STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
OK, we now have important news about hair - specifically the hair of younger men.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, it seems like a lot of teenage boys are getting this one particular haircut. It's a fade on the sides with a poof of hair on the top, and sometimes with tendrils dangling down over the eyes.
INSKEEP: Now, we say teenage boys, but I'm sure you have a haircut like this...
MARTÍNEZ: Used to.
INSKEEP: ...Out there in LA, A. Anyway, a few months ago, TikTok user Tara Fontana, who goes by the name @terribbletara, compared it to the look of a certain wooly mammal.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
TARA FONTANA: Y'all have an alpaca, son.
MARTÍNEZ: An alpaca - Herson Bautiste owns Heritage Barber and Company in Kensington, Md. He says he gives six or seven of these cuts a week.
HERSON BAUTISTE: From 12-year-olds to 30-year-olds - I've seen it on all ages, all types. It's a very trendy haircut.
INSKEEP: Now, he doesn't call it the alpaca, or its other popular name, the broccoli. Oh, the broccoli - I can picture it. It took me a second there. But he doesn't call it the broccoli. He calls it textured fringe.
BAUTISTE: It's a lot of volume on top. That means, like the texture of the hair rises. If I can just say, like an old mop. Like, a hold up on top of the head. And then our job is to kind of blend it in.
MARTÍNEZ: Barber Julian Guardado owns magic cuts in Silver Spring, Md. He says the look has a practical purpose.
JULIAN GUARDADO: I remember when I was growing up, people started letting their hair fall in front of their face 'cause some kids didn't like the side of the forehead or the way that their hair would fall and lay naturally. So I feel like it has a lot to do with that, too, you know?
INSKEEP: OK, so I'm still - I've still got the phrase the broccoli in my head. That's really sticking with me. But the barber there doesn't use that term or the alpaca. He calls it the mushroom.
MARTÍNEZ: What should we call it, Steve? Ugly?
INSKEEP: No. No. People can have their own style.
MARTÍNEZ: I used to have it, long ago.
INSKEEP: OK, OK. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.