Introduction: Facial hair is often associated with masculinity. It can make a baby face look older or draw attention away from certain features of the face. Therefore, beard styles or facial hair styles are trending more than ever.
Types of Beard Styles: Like sunglasses and hats, even beards have different styles. Since everyone has difference face shapes therefore, we must pick a beard style that compliments the features of the face. Following are a few of the timeless beard styles:
Clean Shaven: A style for the carefree man. It is a very clean style, with an absence of any facial hair. A clean shaven style can help maintain hygiene and a clean shaven look means there is nothing to hide in a man’s facial features.
Short Stubble: It is one of the most simple beard styles. It can be easily achieved by growing facial hair 1-2 days after shaving. To maintain this look we can use a trimmer with a built-in guard. Any hair that grows below the Adam’s apple should be trimmed off.
Medium Stubble: This is a neat style of beard. It is slightly longer than the short stubble. It can be achieved by growing the beard for 5-6 days after shaving. It is usually 3-5 mm long. It looks best when it is kept at the bottom third of the face.
Long Stubble: Also called ‘The perfect 5’O clock shadow’ is a beard that’s longer than its shorter counterparts. This is slightly longer than the medium stubble measuring around 6mm in length. It can best be achieved by using an adjustable beard trimmer with a built-in guard. Stray hairs and any hair that grows above the lower third of the face and below the top of the Adam’s apple must be removed using scissors or a precision trimmer.
Full Beard: Is a classic beard style. It can be a little difficult to grow as not every man has the ability to grow a full beard. It has a very distinct shape that starts at the cheek line and everything below grows naturally. It may take around 4 weeks to grow a full beard.
French Fork: Is a very unique beard style. It can be considered as a full beard look with hair extending past the chin and splitting down the middle into two segments.
The Ducktail Beard: Is a sophisticated beard style. It is also a type of full beard in which the bottom part resembles the tail of a duck. Ducktail beard is one of the most popular beard styles today. To get this look the upper part of the beard is trimmed as is the hair on the chin. It is the perfect blend of wild style and groomed sophistication.
The Circle Beard: Also known as the standard beard providing a neater appearance. This style combines a mustache and a rounded goatee to create a rounded beard shape. It is relatively easy to maintain. It can benefit those who have a softer jaw but concealing the jawline.
The Goatee: AKA the ‘Chin-Only’ Beard. It is usually worn on the chin and it’s never connected to the mustache. This style has hair right below the lower lip and as the same width of the bearded man’s mouth. The sides are defined as vertical lines and the hair at the bottom of the chin is rounded off.
The Extended Goatee: is known as The Hollywoodian Beard Style. It is the combination of a goatee and the mustache with the sideburns removed.
The Imperial Beard or the ‘Beard Royale’: A man can wear the imperial style to make an impression. In this style the chin and sideburns are removed, the hair just below the lower lip is allowed to grow a desired length and the tip of the mustache is curled and points upwards.
The Van Dyke Beard: It is a sleek & stylish beard. It is a goatee combined with a mustache. When pulling off the Van Dyke style the rest of bearded man’s cheeks has to be completely smooth and free of facial hair.
The Anchor Beard: Is a uniquely stylish beard. To achieve the Anchor style the sideburns of the face has to be free of facial hair and a beard should extend along the jawline which is then styled to a point. This style best suits a man with a square or oblong shaped face.
The Balbo Beard: This is an interesting style of beard. It requires a mustache then the hair from the chin taking note of the patch under the lip, then the hair is allowed to grow beneath the patch under the lip. This resembles the lower part of a beard. This style will suit men with a narrow chin
The Mutton Chops: It is a fancy style of beard. It has longer sideburns that are allowed to extend down to the corners of the mouth. The side burns has to be allowed to grow freely. Then an imaginary line can be drawn defining each corner of the mouth. Next, the bottom line of the sideburns should be defined along the jaw line and part of the sideburns from the chin has to be terminated.
The Friendly Mutton Chops: Is a beard style with a unique variation. It involves sideburns which have to extend to the side of the mouth and be connected to a mustache. Then part of the sideburns, from the chin has to be terminated. The sideburns and mustache has to be allowed to grow in order to achieve the friendly mutton chops look.
The Verdi Beard: is an impeccably groomed beard style. It is a full beard that is slightly groomed. It should be rounded at the bottom and be no longer than 10 cm in length from the lower lip. It also has a mustache which is impeccably groomed and must be allowed to grow 1.5 cm around the corners of the mouth.
The Garibaldi Beard: Is a beard style that allows natural growth. This will suit a man who is looking for a slightly messy style. It’s a full and wide beard with a rounded bottom and a joined mustache. It can be no longer than 20 cm. This is shorter compared to other beard styles that allow natural growth.
The Dutch Beard: Is an old school beard style. It is a large and long beard. It is connected by sideburns and allowed to grow outwards at the bottom. One distinct feature of this style is it lacks a mustache.
The Bandholz Beard: This is a longer style of the full beard. This style features a mustache that is connected to a full beard. This beard is allowed to grow freely.
Beard Dye: Beard dyes can take cover the gray hairs and give us a more youthful look. Whether we want to cover grays or want to experiment with a new color, the range of shades are many. The standard beard dye colors are black, brown, blonde, and red, but there many shades and tints that are part of those basic colors. Beard dyes may contain some toxic ingredients; one such ingredient that is present in most dye is ammonia, it opens the hair cuticle allowing the dye’s color to penetrate the hair follicles. We must always try to opt for an organic beard dye. Beard dyes can be permanent or non-permanent. Permanent dyes requires less touch ups and can last up to several weeks or months. Non-permanent dyes are a good option if we want to try a new color and see if it suits us.
Hot Towel Shave: A hot towel can be used to make shaving more easy and relaxing. In the hot towel shave, Barbers use an old towel, on which our preferred essential old is added. Then the towel is heated by pouring hot water over the towel and this intensifies the aroma of the essential oil. Next, it is kept on the beard which softens the beard and making shaving or beard styling more comfortable than ever.
Beard Trim: Many people may not prefer beard trimming if their ultimate goal is length. However, beard trimming becomes necessary during awkward growth phases. Some of the necessary tools for beard trimming are as follows:
- Comb or brush: for detangling
- High-grade clippers: for trimming
- Scissors: for detailing
- Beard oil or moisturizer: for softness and health
Here are the steps to trim the beard:
- Comb it out: We should get all of the hairs settled into one direction and comb everywhere, including the mustache and bottom.
- Use clippers for an even cut: If you aren’t sure about what length to keep, then we can just start with a bigger clip and work our way down. We may increase this size as the beard continues to grow out.
- Fade the neck and cheeks: We should graduate to smaller clipper settings as we move outward.
- Trim the mustache properly: We should comb all hairs to the side first, and clip on desired setting. Then comb down over the lip and remove the guard, to trim anything that hangs over onto the lip.
- Use scissors for detailing: We should clean up strays and give ourselves a more natural finish using scissors.
- Finish with a beard oil or beard moisturizer: These will keep your hairs healthy and prevent them from drying and itching.
Conclusion: A beard is the ultimate style accessory for men. It is cheap, versatile and adaptable and is here to stay!