. This is usually enough for most people, unless you’re trying to get it completely hairless on either side in which case a straight razor is your best bet.

You’re going to want to keep your hair parted on either side. The part will define the edge of the mohawk to the left and right. Keeping straight lines while cutting the hair is perhaps the most difficult part of making one in the first place. The mohawk doesn’t have to be limited to going just straight down your head. It can zig-zag, curve, or even curl. But if it’s uneven or lumpy, it’s going to look bad.

Hair doesn’t grow evenly on anyone’s head. Some parts grow faster than others. So once you’ve got the excess to either side shorn away, you’ll need to put your hair up. Hairspray, gel, mousse- whatever’s handy. You’ll notice the top of your ‘hawk may be jagged, or have way too much length in one spot. Be conservative when cutting away from the top. It takes less than second to remove a foot of hair with a single snip, but you’ll only grow about a half an inch of hair a month. To be sure, do this once every week or so to keep growth in check.

Here Jonny Slut shows off his DeathHawk, which requires a lot of teasing - a method which became popular in the 1980s.

DeathHawks.

Popularized by Jonny Slut of English goth-punk band Specimen, this is basically just a thoroughly teased-out mohawk. To tease a mohawk first separate a layer of hair, usually an inch or two on the scalp, and lift it up. Start from the front and work your way back. Once the layer is lifted up, take a comb and start at the top towards the tips and run the teeth downwards quickly and rapidly while applying hair spray or tick gel. Continue until the section stands up on its own. Then move on to the next section. Continue from the hairline to the nape of the neck until fully teased. Remember, teasing will increase hair volume, but it will also decrease length.

Bihawks and Trihawks.

Tori from the Casualties sports a trihawk. Her version doesn't require any shaving - just a lot of product!

This is essentially the same thing as a regular mohawk except that there is two or three ridges. When doing this it’s important to part the hair first, and keep it parted the same way the whole time you are cutting the hair. If you don’t keep it parted you run the risk of getting the lines uneven, which is going to look terrible. Don’t do this drunk. And don’t let someone who is drunk do this to you. Bihawks and Trihawks are best when completely even and symmetrical.

DreadHawks.

With the collision of Northwest style and punk that was grunge, it was inevitable that people began dreadlocking their mohawks. The best way to do it is with beeswax – any kind will do, even a beeswax candle or hand creams as long as it’s malleable with heat. Take a section of hair and separate it. At this point each section should be twice the volume that you eventually want once it’s dreadlocked. Smaller volumes of hair means it’s easier to clean your scalp and style the hair, and the easier it will be to dry which helps prevent it from rotting.

Dreadhawks have the big benefit of requiring the least amount of day-to-day maintenance. Once they've become dreaded, of course.

With one hand pull a section of hair away from you and make small twisting motions, teasing the whole section of hair with your fingertips. After teasing, roll the section between your hands like you’re rolling a playdough snake. Roll it all the way around from the tips to the scalp smoothing it and compacting it. Finally rub in the beeswax in the same way, and roll the section again. Repeat all the way down the mohawk from back to front. It won’t look perfect when you start, and this is because in order to fully become dreadlocks your hair will need to be teased and treated with beeswax regularly while being allowed to dread and compact on its own. How often and how thoroughly you need to tease and matte the hair is dependent on your hair. Tightly coiled hair will do this with hardly any effort, while straight hair without much natural oil will require the most attention to get it to dread properly.

Keep in mind that during the teasing process your hair’s length will be reduced, so however long you want it to be after it’s done being dreadlocked try to get it twice as long before.

FauxHawks aka “Hoxton fins”.

The fauxhawk is by far the most popular version of the mohawk currently. This is because it is easy to do up while you put on your leather and chains for a show, but also easy to keep down when going to have tea at grandma’s; or a job interview. Essentially the fauxhawk is just shearing the sides of your hair down while keeping the top long. Make sure to trim the sides first, so you know how long your fin should be. This part is pretty much the same as any other haircut – shave the nape of the neck to uniformity, get behind the ears, etc. The trick is in getting the fin to be uniform and symmetrical. Most peoples hair tries to part a little to the left or a little to the right, so make sure to be constantly combing and using small amounts of product when shaping and cutting the fin.

Tips and Tricks:

• 

  Here the fauxhawk has been dyed, keeping it noticable and abrasive.

  Lots of products will keep your hair up, but you don’t need to shell out big bucks to corporations to get a ‘hawk to stand on end. White and clear glue both work wonders, and there are many recipes for hair gel using colored and flavored Jell-O.

• People with curly hair don’t have to have curly ‘hawks. Using a straightener is easy, but don’t burn yourself. For a regular mohawk take a section of hair that is easily separable and straighten it perpendicular to the line of the mohawk running down your head. Each section should then be flattened and forward when you’re done going down from the hairline to the nape of the neck. Once that’s done add a dash of product, style it up, and straighten it again – this time into its final fin-like shape. Using a straightener on hair that has product in it is harsh on the straightener, and clumps of product can flake off, so be careful and watch for any tool malfunction.
• Be aware of what your mohawk looks like when it’s not up with product. You might want to re-think your new look if you need to add product before you become presentable.
• Having a short mohawk that you don’t style up can look cool, take a lot less time, and a lot less money.
• Don’t be afraid to get asymmetrical as long as it’s intentional. A friend of mine had me style his mohawk asymmetrically. What I ended up doing was shaving the left side completely smooth and leaving the right side with about a quarter inch of hair while the central fin was on the order of seven to eight inches long. To top it off my girlfriend added three “racing stripes” with the clippers to the right side. Being ballsy and creative can only reward you, so if you’ve got an idea try it out! Hair always grows back.