From the chunky lumber-sexual offering to finely honed goatees, facial hair is now as important as your haircut and every inch an extension of your personal style.

And much like your haircut, care must be taken in its treatment. From choosing the right style to maintenance and aftercare, let us guide you through the prickly subject of beard grooming 101.

Pick A Beard Style That Works For You

Even the best look can be spoiled by the wrong accessories, and that includes your beard. So it pays to get it right, starting with a facial hair length that suits you.

“This is determined by a mixture of face shape, hair growth and lifestyle,” explains Ruffians artistic director Denis Robinson. “If you’ve got a long face, it’s better to grow a bit more hair on the cheeks, so it can fill the face out. Inversely, if you have a round face, you want to reduce the width.”

Whether you opt for a balbo or a beardstache (essentially a beard with extra moustache), it’s all about rebalancing the proportions of your face to achieve the desired effect and disguise features such as a weak chin or cherubic cheeks.

That’s not to say your peach fuzz will always play ball. “You need to be aware of your own hair growth, as you may not be able to achieve the look you want,” adds Robinson, who recommends men with patchy beards opt for stubble instead to make sporadic tufts less noticeable.

Once you have a beard worth looking after, you can then go about the hairy business of looking after it.

How To Look After A Beard

Wash It

Your crumb-catcher is home to more than just food. Facial hair wicks moisture away from the skin, leaving it drier than a saltine cracker and causing cells to shed – hence beard ‘dandruff’.

To avoid this build-up resulting in irritation, while also clearing away grease and bacteria that can lead to spots, use a daily face wash in addition to a scrub twice weekly for a deeper cleanse and to lift ingrown hairs.