How Often Should You Get a Haircut?

Whether you have a fade, shoulder-length locks, or a mullet, you’re going to need to maintain a steady flow of maintenance haircuts. Hell, even bald guys need to regularly shave their head to avoid making it look like they’re still hanging on to those last remaining follicles. There’s no single correct answer for how often you should get a haircut, but depending on your hairstyle, there are definitely ranges.

“Every haircut has a different lifespan,” Julius Arriola, cofounder of the haircare brand STMNT and a celebrity barber who goes by Julius Cvesar, says. “It depends on many factors—whether it’s built around precision detailing, varying lengths, texture, or simply an individual’s natural hair growth rate.”

One good way to tell when it’s time to get back into the barber’s chair: looking in the mirror and thinking I’m looking a little unkempt. It’s only a matter of time before a grown-out buzzcut starts to make you look like a mature Chia Pet or a mullet becomes less fashion statement and more an omission of extremely lax personal grooming.

As Arriola notes: “Hair doesn’t know what day it is.” His clients can come in anywhere between one and six weeks. So when is it time to call your barber and set up an appointment for a chop? Here are some general guidelines to help you figure out when it’s time.

How often should I get a haircut if my hair is short?

Have a buzzcut? A short textured crop? A fade? You’re probably due for a trim every one to three weeks. The shorter the hairstyle, the more often you’ll want to come in to maintain a consistent look.

“Shorter styles like skin fades are built on precision, with sharp lines and exaggerated gradience, so they naturally require more upkeep,” Arriola says. Because the hair is shorter, it’s more noticeable when it gets even just a little bit longer. A centimeter’s worth of growth on a buzz looks way more apparent than the same amount on a longer style. Plus, there’s a proper way to grow out a buzzcut, which we’ve reported on, for those both looking to try out a new style or bide their time before going to the salon.

And if you’re tempted to just cut your own hair, maybe put down the clippers for a beat. Barbers are trained to give you precise, custom-tailored details for a cut. Attempting to replicate an expert’s skills might only lead to “pushed-back outlines, disconnected sections, and a haircut that ultimately needs a complete reset,” Arriola says. There’s a proper way to grow out a buzzcut, but if you’re not ready for that

How often should I get a haircut if my hair is long?

Longer hair is in style now, with celebrities like Connor Storrie rocking a mullet to the Golden Globes and Jimin wearing an androgynous shoulder-length cut at men’s Fashion Week. These longer looks—where the hair is at least three-ish inches—might be able to withstand a lot more time in between barber visits. Your hair person should’ve cut your locks so that they don’t stop looking good after a couple weeks, and that over time, the hair actually starts to reveal more of its character: a certain desired texture, the way the hair falls on the face, its shape becomes more defined.

“If [your hair] suddenly takes twice as long to style, loses its shape and balance, or no longer reflects how you want to present yourself, it’s probably time [for a cut],” Arriola says.

Of course, however, if you have hair long enough to tie into a ponytail and wake up and decide you’d like to give a crew cut a try, then it’s time to go to the barber.

Do I still need to get haircuts if I’m trying to grow out my hair?

It may seem counterintuitive to get a haircut when your intention is to get some length, but there’s a huge difference in growing out your hair and having it look overgrown.

“A grown-out haircut has reached the point where it has lost its design architecture,” Arriola says. “An intentionally longer hairstyle still has proportion, movement, and balance on purpose.”

Wait about four weeks after your last haircut and evaluate how your ‘do looks in the mirror. Chances are you’ll want to go get a quick trim from your barber so that your longer style looks intentional rather than neglectful. It’s during this cut that you can let them know your goal is to try a longer hairstyle and they can snip it so the growing process allows for fewer touchups in between trims.

This article originally appeared in GQ.com.