It can be a bit difficult to define what punk style is. For some people, it’s all about that rock and roll look that consists of leather boots and heavy chains. Meanwhile, others think it’s the style of clothing, like ripped jeans and torn-up vests.
But if you ask us, being “punk” is a lot more authentic than just things you add to your outfit. What really makes you punk is if you look edgy, grungy, and bold even without the sassy, spunky clothes. And how do you look authentically punk? With your hair, of course!
Here are 40 punk hairstyles we love, 20 for men, and 20 for women.
Punk Hairstyles:
Curly Mullet with Shaved Sides
Give your punk style a touch of greaser with this curly mullet. Make sure your hair is long enough to go past your shoulders and down your back to really show off your ringlets. To make sure your hair doesn’t look too unruly, show some skin by shaving the sides of your head.
Mohawk with Buzzed Fade
A classic punk hairstyle that everyone with a rock-loving soul likes to see is the mohawk. A modern version of this is one with a smooth, buzzed fade along the sides. When styling your mohawk, make sure to use gel to help your hair stand tall and fan out nicely.
Blonde Crop Top
If you’d rather go for short hair, a crop top might look good on you. Instead of brushing your hair up or back, a crop top is easy to style because all you have to do is brush it forward. A crop top always looks good with a full fringe.
The Braided Mohawk
Add a bit of shock and attitude to your mohawk by putting your medium-length locks in braids. This is a great way to shake things up in a classic hairstyle, while adding some playfulness and creativity to your overall look.
Fanned Out White Blonde Mohawk
Here’s another version of the cult-favorite mohawk—one that is fanned out and has a blunt cut. This is the stereotypical punk hairstyle you see on MTV music videos, so you can’t afford to sleep on it. For an extra rock and roll vibe, color your mohawk platinum blonde!
Ultra-Long Top Undercut
Today, an undercut is considered a smooth and clean type of cut for glamorous men. But if you want to add some punk into this style, you can maintain super long hair at the top of your head. This look is great when you do a combover and sweep your hair to one side of your face, like so.
Two-Toned Hair with Shaved Sides
Color is a huge part of punk hairstyles. If you want to maintain your natural shade but have a pop of color in your locks, you can do a two-toned look. We love this red and black combination. And if you shave some of your sides, it looks even more rebellious.
Curly Mohawk
Who said mohawks were limited to those with straight hair only? Curly hair has a lot of texture, so it holds up nicely in a dramatic mohawk. Make sure you use a strong gel to create little spikes in your curls as you style your mohawk upward.
Black and Pink Hair
Strike a balance between the dark and mysterious vibe and a fun, invigorating feel with this color styling. While one part of your hair is black or dark-colored, lighten up the other and add a playful shade to it, like light pink.
Colored, Braided Dreads
We’re so used to seeing brown and black braided dreadlocks that we don’t really consider coloring dreads. But just a bit of temporary color spray makes all the difference if you want yours to stand out and look more punk. We love the color blue for this one!
Spiky Mullet-in-Progress
A mullet is an awesome punk rock hairstyle. But if you’d rather keep your hair short, you can freeze time with this mullet-in-progress look. It’s exactly how it sounds—hair that is growing into a mullet but isn’t quite there yet. This look is terrific in straight hair to give it a spiky effect.
The Faded Mullet
If you don’t mind keeping your mullet long, adding a smooth fade on the sides of your head is a great way to make it look more aggressive and punk. You can also add a short fringe to your hair for a dramatic touch.
Sideswept Violet and Brown Hair
Get that classic rockstar look with medium-length hair swept over to one side. This style is awesome if you want to show off shaved sides or ear piercings. To add a bit of flair, color your hair with a deep violet—a color that can transform your hair from plain to punk in mere seconds.
Curly Pomp with Skin Fade
A pompadour is usually reserved for clean, straight folks, but anyone with punk in their soul can rock it too. One way to make a messier feel of your pomp is to add curls to it, like so. A skin fade will also look good with this style.
Turquoise Greaser Pompadour
Here’s another take on the classic pomp. Instead of shaving off the sides, go with a classic lush and rounded silhouette. But to add a lot of drama, color your hair with a shocking punk color, like turquoise or neon pink or blue. It’s a great way to pay homage to the 60s greaser style while staying true to your punk persona.
Teal and Blonde Mullet
You don’t have to go for a vibrant pop of color to look punk-ish. You can also go for a more subdued color, like this dirty blonde with touches of teal. This blend of shades would look rad on a mullet or any type of long hairstyle.
Green and Black Sideswept Combover
Shoulder-length hair is sexy on any man, but it’s especially attractive when it’s swept to one side. It gives a more laidback, relaxed vibe. To add more free-spiritedness to this look, you can also experiment with coloring your hair a deep, broody tone, like a combo of black and forest green.
Short, Spiky Magenta Hair
If you’re looking for a hairstyle that is low-maintenance and can be styled in seconds, this one’s for you. Spiky hair isn’t that uncommon, so if you want to make your hair stand out from everyone else’s, pick a vibrant color for it, like magenta.
V-Shaped Pomp and Undercut
Nothing wrong with going overboard with how bold and audacious your punk hairstyle is, right? This style combines three things: an undercut, sleek pomp, and a V-shaped shave at the back. If this polished look doesn’t scream punk and rock ‘n roll, we don’t know what does.
Long, Shaved Hair with Sideswept Fringe
Let’s cap off the list for men with this stallion-like hairstyle. Instead of rocking plain, long hair, try shaving your sides to a smooth taper. Then, rock a side-swept fringe to add a softness to your otherwise hard and grungy look.
