Beard fades enhance your jawline, draw out your cheekbones, and give you that overall 'sharply groomed gentleman' polish. In this guide we'll explore how to beard fade, fading maintenance, and fade styles.
What is a Faded Beard?
A faded beard is one that graduates from fuller, longer hair around the jawline to a shorter gradient the closer the cut gets to your side burn and neckline regions. This modern beard style is popular as it naturally highlights the angular features of your face by removing distinct hairlines and softening them for a more refined, attractive look compared to other beard styles.
Types of faded beard
Low Fade Beard
A low faded beard style exposes both your upper and lower cheeks, with your facial hair only beginning to fade into full beard below your lower lip and few millimetres above your jawline. This clean, tidy look accentuates angular square jawlines and helps hide patchy facial hair.
High Fade Beard
By contrast, a high fade beard covers much more of your face and may start to taper offer in gradient along the underside of your cheek and above your lip line. A high faded beard is ideal for those with fuller hair growth and can add definition to rounder face shapes.
Skin Fade Beard
Perhaps the lowest maintenance of all beard fade styles in the skin fade beard. A well clipped skin fade beard blends seamlessly into skin fades around the crown of your head to give you that just-trimmed, athletic yet urbane appearance.
How to Fade Your Beard
You will need:
1 x Beard clipper with varying length guards
1 x Facial cleanser and exfoliator for washing (not soap)
1 x SPF moisturiser for skin
1 x Towel
1 x Beard comb and/or brush
1 x Beard oil or balm for conditioning
1. Preparing your beard for the fade
Wash your face and beard with skin friendly cleanser, massaging the product into your skin and beard. If you're prone to ingrown hairs, using an exfoliator may also be helpful to use as part of your daily routine to stop excess oil or bacteria build up. Rinse the cleanser off and pat your face and beard dry with a towel.
Detangle your beard with a comb, always brushing hairs downward.
Follow with SPF moisturiser on your face and beard oil for your facial hair area to avoid dry itchy skin or scratchy facial hair.
2. Choosing a fade style for your face shape
Before your prep a beard base, decide which beard fade style you're going to sculpt, keeping in mind what beard style suits your face shape (oval, triangular, heart shaped, diamond, rectangle or square).
3. Trimming your beard length and shaping up
Use your clippers to establish a base beard length to fade later.
To shape up, start with your neckline and use the clippers to connect a clear beard line that runs from just above your Adam's apple to your earlobes.
Above your chin, use the corners of your mouth and natural cheek line to create a distinct line that runs across your face to the beginning of your sideburns.
4. Using beard trimmers to create the fade
Change your beard trimmers to a shorter setting than you use on the rest of your beard, and begin by trimming an inch above your jawline.
As you ascend with your trimmers, shorten the trimmer setting and trim an inch towards your sideburns.
Repeat until the top of your sideburns fade seamlessly into the sides of your hairline.
5. Blending the fade into the rest of your beard
Use a high guard on your clippers and slowly switch to a lower length as you finish off blending the fade into the rest of your beard.
6. Cleaning up any stray hairs or uneven spots
Use some clear shaving gel and a sharp razor with skin guard to tidy up the edges of your beard fade. The Braun precision trimmer will work effortlessly for this; thanks to its extra small head, it can achieve sharp lines and shapes with ease.
Brush your freshly faded beard to remove cut hairs and spot any areas that may need touching up.
Tips for Maintaining a Faded Beard
A freshly faded beard is one of the most presentable ways to up your style, so how can you maintain that look? Generally, trimming your beard with short clippers every two days is a good goal to keep it looking smart, but it's best to adjust the timing to your own facial hair growth rate.
Don't leave the upkeep too long, as it'll be harder to achieve the look of your original faded beard shape up. You'll also want to regularly wash and comb your beard fade as part of your facial care routine for a sleek look. Apply beard oil or balm sparingly once you've brushed and dried it for a moisturised look.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Fading Your Beard
1. Not using the right tools
Always use beard clippers with adjustable length comb attachments, not scissors, to achieve that desired gradual fade. Using the wrong tools will hinder your progress when you try creating a desirable beard fade, and lead to you cutting too much hair rather than gently trimming it.
2. Underpreparing
A strikingly handsome beard fade requires the right preparation that you can build on and blend later. This includes beard washing, detangling facial hair downwards and drying your beard before you begin the big fade. Use your beard trimmer to establish an overall baseline hair length by cutting against the grain of your hair growth direction before creating a gradient. Once done, give your beard a final brush to remove stray hairs and give you clarity on what you have left to shape.
3. Lack of patience
Beard fads aren't everyone's bag, that's why barbers and Viking beards exist. If you're committing to a beard fade at home, have the patience to appreciate that manscaping your facial hair with slow steadiness now will pay off in a big way with a suave and smooth aesthetic later. A rushed beard fade may result in a less attractive look than you'd originally planned on.