In a competition for most controversial beard style, the goatee surely claims first place.
Despite this controversy (and the rise in popularity of the full beard), the goatee style remains as popular as ever.
Don’t believe us? Do a quick search of #goatees on Instagram. You couldn’t take a walk down a busy street without passing a dude rocking a goatee.
You also couldn’t walk down the same street without hearing someone commenting on it. For good or bad.
Forget the haters!
If adopted correctly, the goatee remains a genuine style contender. From Idris Elba to Robert Downey Jr. to Tom Selleck, there are plenty of influential men that have paved the way to goatee wearing success.
Oh, and how could we forget the one and only W. White…
To help you along in your quest toward goatee greatness, we’ve collated a number of goatee styles below for you to contrast and compare.
A tip: we suggest that you only consider adopting those styles that share a similar facial hair growth pattern as you.
While there are things you can do if your beard is patchy, ideally you want to go with a style that gives you the best chance of success from the outset.
Original Goatee
This is the grandaddy goatee, the defining point by which all other goatees are measured.
There’s very little mustache involved – just a slight chin beard with a shaved jaw line.
Connecting a mustache with this goatee would turn it into a full goatee.
Semi-Circular Goatee
This goatee rounds into a nice, smooth shape that’s not quite circular.
Semi-Circular Goatee With Soul Patch
This one looks like the previous one, but you can allow your soul patch to grow free.
Thick Goatee
The trick to achieving this bad boy? Simple. Just let the thing grow wild.
Circle Beard Goatee
A full circle goatee complements men with a rounder size and shape of face.
It connects with the mustache, and both should be trimmed to appear circular. The rest of the face is kept clean shaven.
Goatee With Soul Patch
A lot of goatee styles don’t include the soul patch as part of the equation. This style encourages you to grow your flavor saver as much as you want.
Goatee With French Mustache
There’s something special about the classiness of a French mustache.
If you love goatees but can’t live without twirling your French ‘stache, you can rock the two together for an interesting look.
Full goatee
The Walter White special.
This goatee style fully connects with the mustache.
It can look great when carefully maintained, but the full goatee also looks pretty cool when they’re grown rugged and wild.
Choose your own adventure.
Goatee With Handlebar Mustache
This is a manly goatee if there ever was one. (Well… I suppose they’re all manly, but this one’s on a different level.)
Julian from Trailer Park Boys wouldn’t look half as intimidating without his handlebar goatee. If you can grow a thick, burly handlebar mustache, match it to the length of your goatee and watch as people scatter when you stare them down. Tip for young players: Public staredowns are not advised.
Goatee With Thin Mustache
If you like your goatee thin, you can pair it up with a thin mustache for a carefully manscaped effect.
Angular Goatee
If you’d prefer more of an angular look like this, you’re going to need to do regular manscaping.
You’ll need precise trimmers and tools to ensure that you can keep the lines of your goatee in order.
Landing Strip
Landing strips are pretty easy to maintain. They’re also pretty hard to pull off stylishly.
If you want to go for it, shave your entire face, leaving a small patch of hair that extends from your bottom lip to just beneath your chin.
Smuggler’s Goatee
Smuggler by facial hair type, smuggler by nature.
Thin Landing Strip
Much like a landing strip, the whole face is shaved save for a thin patch from the lower lip that extends to just beneath the chin.
The only real difference is that this style has a very thin strip.
Van Dyke
Hugh Jackman popularized this style, but it’s in fact named after Anthony van Dyck, a 17th century painter.
Considering it’s still popular 300 years later, you could probably wear this goatee for the rest of your life without it going out of style.
Pretty Boy
A pretty boy is essentially a full goatee with the hair trimmed extra short.
Goatee With Sideburns
This is a look that’s difficult to pull off for a lot of men. It’s just. So. Busy.
If you think you can rock sideburns with your goatee, then by all means, give it a shot.
Ponytail Goatee
We’re getting to tribal territory with this one.
Once your beard’s long enough, you could wrap it with a hair-tie like a ponytail. If you’re so inclined.
Anchor
An Anchor is a more pronounced, accented variation of the Van Dyke.
The goatee sort of resembles – you guessed it – an anchor.
Long Goatee
The long goatee is a goatee that’s, well, long.
We think this is another one of those styles that is difficult to pull off stylishly. Approach with caution.
Cat Burglar Goatee
Wondering what a cat burglar might look like in real life? Wonder no more.
Chin Goatee
To achieve this style, simply shave your entire face, except for a little patch of hair on your chin.
Soul Patch Goatee
If you have a strong enough soul patch, you can grow it out and connect it with your goatee. Trim the soul patch so it matches the length of your goatee and extends down just past your chin.
Around The Mouth Goatee
This one looks great on men who smile and laugh a lot. It matches the curvature of the mouth, so when you smile or laugh your beard is accentuated.
The Colonel
Because one does not simply create a goatee styles post without mentioning Colonel Sanders.
