If you like to go for a haircut with more variation than a buzz cut, then you’ll be well aware of how a stylishly tapered trim can upgrade your groomed appearance.
A beard fade follows the same principle, meaning that different parts of your facial hair are cut or styled with varying guards.
This is one of the fundamentals of beard trimming and any good barber will know exactly how to shape and fade your beard to perfection.
Of course, you may want to get your beard looking its best without a time-consuming trip to the barber; that’s where a high-quality trimmer comes in handy. We’ll show you how to expertly fade a beard and exactly what tools you’ll need at your disposal.
What is a beard fade?
Taming your facial hair with a skilful beard trim starts with choosing the right grade and length that’s going to work for your face.
Once you’ve mastered your ideal style, you’ll know that sideburns and neck hair often grow at different rates; this is why you should try to blend into your hairstyle or your cleanly shaven beard-free area.
This is where the beard fade comes in. As you reach the areas that your trimming routine stops at, to avoid a hard line you can fade a smoother gradient between your beard and hairstyle or clean-shaven spots.
This technique is more complex than simply trimming all over with one guard and you may want to visit a barber to see how it should look when done expertly. Practice makes perfect and with a few tries fading your beard can become second nature to you.
Why fade your beard?
Wondering why stylish individuals such as Zayn Malik are such big fans of a faded beard? This styling technique will make your beard look intentional and well-groomed with just a few steps.
You may well already use a precision trimmer to clean away stray hairs high on your cheeks or outside the shape of your beard.
The much-loved beard fade follows the same principle of making it clear to the eye where the beard ends and your hairstyle begins.
Prep your face for a fade
Getting your facial fuzz ready for a stylishly blended gradient starts with your regular beard trimming routine. First, choose your preferred guard – with Braun’s EasyClick attachment you simply snap on whichever beard length you’d like from 1-7mm.
With the right guard in place, trimming with your beard trimmer is simply a matter of taming any overgrown areas.
We suggest starting with a higher guard than your desired final length as you’re still free to have another pass with a lower length if you decide it’s still too bushy for you.
Braun shavers are handily equipped with Autosense technology that reads the thickness of hair and adjusts power accordingly to help you glide through any tricky areas.
For a more striking contrast with your fade, you should leave more length to work down from. Alternatively, if you’re going for a more business casual approach you’ll want a subtle beard fade starting from a tidy lower length.
How to get a beard fade?
Once you’ve trimmed any excess growth on your face, it’s time to perfect your faded beard style with the following steps.
Sharpen your neckline using the shaver or the electric shaver: Before applying your precision trimmer brush any beard hairs downward to avoid missing any strays. To identify where your neckline should be, we suggest placing one finger above your Adam’s apple and trimming everything below that line. Braun electric shavers with the guard removed make a great tool for this job.
Clean up your beard style: Once you’ve defined this line by trimming, get the cleanest shave possible on beard-free areas. The Gillette Fusion5 ProGlide razor included with our beard trimmer is a great tool for an ultra-close finish.
Trim around the upper cheek area for extra effect: Using the precision trimmer with no guard attached, make sure you also tackle the upper beard. Carefully remove any unwanted upper cheek hairs around your sideburns that fall outside your well-defined beard area.
Fade the edges and clean up the moustache: With the graded style you get from varying guard lengths you should create a gradual gradient at the edges of your beard. Finally in the same style that you brushed any neck hair downwards, direct your moustache and clean up any hairs that have grown down over your lip.
How to blend your beard with your fade?
Fade haircut styles are fully on-trend for modern men so you may wonder how to incorporate your beard fade with this kind of look.
To avoid a stark contrast between your beard and hairstyle, you should aim for a graded look between your sideburns and beard. Using whichever guard lengths you desire, gradually work down and blend this connecting area to make your fade look as natural as possible.
How to care for your beard fade?
Once you’ve trimmed and styled your faded beard, it’s time to apply some essential products that will keep this hair looking lustrous and healthy.
Beard oils are designed to keep this hair growing without skin irritation. This is particularly important as this hair starts to grow as ingrown hairs and a scratchy sensation are common.
How to maintain a beard fade?
After achieving a stylishly trimmed look, you don’t want to waste all your hard work. The best way to do this is through regular maintenance.
Remember the guards used on each part of your beard and as soon as it starts to look messy give those areas another pass with your beard trimmer and the graded style of your beard fade will keep its defined look.
Cool faded beard styles for men in 2021
As with most beard styles, there’s a variety of ways you can wear this look. As the fade doesn’t require the kind of twirling and trimming that some moustache styles might, types of facial hair fade can be distinguished by length.
Long faded beard styles: Long beard styles require patience, as hair grows around half an inch every month, so you should stop trimming for at least a month or more for this look. A fade that contrasts a grown-out style will be particularly dramatic and eye-catching so if you want to turn heads this one’s for you.
Mid-length faded beard: Stylish medium length beard styles such as a hipster beard work great with a fade and a shaved or short hairstyle so if you want to add some edge to your look it could be your ideal facial hairstyle.
Short faded beard styles: For a more corporate-friendly look you may want to try out something like a boxed beard. To fade this neatly trimmed short beard style, follow our advice on grading your sideburns and neck and you’ll have it mastered in no time.