How to Deal with Patchy Facial Hair

Posted on 30th December 201630th December 2016 by rbdadmin

According to an article from the Oxford University Press, beards were once a sign of dominance and power amongst the earliest male humans. Darwin theorised that beards evolved amongst our human ancestors as a way of impressing women; a sign of masculinity and virility. Additionally, there is evidence that people judge bearded men to be older and of a higher social status.

The longer and bushier the beard, the more virile and impressive the male — or at least that’s how it used to be. Now, however, beards are largely cosmetic features, and they come in many different shapes and sizes.

. Unfortunately, not every man can achieve thick, consistent beard growth. There’s no need to worry if your patchy beard is hampering your efforts at grooming, as here we provide some tackle the problem.

1. Create a flattering jawline with careful grooming

You can take the emphasis away from the patchiness in your beard by giving real definition to your jawline. Taper your beard from short at the top of your neck to long at the chin. However, it’s important to make sure the edge of your beard sits just below your actual jawbone. Also, shave a curve around your Adam’s apple, which should help to narrow your face.

2. Create a contrast with your head hair

If you suffer from patchiness in your beard, the worst thing you can do is try to blend it with your hair. If you have a full head of hair, this will simply draw more attention to the gaps in your beard. Instead, create a hairstyle that is in complete contrast to your beard. A thick and voluminous head of hair along with a short, well maintained beard should provide balance — and detract from patchiness of your facial hair.

3. Create highly defined lines

Invest in a pair of clippers, and trim your beard at the sideburns and around the neck first, as these areas usually have the longest growth. Once you’re happy that your beard is as consistent as it can be, use a quality razor to create a defined shape with clean lines. Keeping your beard perfectly groomed with stark lines will distract the eye from any patchiness you have.

4. Keep everything short

Going for an unkempt look means you don’t have to worry too much about patchiness — so long as you keep all of your beard short. Something just a little longer than stubble should be perfect. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out some recent photos of Keanu Reeves.

5. Keep it long and well groomed

The longer your beard is, the more scope there is to cover up gaps in growth. However, in order to pull this off, you will need to keep your beard well groomed. Why not fluff your beard up… this could be several times a day, depending on how bushy you want it to look!

6. Look after the health of your beard

Brittle and wiry hair will only exacerbate any patchiness you have, so keeping your beard hair in great condition is essential. To improve and maintain the health of your facial hair, apply an alcohol-free beard oil to keep it moisturised. There are some excellent beard balms on the market that can make longer beards more manageable.

We’d also suggest regularly washing your beard to keep it as clean and fresh as possible!

7. Just go with it

You might need to face the fact that you will never be able to grow the beard you want. And that’s fine! After all, there’s nothing wrong with being clean shaven. But before you shave the lot off, have some fun with goatees, stubble and various shorter styles of beard — you might be surprised at what you can achieve with a quality razor.

Find the look that works for you, and maintain it every day with a good razor, clippers and the hair products that work for you.