Beard Fade: Smoothing the Transition

Generally, unless you are in a situation where you forgot to buy razor blades pre-lock down, men grow beards because they want to be seen with it.  Your beard is a statement that shows your individuality and allows you to put a personal stamp on your facial fur, so it’s not surprising that men are starting to get really artistic with lines and form.

One of the more recent fashionable developments is the beard fade, and it is seen as an important part of modern barbering and a cross between the masculine look and finely manicured statement.  Beard fade goes beyond standard trimming and introduces a much more artistic element to your grooming style, and screams ‘comme il faut’.

Beard fade is best described as a smooth transition running from your jawline and up to your higher check where it almost disappears, before fading back in to join your hairline. The idea is to make an almost imperceptible gradient that joins you neatly trimmed beard to your head hair. A good beard fade will flow in a smooth transition in a number of steps and make an eye-catching feature that will get you noticed. 

Plainly, beard fade is best carried out by a professional and well-trained barber, but that’s not to say that it isn’t something that you can’t actually achieve at home with a little time and patience.  Once you have done it a few times, you’ll find the right cutting lengths to be able to make a strong yet smooth flow.  However, the key to doing your own beard fades is preparation, so start by giving your beard a good wash and condition with oil.

Once your beard is in tip top condition, start by giving it a good trim all over to make it a consistent length along your cheeks and up through your sideburns and the lower reaches of your hair. The idea is to create a level playing field onto which you can start to plan how much of a gradient you’re are going to apply between your beard and hair.

While there is nothing stopping you keeping your actual chin-hair length longer, this kind of groomed look works best if you have a consistent length all over your beard, and even use a razor to define your neckline. The beard fade look always works best if your entire beard is kept short and neat, so tidy up below your neckline and trim around your moustache too.

Now, with your beard prepared, you are going to create your tapered beard by trimming about an inch above your jawline with your blades set to one setting shorter than the one that you have used on the rest of your beard. Trim about half an inch towards the sideburns and leave. 

Next, shorten the blades by one notch again, before trimming another half an inch towards your sideburns.  Keep repeating this process, moving up in half-inch increments until the top of your sideburns blend seamlessly with the sides of your haircut.

Finally, give your beard another good wash and condition and run a fine comb though it to straighten it up.  Congratulations, you are now looking very sharp!!