Wanna shape your beard? Well, you can do it in various ways. Growing your beard is a hard enough task. Once you get at least one inch ready, you start wondering how to shape it.
Short beards tend to stick out and grow all over the place. You need to be ready for a battle against your facial hair. Beautiful beard styles you see on the pictures are possible but all of them require some effort. Even if you are ready to settle for a wild beard that makes you look like a mad scientist, you still need to know a few tricks to make it look acceptable.
Today, we are ready to share 5 best ways to shape a perfect beard without burning yourself out in the process.
1. Maintain A Stubble Beard
Stubble is the fastest beard you can grow. Meanwhile, it takes some effort to maintain. One of the simplest ways to keep the stubble looking neat without any scruffiness is to shape it. Shaping means that you have to shave the areas around your beard clean. Don’t forget to take care of the cheeks, the lower neck, and any other places you have hair growth on your face. You may leave the mustache. This means you have to shave every day. If you are one of those men, who want to grow a beard because they wish to avoid daily shaving, a stubble is not for you.
Smart tip: Use a shaving gel that doesn’t lather too much. This way you can avoid shaving too much or too little.
Questions to ask yourself
Before you decide to grow and maintain a stubble, ask yourself a few important questions:
- Does your skin react badly to regular shaving and you want to give it a break?
- Are you tired of looking too young when clean shaven and want to improve your macho look?
- Is the full beard too much for you but you still want to follow the trend?
If you answered ‘yes’ to the above questions, you are ready for a stubble.
- Do you have enough hair to grow a uniform stubble?
- Are you ready to maintain the stubble on a daily basis?
- Does your partner like kissing a bristly face?
If you answered ‘no’ to the above questions, consider choosing another type of the beard.
2. Battle A Goatee
A goatee is one of the most popular beard styles in the world today. The best part about it is not too much maintenance. Meanwhile, such beard styles look very attractive and conquer the hearts of many women. Here is a simple approach to goatee shaping.
- Grow a fuller beard for at least one week. Then you can have some extra hair to work with. Shaping a goatee is much easier if you can deal with longer hair.
- Comb your beard in order for it not to have any knots or curled places. Take a trimmer and attach a nozzle of the desired length. Consider starting with a bigger one at first. You can always switch to a smaller one later. Go on to trim your beard so your hair is all the same length.
- Stop and think about the outline of your beard. The simplest way is to follow the line of your mustache. However, if there is no mustache, you can start with a 4-inch length and go from there.
- Use a razor to outline the goatee. You need to start from the neck and go up. Start just above Adam’s apple. You can make it higher later.
- Go on to outline the goatee in the cheek area. You can use a trimmer without a guard. Take a close look at the result. This is the time when you can still make some changes.
- Now you are ready to shave the areas that should stay cleanly shaven. Be very careful when shaving near the goatee outline. Consider using the shaving gel, which doesn’t lather too much, in order not to shave part of the beard off.
- While shaving, take a good look in the mirror. You can take a few steps away in order to evaluate your appearance at a distance.
- Once you are done, wash your face and apply the aftershave.
3. Enjoy a Chin Curtain
Chin curtain is not as popular as a goatee but it’s still one of the most wanted beards among men. The goal of a chin curtain is not to hide your cheeks and chin but to shape your face. This beard can do wonders for your face shape. If you believe you have a weak-looking chin, only a smartly shaped chin curtain can give it a macho appearance.
- Wait at least one week for the hair on your face to grow long enough to make at least a chinstrap.
- You have to start by outlining the chin curtain shape. Some people keep it really thin while others are ready to let the hair stay above the chin. All depends on how much shaving you want to do in the future. If you hate the daily shaving of your cheeks, allow yourself to enjoy a full chin curtain. However, since you’ll need to be shaving your cheeks daily anyone, a few more razor strokes shouldn’t be a problem.
- Shave all the skin around the chin curtain outline clean. The hairline should start at the sideburns, go to the jawline and then continue to the chin.
- The closer you are getting to the chin, increase the width of the chin curtain. Right now, you can alter the shape of your chin, making it wider and more masculine.
- Go on to shave the mustache and any other hair you have around your lips. If you’d like to leave a mustache, make sure its shape suits the chin curtain.
- Take a trimmer and scissors to keep the whiskers and the beard all the same length. Here you can choose between a chin curtain and a chinstrap.
4. Fight for A Full Beard
If you have enough hair and enough patience to grow a full beard, you need to learn how to shape it. These few simple steps can make shaping faster and easier while taking the hassle out of beard maintenance.
- Before attempting any shaping, you need to let the beard grow freely for at least a couple of weeks. In order to avoid a mad scientist look, you can keep the neck hair shaved and the beard brushed. Shave any stray hair or whiskers on the upper part of your cheeks.
- Wash and fully dry your beard before trying to shape it. A wet and dirty beard can lead to improper shaping.
- Trim the hair on your neck. Work the trimmer from the middle outward to the sides. The beard should start about half an inch above your Adam’s apple. Anything lower should be shaved off mercilessly. When shaving, try to create a rounded hair outline to make the beard appear neater.
- Trim the stray hair on your cheeks. When trimming, following the natural pattern of your hair growth. Stop for a moment to think where your beard should start. It depends on your preferences. Fuller beards need to be maintained more often but there is much less regular shaving. If you can’t decide, start tapering your cheek hair underneath your cheekbone.
- Continue to trim the rest of the beard with your face shape in mind. If you have a narrow chin, consider making the beard wider and more prominent. If the width of your chin is too impressive and you want to tone it down, create a smaller beard.
- Comb your beard to see if any more trimming is needed and use beard oil to improve the growth.
5. Have Fun with an Anchor Beard
Unlike the above options, an anchor beard doesn’t suit everyone. It can be a good choice for men with round, oblong, and square face shapes. People with long and heart-shaped faces should consider other options. An anchor beard looks very stylish. It’s not too hard to make and maintain. The length and the thickness of the anchor beard can vary depending on your personal preferences.
- Wait three to four weeks to go a full beard. When the hair grows long enough to be ready for trimming, give it an even trim. You’ll need a full-size trimmer to do the job. Use a longer head to trim the hair around your lips and the chin.
- Shave the cheeks and neck completely. While shaving, create a border between your neck and your chin. Try to keep the border about 2 -3 inches from the side of the chin. Continue to shape the whiskers.
- Shape your beard by shaving the whiskers from the mouth corners down to the chin. Leave the hair in between the center of your mouth and your chin intact.
- Use the trimmer to create a rounded point of your anchor beard. You can play around with the shape.
- When trimming your mustache, make sure not to have any hair hanging from the ends of your mouth. It should not be longer than the lips.
- Keep the anchor beard maintained by regular trimming and shaping. Otherwise, the style will be lost.
More Beard Shapes We Would Love to Recommend
We hope these beard shaping tips gave you a good idea of what kind of beard you are ready for. If you are looking for ways to shape a perfect beard, take one of these options and give it a try. Life is long enough to test each of the above facial hairstyles.