
Beard styling goes a long way in enhancing the inherent good features of a man’s face. If you are in the mood to experiment with your looks, choose from the various cool beard styles for men, ranging from the flamboyant goatee to the rugged stubble.
Beards and mustaches separate the men from boys. Here we explore some of the best beard styles for men. Styling a beard adds value to a well sculpted face or compensates for its shortcomings. Men with cool beard styles, stand out due to their mature and stylized looks. This offers them an opportunity to experiment with different looks. If you are bored of your usual clean shaven look, grow a beard and try out some vintage or modern styles. Nobody needs to be told how to grow a beard because, it grows on its own! However you can learn how to style it.
There was an era when men without mustaches or beards were unimaginable. Nowadays, the (so-called) metro-sexual male prefers to be clean shaven. However, beards are back in vogue, thanks to the imaginative latest styles sported by male celebrities.
The story goes that Abraham Lincoln was advised by a little girl named Grace Bedell, through a letter, to grow a beard, as she thought it would suit his long face best and add class. Lincoln listened to the little girl and now we cannot imagine what Lincoln would look like without his beard. The beard changed the look and fortunes of Lincoln!
Though I am not sure whether growing a beard would help you in clinching the presidency of USA, you will certainly benefit from the best styles for men that I list here. The compliments from ladies will certainly prove my point to you. Beard styling, like any kind of hair styling is an art, and this is all about ideas and improvisations.
Best Beard Styles for Men
There is no one unique style, that will suit every guy. According to the individual’s natural facial features, he may select a beard styling that best suits his personality. Of the hundreds of different options, here are some of the most popular ones.
This is a style made popular by the Amish community. It’s marked by a thin or thick curtain of hair grown on the lower part of the face, only along the jawline and without a mustache. The chin curtain, as the name suggests extends from cheek to cheek. It is a cool style to try out. It enjoyed popularity in Europe, Japan, and Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. The thin version of the chin strap looks sleek and is easy to maintain.
Known by the name of the man who first popularized it, Anthony van Dyck, a 17th century painter, the Van Dyke beard is a combination of a mustache with a goatee or a soul patch, with no hair connecting the two or covering the cheeks. Some of the noted personalities who have sported this type, beside the pioneer himself are King Charles I of England and Colonel Sanders!
The goatee is a class of facial hairstyles confined only to the chin. Inspired from goats, this is a good beard style, which looks quite cool. Your hairstylist will show you hundreds of variations that you could try out, ranging from the short goatee to the broader version of it.
This is a combination of a goatee, attached with a mustache by a small beard bridge. It is quite a sophisticated style and is particularly recommended for men with small chins. The broad French beard balances the facial proportion, by broadening the chin.
This is a small patch of beard under the lips and above the chin with no mustache and an otherwise clean shaven face. You can give it any shape you want, but a triangular pointed one looks good. It is one of the most modern styles, with almost no maintenance, other than some minimum amount of trimming. This is a style popularized by African-American Jazz musicians. Bruce Springsteen, and Frank Zappa are two guys who love sporting the soul patch.
It’s a light two day growth of beard which looks good on certain faces. It’s the classic tough guy look, much adored by most ladies. Plus, it’s extremely easy to maintain. All you have to do is trim it on alternate days. Let your electric razor lightly hover over the beard, to maintain the stubble.
If you are the serious philosopher type, who believes in old classy elegance, then the full beard is worth giving a thought. Sported by great personalities like Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Leo Tolstoy, the full beard is for the strong, silent, and brooding types, who must also be patient enough to undertake the maintenance it requires!
This is a style that extends from the temples, and continues down along the jawline. It may or may not be accompanied by a mustache. Gives you a kind of a ‘lion mane’ kind of a look. One guy who popularized sideburns was Isaac Asimov, the great American science fiction writer.
Choosing a Beard Style
Now that you know some of the latest styles, we will discuss how to choose one that suits you. Beard styling can enhance or compensate your natural facial features. Here are some tips on how to choose the one that is right for you.
- If you have a round face, the goatee is a good idea for you as it makes it appear long. Avoid sideburns.
- If you have a long face, then avoid the goatee and go for a beard thick on the sides. Keeping sideburns is a good idea.
- If your face is oval in shape, you are free to try any styles as almost all will look good on you.
Some ‘Beard’ Facts
Before we wrap up, here are some interesting facts associated with beards, that you will surely enjoy.
- Since times immemorial, beards have been considering as a symbol of virility and manhood. Alexander the Great is supposed to be one of the first kings and generals who ordered his men to shave off beards, also with being one of the first monarchs to have popularized the clean shaven look. His considerations for doing so were entirely practical. He didn’t want his soldier’s movements to be encumbered in close combat, by providing enemies with beards as ‘handles’ to drag them.
- Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Indians valued their beards as prized possessions, as symbols of manhood and wisdom. In fact is some cultures, a man’s beard was cut off as a humiliating punishment for cowardice.
- Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest beard of a living male belongs to Sarwan Singh from Canada, with an incredible 7 ft 9 inches long beard!
- Study of beards is known as ‘Pogonology’ and shaving or cutting of beards is known as ‘Pogonotomy’.
- Many people suffer from the fear of beards or bearded people, known as ‘Pogonophobia’.
- In the middle ages, holding someone’s beard was considered to be a serious violation of a man’s dignity and was sorted out by nothing less than a one-to-one duel.
Hope these beard styles inspire you to try out something new. You will surely realize the added dimensionality which a beard adds to your face and therefore to your personality.