Lots of guys skip shaving for a day or two, but designer stubble is something else. It’s short facial hair carefully groomed to look absolutely perfect for a guy’s face and attitude. The neckline and the cheek line may be shaved, and the length of the stubble is chosen to make sure it flatters the face as much as possible.
Designer stubble is much more than just not shaving. It’s creating a carefully groomed short beard that helps you look your best. It’s not quite a full beard, but it’s not a sign of laziness either. It adds to your face rather than detracting from it.
First popularized in the 1980s, designer stubble had become more carefully groomed and more carefully cultivated since then. Once a trend, it’s now a way of life for many guys. But what can you do to make your designed stubble look its best? We have some advice.
Getting The Stubble Look
Achieve some sex appeal without having a beard when you choose designer stubble. Start by growing your scruff out for three or four days — maybe more if your facial hair grows slowly or if you want a longer, denser look. Darker hair looks good fairly short, but lighter hair may have to be a little longer to achieve the designer stubble look.
Then take the following actions for perfect designer stubble:
Shave around the edges. You may want to start with a good beard trimmer with the guard off and then finish with a razor. Or if your facial hair isn’t dense, a razor may be all you need to shave around the edges. Keep the cheek line as high and natural as possible and the neckline low, if you can. Keep raising the neckline until you get the most pleasing appearance. Guys with double chins need to be more careful about choosing a good neckline than those with thin faces and thin necks.
Wash your face thoroughly. This reduces the risk of ingrown hairs. You should wash with an antibacterial soap and then rinse with cool water. A lot of guys just give their faces a quick rinse, but this can lead to bumps, irritation, redness and a variety of other problems. Wash thoroughly to make sure all loose hair and any shaving cream is washed away.
Apply a post-shave conditioner. This can be a product called a post-shave balm or a simple hand lotion or facial moisturizer, depending on what feels good. Just don’t apply too heavily. A heavy moisturizer can ruin the look of your designer stubble by causing bumps and uneven skin tone, both things you want to avoid.
Maintaining Your Designer Stubble
Maintaining designer stubble is more work than shaving your face clean and almost as much work as maintaining a beard. You need to trim the length of your designer stubble with a trimmer every two or three days and also shave around the edges just as often. Failing to do this once you’ve started looks worse than if you hadn’t done anything at all. If your facial hair grows quickly, you may need to do it even more often.
For great-looking designer stubble, upkeep is the most important thing. The second most important thing is having the right tools. Choose a stubble trimmer and a razor you can trust to do a great job every time.
And remember that even if you choose not to shave and trim your designer stubble for a few days, you still need to wash your beard area thoroughly to keep up cleanliness. It’s also a good idea to exfoliate regularly with a facial scrub. If you get acne bumps, use a medicated cleanser and scrub. Most guys need a good scrub once or twice a week, but some guys will need to scrub away dead skin every day to prevent skin problems.
If you want designer stubble, you have to be willing to maintain it. But once you see how great well-maintained stubble looks, you’ll probably be willing to do whatever it takes.
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