It’s no secret that we all look different. Men have different shaped faces, different colored skin, and different features in general which make us all stand out like snowflakes. The different features that we have are all great, but we are here to talk about beards, some of which work for some people and others that don’t.
If you happen to be a black man, have always wanted a beard, but weren’t sure which one to get, this article might just be of some help. We are here to talk about a bunch of different beard styles that are fantastic for black guys and darker skinned people in general, 19 of them to be exact.
Let’s get to it and help you find a facial hair style that will make your face pop and that will work with your natural facial features to bring your beard, your face, and your life to a whole new level.
1 – 5 O’clock Shadow
The 5 o’clock shadow is a type of beard that works well for all types of faces. Sometimes known as the three day beard, this style is easily accomplished through some simply shaving and more or less entails having some stubble. Contrary to popular belief the 5 o’clock shadow does need some maintenance because it does involve having clean shaven cheeks and a shaved neck.
The rest of the 5 o’clock shadow, the chin, chops, and mustache need to be shaved every 3 or 4 days to keep this style from growing into something else. If you want this short style to stand out a little more you can always use some beard oil to make it sleek and shiny.
2 – The Mustache
The mustache has been a staple of male facial hair for a very long time and it is particularly suited to black males. This style involves shaving your whole face on a daily basis, everything except for the mustache or hair above your lips of course.
You can choose to have a smaller and less bushy mustache which is ideal for small and thin faces or you can choose to have it a little fuller and longer which is ideal for rounder and thicker faces.
Depending on how long you want it to be the mustache itself doesn’t require too much maintenance except for an occasional trim. That being said if you want it to look great you will need to shave the rest of your face ever day or else the mustache won’t stand out as much.
3 – The Short Beard
This beard is much like the 5 o’clock shadow style however it takes slightly less work to maintain. This style is suitable for all black men and can add some great character to your face.
This style involves not shaving for about a week, depending on how fast your hair grows, and the hair should be left at about a quarter inch long. The short beard is slightly longer than the 5 o’clock shadow, but still isn’t a full beard either. Also unlike the 5 o’clock shadow there is no need to shave the neck or cheeks, plus it looks a little more symmetrical as well.
4 – The Goatee
This beard style has become very popular with men of different ethnic backgrounds, but due to its look it is especially suited for darker skinned males. The Goatee of course gets its name from that little beard that goats have and on men it should usually be kept under 1 inch long.
The Goatee requires a fair bit of maintenance as it involves shaving the mustache, cheeks, sideburns, neck, and the bottom of the chin every day. The only hair that is kept is that on the front of the chin. It’s a good style for wider faces because it serves to add some length to your face.
5 – The Full Beard
The full beard is a great style for any black man because it adds some great character to any face, plus it adds some volume too, making the face look a little bigger. Nowadays it is often termed as the hipster beard because it involves simply not shaving your beard and letting it grow as long as you want without trimming any part of it.
You can choose how long you want it to be and that is all up to you so that is definitely a bonus. The full beard works great for anyone who can grow a really thick bush of hair in a quick amount of time and it’s fantastic because besides trimming it every now and then it really doesn’t require any maintenance.
6 – The French Beard
This style is great for black males and even better for men with slightly round faces. This style has been made popular by a variety of celebrities and has become a staple of male facial hair everywhere. Like the goatee this style involves keeping the hair on the front of the chin, yet it also involves keeping a strip of hair on each side of the mouth as well as the mustache.
It does require a fair amount of maintenance because the whole thing needs to be trimmed to about a quarter inch long every few days and the cheeks, sideburns, neck, and the bottom of the chin need to be clean shaven every day.
7 – The Soul Patch
This is a very simple beard style and it involves having just a little patch of hair between your bottom lip and your chin. This style is centered in the middle and is about a quarter inch wide at its biggest.
It’s a great style for black men because the soul patch lets you have some facial hair while also appearing to be clean shaven. Once again this style does require a fair amount of maintenance because the whole face needs to be shaved on a daily basis except for that little patch.
