Full beards are all the rage right now, and have been for a while. With good reason too. Beards are versatile and expressive. They lend oodles of character to one’s persona, work to showcase one’s best facial features, and hide those not-so-desirable bits. Think of beards like contouring in makeup! A well-groomed, perfectly styled and shaped beard is an accessory like no other, one that is as unique as it’s wearer.
Let’s talk face shapes for a second. There are a host of standard face shapes, such as square, round, oblong, oval, triangle and heart-shaped. But when it comes to what’s aesthetically pleasing, the symmetry and balance that the oval shape offers are what best please the eye. So, a good rule to follow is to grow out your beard to create a smoothly graduating oval shape that starts at your natural hairline, all the way to the bottom of your beard. To this end, have your jawline and beard working in tandem to create the desirable oval shape that is smooth and tamed, without any jarring edges.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when crafting a beard that flatters your face shape is to ensure that it doesn’t seem to elongate or extend any particular parts of your face or facial features. Beards, if too long, have the power to make eyes seem droopy, and ones that are too short can seem like they’re chopping off the bottom half of the face at weird angles, thereby creating an illusion of a top half that’s pulled downwards. Think, resizing a photograph of someone on the computer. If not done proportionately, it can elongate one’s features in a truly unflattering way!
Here’s how to style your beard to best suit your face shape…
Square
If you’ve got a square shape going, with a wide forehead and sharp, equally wide jawline, it’s best to play off your natural shape and keep the beard slightly angled where your jaw begins under the ear, but sans any sharp edges. Keep the hair on the sides short, and create an oval illusion by growing the beard under your chin longer with a rounded edge. This will keep things nice and neat, without accentuating the square-ness of your jawline.
Round
Often times, when one has a round face, they want to counter the chub. Full beards are a great way create that longer, leaner facial structure. All you’ve got to do is keep the hair at the sides shorter and have it cut at an angle, starting at the ear. The hair under your chin should be longer, in a smoothly graduated ‘V’ shape that will help elongate the face.
Oblong
An oblong face shape is one that is longer than it is wide. Those who sport this face shape have equally wide foreheads, cheeks and jawlines. With an oblong face, you don’t want to unnecessarily elongate the face further by adding bulk under your chin. Instead keep the sides of the beard fuller and the bottom short, creating a soft, square-like beard with curved lines and a wide ‘U’ shape at the bottom.
Triangle
If you’ve got a triangle shaped face, your jaw is wider than your forehead, and your chin is square or flat. For this face shape, keep your beard at a similar length throughout, making sure that it’s not stretching any of your features. Keep hair short on the sides and only slightly longer under the chin, creating a subtle curve at the bottom that will even out the square chin.
Heart
A heart shaped face is one which has a wide forehead and the cheekbones and jawline are tapering consistently inwards with a ‘V’ shaped, prominent chin. To create the impression of a full, oval jawline, keep hair at the sides longer and that under the chin shorter, but maintain the shallow ‘V’ structure that will help lift your cheekbones and draw the attention away from your large forehead.
Oval
We’ve already established that the oval face shape is the most aesthetically pleasing to the eye. So, those with oval faces can just about rock any of the above styles. Needless to say, it’s best to keep the length and width of the beard in proportion to the face, making sure to neither have the top or bottom halves of the face seem imposing and stretched out.
