How to Find The Right Beard Style

Growing out your beard is definitely not a new concept - prehistoric humans used their beards for warmth, protection from the elements, and intimidation, as the beard exaggerated the jawline and made the face look more daunting. Although the beard can still help with warmth and protection, growing out your beard has primarily to do with maintaining aesthetics - just as you would with your preferred haircut. Similar to trends and fads that evolved throughout the decades, so has popular beard styles: during the 1800s it was the sideburns, during the 1900s it was the handlebar moustache, and during the 1950s, it was the goatee. Now it seems that centuries of different facial hair styles have accumulated into a free-for-all of styles, and it's hard to find the right style for your face.

If you're still trying to find your signature beard style, we've come up with some ways on how you can find the right beard style for your face. 

There are a couple things you need to keep in mind as you choose a beard style:

1. Your Hairstyle. 

2. How Your Facial Hair Grows.

3. The Shape of Your Face.

 

Your haircut and how you style you hair has some say on how you determine your beard.

You want to choose a beard style that compliments your hair style. People who keep their heads buzzed or completely bald, for instance, tend to grow out their beards - this stark contrast suits a lot of people well and gives a very intellectual, clean look.

Others may also go vice versa, opting for longer hair and a shorter beard to give a youthful, boyish charm.

There's also the long beard and long hair look, the buzz cut and close cut beard, and anything in between!

 The beard style you decide on will either emphasizes or contrasts the hairstyle you have, so don't forget to keep your current hairstyle in mind when picking your beard style!

 

The way your facial hair grows should also influence how you pick your beard style. You want to keep in mind how thick the hair grows, how long, and how wide it grows on your face. When determining your beard style, we recommend growing out your beard for about a month (give or take), just see what you're working with. If you find that your beard grows long, thick, and across your face, you're able to shape your beard any way you want. However, if you find that your beard grows patchy, it's best to keep your beard short and close cut.

 

Your face shape is a big determinate to how you'd want your beard to be styled. Having a beard gives you the perfect opportunity to exaggerate or hide the features of your face you like or dislike the most. 

There are several face shapes that can be distinguished: Round, Long, Oval, Square, Heart, Diamond, and Triangular. 

 

Round Face
If you have a round face shape, you would want to pick a beard that will add some length to your face. Opt for the longer beard and avoid short, closely-cropped beards. With round faces, you want to create angles. You would want to have a longer beard to extenuate your chin, otherwise shorter beards will create the opposite effect. Go for a beard that is shorter on the cheeks and longer towards the chin.

Long Face
For long or rectangle shaped faces, you would want to keep your beard short and avoid beards that go past the chin. Longer faces are longer than they are wide, so you would want to avoid hairstyles and beard styles that make your face look longer and skinnier. If you’re able to grow a full and thick beard, try to grow your beard out (not longer, but literally outwards your face) and higher up the cheeks; doing so would add some width to your face and will make your face look less elongated.

Oval Face
If your face is oval shaped, then your options are close to unlimited! You’re able to choose from a bunch of different beard styles since you would already have both round and square features - so you don’t necessarily need to balance any features out. Try out different styles and see which one you like the most!

Square Face
If your face is more square shaped, we recommend keeping your beard mid length. You would want to avoid a beard that will make your face look wider just to not exaggerate the strong, square jaw you already have. To complement your face shape, opt for a beard that’s rounded or triangular around the chin. Adding some length to your beard would help soften your jaw but will keep the chiseled look.

Diamond Face
The diamond face shape can be characterized by wide cheekbones with a narrow brow and jaw. Ideally, with this face shape, you would want to grow out your beard, going wider at the cheeks and squaring off on the chin to balance out your cheekbones. However, you wouldn’t want to go too long or too pointy on the chin, to avoid a pointy beard that will accentuate your face shape.

Triangle Face
Those with triangle face shapes have a wide jawline with a narrow forehead and narrow cheekbones. With a triangle face shape, we recommend keeping your face clean shaven because adding a beard will only make your jaw look wider and the top half of your face look even narrower. If anything, you can always opt for the “Beardstache”- a moustache with a short beard or stubble - and to avoid facial hair that is too full on the cheeks.

 

Heart Face
Similar to triangular face shapes, those with heart shaped faces have smaller chins. Overall, heart shaped faces tend to be smaller, so growing out a big beard would make your face look even smaller. If you have a heart shaped face, we recommend going for the 5 O'Clock Shadow beard style, which will give you a rough and ready look without compromising your bone structure.

 

 

Now remember, it might take some time to determine what beard style works best for you, so feel free to experiment with your beard shape! Our suggestions are purely suggestions, so don't feel the need to conform or feel limited to style. Picking out the right beard style is like picking out your haircut  - it's an expression of yourself, so go for whatever makes you happier!