8 – The Extended French Beard
The extended French beard is very similar to the normal French beard, but it also involves having somewhat of a chin strap. This style needs to be trimmed very short to look good, anywhere under a fifth of an inch will do.
The extended French beard needs to be trimmed on a daily basis to keep its definition and the look is pretty much the same as the French beard except it also has thin chin straps that run along the jaw line up to the ears. This style is only recommended for advanced groomers because it needs to be kept straight and even for it to look good.
9 – The Ducktail
This is a great beard style for black men because it works really well with curly hair. This is a semi short beard style with the hair kept at about half an inch long at the most. The ducktail beard style is slightly longer than the short beard we talked about before, the only difference being that it combines the short beard with an extended goatee.
In other words this beard style combines a short beard with a half inch to inch long goatee, thus giving it the ducktail look. This is a great beard style because it doesn’t require too much maintenance. Simply trim the short beard every few days while leaving the goatee part of it a little longer and trimming it less often to give it that extended look.
10 – The Van Dyke
This beard style is great and especially suited for black men that have a little bit of curly hair on their head. This style involves having a straight sculpted goatee that is roughly an inch long and that comes to a point at the bottom.
This is combined with a sculpted soul patch that is somewhat like an hourglass in shape. The Van Dyke also involves having a shortly trimmed mustache which is not connected to the rest of your facial hair. This beard style needs quite a bit of maintenance because the cheeks, neck, sideburns, and the sides of the mouth require daily shaving.
11 – Chin Curtain With Mustache
This style is becoming increasingly popular with long black men due to its hip yet professional look. The chin curtain with a moustache is much like the extended French beard, the only difference being that the chin strap which connects to the chin and mustache hair is slightly wider, plus the beard itself is also slightly longer than the extended French beard.
While the extended French beard is kept at under a fifth of an inch long, the chin curtain with mustache involves having facial hair that is up to half an inch in length, but the mustache is kept a little shorter than the rest of it. This style is suited for medium sized faces.
12 – The Chin Strap
The chin strap is a great look for some black men, especially those that have a slightly wider face. It’s a cool beard because all that it consists of is having a thin strap of facial hair along the top of the jaw line that runs from ear to ear.
There is no other facial hair involved other than the chin strap which means that it requires a fair amount of maintenance. Everything except for the strap needs to be shaved on a daily basis to keep it looking fresh. Also it needs to be done with a precision groomer in order to keep the contours well rounded and defined.
13 – Mutton Chops
Mutton chops are a really old style of facial hair, but they are quickly making a comeback, especially for black men that have curly beard hair. Mutton chops are sideburns that get slightly wider as the run down the jaw line.
They are perfectly sculpted and are slightly square in shape, thus requiring a fair amount of maintenance to keep the looking proper. Mutton chops are usually kept anywhere from one fifth to one half inch in length. This style is great because it adds a lot of character to your face, as well it can be a solo beard style or it can be combined with other styles such as the goatee.
14 – The Anchor Beard
This is a great beard style for black men with lighter to medium dark skin and works well for slightly wider faces. Simply put imagine a boat anchor upside down on a man’s face; it looks pretty neat. This style involves having an extended French beard with the chin strap that runs to the ears. The hair under the mouth features a half inch wide soul patch that connects to a wide and shortly trimmed goatee.
The only real difference between this style and the extended French beard is that the anchor bear features a short trimmed mustache that extends down over the side of the mouth and doesn’t touch the hair under the mouth, with about half an inch of clean shaven space between the mustache on the side of the mouth and the goatee/chin strap part underneath.
15 – The Pencil Beard
As the name implies this beard involves having a very thin strip of hair that runs along the law line just like a chin strap, but it also features a thin pencil thick line that forms a mustache which connects to the chin strap at the side of the chin.
