At some point, you decide to grow your beard. After a few weeks, you already have a nice beard. Then, beard management comes into play. The question is, of course: 'which beard suits my face best?' In this blog, we will show you which beard you can choose or which one suits you best.
What should I pay attention to when choosing my beard shape?
The mustache and beard are a form of facial expression. With your beard, you can make a statement. It says something about yourself, your character, and your actions. So think carefully about which mustache and beard you will choose when you decide to grow your beard. Fortunately, there are so many variations of beards that there is always one that suits you well.
The right shape of your beard depends on two issues:
- the rate of beard growth;
- the shape of your head.
After just a few weeks, the contours of your beard growth become visible. You quickly get an idea of what your beard will look like. Every beard growth is, of course, different. You can also immediately see if you have regular beard growth or if there are bald spots in the beard landscape.
Additionally, you have to deal with the shape of your head:
- Round or bulbous face
- Long face
- Square or angular face
- Oval face
In the case of irregular beard growth and some bald spots, it’s best to be patient for a while. Once you have sufficient beard length, you can cover these bald spots quite well with the surrounding beard hairs. Use a beard balm to shape and maintain your beard. Rub a bit of beard balm into your beard. Distribute and massage it well. Then use a beard brush to further distribute and brush in the beard balm.
You can also choose the type of beard that best suits you depending on your beard growth and face shape.
Type of beard for round face
If you have a round face, it’s wise to create more length. Choose a beard that adds length below the chin. Keep the sideburns short or shave them off completely. This will make the face appear less 'round'.
The Goatee is the ideal beard for a round face. The Goatee is a compact beard directly under the chin. The mustache connects to the beard under the chin. The Goatee is popular among students and in intellectual circles.
Chic, classic, and distinctive is the Van Dyke beard. It is a variation of the Goatee. The mustache is separate from the beard under the chin. Unlike the Goatee, this beard has a charming point under the chin. Here too, the sideburns are shaved off. The Van Dyke is named after the Flemish painter and artist Anthony van Dyck.
Do you hate shaving your upper lip and chin? Perhaps because you quickly suffer from shaving irritation here. With the Goatee, you can avoid these parts of the face.
Type of beard for long face
If you have a long and narrow face, you should actually create less length. Use your beard to achieve a slightly less long face. A beard with strong sideburns on the sides of the face and less length under the chin creates a slightly rounder face.
The Mutton Chops is very well known. This rugged beard became famous through the superhero Wolverine (actor Hugh Jackman) in the superhero film X-Men. The American singer Elvis Presley also wore this type of beard. The Mutton Chops are actually huge styled sideburns. You let the sideburns grow significantly from top to bottom, just above the jawline. Optionally, the ends of these sideburns can connect to the mustache.
The Mutton Chops is a true classic. During the British Victorian period (1800 - 1900), the beard was very popular. Famous high-ranking officers, explorers, artists, and writers walked around with gigantic sideburns. Many men were inspired by these figures.
Another suitable beard for a long face is the Stubble. The Stubble is actually just a short beard of a few days. The Stubble became popular thanks to actor Don Johnson and singer George Michael. The maintenance of this beard is minimal. Every few days, you only need to go through it with a trimmer. Of course, you should regularly maintain the beard contours. You can easily use a transparent shaving gel and the safety razor to shave the beard edges neatly. With the transparent shaving gel, you can see the beard edges well while shaving. The razor glides much smoother over the skin. The great advantage of the safety razor is that the shaving head where you insert the double edge razor blade is rectangular. You can see exactly where the blade is and it shaves smoothly.
Suppose you suffer a lot from shaving irritation around the jawline and/or above your lip, then you can choose the Mutton Chops. With this beard, you avoid the sensitive parts of the face.
Type of beard for square face
In the case of a square face, it looks nice if you create more length at the bottom and keep the sides short. With a square face, it is very stylish to create a point at the bottom of the beard.
The ideal beard is the so-called Ducktail. The Ducktail features a thin and long mustache at the top and a narrow triangular point at the chin. You can vary the length of the mustache and the point of the beard, of course. You can create a nice curl at the ends of the mustache. This type of beard was often seen in the past among kings and other rulers. The Ducktail gives a royal appearance.
Variants of this beard type are the Hollywoodian, Anchor, and Royale & Balbo.
Many men struggle with comfortably shaving their chin. The chin is difficult to shave and you can quickly experience shaving irritations, such as red spots or dry, flaky skin. In that case, the Ducktail is your beard.
Type of beard for oval face
If you have an oval face, you can actually go in any direction. It doesn't matter what you like, all beards suit this face well. How about, for example, the full beard? The full beard is the classic masculine beard. A man with a full beard can be seen from afar. In the past, it was the Vikings who made Europe unsafe with their rugged beards. The full beard also represents wisdom. Think of Karl Marx and Charles Darwin, for example. In modern times, it was the band members of the American rock band ZZ Top who performed in the 80s and 90s with enormous long beards. Nowadays, you see many bikers and hipsters walking around with full beards.
The skin in the neck area is sensitive skin. Here too, you can quickly see skin irritations occur due to shaving, such as red burning spots, ingrown hairs, and shaving bumps. In that case, the full beard is ideal.
Maintenance of your beard
Once you choose a certain type of beard, you have to deal with its maintenance. So far, we have talked about the type of beard. But you can also vary the edges of the beard. You can shave the edges somewhat roughly (left photo) or shave them super tight in a nice curved 'line' (right photo).
Roughly shaving the beard edges can be done very well with a safety razor. It is precisely the unevenness in the beard edges that creates a rugged and tough look. The big advantage is, of course, that if you slip a little with the razor, it doesn't stand out.
Shaving tightly can also be done well with the safety razor. But ultimately, you get the best result with a open razor with a square tip or a shavette razor. You can then shave the edges millimeter by millimeter. This, of course, requires patience and discipline.
The German razor manufacturer DOVO from Solingen has developed the Barbarossa open razor specifically for shaving beard contours. The blade of this razor is halved. This allows you to touch up the edges more smoothly and easily.
The advantage of the shavette razor is that it requires no maintenance. After a few shaves, you replace the blade with a new sharp blade. This type of razor is also easy to handle and use for shaving your beard.
For daily beard management, you obviously need the right beard products:
- beard oil to soften the beard hairs and possibly care for the skin underneath the beard;
- beard balm to shape and style the beard;
- beard brush and beard comb for perfectly distributing the beard balm and beard oil and styling the beard;
- beard scissors for trimming the beard hairs;
- transparent shaving gel to protect the skin while shaving the beard contours;
- safety razor for perfectly shaving the beard edges.