Fauxhawk with Tiered Ponytails
Now, let’s move on to the women’s styles, starting with this one that has the right balance between sweet and edgy. Instead of going for a real mohawk, put your hair in tiered ponytails to create that fauxhawk silhouette. This is similar to bubble braids but much looser and more voluminous.
This look is great if you want to experiment with the punk rock look for just one night and don’t want to commit to any rebellious haircuts just yet.
Firetruck Red Shag
Red hair always captures attention, but a firetruck engine red makes you nothing short of magnetic. Dye your hair with this bright red tone and get a long pixie shag to match. You can also keep some short strands near the front of your face to serve as curtain bangs.
Long, Spiky, Silver Mohawk
If you’re ready for something ultra-bold, shave off your sides and style your hair upwards to create a classic mohawk. Use a blow-dryer to dry your hair in an outwards direction. Then, use some hairspray to lock the spikiness in.
Space Buns with V-Shaped Fringe
Emit a youthful punk vibe by placing your hair in ever-trendy space buns and cutting yourself a nice, full fringe. But instead of doing a blunt cut on your bangs, go a more deviant route and make it longer in the center to create a V-shape.
Mullet with a Short, Scissor-Cut Fringe
Who says mullets were only for guys? Girls can wear them too for an androgynous look. To make it a little more eccentric than the usual country-style mullet, create a short baby fringe. To get a chunky, imperfect finish, use your trusty scissors at home instead of paying big bucks at a salon!
Colorful Deathhawk
Don’t shy away from ostentatious punk styles! This deathhawk is perfect for anyone who wants to give people something to talk about. Bolder, longer, and more voluminous than the usual mohawk, the deathhawk is a lot more eye-catching. You can even color your locks with eye-popping neon shades to make them even flashier.
The Blonde Bob
Now, let’s pull the reins back a bit. Not all punk hairstyles have to be super dramatic. Sometimes, a nice, classic blonde bob works awesome, too. It’s long enough to give off a feminine vibe, but short enough to allow you to show off your tattoos and piercings by your ears and neck.
The Bowl-Cut Mullet
Bowl cuts are often looked down upon as a “nerdy” haircut. But when you combine it with a mullet, it goes from goody-two-shoes to outrageously punk. The top of the head is bowl cut-inspired, creating a fringe reminiscent of that childhood haircut.
Then, the rest of the hair at the back takes the shape of a mullet. The result? A super sexy and attractive long-haired look.
Soft Pixie Combover with Side Part
Here’s something a bit shorter than a bob—the classic pixie. Grow it out a bit longer than a boy cut to give it a softer touch. But to boost that rock and roll sensuality, add a deep side part of the hair.
The Bowl-Cut Pixie
Here’s another fusion of two signature haircuts—the bowl cut and the short pixie. This is a hairstyle we only recommend for ultra-daring. Not only is a big chop of hair required, but you’ll also have to be confident enough to rock a disconnected undercut and bowl-shaped fringe.
The Sleek, Classic Pompadour
A clean, lush pomp may seem too formal for a man, but on a woman, it looks extremely punk. Pair it with smoothly shaved sides with a beautiful skin fade, and you’re in store for compliments left and right at your next rock concert.
Combover with Skin Fade Design
The shaved combover is a go-to punk look for men and women alike. But if you want yours to look more elevated than everyone else’s, ask your stylist for a skin fade design like this one. It can be anything, from a single straight like to break up your fade to your favorite number or letter.
Messy Long Hair with Bandana Headband
Do you have a long, messy hair that’s a pain to tame? Grab a simple bandana and use it as a headband to hold it back! A bandana gives off a punk, biker vibe. So if you’re not big on hair coloring or shaving the sides of your head, adding a bandana headband to your natural hair will give you instant rock chic.
Sunset-Colored Mohawk
Punk girls are romantic too! Show off the beautiful, poetic sunset in the most creative way—through your hair! Dye your mohawk with the orange, purple, and yellow tones of the sunset to bring it with you wherever you go.
Gold, Glamorous Curls
Marilyn Monroe meets Goldilocks in this flashy, sultry hairstyle. It starts with coloring your hair a super-warm golden-yellow shade, then curling it in springy, bouncy, vintage-inspired spirals. This look works fabulously for shoulder-length locks.
The A-Line Pixie
Look mod and sophisticated but still like a rockstar at heart with this A-line pixie. It gives you the best of both worlds—long hair in the front and manageably short at the back.
Blue-Green Undercut Mullet
Color your hair with sea-inspired tones like blue and green for an adventurous look. Then, ask for a mullet haircut to really show off your color. But not just any mullet—ask for sides that are shaved until near your temples, kind of like an undercut.
Crimped Bob with Neon Highlights
Add some texture to pin-straight hair by crimping your tresses. For a surprise pop of color, add a few subtle neon highlights near the bottom of your locks. We love how neon yellow looks against natural black bobs!
Black and White Sleek Straight Hair
Give your plain, sleek, straight hair more attitude by coloring half of it platinum white blonde and the other half a sensual jet black. This bold, daring look is reminiscent of Cruella de Vil, so you can be grungy and classy at the same time, like the classic villainess herself.
Layers and Baby Bangs
A full fringe that’s a little too short makes you look extra youthful but also like the true rock and roll soul you are. Pair it with messy, choppy layers, and you’ll have the classic punk princess look.
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