Many men have no problem growing a beard. However, the same can’t always be said of shaping a beard. The ability to grow a beard often comes down to genetics. On the other hand, shaping a beard is an art form.
But don’t worry, you needn’t be a professional artist to know how to shape a beard. Read this guide from Beard Gains to learn how to shape a beard.
Related: How Long Does it Take to Grow a Beard?
Figure Out Your Face Shape
Identifying your natural face shape is the first step toward shaping your beard.
You can look in the mirror to understand your face shape, or, if you really want to do your homework, you can take out measuring tape and measure the dimensions of your face. Here are the general face shape categories that most people fall into:
- Round: Men with round faces have heads with relatively equal lengths and widths and typically have wider jawlines.
- Heart: Men with heart-shaped faces have wider foreheads and smaller chins and tend to have rounded cheekbones.
- Oval: Men with oval-shaped faces have heads that are distinctively longer than wider and tend to have slightly rounded jawlines.
- Oblong: An oblong-shaped face is similar to an oval face. However, the jawline isn’t rounded.
- Square: Men with square-shaped faces have jaws and cheekbones of the same width, and they also tend to have straight cheeks and jawlines.
- Rectangular: Rectangle faces are similar to oval faces but with straighter jawlines.
- Diamond: Those with diamond-shaped faces have wide cheekbones, smaller chins, and smaller foreheads.
- Triangle: Men with triangular faces have wide cheekbones, broad foreheads, and pointed chins.
Matching Your Face Shape to Your Beard Shape
You can then move on to figuring out a suitable beard shape once you’ve determined your face shape. Here’s what works best for each face shape:
Triangle Faces
Those with triangular faces can rock the beard-stache (a full mustache with a bit of beard and stubble). Keep the bottom part of your beard short to balance your prominent chin.
Square Faces
Men with square faces tend to have chiseled jawlines. For this reason, they can typically pull off circular beards, and a circular beard will help soften a sharp jawline while elongating the chin.
Round or Heart-Shaped Faces
Those with round or heart-shaped faces can wear a full, lengthy beard to even out their proportions. It’s essential to keep your sides short to elongate your face if you have a round or heart-shaped face.
Oval Faces
Men with oval faces are in beard heaven, as they have faces that are the easiest and most versatile to shape. We recommend keeping your beard bushy on the sides and shorter on the bottom.
Be sure to straighten your beard if it gets frizzy.
Oblong, Diamond, or Rectangular Face
Oblong, diamond or rectangular faces look best with short-sided beards with rounded bottoms. The round bottoms help soften the face’s angles and make a face appear fuller.
Related: How to Maintain a Beard
Tips for Trimming
Trimming your beard correctly is an essential component of shaping it. Here’s how to correctly trim your beard:
Comb It Out
Begin by combing your beard to eliminate tangles and redistributing the beard’s natural oils. We recommend using a wide-toothed comb to brush out your beard. Combing your beard will help you understand how long it is, and it’ll make the beard easier to prune so you don’t make any costly mistakes.
Combing your beard can also give the appearance of volume, as the hairs get nice and fluffy when you comb them.
Related: Beard Brush vs. Beard Comb: Which is Best for You?
Use a Beard Trimmer
A beard trimmer can help you control how much beard you take off. Slowly glide the beard trimmer over your face without using too much pressure.
Use upward strokes to thin out a bushy beard and downward strokes to preserve your beard’s bulk. We recommend setting the trimmer to a number three setting to start. You can go to a lower setting if you want your beard shorter, but this way, you won’t accidentally shave off too much.
While you can use scissors to cut your beard, we always recommend opting for a beard trimmer, as beard trimmers allow you to customize your trim and give yourself a consistent cut from start to finish.
Click here to discover the different stages of beard growth!
Start from the Outside
We always recommend starting from the outside when trimming your beard. Begin by buzzing your cheeks until you’ve reached the desired level of tidiness and volume. Then, move your trimmer inward to go over your mustache and chin area.
Make sure both sides of your face are equal, as the last thing you want is an uneven beard.
Know Where to Start Your Neckline
Figuring out where to trim around your neckline can be tricky. We recommend placing two fingers horizontally above your Adam’s apple. The location of your top finger is where you should begin your neckline.
Shape your neckline from ear to ear in a gentle curve. You can use scissors to chip away any remaining hair on either side of your Adam’s apple.
Then, you can use a manual razor to remove any remaining stubble from your beard.
Time to Shape Your Beard
Shaping your beard correctly will help you achieve the best look for your face. Once you understand your face shape, you can figure out which type of beard works best.
Then, carefully trimming it with a razor will help you execute your plan. Don’t forget about the maintenance after shaping your beard.
Click here to learn how often you should wash your beard!
