How to grow a beard and best beard styles in 2016
Here at GoStoner we take pride in how we look. We are fashion forward and like to consider ourselves on the “higher” end of MMJ fashion. That being said we thought we should share with our GS nation, what the beard trends are as we are now in MOvember! Tag us in your #movember pics and show us how you are supporting the great cause.
Here is the article from our friends over at The Bubble Out and follow them on all their social media for up to date information.
Beards are much more than facial hair. Having a beard means that you are a man! Overtime, your beard becomes a part of your identity. If you shave it off, you just don’t feel like yourself until it grows back. You feel like you’ve lost your ruggedness and the essence of your masculinity.
Whether we mean to or not, we attribute masculinity with beards. Beards are something we see as a representation of a man’s maturity. In a recent study, women perceived men with beards to be healthier and more likely to become a good father and also judged them to be better protectors and providers.
There are other biological reasons why men grow hair. For men who work outdoors, a beard provides sunscreen, warmth, and protection from the elements. This makes sense if you consider that only a couple centuries ago most men worked outdoors.
Growing Your Beard
You may be surprised to learn that growing a beard is more complicated than it looks. A healthy lifestyle and some grooming maintenance are critical in keeping your beard full and thick, but your biology also plays a part of the process as well.
Biology
Some men sprout a full beard by sixteen, while others won’t reach their full beard potential until their mid-to-late twenties. You have no control over biology, so don’t worry too much about it. You will likely manage some form of a beard.
Over time, your beard will get thicker and sparse areas will fill in. Once you’re in your thirties, it’s time to face the fact that the beard you have now, is what you will have the rest of your life. If it’s not the beard of your dreams, that’s okay.
Don’t be discouraged if your beard doesn’t fill out quite as well as you had hoped. Most men still have enough facial hair to manage a beard. If you have no hair on your cheeks, you can grow a goatee, etc. Have fun with it. If you don’t like the first style, shave it off and try again.
How Fast Does Facial Hair Grow?
Facial hair grows at the same rate as all of your hair. On average, it grows half-an-inch per month, but this varies by person and your overall health. Hair is made of protein, so protein-rich diets will help your hair grow more quickly.
A healthy body equals a healthy beard. Diets also rich in fruits and vegetables help you to grow hair more quickly simply because you are healthier. As discussed previously, women perceive men with beards as being healthier, and that is actually correct.
Your hair, including beard hair, can grow more slowly if you are under stress or are ill. Reducing stress and sleeping well keeps your follicles and hormones, which cause beard hair to grow, in balance and produces a better quality beard.
Beards are Back!
Beards have become more popular in recent years. Beards only became scarce after the Health Department suggested men shave their beards to prevent spreading germs, such as tuberculosis, around the turn of the twentieth century. Now that we have a better understanding of germs and health, beards are back!
It’s a refreshing change to see bearded men on the cover of magazines and on commercials. For those of us who love beards, it is a welcome sight. Beards have become a part of our culture once again.
Styles and Appearance
Part of the fun of having a beard is that if you change your beard, you change your whole look by styling it. Whether you choose to wear a close-cut goatee or a full, bushy beard, beard styles are just part of the fun of having facial hair. You can tailor your beard to be more professional or grow it out to look more rugged.
An added benefit to having a beard is that you can style and trim it in order to make up for facial features you want to conceal and draw attention to those you want to stand out. Women do this with makeup, but men can do the same thing with their facial hair.
I am writing this article to let you know that no two beards the same. You have beard style options that can change your appearance. It is the guide on how you can grow the beard of your dreams.
Beard Styles
There are many ways to style your beard by trimming that will allow you to be able to emphasize or conceal specific features. Beards are a great way for you to change your look.
If your face doesn’t have the square jaw that you always wanted or your chin is too pointy for your liking, you’re in luck. Once you determine your face shape, it is easy to narrow down the style and shape that is right for you.
Face Shapes
Determining your face shape is pretty simple. Examine the width of your forehead, your cheek bones, and jaw bones. These three widths measurements, plus the length of your face and the pointiness of your chin will determine your face shape.
Square
If your forehead and jaw measurements are the same and your chin and jaw are square, you have a square shaped face. With a square face, you will want detract attention from the sharp angles of the jaw and draw attention toward the chin.
Goatees are great for drawing the eye to the chin to make it a more prominent feature. Beards that have slightly rounded corners and softer lines around your more angular features will soften those angles.
Round
If your face is equal in width and length and you have more rounded angles around your jaw and chin, you have a round face. Round faces often look much younger, so you want to make your masculine features more prominent and square.
Keep your beard trimmed and keep sharp angles when you when your trim your neckline. This will help to square out the roundness of your face shape and give you the appearance of a more square chin and jaw.
