Short shag haircuts are created using the razor cutting technique to create more texture on short hair. Short shaggy haircuts have lots of choppy layers that result in a modern messy hairstyle. A short shag cut goes well with textured bangs and for women with narrower face shapes. The shag became popular in the 1970s by celebrities such as Joan Jett and Mick Jagger.
One of my top styling tips for short shags is that you should work with your natural hair texture. Many women have a hair texture that falls somewhere in between straight and curly.
There’s no simpler and quicker way to style your tresses than by finding a shaggy haircut and hairstyle that works with your texture rather than against it.
Are you ready to be inspired?
Before your next hair appointment, check out these inspiring pictures of the best short shag haircuts and hairstyles ideas for women right now.
Shaggy Cut with Short Fringe
Choose a very textured, short shagged cut with a short fringe that is very customizable to each woman. This favorite haircut is for ladies who are a little more adventurous, out of the box, eclectic, and does not have pin-straight hair.
How to Style a Shaggy Cut with Fringe:
– Dry with a diffuser using Aquage Sea Salt Spray for that messy, lived-in look.
– After that use a Hot Tools Curl Bar to wand any curls you don’t like into a direction you go like.
– Finish it off with Dry Texture spray from L’anza to define the texture and put in some hold.
Short 70s Shag with Choppy Ends
A shag haircut looks like this short 70’s shag with choppy ends. Modern short shag haircuts that are tousled can give you a fresh look! It frames the face beautifully and gives an effortless texture to the hair.
Shag for Wavy Hair
If your waves tend to be unruly and unforgiving, try a short shag for wavy hair. This low-maintenance style could be the perfect change for you this year. Apply a dab of Redken Aerate all over to give you this amazing texture.
Edgy Shaggy Mullet
The edgy shaggy mullet is back! Try this for a trendy blast from the past. This length is easy to style and less maintenance than a pixie.
Short Shag for Ladies Over 40
Ladies over 40 should totally try a short shag. This length and style is extremely flattering and low-maintenance. Talk to your stylist about styling tips to get these messy but cute waves.
The Modified Shag
The modified shag is making a strong comeback for its easy maintenance and relaxed style and appearance. Also known as a modern mullet, a modified shag can be a great way to test shorter layers without comitting to a pixie cut. If you have small facial features and want to make your face appear bigger or more proportional, a modified shag is a fantastic option because it focuses short textured layers around the face which has an enlarging effect on face shapes and facial features.
Shaggy Pixie Bob
Try rocking a shaggy pixie bob if you’re looking for something edgy, feminine and easy to style. Make sure to ask your stylist if they think this style will work for you before taking the plunge. Spritz your hair with Kenra Silkening Mist after styling to get this amazing shine.
The Mini Shag
If you’re looking to rock something different this year, try the mini shag. This edgy and feminine style could be the perfect trend to try before the season ends. Ask your stylist what products they think you should use to achieve this textured look.
One-Length Shag
Try a one-length shag for a low-maintenance and trendy style. The bluntness of the ends of this cut give it a look that is rivaled by none. The length of this cut is perfect for face-framing and still leaves enough length to be pulled up.
Trendy Shag for Women Over 70
Women in their 70s should give a trendy shag a try. This style is forgiving and youthful and will have you feeling rejuvenated in no time. Use a dime sized dab of Schwarzkopf Osis Thrill and rub all over after styling for this textured look.
Short Shag for Fine Hair
Shag styles have a lot of short, light, and wispy layering. A short shag for fine hair, however, must have slightly longer layering to maintain a strong perimeter. Too many layers or layers that are too short can make the hair appear thinner.
Flattering for Grey Hair
Grey hair can often be coarse and heavy. A flattering style for grey hair is a shaggy haircut with a lot of layers that help keep volume present instead of weighing the hair down.
The Rocker Shag
Finding a style that shows off your personality can be hard, but adding short choppy baby bangs to your short cut creates the rocker shag. This look is cute, edgy, and shows off your unique style.
