The beard makes the man – truer words have never been spoken. Indeed, there comes a time in a man’s life when the clean-shaven look no longer fits the rugged personality he is shooting for. If you are reading this article, it means that your time has come!

Get Your Beard On

There are plenty of reasons why you might want to grow a beard. Perhaps some guy at work said you looked like Justin Bieber or you saw a movie where the bearded hero got all the ladies. It could also be that you want something to rub while you are in deep thought. Whatever the reason, facial hair is awesome!

But the biggest reason you might want to grow a beard is that having some thick facial hair makes you the rugged embodiment of manliness.

Face Shape is Important Too!

Unfortunately, all faces are not made equal. Some beard styles just don’t mesh well with certain faces shapes. It is a huge conundrum. Your beard will not match the shape of your face all by itself without a little help, but luckily, we are here to help you with that. But first, let us look at one important aspect of having a beard: trimming!

The Importance of Trimming Your Beard

With a great beard comes great responsibility! Beards grow so fast and uneven you will soon be looking like an unkempt caveman. That is why trimming is a must. Your beard will only make you look good if it is healthy.

Let’s look at a few reasons why you might want to trim your beard:

Keeps the Stray Hairs in Check – Nothing is more important to the bearded look than getting rid of stray hairs. When it comes to beard-scaping, this is one of the easiest things you can do. You can’t call yourself a bearded stud if you can’t keep it in line when a few stray hairs pop out. It is just a sign that you weren’t ready to handle the huge responsibility of the beard.

Helps You Achieve Beard Fullness –  You might be asking how trimming your beard can make it fuller, but rest assured this is very important, especially when your beard is going through that awkward growth phase. If you are reluctant to take out the shears and do some beard-scaping, then perhaps a little thought experiment will help. For this exercise, you have to think like a gardener who wants to make his hedge look thicker and fuller. Any good gardener knows that to achieve this the hedge needs to lose the strays and its surface needs to be evened out. Well, the same concept applies to your beard.

Makes Beard Look Healthier –  By trimming your beard, you are getting rid of dry hair, damaged hair, split ends, and lifeless hair, allowing the healthier hair to take center stage and make your beard look extremely good.

Fewer Knots and Tangles – When you have an unkempt beard, you will soon find yourself dealing with a lot of knots and tangles on a daily basis. Trimming is one of the best ways to keep your hair in check and minimize the chance that it will get all tangled up since the longer hairs won’t be wrapping around the others. Don’t forget to pick a good beard oil and brush or comb your beard every morning and in between trims (it’s just more good practice for reducing knots and tangles).

Beard Catches Less Food Debris: Want to reduce the incidences of food and drink getting caught up in your beard? Trimming it, particularly in the area around your mouth, is a good idea. Length is important, but if you are not going to clean your beard after you eat but still want to grow it out, you might want to reduce its size just to help with food consumption. That way, you avoid awkward questions like, “Is that a Cheeto in your beard?”

The Basic Face Shapes

Now that you know why you should trim your beard, let us look face at shapes.

• ​Oval Face​ – “Egg-shaped” with a pointy chin and rounded cheeks.
• ​​Long Face – Small width but larger length.
• Round Face – Has a circular shape with both the chin and head having a consistent length.
• Heart Face – Looks like the round face with a wider forehead and chin than cheekbone.
• ​Square Face – Has a consistent length on all sides, with a broad forehead and chin.
• ​Diamond Face –  Has a narrow forehead and chin, sharp bones, and wide cheeks.

The Basic Beard Styles

Now that we have established you could have any of these shapes. Let’s look at the different types of beard styles at your disposal.

Full Beard

• Chin Curtain – It extends from one ear to the other but is not attached to the neck and mustache. Beard aficionados refer to it as the “lion’s mane.”
• ​Side Whiskers – This beard is long and attached to the mustache and sideburns. Your chin has to be shaved.
• ​Shenandoah – This is the chin curtain’s full version, which has all the hair on the chin and neck growing out, and can make you look Amish.

Scruffy Beard Style

• Chinstrap Beard – ​This beard is thin and trimmed straight along the jawline. It is not attached to the mustache, which makes it look like a helmet’s chinstrap.
• ​​​Stubble – This is the prickly hair you feel after you let your hair grow out for a day after shaving it clean. It is called the “five o’clock shadow.”
• ​​​Neck Beard – As you can guess, this is a beard that you grow on your neck while shaving the face clean.

Goatees

• ​Van Dyke – This consists of a goat patch and mustache that are both pointy. It is also called the “French Beard.”
• Balbo – A goatee that is bushy and complemented by a thick mustache.
• ​Handlebar Mustache – This mustache is long and typically has curled and tapered tips.
• ​Goat Patch – It’s a hair strip that is grown on the chin in the middle.
• ​​Soul Patch – A soul patch is the shaved hair that you grow below and in the middle of your lower lip.
• ​​Horseshoe Mustache – This mustache is shaped like a “U,” forming a loop on each side.

Mustaches

• ​Fu Manchu – A long and thin mustache that is grown on the sides of your mouth. The name comes from Dr. Fu Manchu, a fictional villain from a series of British novels.
• Friendly Mutton Chops – These are full-grown sideburns that connect to a wide mustache. The upper lip is shaved clean.
• ​​Toothbrush Mustache – This is a thick toothbrush- or comb-like mustache grown on your upper lip. Charlie Chaplin made it famous, but Hitler made it infamous.
• Pencil Mustache – This is just a super-thin mustache grown on your upper lip.
• ​The Zappa – This is a short and bushy mustache named after Frank Zappa, a famous musician. It is grown on the upper lip and complemented by a similar soul patch (more on this later).

​Walrus Mustache – This mustache is thick and bushy, hanging slightly over each side of the mouth. When you look at it closely, it resembles the whiskers of a walrus.

Thanks for reading guys, I hope this has helped you figure out the right beard for your face shape. For more help on growing a beard check out this guide from my boy at Rough And Tumble Gentleman. Peace.