This beard style is great for black males that have defined features such as big cheek and jaw bones because it allows you to have a beard while still showing off your face.
This is one of the harder beard styles to maintain because it requires you to shave your neck, cheeks, and parts of your chin, while making sure not to remove the thin pencil line of facial hair that you are aiming for. You will need a precision grooming tool to do this as well.
16 – The Pencil Mustache
Much like the pencil beard this facial hair style involves having a very thin pencil line of a mustache. This style requires quite a bit of maintenance because it involves shaving your face clean on a daily basis.
The pencil mustache is kept very thin and short and it can also be mixed with something like a soul patch. It’s a great style for black men who want a little bit of facial hair and upper lip definition without having a full face of hair.
17 – Friendly Mutton Chops
This style is very similar to the mutton chop beard style that we talked about before. This style is great for black men because the curly hair in the chops add some great width to the face, making it a good style for men with narrower faces.
Unlike plain mutton chops, the friendly chops also feature a thin pencil mustache, as well a short to medium length goatee is also included in this style, however that is optional.
This style takes a medium amount of work to keep it looking great and all you need to do is to shave below the neckline, at the sides of the mouth, the soul patch area, and the goatee area (depending on if you want to include the goatee or not).
18 – The Verdi Beard
The Verdi Beard is a variation of the full beard and it is great for any black man that wants a full face of facial hair, but wants to keep a certain level of style. This style may be considered slightly hip or a hipster beard because the main difference between it and the full beard is that the moustache is not connected to the rest of the facial hair.
Moreover the mustache is perfectly groomed with the sides of it being fairly long and slightly twisted in a light French mustache style. The Verdi should be kept at a medium length, that being an inch and a half at the most. This style doesn’t require too much work except an occasional beard trim and maybe some wax or holding gel to keep the mustache styled properly.
19 – The Chin Puff
This style is great for black men who have slightly wider faces because it serves to add some length to it. The chin puff is much like the goatee combined with a very wide soul patch.
It is pretty much a goatee that is as wide as your mouth and starts at the lower lip and ends about half an inch into the underside of the chin. The chin puff doesn’t require much maintenance in the long run. Simply trim it to the length that you want and shave the rest of your face on a regular basis.
Different Styles For Different Shaped Faces
Keeping all of the above 19 best beard styles for black men in mind, also remember that different types of beards are better for different shaped faces while others are not so suitable. Let’s quickly go over the basic facial types and which beards are more suitable for them.
- A longer Face
For a longer face you are going to want to choose something that doesn’t make your face look even longer. Therefore long goatees and full narrow beards might not be the way to go. A better choice of beard if you have a narrower face might be something like mutton chops, a short beard like a 5 o’clock shadow, or an extended French beard.
- An Oval Face
If you have an oval shaped face you are in luck because you have the liberty of being able to sport most types of beards and making them work. If you have an oval face that means it isn’t too long or wide to make any particular beard overextend your facial features and make you look awkward.
- A Round Face
If you have a really round face the trick is to not sport a beard such as mutton chops or a big mustache because that will make your face look even wider. If your face is pretty wide you want to wear something like a goatee or a longer well kept beard. The longer the facial hair the less wide your face will look in relation.
- A Square Face
If you have a square face what you want to do to look great is to sport a beard like a goatee or a mustache because that will hide the angles a little and give your face a rounder look. Keep in mind to keep the hair short, under half an inch or so.
Conclusion
If you are black or darker skinned and feel you like having an awesome beard, but don’t know which style you should get you can always try out several or even all of the ones we’ve talked about above.
Finding the right beard style for you may take a little trial and error, keeping our advice on facial shapes in mind, just remember to consider your own facial features and then go from there. We hope that our little article on the 19 most awesome beard styles for black men has been of help to you.
If you are looking for further facial hair styles, then look now further than balding beards impressive guide.
If you have any questions to ask, comments to leave, or even any beard styles that you think are great which we have forgotten, feel free to leave us a comment in the section below.
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