Beards are all over!
No…
Not literally. I mean, men sporting stylish beards, women going crazy over some, right?
I don’t need to spell it out, but, c’mon, you know what I mean. 😉
Now, to get the best black men's beard styles, let’s look at a few designs and evaluate them against men’s facial features and wardrobe.
You’ll come across versatile styles like the full beard from which you can sculpture most of the other designs. If you want a distinct style, the goatee has the most variations, and it stands out for its lone tuft of hair on the chin.
To get you started, below are popular designs among African American men and celebrities with such styles so you can look them up and show your beard stylist.
Black Men Beard Styles for 2024
If you’re not in the beard gang already, it’s not too late because a beard grows about ½ an inch a month depending on factors like lifestyle and genetics.
1. The Full Beard
The full beard is a classic beard style, and it grows from the sideburns to the jawline, over the mouth, and sometimes covers the upper part of the neck.
Full beard styles include the Garibaldi full beard, named after an Italian military general called Giuseppe Garibaldi. It’s almost similar to the Bandholz full beard, which conceals the mouth slightly.
Two famous African Americans who flaunt a full beard are Rick Ross and DJ Khaled.
2. The Short Beard
A short beard is one of the beard styles black men love because it’s easier to style as the facial hair is one to two inches long, unlike the length of a full beard.
If you're in the corporate world, this style is suitable because it covers the jawline proportionately without extending beyond the chin like a goatee.
3. The Goatee
So many variations of goatee styles are common among African American men.
One such design is an anchor goatee that extends from the chin towards the jawline forming the shape of an anchor.
Other goatee beard designs are the chin goatee - a standalone hair tuft on the chin, the untrimmed goatee with outgrown sideburns and mustache, and the soul patch goatee that has a circle beard and a soul patch.
You can grow a circular beard into a goatee by trimming the mustache and letting the hair on the chin grow longer. Alternatively, trim a full beard or a ducktail beard along the cheeks to leave longer hair on the chin.
A goatee broadens the chin, so it’s a preferred style for men with a heart or a diamond-shaped face or for men whose hair grows in patches on the cheeks. African American celebrities with this style include Derek Luke, Tobiah Rocker, and Djimon Hounsou.
4. The Circular Beard
The circle beard is one of the few neat styles for black men’s beards, and it consists of a thin mustache connected to the chin hair forming a circle around the mouth.
For celebrities who’ve had a circle beard, we are talking about the likes of The Rock and Will Smith.
5. The Five O'clock Shadow
When you don’t want a clean shave or a short beard, go for the five o’clock shadow style. It’s a better style for a face with even hair growth instead of one with patches of hair.
More so, this is a low maintenance style, so you can let the hair grow for about three days before trimming it.
If you're considering a full beard, a five o'clock shadow mimics its shape to show you how high a full beard will cover your cheeks and mouth. Drake, the rapper, had a five o’clock shadow beard before he grew his mane.
6. The Chinstrap
For this beard style, the sideburns connect at the chin, and professional sculpturing along the cheek lines keeps this strip only an inch or so from the jawline.
The chinstrap differs from a chin curtain (Shenandoah) in that the latter covers the whole chin, and its facial hair is longer than the strip of a chinstrap.
50 Cent and Ice Cube are two African Americans who’ve shown us how to maintain a chinstrap beard.
7. The Bald Man Beard
The bald man beard is not necessarily for men who’ve gone bald naturally, as a man can choose to shave his head but keep his beard.
A difference between the hipster beard and the bald man beard is that the former has a faded area between the hair on the head and the full beard.
A baldhead portrays a sense of meticulous grooming, which is very different from the look of a man who has grown both his head and beard hair wild like a hipster.
To customize the bald man beard to your short facial hair, maintain a baldhead alongside a circle beard or a chin goatee. A bald black man celebrity who rocks this type of beard style is Cellis Mosby.
8. The Ducktail
Geraud Singh’s ducktail beard will inspire you to grow your facial hair in this style. He features a thick strip of hair on the cheeks, a mustache, and a soul patch under the lip. On the chin, the length is longer so that it sticks out like a duck’s tail.
This style needs a full beard, and the hair on the chin should have a considerable length to curl forward. The ducktail beard may appear unkempt because of the soul patch and its rough edges.
James Harden is another famous face that rocks a ducktail beard style.
9. Mutton Chops
The two strips of facial hair on either side of the face grow from the earlobes to the jawline resembling mutton chops, so this style is just overgrown sideburns.
To try this design, once your sideburns grow thick from ear to ear, shave the mustache, and trim the chin area so that the cheeks have a fuller chinstrap.
10. The Pencil Beard
The corners on the jawline and mustache are sharp, unlike the round edges of the circle beard.
This style is one of the minimalist designs for black men’s beards, and when the hair on the jawline grows long, a pencil beard turns into a chinstrap.
One African American celebrity we’ve seen with a pencil beard for the longest time is Morris Chestnut.
11. The Bushy Beard
A bushy beard forms when your facial hair covers your cheeks and your jawline, and this sometimes turns into a mass of thick, curly hair.
It’s a mature style compared to the short beard, and Idris Elba is one of the celebrities we’ve seen with this style even though his beard wasn’t very thick.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Can I Know Which Beard Style Fits Me?
The Shape of Your Face
Some beard styles for black men, such as the full beard, suit any face shape but other designs are suitable for a particular face.
For example, if you have an oval face, your style should leave a squared edge and clean cheek lines, but if yours is a square shape, it needs a style that flatters the square jawline by making the chin appear round.
James Harden is another celebrity who can motivate you to try several looks before finding the one you like because he had a light mustache with an almost inconspicuous goatee before it grew into a pencil beard and matured into a chin curtain beard.
Also, adding the best beard dye for black men facial features will add more style.
Your Hair Type & Density
Does your beard grow straight and thick, curly, wavy, or patchy?
Additionally note simple face features such as the area with the most hair, be it your chin, sideburns, cheeks, or mustache.
Your Occupation
Another factor that should guide your choice is your occupation since some styles, like the full beard, are not very popular in corporate circles.
A chef would also shy away from a full beard or goatee and prefer a pencil beard.
What's The Best Way To Maintain A Goatee?
Trim the edges of your goatee regularly so that it stays neat and grows long. For a thick foundation for the goatee, grow the hair for about a week or longer if your facial hair is thin.
This growth will help you shape the goatee whether you want an anchor with a goatee or a tuft of hair on the chin and no mustache.
When using the best beard trimmer for black man, start from the cheeks and work towards the chin. Wash your beard with shampoo and a conditioner to maintain adequate moisture content on the chin. Additionally, comb it to remove food particles and untangle the tuft of hair. You may also use the best African American beard straightener for maintenance.
Learn the techniques of grooming a goatee at home from this video:
Is It Hard To Manage A Full Beard?
No, it's not! A full beard is manageable using three daily steps - washing, conditioning, and combing. Shape it from the bottom and work towards the cheek lines for an even beard.
Be wary of beard balms as they leave residue; instead, use the beard oil to moisturize and hydrate hair follicles.
Some full beard variations require minimal to no trimming for the first six months to gain volume, which may have you looking worse than a hermit if your hair grows fast.
Conclusion
In summary, when you grow a full beard, you reach the climax of the growth process, so you can either cut it or grow it longer onto your chest. For that reason, discover and attempt new styles as your beard grows from a pencil beard into a short beard.
The pencil beard is the ultimate design if you like a simple but distinct growth around your mouth. On the other hand, a five o’clock shadow design lets you live like it’s a NO Shave November every day with a hair trim twice a week.
