A skin fade costs about £19 in a UK town, £22 in a big city and £26 to £32 in London, from around 150 barber price lists read in September 2026. Premium West End shops charge £43 to £56.
Skin fade prices by region
Scroll the table sideways to see every region.
| Service | Town | Big city | London (independent) | London (premium) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skin fade | £15 to £27 (typical £19) | £16 to £30 (typical £22) | £20 to £42 (typical £26.50) | £43 to £56 |
| Low, mid or high fade (not to skin) | Same as a skin fade, or £1 to £3 less | Same, or about £2 less | Same, or £1 to £3 less | £33 and up |
| Taper | Usually the same as a fade | Usually the same as a fade | Usually the same as a fade | Priced as a cut |
| Kids skin fade | £13 to £18 | £12 to £21 (typical £16) | £15 to £20 | £30 (boys' cut) |
| Skin fade and beard | £22 to £34 (typical £29) | £25 to £40 (typical £30) | £27 to £40 | £55 to £75 |
| Standard short back and sides | £15 to £24.50 | £15 to £24 | £18 to £28 | £33 to £45 |
Prices checked 28 September 2026 on shop websites and Booksy and Treatwell price lists. "Typical" is the median of the prices we found. No trade body or survey publishes a national skin fade average, so these figures come from shop price lists.
Outside London, budget £18 to £25 for a skin fade, and add £5 to £12 if you want a beard trim at the same visit.
How much is a skin fade in London?
Expect about £26 to £32 at an independent London barber, and £43 to £56 at central London shops like Pall Mall Barbers, Ted's Grooming Room or Jack the Clipper.
Budget £25 to £35 to be safe at an independent shop. The independent London prices we read ran from £20 to £42, so the spread inside London is wider than the gap between London and the rest of the country.
Skin fade prices in UK cities
| City | Typical skin fade | Example shops and prices |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | £25 | Flawless Fadez £25, Turkish Barbers Club Kings Heath £22, Everyman £34 |
| Bristol | £25 | Kier Fades £25, Redland £25, Mugshot £25, Shotgun £35 |
| Cardiff | £23.50 | Rume £28, SWYD £29, Jones the Barber £24, Acute from £18 |
| Manchester | £22 | Manchester Barbers £22, Smokey x Primark £30 |
| Glasgow | £22 | Sharp Scissors £20, Fratelli £28, Jano £15 walk-in or £20 booked |
| Newcastle | £21.50 | KAMO £24.50, Banfi £22, LEVELS £24 |
| Liverpool | £20 | BU & CO £18, CREATO £18, Our Barber £20, Locker Room £25 |
| Leeds | £18.50 | House 101 £18 (rising from 5 October 2026) |
Prices read on 28 September 2026. Shops change prices without notice, so check before you go. Our Liverpool barbers page lists more shops with prices.
Bristol and Birmingham came out the most expensive of the big cities, and Leeds and Liverpool the cheapest. The spread inside each city is wider than the gap between cities: a £15 walk-in and a £35 appointment-only shop can be ten minutes apart.
How often should you get a skin fade?
Every two to four weeks, because the bare skin at the bottom shows regrowth within a week or two; every two to three weeks if you want it to stay sharp.
A skin fade grows out faster than any other cut, so the yearly cost is the number worth knowing.
| Price per fade | Every 2 weeks (26 cuts) | Every 3 weeks (17 cuts) | Every 4 weeks (13 cuts) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town, £19 | £494 | £323 | £247 |
| Big city, £22 | £572 | £374 | £286 |
| London, £32 | £832 | £544 | £416 |
| West End, £50 | £1,300 | £850 | £650 |
Before tips. See what to tip your barber for the usual amounts.
Going from every two weeks to every three saves about £200 a year at big-city prices. To stretch it, ask for a mid or low fade that starts at a 0.5 rather than bare skin. It grows out more gently, so three weeks still looks tidy. Our guide on how often to get a haircut covers this by style.
Is a skin fade more expensive than a normal haircut?
Usually by £2 to £5, and by up to £12 at premium London shops, though some barbers charge the same for both.
The extra pays for:
- Time. A clean skin fade takes 30 to 45 minutes. A number 2 back and sides can take 15.
- Skill. Blending from bare skin up through the guards without visible lines takes practice, and a bad blend is obvious.
- Extra steps. Many shops foil-shave the bottom and finish with a razor line-up.
- Location and demand. Rent and wages drive the gap between a £15 town walk-in and a £50 West End chair more than the cut itself.
How much is a kids skin fade?
Kids' skin fades usually cost £12 to £21, around £16 in big cities, a few pounds less than an adult's. Shops tend to set an age limit, most often under 12, under 14 or under 16, so a 15-year-old might pay the adult price at one shop and the kids' price at the next. Some shops (Nicola's in Liverpool, for example) run "dad and lad" deals.
Walk-in or booked
A few shops charge less for walk-ins. Jano in Glasgow charges £15 walk-in against £20 booked, and Jack the Clipper in Spitalfields £51 against £56. Others charge the same either way. Our guide to walk-in versus appointment covers when each makes sense.
Judging a cheap skin fade
A £15 fade can be excellent: price depends mostly on rent. Judge the barber by recent photos of fades on their Instagram or booking page, and by reviews that mention fades specifically. Our guide to finding a good barber goes through what to look for. If you cut at home instead, a decent clipper costs about the same as four fades; see our hair clipper guide and the guard sizes chart.
How we got these prices
On 28 September 2026 we read published price lists from barbers' own websites and their Booksy, Treatwell and Fresha pages: about 15 London shops, around 110 in eight big cities, and 17 in towns including Milton Keynes, Ipswich, Folkestone, Kidderminster, Lincoln, Newark and Falkirk. Where a booking site showed a discounted price we used the full price. Very few shops date their price lists, so treat any single figure as a guide.
For a wider view of haircut prices, not just fades, see how much a haircut should cost in the UK.