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Beard it like Beckham
Get the Becks appeal... and learn which of his styles to avoid!
OK, so we all know that David Beckham is a great-looking guy. Whether he’s sitting with his kids at a basketball game, or showing his stuff on a Times Square billboard, it’s hard for any guy to ignore his influence. Always one to push the fashion envelope a little (think black sarong) or causing controversy (see WTF beard below) he’s still giving us men room for thought.
He’s also never been afraid to sport a few beard shapes and sizes over the years, which has only ever added to his masculine style appeal. Never mind that there have been a few misses over the years… generally Becks has it all down in the facial hair department too.
Lets go over a few of David’s bearded moments and see how you too can get the look.
Firstly, like all of us, you can only work with what you have. David has a rather unusual natural beard growth, in that his mustache does not join up with the rest of his beard on his cheeks or around his mouth. Therefore it would be impossible for him to grow a handlebar moustache or full goatee. Also, he has a medium thickness and density of growth that is at least a shade darker than his actual hair color.
Designer Stubble
Using his trimmer on the clipper setting, David has groomed his whiskers to a 1 mm length all over, while keeping the cheek and neck area cleaner by shaving wet to the skin. This gives the beard shape, especially around the jawline, to create a slimming shadow. Shaving the neck gives him more definition and accent around the chin area.
Itch factor: zero.
The Van Dyke
This is a very 'debonair' look (think the Three Musketeers) and one of my favorites for guys who have no growth on the cheeks. While shaving very close to the skin, Becks has removed all the hair on his cheeks and neck (easy if you have no growth there) leaving only the mustache, sideburns and chin untouched.
He has than shaped the moustache around the corners of his mouth, creating a little space between the top of his upper lip, and finely angled the trimmer under his bottom lip to leave a thin strip that follows the contour of his growth to where it meets his chin.
Itch factor: minimal.
The WTF?! Beard
Becks doesn't often get it wrong, but let me count the ways right here...
I actually don't mind the beard itself, or the fact that it is really quite dark and bushy. What really troubles me is that he failed to trim it under his neck, therefore creating no contour or shadow to define and separate his jaw from his neck. He has ended up looking like Bleaker from the Muppets! His neck, chin and jaw line have all become one, giving him a long-faced appearance by adding some puffed-up hair on the top, only to make it worse. Considering his track record, I cannot even begin to imagine what he was thinking here.
As for the itch factor… let's not even go there!
