Beards come in many shapes and sizes. They are as unique as the men who grow them. Some beards give off attitude with sharp, clean edges. Others look soft and natural. Whether you’ve had a full-blown beard for years or you’ve decided it’s time to grow past your stubble, knowing how to shape and style your facial hair helps you define your look.    

Growing a beard takes commitment. Beards need to be trimmed, shaped, washed, moisturized and styled. Though it can be hard work, many men relish maintaining their beards. With the right tools and beard care products, your grooming ritual will help you achieve a beard to be proud of. Read through our beard grooming tips and discover what your facial hair has been missing. 

Shaping Your Beard

Sure, professional barbers know how to shape a beard. It’s their job. But what if you’re shaping your beard at home? What tools do you need? How can you get the shape you want? Beard shaping takes practice and, like most things, practice makes perfect. 

Tools for Shaping Your Beard

Keep these tools in your arsenal for grooming your beard at home.

• Beard Wash
• Beard Comb
• Facial Hair Scissors
• Shaving Cream
• Beard Trimmer + Guards 
• Beard Brush
• Beard Oil or Balm

Best Beards by Face Shapes

Your beard is a representation of you. Whether your end goal is highly stylized or more unrefined, your beard’s shape and style should make you feel your best. Achieving a  beard that makes you proud to look in the mirror starts with trimming for your face shape.

Oval Faces

Oval-shaped faces can run the beard gambit. Men with oval faces can try any beard style. Lucky you! Just avoid sharp angles.

Round Faces

No bushy beards here! Full beards make round faces look even rounder. Elongate your face by keeping the sides short and the chin full. 

Rectangular Faces

Rectangular face shapes are long and narrow. Instead of lengthening your beard, add width to even out your face shape. Keep the bottom of your beard shorter and the sides full. 

Square Faces

Full beards help soften square jawlines. You want to shape your beard more like an oval. Men with square face shapes have the tricky job of keeping their beards long and narrow. It’s all about proportions. 

Triangular Faces

Those with narrow foreheads and wider jaws should avoid full beards. If your jaw is already the widest part of your face, go for cropped styles, keeping it short on the sides.

How to Shape A Beard

It’s about time you became a master at trimming your beard. Novices and experienced beard-growers alike know that shaping facial hair can be quite the task. Always trim your beard when it’s clean and dry. Use a beard wash made for the sensitive skin to cleanse your beard before trimming.

Grab your beard shaping tools and follow these steps:  

1. Comb out tangles. Before you start trimming, comb or brush your beard to remove tangles and knots. After you’ve untangled your beard, try brushing it against the grain so that the hairs stand up. Having the hairs stand up helps you trim them. 
2. Start trimming. Use your trimmer to remove hair. Start with a higher guard and work your way down guard sizes to make sure you don’t remove more hair than you would like. Generally, you’ll want to leave the hair on your chin longer than the hair on the sides of your face. 
3. Don’t forget the neck. Getting the neckline right is important. If you trim hair too close to the jaw, it could create the appearance of a double chin. If you don’t trim hair meandering down your neck, your beard may look wild and uncouth. You’ll likely want to trim everything below your Adam’s apple. Your beard should stop about a half inch above your Adam's apple.
4. Define the cheeks. Are you going for a natural look, or do you want sharp edges? Shave any hair on your cheeks above where you want your beard to be. 
5. Fade your sideburns. Your hair and beard should blend together. Use a large guard on your trimmer. Work your way down your sideburns to get the results you want. 
6. Check your mustache. If you have a mustache, comb the hair straight down and use facial hair scissors to remove hair. A mustache can be longer than a beard, but you don’t want hair to extend too far over your lips. 
7. Look for stragglers. Comb or brush your beard and mustache. Examine your handiwork and use facial hair scissors to cut off stray hairs. 
8. Moisturize. Beardruff is real. The skin underneath your beard can get dry, itchy and flaky. Use beard oil to moisturize your beard and skin. Beard oil hydrates and softens facial hair, reining in flyaways and protecting you from beardruff. Add a few drops of beard oil to your hands, rub them together and apply to your beard in an upward motion. Comb or brush your beard to distribute the oil evenly for a nice sheen. 
9. Style. Thicker, longer beards may call for beard balm, wax or clay if beard oil doesn’t help your beard stay in place. Beard styling gels and balms have more holding power, so they work better for shaping medium to long beards.

Pamper your facial hair with products made for superior beards. With Duke Cannon grooming products, you’ll have a beard you can’t wait to show off. (And it might even smell like Bourbon.)

Contact Crane’s Country Store in Williamsburg, MO to learn more about our men’s beard care products or browse our website.