A goatee with beard is not a bad idea for this face shape since you can add more square angles with the goatee around the chin. This will make the chin appear more dominant and square. Emphasize those sharp lines and angles for the best results.
Oval
If your forehead is slightly wider than your jaw and the length of your face is about 50 percent longer than the width of your jaws with a rounded or square chin, you have an oval shaped face.
Congratulations, you are among the lucky men who look good with any facial hair style, as long as it’s well-groomed. However,there are some things you should keep in mind when growing a long beard or trimming a shorter one.
If you are growing a long beard, it can draw out the natural shape of your face. Since an oval shape is the best shape to have, this defeats the purpose. That is why shorter beards are recommended for an oval face.
When trimming, add sharp lines to your beard to emphasize angles or soften lines to detract from them. If you want to make your jaw more square, trim the corner of the jaw square, not round and vice versa. Just make sure to pay attention to this detail because it can have a major impact on your final look.
Oblong
An oblong face is similar to the oval, but the face tends to be longer and the chin pointier. You will want to draw attention away from the point of the chin and square up the jaw some in order to balance things out.
When trimming your beard, leave the hair a bit shorter on the chin and slightly longer on the sides. Shave a square angle at the corner of the jawline. This will create more balance in your facial structure.
Heart
If your forehead is wider than you jawline and your chin is on the pointy side, you have a heart-shaped face. Like the oblong shape, you want to square up the jaw and take the emphasis away from the chin.
Avoid harsh lines while trimming to prevent bringing attention to the existing angles. Instead, keep your sideburns blended into the hairline and keep your neckline right above the Adam’s apple to soften the chin. Keep the straightest line near the corner of the jaw to make it appear more squared.
Diamond
If your cheek bones are wider than your forehead and jaw, you have a diamond-shaped face. The diamond face often has a pointy chin, but a more rounded chin is possible.
Your goals will remain the same with the diamond or pear. You want to widen the jaw and detract emphasis from the chin. You can do this by creating a wider chin with a goatee, with or without hair on the jawline. This will widen your chin, and draw the eye horizontally to the jaw.
If you choose to have a full beard, square off the corners of the jaw to appear more square and draw the eye away from the chin. A full beard will cover the sharpness of the pointy chin and help even out your face shape and complement your features.
General Advice
You know your face better than anyone, so you know the features you like about it and the ones that could use a little help. Face shapes can only give you generalized advice. You can detract attention from features or draw attention toward features as you see fit using these tips around the features in question.
To Draw Attention
- Create sharp angles
- Cut sharp lines
- Use longer hair in some areas
Detract Attention
- Trim round angles
- Cut softer edges
- Keep hair shorter
Other Considerations
Scarring, acne, and other skin conditions can be covered up completely with a full, thick beard. If you choose to grow out a beard for this reason, keep in mind that you can still work on your own style by trimming the beard length to give the illusion of a more preferable shape.
Growing Your Beard
If it’s your first time growing a beard, you will likely stop shaving and may experience itching, especially around the neck. This is normal and will go away once the hairs get a little longer. You can trim neck hair and shave around the neckline while waiting for the rest of your beard to grow in.
Trimming
I mentioned the neckline before. The neckline should be slightly above the Adam’s apple and cut in a “U” shape following the shape of your chin to the corner of your jaws. Hair that is growing below this line should be trimmed closely or shaved off for a more groomed appearance.
Trimming your budding beard is half the fun of growing one. An electric trimmer is invaluable to keeping your beard looking great and prevent it from looking like you’re too lazy to shave. A trimmer allows you to use guides of different sizes in order to trim it uniformly.
To trim your beard, use a beard comb to brush the hairs against the grain, up and out so it is easier for the trimmer to cut. Use the desired guide for the length you prefer. You can use the same guide for the entire beard, or multiple guides. Just make sure to clip them on firmly or they can pop off and ruin your beard.
Another tip to soften things up with a trimmer is that you can blend longer lengths by using a tapered guide or by manually tapering the angle of the trimmer as you cut. Leaving your beard longer in some areas will also change the shape of your face and give it a more seamless, natural appearance.
For your mustache, trim it as you would with your beard, then comb the hairs down toward your lips and finish trimming around your lips with beard scissors. Failure to do this will result in your mustache getting in your food and drink.
Grooming
The skin beneath your beard tends to be dry. To prevent drying and flaking of the skin use beard oil or beard conditioner on your beard. Oiling your beard will also soften the hairs so it is less irritating to the skin of women who may come close enough to be poked by it.
To maintain a well-groomed appearance, wash your beard with a beard cleanser daily, and use a beard comb or brush to keep errant hairs in place.