Combine a flat-trimmed mustache with a wide and extended soul patch (both snow white) and you’ll be building a fried chicken empire in no time.
Skip Ahead
The Goatee – A Beard For Any Kind Of Man
Goatee styles are insanely popular. But why? There are a few reasons.
First off, they stand out in a facial hair culture that is now dominated by the full beard. Secondly, they’re a style that particularly compliments a man with rounder facial features (as really, the full goatee shape is essentially a circular pattern).
The goatee can also add weight to an otherwise weak chin.
Third, is the maturity factor that a goatee brings. Much like a beard, a goatee could transform any baby-faced 20-something into a rugged gentleman.
Your goatee might be the clincher as to whether or not you get carded at the bar.
Caring For A Goatee – Growing and Trimming Tips
We want to make sure you can properly care for your goatee after you’ve grown it.
Anyone with a dollar store razor and a pair of elementary school scissors can trim their facial hair into a goatee.
This doesn’t mean it will look good.
There are quite a few growing & trimming tips you’ll want to study before you embark upon your journey to grow the world’s most epic goatee. (This should, of course, be your ultimate goal as a serious goatee owner)
Grow Your Beard Out First
It’s possible to perform a clean shave and let your goatee grow in by selecting an outline and shaving everywhere else. This isn’t the best choice, though, for a few reasons.
Rather, we recommend that you grow your beard out first. Once you have nice, full, thick hair, you can better visualize how your goatee will look once it’s shaped and shaved.
This also gives you a chance to make last minute changes, which is much better than growing a beard into a shape that you decide you hate once it’s matured.
Choosing a goatee without knowing what your beard looks like is a bit like buying a shirt without trying it on first – you just can’t be sure how it’ll look.
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize
Both your beard and the skin that it covers should be kept moisturized at all times.
It’s important to keep the skin moisturized to avoid dehydration and to ensure that healthy hair emerges, and the beard needs moisture so it doesn’t become brittle or break into split ends.
- Avoid alcohol-based products, since they can promote dryness
- Don’t over-moisturize, lest your hair becomes dependent on your hair products
- You can use regular shampoo if you follow the above tips.
Once Your Beard’s Grown…
Many experiencing some itchiness during the growth of a new beard. Just stick with it, marine.
Besides, once that itching has disappeared, you should have a full enough beard to start shaping it into a goatee.
This leads us to…
Shaping Your Goatee
These steps require the most patience and the most precision.
Tips:
- The width of your mustache is a good indicator as to how wide you should keep the hair on your chin. If you’d prefer not to have a mustache at all, don’t shave it until the end of the process.
- Certain styles don’t make use of the mustache and have their own measurements.
- To leave room for error, don’t trim down to the skin when first shaping your outline.
1). Trimming the outline
The first step is to make the outline for whatever goatee shape you choose.
For the basic outline, use a trimmer with no guard – this should leave just enough hair for you to have a second chance if you mess up. If you’re confident that you won’t make a mistake, you can use a razorblade to carve the outline.
Tips:
- Start at your neck, and work your way up.
- Try to keep the neck hair completely shaved, starting about an inch above your Adam’s apple
Continue by shaving your cheeks . - You’ll now have the outline of your goatee and can shave your mustache if the style doesn’t require it.
2. Shave the rest of your face
Anywhere that doesn’t make up part of your goatee should be kept clean shaven.
Yep, that means that sideburns can go. It’s recommended to use shaving gel instead of shaving cream. Shaving gel is clear, so you won’t lose sight of your goatee’s outline and botch the whole process.
A good shaving tip is to avoid shaving inwards when you’re near the outline of your goatee. Put the razor on the edge of the outline, and shave away from it. Since your skin will be fresh and smooth, you want to avoid slipping and taking a chunk out of your freshly manicured beard.
Finishing Up
You’re almost there! Just a couple more steps before you can step back and enjoy your new look.
Trim off the messy bits
Untrimmed:
vs trimmed:
The difference between a trimmed goatee and an untrimmed can be the difference between stylish and homeless.
Some people can rock the unkempt look, but most suit a more carefully manscaped variety.
Tips:
- Trim the mustache so no hairs dangle down over your upper lip.
- Trim the upper cheek so you have a clear finish
- Trim the neckline so you don’t have straggling hairs making you look unkempt
2. Reach your desired length
If you want your goatee to grow strong and free, then let it grow (obviously).
If you want to tailor your goatee to a specific length, then get out your trimmers.
Tips:
- Before trimming, run a beard comb through your hair so there are no curled ends (or, as few as possible.)
- Pick whichever length of razor you want, snap it onto your electric trimmer, and get rid of the excess.
Conclusion
Yes, achieving a classy looking goatee style requires a little extra planning and maintenance.
But as you can see from many of the looks above, a well-crafted goatee can really take your style to a new level.
As most things style-related, it’s all about execution. Chat with us in the comments about which style you’re planning to go for, or if we missed any goatee styles in our list.
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