Beard styles for a square face

Two directions

A square face has a jaw nearly as wide as the cheekbones, with a distinct corner below each ear and a broad chin. A beard can round those corners into a softer outline, or it can be cut with sharp lines that make the corners the point of the whole look.

Both work. What does not work is a beard with no shape at all, which hides the one feature worth showing, or a beard that adds width at the jaw corners on a face that is already wide there.

Beards that soften a square face

• Full beard, rounded at the chin and jaw. Grown to a medium length and shaped so the outline under the chin is a curve rather than a straight line or a point. This blurs the corners.
• Medium beard with a natural cheek line. Leave the cheek line where it grows rather than carving it high and straight; the softer edge reads as less angular.
• Longer chin length. A little extra length at the chin adds height to a face that is often as wide as it is long, which pushes it toward oval.

Beards that sharpen a square face

• Heavy stubble with a crisp cheek line and neck line. Shows the jaw exactly as it is, with a shadow that emphasises the angle.
• Short boxed beard, trimmed close and shaped with straight, clean lines. The most common choice for a square jaw.
• Chinstrap or a defined jawline beard, a thin line of hair tracing the jaw. This makes the corner as sharp as it can be. It reads as deliberate, so keep it precise.
• Goatee with a squared-off shape to echo the broad chin.

Cheek line and neck line

For softening: leave the cheek line natural and slightly high, and round the corners of the beard at the jaw. For sharpening: set the cheek line straight, from the sideburn toward the corner of the mouth, and keep it crisp.

The neck line is where square faces most often go wrong. Because the jaw is wide, a neck line set too low lets the beard spread under the jaw and adds width and bulk. Set it about a finger-width above the Adam's apple and follow the jaw's own line from behind each ear, so the beard stops where the jaw stops.

Length guide

For softening, a medium beard of a few centimetres with a rounded chin is the sweet spot; longer beards can start to look heavy on a wide jaw. For sharpening, anything from stubble to a short boxed beard, kept even and close. In both cases keep the sideburns tight; wide sideburns add width at the corner of the jaw.

Styles to avoid on a square face

• Mutton chops and any style with weight at the sides of the jaw.
• A very wide, flat-bottomed beard that squares off the chin even further, unless that is the look you are going for.
• A completely unshaped beard, which hides the jaw entirely.

Pairing with hair

A square face with a sharp beard pairs with sharp hair: a clean fade, a crew cut, a slicked-back style. A softened beard pairs with a little more length and texture on top. Avoid pairing a wide beard with wide hair at the sides, which broadens the whole lower face.

The face shape test reports the jaw angle; the tighter it is, the sharper the jaw and the more any of these lines will show.