No Shave November 2026: A Man's Destiny (November 14)

At some point during the blog's annual No Shave November celebration, I usually share some basic guidance on how to properly trim your beard.  Today's the day. 

In my opinion, the single most important beard tip concerns how to trim your neck line. Since I workout at a gym four or five times a week, I regularly observe a lot of bearded guys lying flat on weight benches with their neck lines on very clear display.  I see so many men who screw it up.  Most of them simply do not realize how bad their neck lines look when they are too high, especially when viewed from the side or, even worse, from underneath.  Although you can get by with it better if you only sport a bit of scruff on your face, a properly maintained beard should never be trimmed so high that the beard's lower line runs along the bottom or underside of your jaw and chin.  Your beard should should be trimmed under your jaw at both ends of your face near your ears, but in between, it should extend lower, completely covering the underside of your chin.  Guidance on beard grooming frequently cites the "two-finger rule" meaning that the bottom of a man's beard at his throat generally should be trimmed at two fingers above his Adam's Apple.  Another good piece of general guidance concerning the area under your face is that when you shape your beard's neck line, the part roughly parallel to the floor should be whiskered, while the part of your throat more parallel to the wall should be shaved. 

In respect to the neck line at the jaw near your ears, some men prefer sharply squared corners while others prefer a more rounded look.  Either is fine, and which look is best for you largely depends on the specific shape of your own face.  Conventional thought on this choice, with which I agree, is that men with squarer jaws look best with the neck lines having sharp squared corners at the jaw, while men with less prominent rounder jaws may look their best with neck lines having softer curves at the jaw.  That makes perfect sense when you think about it, although some grooming advice suggests that men with smaller or rounder jaws should wear their beards more cornered to help make their jaws appear more square, as square jaws and strong chins are widely considered to be a desirable masculine look. I say suit yourself. And, of course, for long beards that hang down from the face and completely cover the jaw, none of this guidance really applies. 

Not too many bearded men fuck-up the top of their beards, the part on their actual faces.  It's very easy to see in the mirror.  The main issue here is how high up your own beard grows and whether you want to lower the face line or leave it more natural.  Men vary quite a bit on how high up on their faces their whiskers grow, with some men having beards that grow up as high as their cheek bones and others having beards that naturally top-out much lower on their faces.  In my opinion, both higher and lower face lines look good on bearded men, but I prefer the look of a more natural face line, wherever it is, and a natural face line is also easier to maintain.  Even with a natural face line, many men trim away a few straggly hairs to achieve a clean line at the top, but the required shaving is very minimal.     

On the subject of moustaches -- traditionally, with beards of shorter length, the moustache area is kept at a length comparable to the rest of the beard, but men with longer beards may prefer to keep their moustaches trimmed shorter than their other whiskers. Moustaches long enough to interfere with one's mouth are normally parted in the middle and swept to the sides with a comb.  If necessary and desired, just a bit of beard balm will help control longer moustaches and keep whiskers above one's upper lip. Very long moustaches typically require a stout styling aid, such as wax, to keep the ends out of the mouth.  

On the subject of beard dyes -- for most men, noticeable gray hair appears on their faces well before it appears on their scalps or anywhere else on their bodies, and many guys use beard coloring products to get rid of unwanted gray.  Gray hair in your beard is fast & easy to cover if you don't like it, and many products are widely available. Most beard dyes are either "semi-permanent" or "permanent." Semi-permanent dyes fade-out in a few days time, but they process quickly, and the idea here is that you re-apply the dye frequently, at least once or even twice a week.  Permanent dyes, as the name suggests, do not wash-out. However, the chemical process is less gentle and requires more time per application. Whichever way you go, the frequency you apply the color largely depends the length of your beard, how much gray you have, and how diligent you want to be in making sure all you gray is always covered.  Generally, short beards will show new gray more quickly.  I personally don't think gray whiskers are unattractive on most men, but sure, gray hair can distract from an otherwise more youthful appearance, and as I say, if you don't dig it, just cover it.  What I hate is when men say they shave their faces or other places on their bodies because they think their hair has become "too gray." So what?  Emasculating yourself and making yourself a lot less man-sexy just because you don't like the gray hair is a ridiculous and tragic over-reaction to natural human aging. Unwanted gray is better addressed by either accepting it or coloring it rather than shaving it off and looing like a girl.                 

 

As is often said, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am including a few helpful illustrations interspersed with today's line-up of photos.  Manly regards to all.  

  

# The Only Use A Razor Has For A Manly Man
# The Face of A Man  # The Natural Man  # Big Hairy Dick  # Silver Fox
#Fit For A Man's Life

RIGHT (on Top) and WRONG (on Bottom)