50 Best Medium Length Hairstyles

Medium length hairstyles have become a popular trend for women who want gorgeous styles without the maintenance that comes with long hair. Also known as shoulder length hair, medium haircuts are versatile and trendy with cuts just above or below the shoulder. Regardless of your face shape, hair type, texture or age, there are many sexy mid-length styles to choose from for a stylish look. As a nice balance between long and short hair, these beautiful shoulder length hairstyles can work with fine, thick, curly, wavy and straight hair to create the perfect style. For inspiration and ideas, we’ve compiled a guide to the best medium length hairstyles for women to get at their next salon appointment. From a long bob to layered hair with bangs, check out these cute shoulder length haircuts to find sophisticated and professional styles for work, new and sexy cuts for date night, and the latest fashionable looks worth styling this year.

Medium Length Haircuts

Shoulder Length Straight Hair

If you’re looking to take your straight hair to the next level, consider adding some volume-boosting layers and dimension. Because straight hair tends to go flat more than wavy or curly hair, adding layers to your mid-length look will ensure your style stays bold and fresh all day long.

Blunt Medium Length Hair

If you’re looking to explore accessories and bold hair pieces, a shoulder-length blunt hair cut is the perfect canvas. Take a break from layers with this chic and professional hairstyle that requires very little upkeep. It’s inspired by dramatic art movements of the past and is sure to make a statement in any room.

Medium Length Layered Hair with Bangs

If you want to thin out your thicker hair or prefer a bold and beautiful professional style, consider adding bangs and layers to your medium-length hairstyle. The effect is striking and youthful but still carries an air of confidence and doesn’t require constant heat or product use.

Medium Length Blonde Hairstyles

If you love summer beach days, take your blonde shoulder-length hair to the next level with salt sprays and tie-dye bandanas. You can also embrace classic, fairy tale vibes with half-up braided crowns that can be adorned with flowers and delicate pins. For festival looks, space buns are fun and exciting and blonde hair showcases hair glitter and adornments well.

Medium Length Brown Hair

With brown shoulder-length hair, you have lots of options. You can go a little lighter with blonde undertones or highlights for a flirty, youthful look or consider adding red and gold tones that make your hairstyle feel sophisticated and mysterious. Brown is excellent for ombre styles, so consider how you want to showcase your medium-length cut.

Black Shoulder Length Hair

Black shoulder-length hair is great for traveling or professional work environments. Low-maintenance and stylish because dark hair is always chic and goes with everything, or you can consider bangs or layers for an understated feminine hairstyle. There’s no way to go wrong with medium length hairstyles for black hair.

Above The Shoulder Haircuts

When you cut your hair above the shoulders, you’ll eventually get the option of embracing hairstyles of different lengths. Above the shoulder haircuts are always chic and easy to maintain. You’ll look polished and put-together but still maintain a comfortable and accessible vibe the people around you are sure to notice.

Medium Length Curly Hair

Curly hair is beautiful and should be celebrated! When you cut your curly hair down to a medium-length, you won’t have to worry so much about maintaining it or the long drying process, but you’ll still have enough hair for unique looks from space buns to Dutch braids. Styling is easy at this length, but you can also skip the product and allow your locks to flow free.

Medium Length Straight Hair

Straight hair is chic and stylish and transitions easily between professional and fashionable styles. Head straight from the office to a night on the town with friends and change it up with ease by switching between a side and middle part.

Permed Medium Hair

If your hair is already longer than shoulder-length or you’re comfortable growing it out for a while, you may want to consider a mid-length perm hairstyle. Skip the damage from everyday heating tools like curlers and blow dryers and go for this long-lasting style. Modern perms are more personalized than the look of the past, so yours will help frame your face with full, bouncy curls that are fun and sexy.

Wavy Hair with Bangs

Achieve an effortlessly classic look when you try out a wavy hairstyle with bangs. This modern-retro vibe feels classy and European and is super easy to maintain. Leave it messy and tousled for a casual look, or find some cute pins and accessories to tame it for work in a sleek, cool way.

Medium-Length Haircuts For Fine Hair

When it comes to styling fine hair, you’ll want to employ techniques that add volume and dimension without causing damage from heating tools or driers. Mid-length cuts make thin hair healthier and easier to maintain, while still allowing for ample styling opportunities. Consider a sea spray or delicately detailed pins for special occasions.

Medium Thick Hair

Shoulder-length hairstyles are excellent for women with thick hair because they’re easy to maintain, dry faster, and remove some of the weight of thick hair that pulls on the scalp. You might want to consider layers to help thin your hair out, but at this length, thick hair still holds many unique and beautiful updos and ponytails that won’t stay if the hair is too long.

Layered Curly Hair

You may have heard that curly hair shouldn’t be layered, but that’s just not true. Where layers add volume to straight hair, they can help to smooth and structure medium-length curly hair, so the natural shape of your face is framed and highlighted. It will also reduce some of the weight of your hair, which can help keep you cool in warm weather.

Medium Length Asian Hair

Asian hair is traditionally thicker, straighter, and stronger than many other hair types, which means you have lots of options for how you want to style it and the shape it will hold. At this length, bangs make a beautiful and stylish addition to your look, but whether you add them or not, you’ll still have a classic and feminine sweetness to your style.

Medium Length African American Hair

Natural curls are gorgeous and easier to maintain at this length for African American hair and they help to frame the face and highlight the cheekbones. Keeping your hair at this length will also mean less aggressive heat styling and products, which will mean healthier, happier hair.

