A beard is nothing without a face. Picture it floating aimlessly in the wind like some sad, hairy kite – no, to be truly great, a beard must match its maker.

That’s why choosing a style is so important. If your face is square, or wide, or triangular, or hexagonal with dimples, it only makes sense to sculpt hair around it in an aesthetically pleasing shape, right?

To help tackle this age-old dilemma, we’ve put together a how-to guide for styling your best look – no matter what kind of mug you’re sporting.

Best Short Beard Styles

Short beards can make up for their small stature with big personalities. While there are plenty of styling options to choose from, you’ll first want to determine your face shape – square, round, oval, or rectangle – and then choose a beard style best for that face shape.

The #1 way to enhance your short beard? Keep a defined neckline. This will ensure it flatters your face.

Short beards also have a tendency to become prickly and scratchy. To keep your beard soft and smooth, use our hydrating Beard Oil to soften both your facial hair and the skin underneath.

Square Faces

Nice jawline, my man. Movie star faces like yours will want to emphasize the chiseled jaw and cheekbones with a beard that is short on the sides, and fuller on your chin. 

Before you audition for the next Mission Impossible, get artsy with a “circle beard.” This symmetrical crop is achieved by shaving your cheeks and sideburns, then connecting your mustache with your beard. 

Alternatively, you can rock the greatest style there is by removing the mustache from the circle beard – there’s a reason it’s called the GOATee.

Round Faces

For round faces, a slim beard can help offset even a moon-sized mug. Keep your beard angled to slim your face, or try a box-shaped beard with angled lines along the cheekbones and slightly longer on the chin area.

Want something more swashbuckling? Channel the Tony Stark/Captain Jack Sparrow look with an anchor beard. Form the anchor shape by shaving your cheeks and jawline and growing the hair longer on your chin. You’ll also want to have a mustache that’s kept separate from the beard.

Oval Faces

Long and rounded, oval faces are ideal for horses and facial hair. Congratulations, you won the genetics award for Greatest Beard Face. 

Since it all comes easily to you, why not try an advanced beard shape that’s impossible for other mortals to pull off? Lightning bolts down your cheeks will warn others of the pure electricity coursing through your veins. A horseshoe mustache is just homegrown luck. Or grow it out willy-nilly and see where the wind takes you.

Rectangular Faces

You’re more than a geometrical shape, Rectangular Face. Celebrate your humanity – and your impeccably sharp features – with a beard that’s shorter on the bottom and longer along your jawline. 

Why not opt for a chin strap style beard, or grow your sideburns long and connect to your mustache for some old-timey mutton chops. 

Best Medium Beard Styles

Like Goldilocks’ favorite porridge, medium length beards hit the sweet spot. But before you get devoured by bears for breaking into their home and eating their food and sleeping in their beds (they had a point), maintain your mediumness by regularly trimming your beard.

You’ll also want to comb or brush your beard and use a Beard Lotion to deeply hydrate skin, and keep your facial hair strong and smooth. 

Try experimenting with the length of different parts of your beard. Keep the sides much shorter than the chin and mustache for an extended goatee, or trim your beard into a V shape and grow your mustache long and twirly for a dashing Verdi beard. 

Best Long Beard Styles

Gandalf. ZZ Top. Hagrid. Yosemite Sam. The weirdos from Duck Dynasty. Only the most legendary follicles can make it into the Long Beard Hall of Fame. And if you want to join, it’s going to take a whole lot of patience and dedication. Here are a couple styles that will help you get there.

Garibaldi

Named after a 19th Century Italian general, the Garibaldi combines the rugged unkemptness of a bushy full beard with a neatly trimmed mustache. It’s the perfect synthesis of barbered and barbaric.

Ducktail

Make Uncle Scrooge proud by sharpening your ducktail beard into a point. This downward trajectory puts a fine point on your facial hair and gives an otherwise angle-less face plenty to look at.

Of course, size and shape are just half the battle. Growing a long beard requires a good amount of styling and care to achieve the right appearance.

• To start, be sure to keep your long beard well hydrated and healthy using a Beard and Face Wash. 

• Follow that up with a Beard Butter to calm flyaways and more easily style your length.

• See which regimen is best for your beard by learning about the differences between beard balm, oil, and butter.

Finally, you’ll want to keep the cheek line and neckline well groomed, and the ends trimmed to avoid split ends.