Male Facial Hair Styles (2)
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The Soul Patch (or Small Beard): The Soul Patch is most readily identified as a style popular among the beatniks and jazz artists of the 1950s and 1960s. In earlier periods, the soul patch was called a "small beard" for obvious reasons.
The Handlebar Moustache: This is one of only two moustache styles chosen to include here. Moustaches as a whole are simply variations on a theme, styled and trimmed full or thin.
The handlebar moustache is characterized by the fact that it must be worn long enough to curl the ends of the moustache upward. This is usually achieved and maintained through the use of specialized styling wax. Modern moustache styles tend to be close-trimmed and worn thin.
The Fu Manchu: The other moustache style included here is the Fu Manchu. The name is not politically correct, but comes from a popular film from the late 1960s called "The Many Lives of Dr. Fu Manchu".
The Fu Manchu is characterized by its position over the lip and extension down each side of the mouth to the jaw. Modern variants have seen the style rounded and square, and trimmed into different shapes at the bottom.
Mutton Chops: I mentioned that men's facial hair could be categorized by the areas of the face it covers. One style of facial hair that is often overlooked as being facial hair are sideburns. In the 1970s, the Mutton Chop style of sideburns was popularized by Elvis Presley, although it has been seen throughout history.
Mutton chop sideburns are characterized by being grown in wide swaths down the sides of the face and ending usually at the curve of the jaw, although they can be worn as far down as to almost touch the corners of the mouth. Modern mutton chops are usually closely trimmed and kept thin.
Friendly Mutton Chops: This style takes mutton chops and combines them with the moustache to create one continuous line of facial hair.
Traditionally, the style was worn with a wide, full swath of facial hair, but today it is seen more closely-trimmed and thin, although the line can often follow varied patterns as it makes its way across the face.
The Full Beard: The Full Beard facial hair style is characterized by its coverage of all three basic areas of the face - upper lip, chin, and sides. The full beard typically is only minimally groomed at the neck area, at the lip line, and along the cheeks.
However, fully-bearded men sometimes prefer to grow the beard hair long, and style it into any number of shapes, from tapered points to rounded and bushy swells of hair. Current trends in full-beard styles are closely trimmed and often groomed with hard angles or patterns to accentuate the face.
If you are considering growing facial hair, or making a change in your facial hair, there are a wide array of websites devoted to men's facial hair styles. Take a look at what styles other men with similar facial structures have chosen and what they look like. And if you are concerned about being able to achieve the look yourself, consult your hairstylist. Most stylists will enjoy the chance to help you create the look you want.
©Hairfinder.com
See also:
Beards and moustaches Q&A
The best beard for your face shape
The benefits of growing a moustache
