While over 50% of UK men are now wearing beards [1], not all of them are fortunate enough to be able to achieve luxurious facial hair. If you are one of the lucky ones who can grow a full, healthy beard, it’s natural to want to flaunt it.
A beard can transform your appearance, making you look more masculine. But at the same time, it can take a lot of work and commitment to keep it looking great. However, you’ll be happy to learn that there are certain beard shapes which require less special attention than others, especially if you have good beard grooming practices.
And if you’ve always dreamt of full facial hair but couldn’t fix your patchy beard, don’t worry. You don’t have to settle for a bad beard. There are a variety of treatments out there that can help you out. You may even be eligible for a beard transplant, which can permanently give you the facial hair you desire.
This article will tell you everything you need to know about full beard styles, such as:
Many men think that a full beard is a long one. However, that is not always true. Facial hair fullness is more about its density and the proportion of your face that it covers rather than its length. However, growing your beard out for longer can make it appear denser and less patchy. You can recognise a full beard by the following characteristics:
All full beard styles are relatively easy to style, as they don’t require you to trim your beard very frequently or shave sections into intricate shapes. These types of beards also don’t require using many styling products to make them look impressive and manly. Here are some of the best-looking and lowest maintenance styles, which can keep you looking sharp even on a busy schedule.
The classic full beard is just as its name describes it – facial hair that grows almost unhindered until it unites your sideburns, cheeks and chin, covering every part of your face below your nose.
This natural beard style suits men of all ages and ethnicities, and it can be as long as you want it to be to suit your style. And all the trimming it needs is to remove flyaways and keep it from becoming too wild and frizzy.
As the signature Jason Momoa beard, the popularity of this elegant style has soared in the past few years. While it starts out like a classic full beard, it involves growing your chin hair longer and trimming the cheek hair shorter, emphasising your central beard area. Then, if your facial hair does not taper on its own towards the ends, you can style it manually, using a bit of oil to create a soft point at the end.
A Garibaldi beard is a bold and confident style which can take at least half a year to grow before it can be trimmed into its iconic shape. However, once you get there, all you need to do is give it a regular trim to be sure it doesn’t lose contour.
This style is ideally 15-20 cm long, so it’s a great option for those seeking long beard styles. The Garibaldi beard has a wide, flat, rounded base. It is ideal for oval or rectangular faces and should be left slightly on the wilder side. Using wax, mousse or other fixing products can compromise its trademark unruly appearance.
Unlike the Garibaldi, the Bandholz beard should be left to grow longer than 20 cm if possible. It involves a longer, more stylish moustache (often with the tips turned up) and is not always rounded at the base.
The Bandholz can take months or even years to grow, and it is often allowed to flow naturally with minimal trimming. It is especially suited for more mature men with rounder faces. When properly cleaned, brushed, and moisturised, it can provide a regal appearance and give you a confident, dignified look.
The French Fork is a unique type of beard designed to grab attention. With a highly stylised two-pronged appearance, it’s not the most natural beard style — but it’s perfect for men who can wear it with confidence.
The French Fork requires some manual styling and a light application of beard oil to keep it in shape. It is whimsical and allows for a more rebellious look. Moreover, if your facial hair does not grow as even or dense as you’d like on your chin, the fork may help hide its central sparseness.
While the beard itself can be natural and burly by itself, the moustache gives the hipster beard its unique, bohemian look. If you are a more artsy, creative type and don’t mind waxing the tips of your tache into an upturned shape every day, this look may be the best choice. It suits oval and heart-shaped faces best and can give you a memorable appearance in any room.
As its name suggests, this imposing beard style is reminiscent of the flowing facial hair worn by sorcerers in fantasy stories. It takes many years to grow, but doesn’t need significantly more maintenance than the other full beard styles.
As long as it is well-groomed, the wizard beard can impress by sheer size and burliness, and doesn’t require many products to keep it looking good. Washing, drying, and brushing can take longer, but if you want to keep it from getting tangled, you can tie it loosely in a place or two along its length. Just make sure not to tie it tightly right under your chin, as this can cause beard hair loss by triggering traction alopecia.
A long, bushy beard can seem daunting to care for. However, it doesn’t have to be. There are some things you can do to make your life easier. Here are some of the most useful:
While the exact amount of time needed varies from one man to another, it can take quite long to grow a beard if you’re going for good facial coverage and reasonable length. A classic full beard, usually not longer than 5 cm below your chin, covers most of the lower part of your face and part of your cheeks and often takes at least 3 months to grow. But a long, full beard style such as a Bandholz or a wizard beard can be several years in the making,
So, if you are planning on committing to luxurious facial hair, patience is the key. It can sometimes seem like it will never grow out of its awkward phases, where you’ll be afraid you’ll never be able to fix your beard’s bald spots or fill in the sparser areas. However, in many cases, as your facial hair grows longer, it also gains fullness (especially if the strands are thicker and wavy or curly), correcting many problem areas.
If you’ve always wanted a full beard and were never quite able to achieve one, you’ll be happy to know plenty of help is available. The first thing you need to do is to book a consultation with a trichologist. This beard and hair doctor can pinpoint the reason your facial hair is sparse and provide the most appropriate recommendations.
If you are young, you may not have grown your full beard yet and need to be patient for a few more years. If your genes or hormones are working against you, they may prescribe hair growth medications such as Minoxidil [2]. Or they could suggest effective therapies, such as PRP treatments [3] or low-level laser therapy [4] to help increase facial hair density and thickness. And suppose your beard patchiness is caused by a condition such as alopecia barbae (a form of alopecia areata) [5], they may recommend steroid creams or steroid injections to reduce your symptoms.
However, if none of these treatments works, there is a fast and very effective way to permanently end your beard troubles and grow the facial hair of your dreams. Lately, there has been a rise in the popularity of beard transplants because these safe, painless outpatient procedures can provide excellent results.
A trichologist can check if you can benefit from beard restoration surgery. If you are deemed eligible, you will be happy to know that a beard transplant looks natural and leaves virtually no scarring. And just like you can enjoy a hair transplant for more than 10 years, facial hair restoration can allow you to proudly wear full beard styles for decades to come.
Keen for more beard growth and styling tips? Learn more in these frequently asked questions.
Black men with full beards can pull off any of the looks above — the one for you depends on your personal style and taste rather than the texture of your beard hair.
Full beards can be very attractive when worn with confidence. Make sure you’re fully comfortable with the look you choose and it’s sure to look great on you.
If you’re 25 or under, you’ll need to wait and see how dense your beard will be. Some people start to see their facial hair fill out in their early to mid-20s, so if you’re younger than this, you could still grow a fantastic full beard.
Men older than 25 may already see their full beard density. If this is sparse, find out how to grow a fuller beard.
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