So, you have finally decided to get that dream goatee! You scoured the next for some inspiration, found out what you like, and gave it a go. But after a few weeks, you discovered that your goatee is starting to look a bit… off.
Goatees look great but only when you know how to maintain them. This is why you must learn the optimal goatee length suitable for you and your lifestyle so that you always look sophisticated and classy instead of grubby.
Read on below to know the right length to sport for your beloved goatee depending on your face and lifestyle.
Let’s get into it!
What is a Goatee?
First things first. Let’s make sure we are all on the same page.
Let’s start with a brief definition of the goatee beard.
The term goatee pertained to a type of beard formed by a tuft of hair on the chin, similar to how a goat’s beard grows on its chin.
This is what inspired the name. However, when the 1990s came, goatee became an umbrella term that refers to a style of facial hair that includes hair only on the chin and not the cheeks in general.
Now, that we all know what are talk about let’s examine the factors that influence the best goatee length.
Read Also: Hottest Haircuts For Goatees
Factors You Should Take Into Account When Choosing Goatee Length
While it can be tempting to just let your goatee grow, this is not how the style works. There are two key factors you should take into account when choosing goatee length:
- Maintenance and Comfort
It is easy to get a goatee but growing and maintaining one is a different story. It depends mainly on how long you want your goatee to be. As expected, maintenance will be trickier if you have a longer goatee.
If you are patient enough with more free time for goatee maintenance, you can consider this style. Remember that you need to carry out the trimming process if you choose this look.
A long goatee also requires regular care. You need a well-made brush, a beard comb, beard shampoos, and beard oil as part of your routine. You might even need to visit your barber for better grooming.
All these requirements will be cut down if you opt for a shorter goatee. It will only take you minutes to trim it and you can even achieve a professional look at the comforts of your home without the need to visit the barbers.
It means that the right goatee length for you is something that you are comfortable with and you can confidently manage and maintain.
- Facial Shape
Probably the most important factor to consider when choosing the right goatee length for you is none other than the shape of your face. Just so you know, not all goatee styles suit all facial shapes.
Facial shapes include oval, round, square, heart, diamond, triangular, and rectangular. Since every facial shape is different and unique, it only makes sense that different goatee styles will also be suitable for them.
A goatee can give your face an elongated look, making your chin look deeper and fuller. If your face is long already, for example, a short goatee will suit you best. On the other hand, a longer goatee will look great if you have a broad or round face.
- Profession
It is safe to say that in some jobs you won’t be accepted if you have a really long goatee.
While for some jobs, facial hair is unimportant, for different kinds of jobs such as CEOs, managers of all kinds and many more, facial hair is a sign of your personality, wealth, status, etc and most employers require you to be either clean-shaven or with a stubble (short) beard.
Therefore, your profession is also a factor that affects the optimal goatee length significantly.
Types of Goatees
Here is a quick overview of the different goatee types you can try:
- Anchor
An anchor goatee is a hair strip that stretches under the lower lip to the chin and along the jawline. This style doesn’t feature sideburns or cheek hair.
- Chin
A chin goatee features a concentrated small tuft of beard hair on the chin. It is quite short most of the time and fills small space around the chin.
- Extended
An extended goatee is one variation of the traditional or classic goatee. The difference is that the extended version tends to wide outwards around the area of the jawline.
- Full
A full goatee also called the classic goatee, is circular and distinguished by straight lines. The mustache is also connected to the beard and the soul patch.
- Landing Strip
A landing strip goatee is made up of a liner of hair that extends to the chin from the lip. The hair is trimmed in a straight line under the mouth, with the hair going below your chin to your preferred length.
- Pencil
A pencil goatee consists of a thinly shaped mustache that is connected to a small soul patch and a chin beard. The chin hair can be thinly shaped, long, or short, depending on what you want.
- Van Dyke
A Van Dyke goatee is a T-shaped style that features a small goatee, a soul patch, and clean-shaven cheeks. It features a mustache and a goatee that is not connected because of the clean line trimmed between them.
How to Trim the Perfect Goatee Length
While goatees compliment men with a pointed chin and triangular face, the secret for a beautiful and classy goatee is a perfectly trimmed structure and length.
Trimming your goatee requires careful handling and the use of a trimmer. Your chosen beard trimmer must work with your preferred goatee length, whether it is short, medium, or long.
Here are the steps on how to trim the perfect goatee length:
- Wash your beard
- Dry it and apply a few drops a beard oil.
- Brush your beard
- Create your goatee’s outline. No guard attached on your trimmer
- Start trimming off your facial hair to achieve the goatee style you prefer
- Create your goatee line under the chin.
- Continue to check the shape and length and prepare to shave your face once done.
- Wash, dry, brush and moisturize your beard
Step 1: Wash Your Beard
Washing your beard helps remove dirt, dead cells, dead hairs, opens the pores and also helps the prevention of tangles. Obviously, it also moisturizes the skin under your beard and you feel fresh.
Step 2: Dry Your Beard And Apply Beard Oil
Before trimming your beard, obviously, you should dry it. Then, oil it a little bit to make it smooth and ready for the trimming process.
Don’t overdo it with beard oil. 2-3 drops are enough even for long beards.
We will put more oil after we cut the beard.
