Here are all the tips, tricks, and items that will make your beard more flattering, smoother, safer, and full. If you are a beard grower for the first time, or a game veteran for 20 years, there is still space for growth. (Figuratively, and literally) And even if you stick to a shorter format, these same rules are true.

1. Make a plan

It’s important to know which beard styles flatter your face shape before you decide to grow a beard – even if it’s short. The general rule of thumb is to allow any extremities to soften the beard, and to pull anything closer to a central, more oval position. Think about it this way: if you have a longer, more oblong face, with a long, narrow beard, you don’t want to magnify the truth. Visually, this will be the first thing everyone identify with. You should then expand your face and prepare for more full sides but trim things up under the nose. One can say the opposite for a big, square face. Smoothing the jaw under the chin with trimmed-up sides and a fuller layer.

2. Be patient

It is time that is the greatest barrier between you and a healthy beard. The beard that you can grow can be much bigger and fuller than you expect, simply because you haven’t grown it before the patchy first month. Beards are not reserved for A + stubble guys. Lucky for all of us, beard hairs are thick and scraggly growing out and after a while they fill in those gaps. So, keep on the road. Follow the next tip in those early weeks so that even in its shorter stages it looks like a established beard, and then you’ll wake up and realize you’ve crossed the threshold.

3. Shave the perimeter

4. Supplement your efforts

Unlike the hairs on your hands, it’s highly debated whether vitamins will help improve your face’s hair. And while they definitely won’t produce any new hairs, it’s a fair wager that vitamins will help thicken and soften already existing hairs, as well as make your beard grow faster. In this endeavor, Biotin is your best mate, who will also be helping top up.

5. Trim as it grows

You know how to shape and layer the hair as it grows out, to look halfway decent and prevent uncomfortable stages in between? The same is true of trimming a beard as it grows. However, it’s less about layering and more about form, and all of that plays into the perfect style and shape you like. You can’t expand it all to the same length. What’s more, the beard is scraggly and wiry, and certain hairs need to be tamed with a trimmer instead of being put into place.

6. Use a conditioning styler

The shortest step toward a smooth, itch-free beard is conditioner (and a burn-free one for your significant other). It can be used in the form of beard oils, balms, and creams. Massage either of these into your whiskers — early or fully grown — to keep the bristles clean and smooth. (This also allows for a more painless, reduced-friction shave when the time comes.) Best of all, most conditioners work as stylers, in that they tame flyaways and allow you to sculpt things into place.

7. Brush it out

This is especially important for you, guys with long beards: Brushing your beard at the end of each day will ensure its long haul safety and tame-ability, and also from one day to the next. This helps to disperse the natural oils contained in the skin, which otherwise accumulate at shaft base and only nourish each hair’s edge. You want to optimize your profits, nourish the whole thing to stop breakage, stress, and split starting. (And apply the aforementioned conditioning agents every morning after showering or shaving, which is when your natural oils are flushed away and need to be supplemented.) Brushing will help shape and carve your beard into place, but as an oil distributor, it is a little violent and more practical. Instead, count on a beard comb for any finishes in styling.

8. Pick a style (and try new ones)

You’ve already learned which beard shapes your face flatters, but now you can add a touch of complexity. You may become someone different or freshen a fatigued routine by choosing a beard style. Snipping the gap between the mustache and the chin is one of our favourites, thereby marooning the mustache. Alternatively, weigh one less than the other, with a more full moustache and a beard trimmer (alternatively vice versa). You have a lot of choices and it’s your right to flaunt it as a beard grower.