Medium Length Hair with Bangs

Bangs are making a comeback and when your hair is medium length, you have lots of chic and trendy ways to cut and style the right bangs to fit your face. Bangs work well for both fine and thick hair, providing plenty of opportunity for fun and stylish hair accessories. The look is cute and casual but can easily be taken to the next level for professional or formal events.

Medium Platinum Blonde Hair

Medium length platinum blonde hair brings to mind beaches, summer and sun, and it’s not hard to see why. A beautiful blonde color adds an effortlessly cool and casual look to mid-length hair and it’s easy to maintain in the surf or on hot days. Style with sea sprays, relaxed braids, or bandanas and scrunchies for easy chic.

Medium Brunette Hair

Shoulder-length brunette hair is effortlessly retro and will add the vibe of European looks from the 1960s and 70s. If you’re open to dying your hair, consider some lighter, neutral highlights that will add volume and depth to darker shades and provide a cute and casual look that can be easily glammed up.

Medium Black Hair

Black hair is bold and statement-making and when you pair your black hair with a face-framing shoulder-length look, you can achieve that sophisticated style that will always get attention. Go for an edgy, underground style with a straight-middle part or consider adding bangs or waves for something more subdued.

Ombre Hair

There’s a reason ombre hair is such a favorite, and this gorgeous, shaded design works excellently on mid-length hair, where the colors are on full display. Go for a classic darker-roots, lighter-ends look, or consider a real bold color scheme like mermaid or rainbow.

Medium Length Hair with Highlights

Shoulder-length hair is an excellent way to showcase your highlights and go for something bold and daring without making too big a change or requiring an enormous amount of upkeep. Your stylist will find the natural undertones to your hair and match them for a beautiful, dimension-adding look that won’t need a lot of styling or product.

Medium Hair Updo

One of the best parts about having shoulder-length hair is that you still have many opportunities for updos and unique styles. You can enjoy a sleek and polished style with a tight knot at the neck, or add volume to your crown and pull your hair into a messy bun, allowing a few loose strands to add a casual, face-framing vibe to your look.

Braids For Medium Length Hair

At shoulder-length, it can be difficult to manage a single thick braid, but consider splitting your hair into two pieces or more and trying out Dutch braids, French braids, or waterfall braids. This length is lovely for braided crowns and half-up hairstyles, but can even work for top knots and space buns when you’re looking to go cool and casual.

Medium Length Hair with Long Layers

If your hair is naturally wavy, you might want to consider adding some longer layers into your shoulder-length cut. They’ll blend in naturally and add dimension and volume, which is helpful for finer hair and removes some of the heat and heaviness of thicker hair for a comfy, casual vibe.

Shoulder Length Hair with Side Bangs

Side bangs are bold, beautiful, and totally chic, and there are many great options for wearing the side bang look that fits your face shape. They can help to slim your face and add a unique texture to thicker hair, which supports them well. Side bangs make it easy to try out updos and knots while still providing that face frame.

Messy Bun For Medium Length Hair

Cute and comfortable for busy moms and professional women, a messy bun with shoulder-length hair can add a flair of productivity and casual confidence. Since medium length hair isn’t quite long enough for a top knot, at least not without the bobby pins to hold stray pieces in place, a mid-level messy bun is the perfect alternative. You won’t want to use too many pins or products, as this look is all about comfort, but tuck a few in to ensure your bun stays in place.

Sexy Medium Length Hair

No matter which gorgeous look you embrace, shoulder-length hair has a naturally sexy and flirtatious vibe to it, one you can easily pair with makeup and outfits to fit your need. Go for a classic girl-next-door look with blue jeans, white tee, and nude lip or add in a smokey eye and bold red or purple lip color for a night on the town without much hair care or maintenance at all.

Cute Medium Length Haircuts For Girls

Little girls often love to play with hair, but having tangled or messy knots can lead to a detangling nightmare. With shoulder-length haircuts, there’s still plenty of length for braids, ponytails, or more intricate styles, but there’s a lower possibility of getting jam in the ends or spending a whole morning with the detangling spray. At this length, little girls can even wear their hair down and loose and it’ll still be relatively easy to maintain.

How To Style Shoulder Length Hair

With so many beautiful hairstyles for shoulder length hair, styling medium haircuts with chic styles can be easy and fun. The most flattering medium length hairstyles will take advantage of your hair’s natural texture, frame your face, and allow styling products to maximize volume and movement. Some women prefer layers to lighten the weight of thick hair while adding body. Others may ask their stylist for bangs that blend with layered hair for a gorgeous finish. Shoulder length short haircuts are ideal if you want to achieve a lob or shaggy style, meanwhile longer hair can be styled with beach waves and bangs or textured layers with highlights. Lastly, you can sweep and part your hair on the side or try a low-maintenance middle part for a simple finish. We recommend styling hair with heat protectant spray, serum, hairspray or curl-defining creams, depending on the style you want to rock.

Shoulder Length Hairstyles

• The most popular medium hairstyles include long bobs, shaggy styles, layers, bangs, side parts, blunt cuts, waves, and curls.
• Bangs look pretty and youthful, while layered hair can allow you to thin out thick hair or add fullness to fine hair.
• Women who want short shoulder length hair can make their hair wavy or curly to create texture for a unique style.
• Long medium length hairstyles offer more versatility and styling options, but require more upkeep and care.
• Use a quality shampoo, conditioner, and styling product to add volume, texture and flow.
• Shoulder length hair is fashionable, stylish and on-trend for women of all ages!