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Stubble is in a facial hair gray area. Do it wrong and the effect is less John Hamm, more “too lazy to shave.” But short whiskers can absolutely be sharp. Just as a buzz cut or crew cut is very much a hair style, a 5 o’clock shadow is very much a beard style. The thing is, there is a big difference between ignoring your beard simply because you don’t want to tend to it and wearing your stubble with intention. It’s the same as buzzing your entire head and looking like a tennis ball, or going to the barber and getting lined up up correctly, with a clean neck and a slight fade.
Except you don't need to see a barber in order to sport some perfect stubble. It’s all manageable from home—so long as you’re willing to manage it. So here’s our guide to getting that perfect day-three scruff, every single day.
1. Pick your weapon
This is either going to be an electric shaver or a beard trimmer.
If your stubble grows fast and full enough to cover the face by morning, you can shave with an electric shaver at night. It’s also good for cleaning up the neckline and cheek lines in the A.M.—more on that below.
If your hair is less dense and you prefer to wear stubble a couple millimeters from the skin, you’ll want to have a trusty beard trimmer for the task. They’re adjustable in length—some offering as many as 20 length options. And if you don’t expect to trim every day, or if you only need to trim every few days, this is what you'll want to reach for.
2. Learn your optimal length
You know how fast your whiskers grow, and how frequently you need to shave. But next you need to decide what your favorite length of stubble is: Do you prefer that sandpaper stubble, or do you like it to fill in a little bit more?
This optimal length will help you decide which device to pick, the trimmer or the shaver, while also factoring in your growth rate and density. Personally, I like wearing stubble of any length, from one day to 10, since my beard is relatively sparse.
3. Be creative
Your optimal length might in fact be plural lengths, since nobody said you have to keep one uniform stubble length all around your face. Whiskers look great with a little contrast, even—a fuller mustache (5-6 days’ worth of stubble) looks great when paired against a 5 o’clock-shadow beard. Conversely, some guys look sharp with a slightly shorter mustache and a millimeter more around the chin. These contrasting lengths are a nice way to pull attention to or from certain features.
4. Mind the borders
You absolutely have to keep the cheek and neck lines clean. This is what separates intentional stubble from a lazy lack of grooming. Since your whiskers don’t grow in a perfectly flattering row above the Adam’s apple, a clean neckline is the easiest way to display that sharp contrast between your two-day whiskers and your bare skin. This will also give your whiskers shape, the same way it helps define a beard. (And a jawline, for that matter.)For this, you can use your electric shaver, the naked guard on your trimmer, or a regular razor—simply clean up the scraggly bits at the bottom of your neck.
Same goes for your cheeks—take care of any outliers.
5. Feed the beard
Even small beards need nourishment—beard oils and moisturizers will keep your skin happy and your whiskers soft.
Speaking of soft whiskers, one rule of thumb is that, the longer the whiskers, the less they’ll harm others—as in, anyone you're making out with. Medium-length scruff will likely scratch more than super-short stubble, since it has started to furl back towards the skin. You can’t have it perfect either way, but oils and moisturizers will help.
Here's seven-step plan to reach your fullest beard potential.
