Having a beard is serious business. So, avoid choosing the wrong style for your face with our list of 15 beard styles for men.
For many men, the apex of manhood is a healthy beard. And although there’s nothing wrong with a clean shaven face, growing a beard is a right of passage for many.
Sure, your girlfriend might complain about them, they tend to itch, and good luck eating anything without getting it in your facial hair is an impossible task. However, beards are still popular, and they can really bring out a man’s confidence. Which is why we’re taking a look at 15 different beard styles for any kind of man.
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How to Wear Facial Hair Based on the Shape of Your Face
Before you settle in on a beard style, let’s take a look at the different facial shapes and how to tell which one you have. The reason it’s important to know the shape of your face is so you can pick the best beard styles for you. Therefore, follow along for tips on how to tell what shape your face is and which beard styles work best.
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Oval Face Shapes
Is your forehead larger than your jawline? Do you have a longer face than your cheekbones are wide? If so, then you have an oval face and any beard style will suit your lucky mug.
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Round Face Shapes
Those that have a circular face that is almost as wide as it is long have a round face. Go ahead and grow practically any facial hair you want. But if you want to accentuate your chin, then opt for long beard styles.
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Square Face Shapes
Men with a square facial structure have a jawline that is as wide as their forehead, and equal width and length of the face. Go ahead and experiment with whatever beard style you want. But steer clear of narrow beards to best suit your face.
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Diamond Face Shapes
For diamond faces, the length is of the face is long, with prominent cheekbones that taper out to the chin and forehead. Any style of beard can work with a diamond face. Just keep the cheek lines on the higher side to avoid your cheeks looking sunken in.
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Heart Face Shapes
When your forehead is larger than your jawline, and you have a prominent chin, then you have a heart shaped face. And heart shaped faces are great because those lucky enough to have one can choose any beard style and look good.
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Triangle Face Shapes
Triangular faces feature a prominent jawline that tapers down at the chin. Go for a long beard style, whether thinned out or bulky. Or simply wear a well maintained stubbly beard style to suit a triangular face.
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Oblong Face Shapes
If your face is much longer than it is wide, then it is likely your face is oblong. Consider yourself lucky if you have an oblong face, because you can make quite a few bear styles work for you. So, go ahead and experiment to your hearts desire.
Related Reading: Best Beard Growth Products
15 Best Beard Styles for Men
Now that you’re familiar with your facial structure, let’s take a look at some of the best beard styles a man can wear.
1. Bandholz Beard Style
Face Shape: Any shape works for a Bandholz beard style
Look Like: Eric Bandholz
With at least six months of growth before achieving results, the viking beard, or Bandholz style is as wild as the Serengeti. But this is a tough beard style to pull off in a corporate environment.
And while wearing a Bandholz beard style is as simple as throwing your razor away and letting your mane run amok. Eventually you’ll want to clean up the cheeks, or perhaps mold and shape it, but at first all you need to do is let it grow. Just don’t forget to shampoo and condition your beard if you want superior results.
2. Circle Beard Style
Face Shape: Heart, oval, square, or round
Look Like: Walter White/Heisenberg
Often confused with a goatee, the circle beard bears two distinctions. First, it always bears a mustache. Secondly, the pieces around the mouth are thicker, but generally even from top to sides to bottom. Circle beard styles never extend out to follow the jaw and don’t bear any tails that extend off the chin. With a mouth closed, it quite should literally form a circle.
Although this beard style seems like a simple concept – we’re talking about a circle after all – keeping it neatly trimmed can be difficult. And not everyone is able to grow a full beard around the lips from the start.
3. Balbo Beard Style
Face Shape: Oval, Square, Round, Diamond, or Heart
Look Like: Robert Downey, Jr.
The unusual hair adopted by Tony Stark is the best example of a model Balbo. It should be neat, but the ‘stache doesn’t need to be deadly tidy, and it can have a little fluff and body to it. Ideally, balbo beard styles should go partway up the jawline to a point – never coming close to the ears. And the key to balbo beard styles is to keep the moustache from connecting to the chin.
4. Goatee Beard Style
Face Shape: Heart, oval, round, or square
Look Like: Brad Pitt
Let’s settle this right now: A true goatee is almost never worn, and almost never worn well. It is nothing but the beard you might see on a billy goat, hence the name. Traditionally, goatee beard styles cover only the chin and don’t reach past the sides of the mouth. And they aren’t supposed to bear a moustache, but finding one without it is as rare in recent years. However, in the picture above, Mr. Pitt has a moustache. – because only the most reckless of men take on the classic goatee style.
5. Extended Goatee Beard Style
Face Shape: Diamond, heart, oval, or square
Look Like: Ryan Gosling
The extended goatee beard styles expand upon the Balbo by going out to the ears, more like a full beard. But there will be much more trimming on the cheeks to keep the profile low.
As with classic goatee beard styles, the mustache can connect to the beard. Or it can be worn with no ‘stach – the choice is up to you. However, anything resembling a chin strap beard, or pencil beards require a lot of maintenance to avoid an uneven trimmed beard.
