Beard Styles in 2016

By Niall Roeder.

Many things separate us from apes, like our fine motor skills, sweet brains and the desire to groom our facial hair. I wonder, will apes one day evolve to spruce their own chin curtains? For their sake, I hope so. Because beards are more than just stubble. Men have been growing face bush for millennia because it’s a symbol of strength, wisdom, power and masculinity, and following the beard renaissance of the last decade, blokes don’t appear to be in a hurry to return to their clean-shaven ways.

To mark the launch of the new Braun Beard Trimmer Dial, we caught up with Kris Jones, one of our resident razors to discuss the top five beard styles for winter 2016. These are the types of beard a fella should employ… there’s a few grooming tips in there too.

The Victorian Full Beard

As the name would suggest, this is a thick, full beard that covers the upper lip and cheeks, with sideburns down the side of your face, all around your mouth, over your chin and completes a circle under your neck. The full beard first appeared during the Crimean war when the scarcity of shaving soap and cruel Crimean winters made it impossible to shave. When the war ended, and heroes returned with a full set of facial hair, people began associating the full beard with courage, integrity and honour.

The full beard has a tendency to look unruly so it is important to use a beard trimmer regularly to keep it looking neat.

A photo posted by Brock Elbank (@mrelbank) on Nov 29, 2015 at 12:03pm PST

The Tight Beard

This is also a full beard look but with a more professional mood. Whereas the full beard is typically an even length all over, the tight beard is usually trimmed a little shorter at the chin, while still covering the entire face. With the tight beard, you’ll also want to keep the hair on your cheeks trimmed short, whilst keeping the overall natural shape of your facial hair.

Set your Braun Beard Trimmer to a setting of 2-3 mm and work against the direction of your beard growth. The tight beard requires plenty of attention as you grow it. The hair should be kept short and the lines should be shaped tight. The result is a beard that gives your face both definition and character.

The Jaw Dropper

This popular looks is a modern twist on the traditional ‘Goatee’. Essentially, this features facial hair on the chin below the lower lip trimmed into a narrower style than its predecessor the Goatee. Goatees have been around for a while so this new version of an out-of-date look is set to be a big hit for 2016!

To achieve this looks, comb your beard downwards, set your Braun Beard Trimmer to 3-5mm and trim your beard and moustache area evenly all over. Using your beard trimmer without the comb, remove the rest of your moustache and beard, except for a small section underneath slightly wider than your mouth.

A photo posted by Brock Elbank (@mrelbank) on Feb 23, 2016 at 10:35pm PST

The Biker Beard

The biker beard is an icon of 20^th century biker culture and more recently made popular by Walter White in the TV series, ‘Breaking Bad.’ To create this look, use your Braun Beard Trimmer to keep your moustache looking sharp and then style the rest of the beard as you would for the Jaw Dropper look. This is a strong statement beard likely to turn head

To accessorise, get a motorbike.

The Five O’clock Shadow

This is the well-known look of stubble that darkens a man’s features in the afternoon, following a morning shave. This look has been sported by Hollywood celebs on red carpets for many decades and it works well if you can grow facial hair quickly. Why ‘five of the clock’? The ‘five o’clock shadow’ phrase was based on the 19th century upper-crust English habit of taking tea at five o’clock.

For your own designer stubble, set your Braun Beard Trimmer to 0.5 mm – 1 mm and there you have it.