Facial hair trends change every year and it’s important to keep up with the latest beard styles as it is with clothes. In the past three years beards have made a comeback and whilst they don’t look the same as when the Vikings wore them , there are still some long and natural looks that are in-fashion.
As with your haircut, your beard style must fit your face shape. It’s important to understand the dimensions of your face so that you can decide which type of facial hair will suit your head. Not everyone can pull off the stubble, neither can everyone wear a flowing and full beard. In fact, even some of the larger beards still require upkeep and maintenance, otherwise, you can go from stylish and easygoing, to unkempt and slobbish. It’s important to strike the right balance and look stylish.
Choosing a beard style is just as important, if not more important, than picking a hairstyle. The right beard for you will greatly depend on your face shape, the haircut you wear and obviously your own personal preference. In this guide, we’ll be discussing the different face shapes, what beards are fashionable and how to wear, style and care for each style.
Face Shapes and the Best Beard Styles of 2017
A good beard should accentuate your features rather than hide them, so, choosing the right beard is all about finding one that fits your face shape. Some face shapes are able to pull off almost every style, whereas some of us are extremely limited in our choices. Either way, it’s important to be realistic with your face shape and work with it, rather than against it. Next, we’ll look at the basic face shapes and suggest which types of style will suit your face best. Obviously, some of you might have weaker facial hair and therefore be unable to grow to that kind of style. In this case, you should try to work with the generally recommended shape, but accept that you might struggle with fullness.
Round Faces
Those men with round faces can often struggle with beard making their face look fatter and even more round. You want to style you beard so that it reduces the roundness and makes your face look taller. This can be done by keeping the sides shorter and letting the bottom grow out. If you want to keep it more stylish then you can fade the beard into the length at the bottom with an electric shaver. Keep the beard full throughout to make your face look even less round.
Square Faces
A square face is full of definition along the jawline and the prominent chiseled chin. Men will generally want to soften this definition, but still keep it there. You can do this with your beard by growing it fully and then trimming it to a small and sharp hairline along the definition of your jawline. It’s very similar to the beard found a round face, just slightly longer on the sides and shorter on the chin.
Oblong or Rectangular Faces
This face shape is characterized by a tall head, little definition and rounding of the chin below the mouth. Most men will want to make their face look shorter, less rounded and draw attention upwards towards their eyes. You can do this by growing a very fuller beard, with a shorter chin. This will mean almost a flat bottom to the beard, making the face look more angular and making the face look shorter.
Oval Faces
Oval faces are the most desirable face shape and can usually use any style. This face shape can look great with shorter beards and stubble, some men would prefer a more angular and chiseled jawline, you can achieve this with a highly styled short beard that is shaved to appear more angular.
So, now that you know the different face shapes you’ll be able to see which might fit your face best. Next, we’ll look at which styles are currently popular and who they will likely suit best. Finally, we’ll give you a few tips on styling and maintaining each type of beard.
Types of Beard
Full Beard
The full beard is one of the most popular styles at the moment. It takes a lot of commitment, you’re trying to grow the hair to 2-3 inches in length, this will take between 4 and 6 months of growing time. However, this is a great style. Unfortunately, it only looks great on men who have thick, dark and dense facial hair. If you have lighter colored hair that is thin, then you should likely avoid this full style, it will look thin and wispy rather than thick and dense. This is an excellent style for the lazy man, it takes very little maintenance. Obviously, you should still maintain the beard by using a good quality oil, trimming stray hairs and keeping your neck clean. Compared to other beard styles this is one of the most ‘manly’ styles, it looks rough and ready. This type of beard can look great on men with round and square faces.
Tight Beard
This is one of the most fashionable beards this year, it’s a well-kept, clean looking beard that suggests you’re too busy with your social life to keep a clean shave. The tight beard is kept trimmer, usually to a #3 shaver length, giving the face full coverage with a layer of hair that is above a stubble but below a beard. This style does require maintenance and styling, you’ll need to keep the neckline clean, the lines on the beard tight and the hair trimmed. This beard is short and thin, it won’t change the shape of your face as much as a larger beard, therefore we would recommend it for those with an oval face shape.
Natural Beard
This is the ultimate ‘epic’ beard. Left to the will of nature, this beard is at full length all over. This is still fashionable and looks great on men who have darker and thick hair. It draws attention to the beard, making the face look longer and fuller, great for men with round faces. This style requires almost no maintenance, but it does require styling. It can easily get out of control and so you’ll want to make sure that you have a beard comb and some quality oil that will keep the hair soft and healthy.
Stubble
Stubble will always be fashionable, all that changes is the length that is trendy. Currently, a longer stubble looks great - around 6-10mm of hair. This should take a couple weeks to grow. This kind of beard needs to be properly trimmed . In fact, we would suggest that you trim it every day or every other day to keep it at the stubble length, rather than having it look like you’re failing to grow a beard. You want it to look like a dark shadow on the bottom third of your face, so you’ll want to clean up your neckline and shave up from your beard line, keeping the cheeks clean. This style can look excellent on men with oval, oblong and some square faces. This style will accentuate your face shape and so it isn’t fit for men with round faces.