6. Mutton Chops Beard Style
Face Shape: Oblong, square, or triangle
Look Like: Motherluvin’ Wolverine
You probably can’t pull this off unless you’re doing a Dickensian revival, or happen to live in 19th century England. But if you frequent dive bars or Civil War reenactments, you’re bound to bear witness to mutton chop beard styles.
Modern mutton chops should go very low, reach down to the chin, and they should always be kept clean. If you let your beard growth get out of hand, however, your mutton chops can start to look unkempt.
7. Full Beard Style
Face Shape: Any shape works for a full beard style
Look Like: Joel McHale
When preppy boys grow out their beard, they know to keep it tight. This is how a full beard should look. Exactness is important, as is cleanliness, so it should always be under control. Then your beard will remain the length you want. Don’t plan on letting every full beard style go wild, not every long beard is a Bandholz. Instead, full facial hair styles cover the face, but don’t extend off the jaw more than a few millimeters.
8. Van Dyke
Face Shape: Oval, triangle, or diamond
Look Like: Johnny Depp
A combination of small moustache with added goatee, the Van Dyke distinguishes itself from the Balbo by the narrowness of the beard itself. A little facial hair that stays beneath the mouth and a thin moustache make up this look. If you want facial hair that makes you look like a 16th century painter, or just enjoy a short beard style, then a Van Dyke beard is the way to go.
9. Stubble Beard Style
Face Shape: Any shape works for scruffy facial hair
Look Like: Dexter
Wearing stubble is a little harder than most men make it out to be. First off, you want your stubble to be long enough so that it doesn’t abrade anyone that comes in contact with your face. But you’ll want to keep it short enough that it doesn’t look like you forgot to shave. About 3-9mm is ideal, depending on how soft your hair is. With short beard styles, it’s important to keep your cheek lines clean and even.
Related Reading: DIY Beard Oil
10. Garibaldi Beard Style
Face Shape: Any shape works for Garibaldi beard style
Look Like: Kimbo Slice
Here’s the facial hair you want for a full beard that goes above and beyond. The Garibaldi gives you thickness that you can curl your fingers into, and a thatch of hair that can create whatever jawline you like. It should be neat and tidy on top, but voluptuous and shorter than a standard full beard.
11. Dutch Beard Style
Face Shape: Diamond, oval, heart, or square
Look Like: Abe Lincoln
Famous among religious sects, such as Mennonites, Quakers, and the Amish, not many folks try out the Dutch today. But if you have a strikingly angular face, it might be worth a shot. No mustache to be found here, the Dutch is basically mutton chops that have grown together at the bottom of the face. Different beard styles feature different lengths, but a medium beard style seems most popular.
12. Verdi Beard Style
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Face Shape: Ovals, diamonds, triangles, or oblong
Look Like: A Beard exhibitionist
Unless you’re a facial hair aficionado, few people wear a Verdi, so you’ll certainly stand out. This power beard style borrows from several others, but becomes its own animal due to a few features.
First, it is a full beard, completely encompassing the jawline, making it larger than just an extended goatee. Then, the moustache doesn’t connect to the bushy beard, but instead is styled like Salvador Dali’s when in a particularly flamboyant mood. It’s a nice steampunk look, and the quintessential hipster beard.
13. The Anchor Beard Style
Face Shape: Oval, square, diamond, heart, or round
Look Like: Christian Bale
Here’s where we hit the nuance of thin facial hair. True, this looks like a Balbo. Yes, it also resembles a Van Dyke. And some would even argue that it could be a goatee. But what’s where we as a society have blurred the lines and let facial hair trends evolve.
When you mix a tightly trimmed upper lip with minor beard extensions that go just past the mouth, you’ve got yourself an anchor. Just make sure that the beard doesn’t extend past the center line of the jaw. The smaller the moustache, the easier to identify a real anchor. Rigid grooming is the sign of a real one, so a beard trimmer will be your best friend.
14. Ducktail Beard Style
Face Shape: Diamond, oval, round, or triangle
Look Like: Leonardo DiCaprio
Somewhat of a combination of Garibaldi and a Dutch beard, the ducktail extends out from the chin, but with more fullness to the edges of the face. Plus a ducktail connects at the moustache. While this bead is a full beard down, the upper lip is trimmed like a thin beard. This style of beard helps to slim the face, and can work well with a bald head.
15. French Fork Beard Style
Face Shape: Diamond, triangle, oval, or round
Look Like: Jack Sparrow
When you split a ducktail down the center to create two distinct points, then your beard becomes a French Fork. Oftentimes, you’ll encounter this style of facial hair on metalheads, and bikers. And the French Fork beard sits higher on the cheeks than a ducktail beard.
Types of Beard Styles: Conclusion
Hopefully you’ve found the beard styles you’ve been searching for. Now you just have to let it grow, grow, grow! Or head down to your barber and get your facial hair shaped up.
What beard styles do you think look best on you? Are you able to pull off a Bandholz, or are you stuck with a corporate beard style?
We’d love to hear from you and your experiences. Hit us up in the comments below.