Shaggy Pixie Cut
Keep your short cut stylish by asking your hairdresser for a shaggy pixie cut. Adding extra texture gives height to the look, offering more volume and a flattering style.
Tousled Shag
Use a texture spray after adding messy waves to your hair for a more tousled shag. This product will lock in heat styling to last all day while also adding volume. When styling textured bangs you can use a clay or pomade to ensure they stay styled forward and in place.
Pixie with Bangs
Most pixies with bangs require higher maintenance and more salon visits. These cuts always seem to grow faster in the nape of the head, causing a mullet look. Switching to a shorter mullet, or shag, fixes that problem by making the grown out look seem intentional and fresh.
Short Shaggy Layers
A bob shape with short shaggy layers puts a modern twist on this timeless classic style. Wispy layers add a flattering shape to the haircut and provide a youthful look.
Short and Messy Shag
A short and messy shag is made complete with a heavy curtain bang. Ask your stylist to cut your fringe with a razor for a textured shape. Not only will this give the messy look you want, but it will be less maintenance and will grow out easier than a blunt cut.
Ear-Length Shag
Shorter layers enhance your natural curls. An ear-length shag is the perfect cropped cut for beautiful loose curls. The extra texture present keeps the weight off your ends giving a voluminous and shiny style.
Shag for Round Face Shapes
Avoid heavy and blunt lines because they tend to close off the face shape instead of complimenting it. A great choice is a shag for round face shapes because the shorter layers with extra texture opens the haircut and frames the face in a more flattering way.
Wispy Shag
A fun and youthful look is a wispy shag. Styling the textured layers to flip out while keeping a strong perimeter creates a unique silhouette.
Short Bob Shag with a Side Part
A modern twist on a short bob shag with a side part keeps some structure in its form. A side-parted shag works great on squarer faces, as the normal full-on bangs shorten the face even more. This is also perfect for those who prefer a side part. Due to the side part style, you won’t want the layers too short. Allowing for lots of movement to form around the perimeter brings flow and texture to your bob.
Black Shag Bob with Pink Highlights
A black shag bob with pink highlights can add some brightness and lightness to your style. The shag adds a lighter feel to the hair from the layering techniques used. With increased flow and movement to the hair, your color pop even more. Try adding pink highlights to your black shag to enhance the depth, with the bright pink sitting against black tones that blend into the layers.
Short Shaggy Bob with Middle Part
This short shaggy bob hairstyles can be catered to any woman’s hair texture and face shape with face-framing layers. It was created by hairstylist Bethany Duffy of North Providence, RI.
“If you are considering short bob haircut like this, it is so low maintenance! Shagged short bobs are totally a wash and go haircut,” says Duffy.
Duffy recommends getting a curl cream like Davines Love Curl Controller for wash days and Davines Sea Salt Spray for a refresher on non-wash days to keep that fun texture.
If you have a night out, use a wand to define a few of the waves for sassier shaggy bobs. Even a little bedhead will make it look awesome!
Short Dirty Blonde Shag Style
A short dirty blonde shag style is a textured cut, ideal for medium to semi-fine hair. Idaho-based stylist Allison Loftin creates short shag haircuts for women like this one. “For a big forehead or receding hairline, this short cut’s curtain bangs will be a good look on you,” notes Loftin.
She adds, “shorter shag haircuts help ladies with less hair get more body and volume. When hair is cut short with texture, it can create a cute messy look.”
Short Shag Cut with Short Layers
This short shaggy hair style is so sassy and sporty, and was created by senior stylist Jenika Criswell of Las Vegas, NV.
The nice thing about this cropped shag cut is that you can get so much diversity out of this look. From sleek and straight to wavy messy and edgy.
Regardless of your hair type, Criswell recommends deep conditioners, heat protectant, and leave-in conditioners. “Getting in Salon treatments to keep your hair healthy and shiny at least once a month,” she adds.
