Growing a Beard: How to Shape & Style Your Facial Hair

Expert advice on growing out a beardstache, goatee, or anything in between

Co-authored by Timmy Yanchun

Last Updated: March 27, 2023 References

Growing Out Your Facial Hair

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Styling and Shaping Your Beard

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Caring for a Beard

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Video

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Expert Q&A

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Things You'll Need

Leonardo da Vinci. Ernest Hemingway. Jason Momoa. There’s been some great beards throughout history, and if you’ve been itching (pun intended) to grow one of your own, you’ve come to the right place. While beards are like snowflakes (each one grows in a little differently), in this article, we’ll teach you how to work with what you got. We’ll offer you expert advice on how to stimulate the growth of your facial hair, as well as how to trim and care for your new beard. So keep reading, and remember: don't fear the beard.

Things You Should Know

Shave regularly until your facial hair comes in evenly.
Make healthy lifestyle choices to raise testosterone and boost beard growth. Drink lots of water, eat a vitamin-rich diet, get plenty of rest, and exercise regularly.
Use a beard trimmer every 5-10 days to shape your facial hair. Create crisp lines along your neck, chin, and cheeks.
Wash and moisturize your face before shaving. You can also use a beard oil to keep your beard lubricated and fresh.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Growing Out Your Facial Hair

1
Shave regularly until your facial hair comes in evenly. The worst way to grow a beard is to just stop shaving, or to never start. This results in patchy, uneven, and thin beards that won’t compliment your face. If your facial hair isn't growing in evenly, keep shaving regularly, and be patient until it does.
- If you're not sure how evenly your facial hair is growing in, shave your entire face and look for stubble. If your facial hair grows in on the tip of your chin, above your lips, under your neck, and near your sideburns at the same speed, you're ready to grow that bad boy out even longer.^{[1]
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- If your beard doesn't grow evenly, you can speed up the process with healthy lifestyle choices. Drink lots of water, reduce your stress levels with meditation and mindfulness, and cut out harmful activities like smoking.^{[2]
  X
  Trustworthy Source
  PubMed Central
  Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health
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- Genetics has a lot to do with your ability to grow facial hair. Not all people are able to grow full beards, and that’s okay! Styling what you have (be it a mustache, a goatee, mutton chops) will look way cooler than trying to force something patchy and uneven that isn’t really there.
2
Raise your testosterone levels to speed up facial hair growth. If you're currently going through puberty, or have gone through puberty but haven't started growing your facial hair yet, there are some simple things you can do to stimulate testosterone levels and encourage hair growth. The effect won't necessarily be fast, but you'll get hair growing if you do some combination of the following:
- Exercise. Doing intensity training, cardio, and some strength training a few times a week encourages testosterone growth in males, helping to get facial hair growing. Warm up for three minutes, then do on/off sets, with 30 seconds of all-out exercise, then 90 seconds of moderate exercise. Do sets of seven of these circuits.
- Get your Vitamin D levels up, either by taking a supplement, or by spending some more time outdoors in the sun, absorbing Vitamin D naturally.
- According to some recently published research, ashwagandha is an herb that stimulates testosterone in men. It's also known as adaptogen, and is commonly sold as a supplement.
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3
Eat a vitamin-rich diet and get plenty of rest. The best way to stimulate facial hair growth (or any growth for that matter) is by eating right and sleeping 7 to 9 hours a night. Incorporate vitamins A, C, E, B3, B5, B7, and B9 into your diet with the following foods:^{[3]
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Trustworthy Source
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public
Go to source}
- For vitamin A, choose leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, and broccoli.
- For vitamins B3 and B5 stick with heavy protein sources chicken, beef, fish, and dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese).
- For vitamin B7, eat foods with lots of biotin like seeds and sweet potatoes.
- For vitamin B9, choose nuts and grainy cereals.
- Eat citrus fruits for vitamin C like oranges and kiwis.
- For vitamin E, eat foods filled with antioxidants like beets, pumpkin, avocados, and mangoes.
- You can also get these vitamins in supplement form if eating them is too difficult.
4
Take care of your skin. As you're trying to stimulate facial hair growth, it's also important to take care of your skin and address issues that can keep hair from growing evenly and looking good. Talk to your doctor about problems with rosacea, acne, or dryness before you decide to grow a beard.^{[4]
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Expert Source

Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 22 January 2020.}
- See your dermatologist while you are still shaving regularly. Apply any prescribed or over-the-counter medication for at least one month before growing facial hair.
- Keep your face hydrated with a non-comedogenic (clog-free) moisturizer to keep the follicles healthy and stimulated. Use a natural foaming cleanser on your face to keep the skin healthy.
5
Start with a fresh shave. Just as you need a clean canvas to start painting, when you decide you're ready to start growing a beard, you need a clean-shaven face. Start from scratch, trimming any facial hair you do have off with handheld razor. This will ensure that everything will grow as evenly as possible as you're starting your new beard.
- Consider having a hot shave at a barber's shop. This is typically the closest and most even shave you can get, to start off.
- After you shave, just stop for a period of about four weeks and do nothing, other than washing your face regularly with a skin cleanser. Your facial hair should start to come in normally.
6
Manage the itchiness of the early beard growth. Lots of guys stop growing out facial hair and start shaving because it gets itchy. Understand that itchiness will last for approximately 4 weeks, before you'll eventually get used to it, and the beard softens slightly.
- Use a moisturizer or natural [beard oil] on your beard follicles to soften the hairs and to keep the beard from itching too much.
7
Be patient while your facial hair comes in. Everyone's facial hair grows at different rates. It takes a while for some guys to grow beards, while others will seem to sprout whiskers in between morning shaves and evening showers. At whatever age and maturity level you're at, stay patient and wait for your beard to grow at its own pace.
- For some guys, growing a beard out will happen in 2 or 3 weeks, while for others it may take as long as several months to get real results.
8
Grow your beard out for any season. While lots of men like to grow out their beards in cold months for insulation purposes, it's a common misconception that beards are more uncomfortable in hot weather. In fact, beards help protect from UV sun rays, and work to cool the skin during hot weather, trapping sweat close to your face, cooling as it evaporates.^{[5]
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- Beards offer a variety of other health benefits, including trapping dust to help you avoid asthma attacks and upper respiratory infections. They also act as windbreakers to shield your face from cold weather blasts.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Styling and Shaping Your Beard

1
Trim with a beard trimmer every 5-10 days. After waiting for your initial grow-out period, once you've got your beard to its desired length, start trimming and shaping it. Most men should trim their beards about once every 2 weeks or so, depending on your speed of growth, and the style of beard you want to have.^{[6]
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Expert Source

Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 22 January 2020.}
- Even if you hope to end up with a Gandalf-style wizard's beard, it's still good to shape and trim using a beard trimmer, or scissors to keep things growing evenly.
- If you want a very short beard, and have especially coarse hair, you might find you need to trim it more regularly, like every 2 or 3 days.
- Always keep your neck trim, up to your chin-line, or at whatever point along the neck looks best to you. If you don't trim the neck hair, beards typically look pretty caveman-like.^{[7]
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2
Adjust your beard trimmer to fit your beard. Use a standard electric beard trimmer or hair clippers for shorter beards or the first few months of beard growth. Try a more hefty hair trimmer to make your beard look thicker. If you have some stubble, practice with the trimmer before you shave, to get a feel for how it works, and which guards are most appropriate for you.^{[8]
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Expert Source

Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 22 January 2020.}
- Start with the longest clipper setting first. You can always take more off if you wish, but can't put it back on once it's been cut.
- While it's possible to trim longer beards neatly with a pair of hairdressing scissors, it's very difficult to keep a beard orderly without an electric trimmer or regular hair clippers. Both work effectively; the difference is typically the size of the guards and of the clipper itself.
3
Choose a beard style that fits your face shape. There are many ways to style and shape your beard, but a lot of the choice will depend on your face, and your personal sense of style. Most experts say, if you have full cheeks, plan on keeping it shorter on the sides. If you have a narrow face, you can keep some length to fill it out. But it’s your call at the end of the day, so if it looks good to you, go for it!
- Decide on a cheek line (how high your beard will go on your cheeks). Most people leave this section to natural growth, but if it seems to be creeping up to your cheekbones, trim the upper section.
4
Use tapered settings on your trimmer, if possible. On most trimmers, you can use a tapered setting, which will allow you to trim the beard in even strokes, tapering it down to your neck as you go, without having to change the height of the trimmer itself. You can taper the cheeks, the neck and the chin, if you desire, for a nice, clean look.
- If your haircut is faded too, you can taper your beard to create a smooth transition down your cheeks.^{[9]
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5
Consider less usual beard shapes. If you want to go with a more complicated beard style, there are lots of options available for you to style. Try any of the following beard styles when [[Shape-a-Beard|shaping your beard]:
- Goatees involve trimming off the cheeks, leaving your chin beard and your mustache.
- Pencil-line beards involve leaving only a thin line of beard along your jawline, connecting to your mustache. This typically looks best with very short hair, or a bald look.
- Pharaoh beards typically involve shaving everything but the chin, and growing out the chin, sometimes braiding or beading the beard as it grows.
- Wizard beards, or American Civil War-type throwback beards will take some time to cultivate. They essentially involve growing the beard out as long as possible, but still trimming the neck periodically, as well as the mustache, so it gets out of the way of your lip.^{[10]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Caring for a Beard

1
Clean your beard before you trim it with a moisturizing shampoo. Your beard needs to be clean before you shave, so your hairs are softened and untangled for an even trim. Before shaving, wash your beard in the shower with warm water and soap (and a moisturizing conditioner if it feels especially dry).
- You can use a hair shampoo or a special beard shampoo, depending upon how your skin reacts, but it's normal for most guys to just use the same soap they use on their faces in the shower.
- People with longer beards may prefer a special shampoo, such as Bluebeard's brand. It leaves less residue than facial washes and some shampoos.
2
Comb your beard regularly. Comb your beard downward, with the grain, to make sure it lays nice and flat against your face. This is also a good way of seeing whether or not it needs a trim. Most trimmers will come with beard combs, but you can also use the same variety of brush or comb you might use on your hair.
- Sometimes beards are called "flavor savers" for a reason. It’s possible to get food, lint, and other junk stuck in your beard if it grows especially long. Comb it regularly to keep it from becoming a bird's nest.
3
Moisturize daily. If you have sensitive skin, try several moisturizers before you start growing your beard. Continue moisturizing your beard follicles and your face after you grow a beard, to keep your skin healthy underneath. A healthy beard needs a healthy base from which to grow.
- Lubriderm and other lotion brands are perfectly fine for using on your face and making sure your skin doesn't dry out.
4
Try "beard lube" to combat itchiness or dryness. There are a variety of beard oils on the market, which can be combed into clean beards to keep them looking shiny, moisturized, and clean. Use a small dab of beard oil to lubricate your comb. Then, comb through your beard as you would normally, making sure the oil is distributed evenly throughout your facial hair.^{[11]
X
Expert Source

Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber
Expert Interview. 22 January 2020.} It can be a desirable look, and it may give relief to men with sensitive skin who suffer from itchiness.
- Coconut oil is excellent for the hair and makes for a perfectly natural substitute if you don’t want to add more chemicals to your beard.

Expert Q&A
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Question

Can everyone grow a beard?

Marlon Rivas
Facial Hair Specialist
Marlon Rivas is a Barber and Owner of MGX Professional Men's Grooming, a barbershop based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is also the founder of Busystyle.com, a service that provides online scheduling services to businesses in the barbering and beauty industry. Marlon has over 15 years of experience in managing and providing barber services.

Marlon Rivas

Facial Hair Specialist

Expert Answer

Support wikiHow by unlocking this expert answer.

Two of the most important factors for beard growth are genetics and the shape of your face, neither of which you can control. Instead of trying to style your facial hair from what you see on other people, let yours grow out naturally to see how it looks, and then style it from there.
Question

How do I change the direction of my beard growth?

wikiHow Staff Editor
Staff Answer
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Unfortunately, the direction your beard grows is determined by genetics. It can't be altered, but that's okay. Instead of trying to change it, shave and style your beard so it compliments your face to the best of your ability. It'll still look cool!
Question

My beard grows really fast on the right side of my face, but on the left side it grows very slowly and comes in patchy. What can I do to change this?

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It's normal for facial hair to grow in uneven like this. Shave regularly and maintain a healthy diet to help promote hair growth on the left side of your face.