Celebrity barber Mr Mark Maciver shows us five ways to style your hair.

Better known as SliderCuts, Mr Mark Maciver is a celebrity barber with almost 70,000 followers on Instagram. He has cut Mr LeBron James’s hair and has an impressive client list that includes Anthony Joshua and Stormzy. According to Mr Maciver, the English rapper “refuses to let anyone else cut his hair”. His east London barbershop has become the go-to spot for black men eager to get the best trim in town.

As more and more people become comfortable with expressing themselves, and the culture of individuality rises, you see different hairstyles in the media being worn by popular black men. As a result, the styles people ask for in the barbershop are becoming much more diverse. From afros, high-tops, dreadlocks and fades, to Kurl King twists or incorporating dyed haircuts, there’s a lot more variation to what people are asking for.

But where to begin? To give you a headstart, we asked Mr Maciver to comb through some of the hottest hair trends right now for black men.

“This is a standard shorter-level haircut," says Mr Maciver. “Ask your barber for a level 1 with clippers, going with or against the grain, depending on what you’re going for. A higher level is better if you’re trying to achieve waves. For this, you’ll want to go with the grain. If you want something even shorter, or don’t want waves, go against the grain. Pharrell has gone for the lower one, which gives a cleaner and smarter finish. A standard level 1 haircut is quite easy to maintain. You just brush and go. You can use a bit of light hair oil to nourish your hair and scalp, and to add a bit of shine.”

“This is a mid-length natural afro that hasn’t been combed or twisted. Achieving this style is quite simple. You pretty much leave it to do its own thing. A barber shouldn’t interfere too much unless it needs a tidy-up here and there, or if you want to maintain a shorter length on the sides. To make sure that the hair doesn’t get too knotted or matted, run your fingers through it every now and then. This is particularly effective when you’re washing it. Don’t brush it unless you want a bigger, combed-through and frothy afro. A natural, light oil will help nourish your hair and scalp if you want this hairstyle.”

“This is a skin fade on the side with a longer level 4 or 5 on the top. The gradual taper keeps things smart and gives it a more natural look. You could ask for a disconnected top and sides if you want something a little more severe. The definition on top can be achieved using a Kurl King Sponge, a styling tool that twists and curls the hair into shape. Using a bit of medium- to strong-hold wax will also help maintain the shape.”

“You’d need to see a loctician if you wanted to achieve this hairstyle. However, once achieved, natural dreads are quite low maintenance. With Charlie’s style, in particular, you wouldn’t need to do too much or add much product to it at all. You’d just leave it do its own thing and trim the tops when it gets too long. It’s also worth mentioning that dreadlocked hair needs to be washed as regularly as undreaded hair. Work shampoo into wet hair and then squeeze and rinse repeatedly until it’s all out. Clean hair actually locks up a lot faster than dirty or oily hair.”

“These are single plaits with a shape-up, meaning his tracks have consciously been done to a pattern. A barber would use clippers for the shape-up, but you’d need a hairdresser to do the plaits. They’d need to be redone often to be kept neat. Some holding product would help to stop the hair from unravelling too easily.”

The men featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown

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