Shaggy short haircuts for girls are great for those who don’t mind taking a little bit of time to get their style just right every day. The cons of a short shag like this is that it’s not a wash and go kind of look.
Neck-Length Wavy Shag with Bangs
“Go for short shag hair that is a little fuller on the ends instead of carving it out as much as a true shag,” advises master stylist Holly Seidel of South Pasadena, CA.
The fullness created by the wavy hair and shaggy layers pictured here gives the crown more volume, and the bangs and bits create such a flattering frame for the face.
This shag cut for short hair is also incredibly easy to wear. It works just as well air-dried and tousled as it does blown out or curled.
“Shag hairstyles for short hair work on so many different hair types, including very curly hair and very straight too. If you have very thick hair, ask your stylist to remove a lot of bulk using a straight razor technique,” adds Seidel.
If you want short wavy shags, then know they come in different lengths and can be modified by the amount and length of layers, as well as the style, length, and fullness of the bangs/fringe.
Chin Length Choppy Shag for Thick Hair
These chin-length choppy shag cut ideas feature a modern take on the classic shag for short hair.
Short shag haircuts for thick hair are a great way to remove the bulk and heaviness.
👉 See more chin-length hairstyles.
Super Short Balayage Shag
This popular short shag is low maintenance blonde hair inspired by Anh Co Tran. It was created by colorist and stylist Emilya Filippa Do of Austin, TX.
“Super short shaggy haircuts are great for women with strong jawlines,” she adds.
Short French Crop Layered Shag
This French short shag style is relaxed with an effortless aesthetic that moves between the French girl vibe and 70s rock and roll vibe. It was created by hairdresser and owner Cynthia Valdez De Gamboa of McAllen, TX.
The internal layers of this short cut and transitions give it a fresh textured shag style. Now you can wear a shag hair cut that easily showcases your personality.
“The shagginess of this hairstyle is ideal for the girl on the go that can commit to at least two styling products and can at least take ten minutes to style. Short shaggy haircuts for fine hair should add movement to the hair,” she explains.
Products like beach waves, texture sea spray, or texture clay is the easiest way to maintain the fresh and effortless aesthetic of this short shaggy hairstyle.
Short and Chic Shaggy Lob
“This is the cutest idea of a short shag haircut for women,” claims hairstylist Nicolle Muldowney of Lathan, NY.
A chic shaggy lob haircut is a modern twist on a retro style.
“Know that shaggy short styles should have layering and de-bulking. This way it becomes a great way style a shaggy, short length haircut in big, loose waves,” adds Muldowney.
Razored Shaggy Pixie Cut for Over 60
This is very short shaggy pixie cut for women in the 60s on naturally textured hair. It was created by hairstylist Lissette Brito of Edgewater, NJ.
This is short in length and so it’s a low maintenance cut that’s still stylish.
This shaggy crop is the perfect short haircut for 60-year-olds. This spiky pixie shag can be recreated at home with ease and minimal blow drying.
Brito says to use a hydrating shampoo like MoroccanOil to add shine and keep the natural texture from drying out. “Lastly, finish off with a little Redken Outshine to add definition to shaggy wispy haircuts for older women,” she adds.
Shaggy Long Pixie Cut
Get a short shag cut like a long pixie cut that is easily worn in a few different shag hair styles. Take this shaggy pixie for example. For women considering short shag haircuts, keep in mind that the woman pictured has fairly fine hair.
If you are considering short shaggy styles and have thick and/or coarse hair, you may find yourself working a little bit harder to style your hair without it looking poofy.
Shorter Shaggy Angled Bob
An angled shaggy bob on short hair is trending right now because it is a relatively easy style to achieve at home with a small amount of effort. Midgley Ross Howe, stylist and owner of Howe Hair in Cape Town, South Africa created this modern shag haircut.
