Beard Styles For Men
The best beard style for your face largely depends on your unique face shape and hair type. If you’re new to the beard life, it may take some trial and error to find the right shape for you, but trust that there’s a beard shape out there for every man. You don’t have to go it alone, either. A barber is a good resource for advice on what will look best for your face shape, but before you ask them for their advice, it won’t hurt to do you own research and get a feel for the different types of beards that are out there. Below, we’ve rounded up our favorite beard styles alongside the tools and tips you need to cop the look.
The Wolverine
Hugh Jackman
This advanced style, modern cousin to the Mutton Chop, is admittedly hard to pull off unless you are, in fact, Wolverine. But think of it as the inverse of the Goatee. As your facial hair grows (or after it’s become long enough to trim), only shave around your mouth and chin and let everything else go to town. Your cheeks and jawline should be covered, but only to the corners of your mouth. And don’t forget to shave down that mustache.
The Polished Look
John Legend
Having a full beard doesn’t necessarily mean it has to look scruffy and untidy. Legend’ beard is trimmed to perfection, giving him an overall polished appearance. A good beard oil can help condition coarse hair and keep sparse strays in place. Plus, it helps to to hydrate the skin underneath, banishing any dry flakes and adding a healthy dose of moisture, leaving skin feeling smoother and softer.
The Artist
Johnny Depp
The artist is basically a mustache paired with a Chin Cup, maybe with a soul patch thrown in for good measure, that is one of the most minimal beards you can get. Keep the hair on our chin at a minimum and the mustache thin but defined to get this look—and to let everyone know you frequent museums in your free time.
Mustache-Forward Beard
Henry Cavill
Maybe you’ve always been curious about having a mustache, but feel way more comfortable with a full beard? That’s cool—this beard style is the best of both worlds. It starts like any other beard—allowing your whiskers enough time to grow until they’re long enough to trim. Then, start trimming your beard to the length you desire, but do not under any circumstances touch the mustache. The goal is for the mustache to be longer, and visually more distinct, than the beard itself.
Van Dyke Beard
Pierce Brosnan
The Van Dyke is an advanced beard, and one that demands attention from others and yourself. It takes upkeep to keep your cheeks and jaw impeccably shaved in order to let the mustache and goatee shine. Grow the mustache long enough that you can curl the sides slightly and keep the goatee trimmed with scissors (and use beard balm to shape it into a point).
Three-Day Scruff
Joe Manganiello
Think of this as the short brother of the DGAF beard—it should literally look like you haven’t shaved for three or four days. The key to differentiating this from perma-stubble or black-tie scruff is that it’s less maintained. With this look, it’s okay if you have some errant hairs or if the lines are less defined. It’s casual and a little wild, like you just got back from a camping trip, and doesn’t look like you did anything at all.
Defined Beard
Drake
Like it’s cousin the groomed beard, a defined beard depends on two things: keeping the length short and the lines razor sharp. It’s helpful if your beard is long enough to look full, but short enough that errant hairs don’t hang over the lines you create with your razor. Make sure the keep the beard itself one uniform length and then define every line—the cheeks, the neck and the mustache—regularly to make sure there isn’t an out of place hair in sight.
Goatee
Common
Think of a goatee as a small beard style. It has all the variants of a full-face beard, but just on a smaller scale. Once you have even slight length to your facial hair, cutting in a goatee is the easy part: just shave everything except for your mustache, chin, and the lines connecting the two. Keep the lines defined with daily trimming or shaving, but keeping a little more length to the hair on your chin will help visually lengthen any face shape.
