In my humble opinion, the most famous face to portray the ultra cool stubble beard is Jason Statham. Many celebrities like Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Johnny Depp, and others in Hollywood have turned everyday stubble into a fashionable beard style.
A Stubble Beard is a short, masculine, and trendy facial hair style created two ways. First, by letting a clean-shaven face grow out typically for several days (AKA 3-day beard). Second, using an electric beard trimmer with a low number guard to shave down to stubble.
To recreate this look, we’ve prepared a step-by-step guide on how to trim your beard and mustache hair so you get the perfect stubble every time.
What is a Stubble Beard neckline?
The stubble beard neckline is the defined borderline separating the neck and beard. This delineation marks where your shaved neck ends and facial hair begins.
Without proper grooming, the neck will develop stubble and look unkept. The neckline border will be lost, fading the beard and neck stubble together.
How to Grow the Best Stubble Beard Style
While you can probably grow a beard to a heavy stubble length easily, you’ll need a few tricks and tools to maintain your beard’s length and keep it trim.
1. Pick Your Style
There are long and short stubble looks. We’ve found a few different styles currently popular.
A stubble beard is a quick way to help a baby face look older.
2. Prepare Your Stubble Routine
Here’s a typical list of items needed to maintain your stubble as your facial hair grows:
- Beard trimmer or electric shaver
- Multiple guard lengths, if fading your stubble beard
- Barber shears
- Beard oil or beard balm to prevent beard itch
The first thing that you’ll need is an electric trimmer or razor. Men grow hair at different rates. Some will have longer facial hair requiring a trimmer with a guard to shave down the hair length to light stubble.
Master Beard Trimming
Beard trimmers are perfect for hair that isn’t as thick and may not grow quickly. These trimmers come with a variety of guard lengths, including low guards from 0.5 mm to 2 mm, while others have longer guards.
You may also use barber shears to trim whiskers away and keep stubble hair growth short.
If your stubble grows fast enough to create a full beard swiftly, electric shavers and trimmers are a good investment. Electric shavers also make it easier to get a close shave on your beard neckline and cheeks.
3. Define Your Optimal Length and Neckline
This goes back to choosing your style, but you also want to account for how fast your hair grows. Some men have a five o’clock shadow every day if they don’t clean shave.
If you like short stubble that creates this shadow look, you can use a beard trimmer with different guard lengths and try various lengths to see which stubble length suits your face shape.
The good thing about stubble beards is that if you cut it too short, you can grow it back within a matter of days.
Knowing the length is important for picking your guard. If you want a medium stubble beard, you should likely go with a guard of 2 or 3 mm. If shaving before bed, you may want to use a 1.5 mm so that you don’t have to shave it again in the morning.
4. Style Your Stubble Beard
While you can simply shave down your entire beard and mustache, many men only have stubble in certain areas and allow hair to grow longer around their chin and upper lip. For example, a longer mustache with thick hair often goes well with a longer stubble beard.
Other men use the stubble to shape their chin, jaw, and neckline. You can highlight certain features by fading facial hair in your cheeks or sideburns while keeping the stubble longer on your chin.
You may want to add a soul patch or grow out your upper lip hair for a unique mustache style.
One of the best ways to line and edge your stubble beard is to use a beard guide or beard shaping tool. This is the difference between a shadow stubble beard and a purposeful stubble look.
5. Trim Your Neckline and Borders
Now that you’ve gotten the length you want, you also want to consider shaping your neckline and beard border lines around your cheeks and jaw. When you trim your neckline, you’ll create a definitive line between clean-shaven and stubble.
If you don’t want such a stark contrast, you can always fade your neckline using different beard trimmer guard lengths.
Define Symmetry
The traditional stopping point is about a half-inch to an inch above your Adam’s Apple. This can help you avoid a neck beard, which sometimes naturally occur if you don’t trim your neckline every day.
Our guide to beard necklines can help you with more trimming techniques and help with defining your face shape.
6. Keep Your Stubble Healthy
Even short stubble beards need some love and attention. Many men don’t like the heavier scruffy beard length and shave it to stubble because of the itch and irritation. In other cases, your whiskers may be too stiff and scratchy.
Use Good Products
Beard oil is the best way to moisturize your hair and skin. This gets rid of beard itch and offers a remedy for beard dandruff, which can occur from dry skin. Oils quickly absorb into your skin and feed your hair follicles, creating softer strands.
When applying a beard oil, you want to make sure you’ve washed and dried your beard first. If you’re using any other moisturizers such as balms or styling creams, then you should apply the beard oil first.
If you find that your stubble is still scratchy and rough or if your partner complains of beard burn after kissing, then you may want to grow out your stubble another inch.