Step 3: First brush your beard, then comb before trimming it
It is common knowledge that we should brush our beards daily. Brushing a beard has a huge variety of benefits. It is fast and easy. Don’t skip it, gentlemen!
Here are some of its benefits:
- It trains the beard to grow in a desirable direction
- It removes dead hairs
- It helps cleaning your beard from things like food(men with really long beards and moustaches understand)
- It makes your beard look more complete
- It distributes beard care products(oil, balms, etc( evenly
- It helps with styling and sharpness
- Your skin will have some space to breathe
Step 4: Take off any guards and create an outline with the trimmer
Detach any guards from the trimmer and then directly apply the top of the beard trimmer on your beard to begin defining the style of your goatee beard.
This process is for shaping around your beard in preparation for the final design.
You shave everything on your cheeks. Your goatee should end 1 finger width from your mouth. So, create this image on your brain or see a photo.
Check out the lines on the photo above. Use your trimmer without a guard to clean everything outside your goatee. You can also use a manual razor if you don’t want any stubble or you’re very old-school!
Beard trimmers normally cut up to 0.5mm.
Step 5: Put The Right Guard to Trim Your Goatee Or Use Beard Scissors
This step has to do with everything we discussed above.
To choose the right guard you should know how long you want your goatee to be.
I recommend you use a relatively high-numbered guard first if you are unsure. Use guard #6 or higher. Trim your goatee and if you want it to be shorter you can always change to a lower-numbered guard. (but you can’t do the opposite, if you cut it too short, it doesn’t go back)
If you want to grow a long goatee, you can trim it a litttle bit to avoid split ends with bard scissors. This will give you better results and it ensures you won’t cut too much with the trimmer.
Depending on your preferred style, you can shave off the sideburns entirely or leave some hair below the jaw area. When you are satisfied with the sides, and they are even, you can make the corners of your goatee beard sharper.
You can also give your soul patch a V-shape to look even better!
Your goatee should typically start from the point your mustache ends and all the way down. A straight line. If you want you can trim the hair that connects the mustache with the chin hair. If you do that you are going for a disconnected goatee or a Van Dyke.
Then create a sharp and clean goatee neckline. I have created a whole guide about that, you can read it here!
Step 7: Create The Goatee Neckline
Your goatee is trimmed by now, and it is time to divert your attention to the neckline.
Imagine the sides of your goatee going down your neck. This will help to visualize the width of your neckline.
In short, there are two ways to find your goatee neckline. Either tilt your chin downwards and mark the line formed in your neck or put 2 fingers right above Adam’s apple. This is where your goatee neckline should be.
Step 7: Moisturize and keep your goatee beard neat
After achieving the goatee length you desire, wash your face with alcohol-free moisturizer to prevent dryness after shaving. Try to commit to trimming your goatee at least once a week to keep them neat and tidy if you have a short one.
For longer goatees, I suggest you do a very mild trimming once a month. Of course, you should always shave the cheek hair very often. You can’t skip that!
How to Maintain the Optimal Goatee Length
Aside from trimming your goatee length to perfection, it is also equally important to maintain it properly. Remember short goatees require often trimming while longer goatee need less trimming of the goatee but more maintainance as a whole.
This applies to all beard styles. Longer beards come with more problems such as itchiness, dandruff, redness, dryness, split ends, hairs curling back and many more.
Just follow the steps below:
- Let the foundation grow first. Avoid shaving the goatee for one week to let the hair grow fuller and thicker. Allow it to grow around and below your mouth.
- You can shape the goatee once the foundation grows. Use a trimmer or a single blade to achieve the desired shape for your goatee. Remember that symmetry is crucial here. Ensure a good balance between the length and width of your goatee.
- Trim the goatee regularly even when you prefer growing it long. The edges should be trimmed to keep the goatee clean as it grows longer. You can use an electric trimmer for this.
- Clean the parts of your face surrounding the goatee. Your goatee will look best if the nearby areas are always clean. Apply clear shaving cream to make shaving easier and make the edges more visible. When shaving, never move the razor to your goatee to avoid accidentally shaving it off.
- It is a must to wash your goatee regularly as part of its maintenance routine. You can also shampoo and condition your goatee once a week or two to ensure that it doesn’t capture debris, cause acne, or turn oily.
To Sum Things Up – Best Goatee Length
Choosing the best goatee length can really make the difference between a mediocre and a stunning beard style.
The problem with deciding about the right goatee length is that there is not a ”correct” length that suits everyone.
There is a lot you should take into consideration.
If you ask me, my favorite goatee style is the goatee with stubble that is just 10-15day goatee (6mm or 1/4inch) with a 3-5 day stubble on the cheeks.
My second favorite goatee style is the long goatee. For this style your beard should be 6+ inches or 15cm long. You can also braid it and place some Viking beads or rings.
Read Also: The Braided Goatee Style Mastered
But, it depends on your face shape, your job, your lifestyle, your personality, even your wife may play a role (but shouldn’t!)
And that’s really all I have to say about this topic. I hope you found this article helpful and interesting.
If you have any questions or you just want to share your thoughts with us, don’t hesitate to comment down below.
Until next time,
Stay safe,
Tasos
Tasos Moulios is the founder of Beardlong. He loves trying different beard and hair styles and blogs about them. The tips he shares come from his own experience and love for what he does.