In this article:
- Grow Out Your Beard
- Watch Your Neck Line
- Look for the Best Style for Your Face Shape
- Invest in Proper Beard Trimmers
- Use Short-Bladed Scissors
- Use a Boar Bristle Brush
- Wash Your Beard Properly
- Use Beard Oil/Balm
- Pay Attention to Details
Short Beards: Grooming, Styling, and Maintenance Tips
1. Grow Out Your Beard
So you’ve decided to abandon the smooth face club and grow out a beard. Beards are stylish and versatile, plus they keep your face warm in the cold. But just because you’re growing them out doesn’t mean you should stop your grooming practices.
If you’re more into short beards, wait for when your facial hair is 2cm long at the very least. Don’t neglect it, as the growth may stick out in wild directions and look unruly.
Gently wash and dry your beard. Make a habit of combing it downwards. This makes it grow out in the same general direction so it looks neater.
Use a heated beard straightener or brush to straighten out curly beards.
2. Watch Your Neck Line
Among the most common mistakes that men make when maintaining short beards is not paying attention to the neckline. Most men with short beards trim way up to their chins.
The ideal reach of your short beard should be at least a finger’s width over your Adam’s apple. This is to conceal that little pocket of fat under your neck that protects your throat. It also makes a short beard look fuller.
Keep in mind that your neckline is symmetrical, otherwise, it throws off the balance of your face and may make it look wonky. Your best bet is to visit your barber and have them trim your neckline symmetrically.
You can then follow that line as a guide for when you’re maintaining it over the next few weeks, returning to the barber when you need it to be symmetrical again.
3. Look for the Best Style for Your Face Shape
There is not one beard style suitable for all faces. The best short beards are made to fit the face they grow on. Find out your face shape to determine which style works best for you.
Some short beard styles focus on trimming sideburns, growing out goatees, and creating sharp lines. A mildly bushy goatee may give the illusion of a stronger chin. A sharply trimmed sideburn may create a sharper jawline for those whose face shapes aren’t naturally gifted with a strong bone structure.
4. Invest in Proper Beard Trimmers
Keep your short beard neat by using trimmers to maintain their length. While you may be tempted to simply shave it all off when it gets too long, investing in a good beard trimmer is best.
A great beard trimmer extends the lifespan of your short beard without having to resort to more frequent—and potentially expensive—visits to your barber. You can ask your barber for trimming tips so you don’t have to go through an experimental stage where you accidentally shear off huge patches of your facial hair.
Make sure you get to know how your trimmer attachments work. Each one has specific functions and lengths, so familiarizing yourself with them minimizes the risk of undesirable styling accidents.
5. Use Short-Bladed Scissors
Don’t just use any pair of scissors to trim and groom your beard. They have the potential of cutting off more hairs than you require and can even nip at your skin and hurt you.
Short-bladed scissors are perfect as beard trimmers. Their shears are shorter than regular scissors. This allows them to easily access every difficult-to-reach nook and cranny of your face.
Using short-bladed scissors for your beard is a more careful and precise way of trimming specific areas of your beard. They are easier to control than trimmers and can zone in on single stray hairs which can’t be done with trimmers.
RELATED: 14 Short Beard Styles For All Face Shapes
6. Use a Boar Bristle Brush
Just because your beard is short doesn’t mean you don’t have to comb it. Using a beard comb allows you to tame your facial hair as early as possible. It also helps nudge your hair to grow in the right direction.
Using a boar bristle brush to comb your beard doesn’t just have styling benefits. It also functions as a beard cleaner, as the stiff boar bristles reach the very surface of your face.
A boar bristle brush manages to scrape away dead skin cells, dirt, and oils. Left alone, these debris cause irritation, itchiness, and breakouts. The stiff bristles also have a gentle exfoliating effect on the face.
This beard product is amazing if you've ever experienced beard dandruff!
7. Wash Your Beard Properly
A beard may be the best concealer for facial blemishes, but that does not mean you should forget about washing your face. Keeping your facial skin healthy guarantees healthy beard growth and reduces blemishes and irritation that can be even more annoying with a beard.
With short beards, it’s probably harder to hide blemishes on your face, so you might as well keep to a strict skincare regimen. Wash your face with a gentle cleanser, use a regenerating toner, and soothing shaving cream to keep your skin calm and smooth.
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8. Use Beard Oil/Balm
Beard oils and beard balm function as a conditioner for both your beard and skin. They contain moisturizing ingredients such as jojoba and argan oil that keep your skin hydrated and healthy.
Short beards often require constant maintenance, so the hairs are always newly trimmed and sharp, which tends to irritate the skin. Applying beard balm or beard oil for short beards makes the facial hair softer, thereby lessening irritation and breakouts.
It’s up to your preferences whether you should use beard oil or beard balm for your beard, though using either one reaps benefits for your beard.
9. Pay Attention to Details
Once you’ve trimmed and groomed your short beard to perfection, pay attention to the rest of your face. With short beards, the focus will be placed all over the rest of your face, as opposed to long beards where people focus on its length.
With meticulously groomed short beards, the rest of your face would have to follow. Your eyebrows, sideburns, ears, nostrils, and neck would also have to be as meticulously groomed, otherwise, your whole look just won’t make sense (unless you’re perfectly comfortable with that, then cheers to you).
Beardsmen have made their big comeback, with the No Shave November campaign and the rise of the dapper slash lumberjack aesthetic. Men have been finding out how several beard styles suit them, and that short beards often give a polished and sophisticated look when styled and groomed correctly.
Learn how to trim short beards in this video:
Hopefully, these tips will leave you and your beard all the wiser for when you’re planning to keep a short beard.
Do you have any short beard tips and hacks of your own? Help your beard brothers out, share them in the comments section below!
Up Next: Tools To Shape and Trim Your Beard At Home Like A Pro
