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Do you want to jump on the beardy train? Or are you just looking for a new style? Check out our guide to the most popular beard styles to find a choice that works for you!
The most popular beard styles and facial hair styles for men:
- 5 O’clock shadow.
- Scruffy beard.
- Goatee.
- Corporate beard.
- Short boxed beard.
- Mutton chops / lamb chops.
- The Hollywoodian.
Want to know more about how to achieve these styles? Check out our tips and tricks below with reference images…
Short Beard Styles
The 5 O’clock Shadow
The 5 o’clock shadow or stubble beard is a short beard style worn closely trimmed to the face. You can generally achieve the 5 o’clock by using the shortest setting on your trimmer. Very easy to maintain this beard style.
Scruffy Beard
The scruffy beard style is also very popular these days. It’s longer than the 5 o’clock shadow beard but it probably started its life as a 5 o’clock shadow shave and is the result of a few weeks of not shaving. Very easy to maintain as a scruffy beard doesn’t trim or shave its neckline or cheek line hence the name scruffy beard. To maintain this style you simply just need to let your beard grow is it wants for a couple of weeks. Trim back to a 5 o’clock shadow shave when it gets a bit too long and scruffy for your liking and start the process all over again.
Goatee
The goatee for a while seemed to have taken over corporate America as the go to look for young corporate up and comers. This style is achieved by clean shaving everything except for a circle of hair around your lips.
Kept very short it can be maintained with a Bic razor and the second lowest length attachment on your beard clippers.
This facial hair style has fallen out of favor for the professional beard these days in corporate America but will always have its place in the facial hair Hall of Fame.
Professional Corporate Beard
The Corporate Beard or Office Beard is similar in length to a scruffy beard of an inch or so but the difference is that the neckline and cheek line are maintained so that there aren’t any stray hairs growing above or below the cheek and neck lines. You will want to invest good trimmers with various guard lengths to find the length you prefer and a good beard balm and beard oil to help tame the hairs the stick up and keeps your face from itching while it grows
Short Boxed Beard
The short boxed beard is similar to the corporate beard style but is quite a few inches longer so the look is of a much fuller beard then the short cropped professional beard style. The cheek line and neckline are still trimmed back so even though it’s quite a bit longer it still has sharp edges to it. At this length you will want to invest in beard balm and beard oil and probably a pocket comb to maintain the look of this beard all day long. You will also want to invest in a good pair of stainless steel trimming scissors so you can trim the front of the beard the chin area will be longer than your shave guards so to keep an even look all the way around you will want to trim the edges back when they are starting to look a bit to scraggly.
the hardest part of this look is probably to get it started properly as the sides are fairly short and can be done with a trimmer and proper sized clipper guard attachment but the chin hair will be longer then a trimmer guard and will need to be clipped. It’s best to go to a barber if you can’t quite achieve the look your after and they will be able to create the initial shape that you can maintain at home.
Mutton Chops / Lamb Chops
Mutton Chops style of Lamb Chop style was very popular in the 70’s and is one of the styles worn ironically these days unless you’re an actual tough guy.
The sideburns are grown out to be nice and thick and can be fluffed up with a comb to give it a bit of volume. If you’re going for just the mutton chops then you clean shave the rest of your face including moustache and chin area but you can also pair it with a moustache but shaved chin to achieve the tough guy biker look.
The Hollywoodian
The Hollywoodian as sported by famous thespians as Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio. This is a much fuller beard then the short boxed beard and shaves the cheek line down to the bottom corners of the lips instead of the top edge of the moustache like the short boxed beard. It’s similar in shape to the short boxed beard but the beard is allowed to grow even fuller. So full that it will start to retain liquid and can be used to wipe up small counter spills. That’s up to you how you wield the power of the Hollywoodian Beard.
For this style you will most likely want to invest in a decent boars hair brush as it’s quite a long thick style to maintain with just a comb.