Howe says the most important thing to consider when you have a shag haircut is that chunky short hair isn’t always the easiest option. “However, for styling purposes, it is easy once you get the hang of it,” she explains.
This shag hairstyle with short layers works best on women with short fine to medium hair.
You will need to be ready to use some sort of product like mousse or texturizing spray to give it that shaggy look and the hold that it needs. If your short hair is quite curly or straight, using a tong is the easiest way to get that perfect short summer wave.
Feathered Short Chopped Shag
“A textured bob shag on short hair that has feathered layers as opposed to sitting on top of each other,” explains style creator and hairstylist Sara Carden of Costa Mesa, CA.
This celebrity shag inspiration creates a more modern, versatile bob hairstyle.
“Short shaggy hairstyles are great for women that don’t have a lot of natural texture to fight with. This is why it’s good to add shaggy layering into the cut,” says Carden.
This is one of the best shag haircut ideas for a wash-and-go style that is great for women with thin hair. The short length works best for women with a heart or oval face shape.
Short Razored Shaggy Hair
This short razored shag cut is full of texture and carved out pieces that make it youthful and fun to wear. It was created by stylist Julia Patton of San Francisco, CA.
Short layered haircuts often look undone or lived-in, so it works well for a low-maintenance woman who is not looking to shampoo and style their hair often.
“If you’re exploring popular short shags and aren’t sure if it will work for you, set up a 15-minute consultation with your stylist. Bring some images that you like so your stylist can customize a short scruffy cut shag that will work best for your hair texture and face shape,” explains Patton.
How to Style a Short Shag:
– Towel dry the hair very well
– Add some salt spray
– Use your hands to style as you dry the hair
Modern Short A-Line Shag
Stylist Margarita Ford of Moorpark, CA created this modern A-line shag haircut for short hair. It’s really a feminine cut.
The best short shags have lots of texture that work for every hair type.
“This short cut is great for women with fine to medium texture hair. It gives the appearance of a thicker, sexier and can help you pull off the shaggy trend for short hair,” says Ford.
To style:
– I Kenra Volumizing Spray at the root
– Blow it dry with a round brush.
– After the hair is dry, spray with Kenra Professional Heat Block Spray to protect while flat ironing.
– To finish, spray with Kenra Dry Texture Spray.
Short and Shaggy Undercut
This really short shaggy bob with an undercut is the trendiest cut for bold girls. It was created by senior stylist Sam Kane of Boston, MA.
“Edgy short shags are great for any woman who is maybe a little shy about committing to a full short pixie bob cut,” says Kane. “You have the shortness in the back, but the safety net of some length in the front. This short hair style is a great way for thin and fine hair to appear thicker and fuller.”
When it comes to styling shaggy pixie bobs, Kane says:
– First, blow-dry (just using fingers) with a salt spray or light mousse.
– Apply a texture spray once the hair is dry for that effortless piecey look.
Prettiest Jaw-Length Shaggy Cut
The prettiest jaw-length shaggy cut works well on fine textures and a heart-shaped face. Taking away any underneath bulk with an undercut and texture the ends. Shorter layers in the back crown give a lot of lift working around any cowlicks and mid-length layers around the face. Showing off the jaw creates a fun short shag haircut.
Short to Medium Shaggy Asymmetrical Bob
This shaggy short hair is a super textured, asymmetrical razor cut with a ton of layers. It was created by hairstylist Kim Taglienti of Philadelphia, PA.
“Use the razor to create texture in shaggy bob haircuts, and then texturizing it with shears when it’s dry, will create an effortless short style that has the shag haircut feel,” she explains.
This shorter cut is great for all hair types from straight to wavy to curly. It just depends on what style you are going for, and that determines how it will be styled.
How to Style an Asymmetrical Bob:
– Use a volumizing tonic & damage remedy daily hair repair while wet & after curling.
– Use a 1 1/4″ curling iron alternating the direction leaving the choppy ends out to give it the tousled beach wave shaggy hairstyle. – Then, use the defining whip & control force hairspray.
“Using a pomade is key in achieving this shag look to help give it the texture,” she adds.
Short Blonde Shag with Bangs for Over 50
A short shag cut is perfect for older women who still have thick hair. Adding some champagne blonde balayage color is a great way to hide your naturally gray hair and add a youthful look if you go short.
Cute Shaggy Cut with Curls for Short Curly Hair
Short shag cuts are super trendy right now. “This short cut is very diffused, rounded at the top, squared on the sides, and very open around the face,” says stylist James Blake Hanson of Orlando, FL.
A short curly shag can fit any woman. It can enhance natural hair texture, remove weight, or add body. It’s extremely easy to maintain as long as you’re willing to use a little product.
Straight hair can become textured, wavy, and curly short hair can become enhanced.
“A girly shag haircut really opens the face and looks great with fringe too. For someone with strong cheekbones, you can really open it up. For women with a round face, you will still look great and you can even narrow the look of your face with a slightly longer face frame,” he explains.
Short Textured Shag with Side-Swept Bangs
A short textured shag with a side-swept bang is a sassy and cute style. A shag differs from a bob because the sides are shorter than the back. Short shag hairstyles are great for thin hair. Salt spray is a great product choice for short hair cuts.
Cute Short Blunt Shag with Bangs
Short shag hairstyle with bangs is a razored haircut that has graduation along the length showing disconnected ends. The cute short blunt shag and bangs stands out with a super stripped messy finish.
Short Brown Shag Haircut with Highlights
Add some toffee highlights to dark brown hair for a fun and fresh short to medium shag. Each highlighted stand will show off all the dimensions of your new short shaggy haircut, and the darker hair color is sure to match any skin tone.
The Cutest Short Layered Shag
Try a short shag with baby bangs, which gives short hairstyles a vintage and punk feel. This short layered shag was created by stylist Holly Scott of Salt Spring Island, BC.
“The best thing about this cool short haircut is that it is so versatile, depending on how you style it,” says Scott. “Waves give it a soft ‘lived-in’ look while straightening this gives an edgier vibe.”
Wavy medium/fine hair is perfectly suitable best for this shag’s length and shape. If you have straight hair, the key to making it look effortless is to create a ‘bend’ with the flat iron vs a curl. Lastly, tousle your hair with a texture spray to finish your new short shaggy hair!
Short Shag With Middle-Part Curtain Bangs
A short shag with middle-part curtain bangs is a perfect cut for someone looking to add fullness to their hair. Curtain bangs are great to frame the eyes and soften square face shapes.
Modern Textured Shag with Full Curtain Fringe
A modern textured shag with a full curtain fringe is the “it” style of the moment. Great for a variety of face shapes and hair textures, this look can be tailored to your individual needs and lifestyle. Consult with your stylist about what version of this look would work for you.
Colorful Shaggy Short Mullet
Something spunky to try is a colorful short mullet cut and styled in a shag. Strawberry blonde ombré tips and whispy styled ends gives this cut and style a whimsical feel. Ask your color specialist which color combo is best for you.
Short and Choppy Shaggy Bangs
Short and choppy shaggy bangs are a fantastic way to add texture, movement, and fullness to thin or fine hair. Shaggy bangs with choppy texture and layering is a perfect compliment for a textured pixie cut and opens the face without taking away from the overall face-framing effects of bangs. Choppy bangs require minimal styling time as they are meant to look messy or disheveled. Like any other bangs, these will need a bit more frequent maintenance appointments.
Flattering Shag for Square Face Shapes
Try a shag for a flattering look that pairs well with square face shapes. Shag haircuts are a perfect way to soften the harsh horizontal lines of square faces while adding roundness to balance out the face shape. Use a shag to draw attention to the features you love about your face while diminishing the features you may not want as much attention brought to.
Fluffy Shag
