So your face is shaped like a diamond with the cheekbones being the most prominent, widest part.
Cool, want to know what kind of beard style is the best fit for a diamond shaped face then? Because we have got the answers, meticulously detailed, in this very article.
Other articles in this series:
- Beard Styles for Round Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Oval Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Oblong Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Triangle Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Square Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Heart Face Shape
In summary:
The diamond face shape wants a beard that accentuates the jawline and rounds up the pointy chin a bit. The style of facial hair should also not add any width to your face as the large cheekbones are already the dominant feature of the face. Keeping the cheek line high will greatly help in distinguishing the cheekbones and balancing out the facial features.
Practically speaking, a good beard style for diamond face shape is a full face beard that adds width and roundness at the bottom, but has short sides to avoid accidentally accentuating the cheekbones.
Here’s a closer look:
What is a Diamond Face Shape
The diamond face shape is one of the seven principal face shapes.
The main feature of it is that it’s shaped just like a diamond, with a wide middle section and narrowing top and bottom. If you plot that diamond outline on top of your face, this would mean that the wide middle part is the cheekbones, and the smaller top and bottom are the forehead and the jaw.
And what happens when the jawline is narrower than the cheekbones? Well, it tapers down and makes the chin look pointy. Based on who you ask and a bit on what your other face features and distances are, this can be a good or bad thing.
You see, even though the diamond face shape is generally not viewed as “the most attractive face shape” many women still rate men with the diamond face shape pretty highly on the scale of attractiveness.
Want some examples?
Well, take a look at this list of popular men with the diamond face shape:
- Robert Pattinson
- Chris Hemsworth
- Jesse Williams
- Jason Momoa
- Cillian Murphy
The point? If you have a diamond shaped face, you are in good company. And the best part is that choosing the right beard style for your face shape should not be difficult at all either.
How to Know if You Have a Diamond Shaped Face
The only real way to know exactly what your face shape is, is to grab a measuring tape and take these four different measurements from your face…
- The height of the face (from chin to hairline)
- The width of the forehead (temple to temple)
- The width of the cheekbones (edge to edge underneath the eyes)
- And the width of the jaw (from the widest point, usually at the masseter muscle).
Sounds confusing? Here’s a picture that shows all the points to measure from:
You have a diamond shaped face if:
- The height of the face is roughly 1.5 to 1.75 times the width
- The width of the cheekbones is noticeably wider than the forehead and jaw
- The width of the jaw and the forehead are close to each other
- The jawline tapers down to meet the pointy chin
What Kind of Beard Compliments a Diamond Face
The optimal type of facial hair styles diamond faced men should look for, are most of the full beard styles that help round out the tapering pointy chin.
Think of styles like the Garibaldi, Verdi, and the classic full beard; these are the perfect kind of beard styles to accomplish just that.
It’s also important to keep the sides short, just to avoid adding any extra emphasis on the width of the cheeks (do note that the bottom part of your beard can still have width, it’s just the sideburns area that you need to be careful with).
Some longer beard styles like the Ducktail beard can also bode well with a diamond shaped face, as long as you remember to shape the chin part in a way that it’s not too pointy (basically focus on adding a bit of width and roundness to the jawline).
What Kind of Beard Poorly Fits the Diamond Face Shape
Men with the diamond face shape should definitely avoid beard styles that have pointy chins. This is because your face already has a pointy chin, and a style that accentuates it further would make your chin look unnaturally pointy and exaggerated.
Think of styles like the Van Dyke, Balbo, anchor beard, and goatee. These are all decent beard styles, but unfortunately terribly bad fits for the diamond face shape.
You also want to make sure that the beard style you choose doesn’t add any width to the sideburns area, as this would only highlight the width of your cheekbones and make them look freakishly large when compared to the forehead and jaw. In this sense tapered beard styles could work, just make sure the tapering ends at the lower cheeks.
Stubble beard styles (five o’clock shadow, designer stubble, and the heavy stubble) are kind of on the middle ground. They can look pretty good on a diamond shaped face, but keep in mind that they won’t balance out any of your features. They’re just there to add some nice scruff and manliness to your overall look.
Best Beard Styles for Diamond Face Shape
The Garibaldi Beard
If you want a natural looking full face beard style that helps distinguish the large cheekbones and at the same time balances out your pointy chin, then the Garibaldi is a perfect choice.
It’s a low-maintenance beard style that has a wide rounded out jawline, high cheek line, short sides, and a natural mustache.
The length of the Garibaldi beard is typically anything between four to eight inches, which means that it will take you roughly eight months to grow out (assuming the beards average growth rate of ½ inch per month).
If you want more information about this beard style, check out our full guide to the Garibaldi beard style.
The Verdi Beard
The verdi beard features a mustache that’s often styled to the sides or curled up from the ends, along with a medium-length full face beard that evenly rounds up around your jawline.
The sides of the Verdi beard are kept fairly short and the cheek line is typically left to be as high as it naturally grows at.
So why it’s one of the best beard styles for the diamond face shape?
- Helps distinguish large cheekbones with its high cheek line and mustache.
- Adds no horizontal width to the already wide sides.
- The naturally rounding jawline balances out the pointy chin.
Since the Verdi beard has a length of 2-4 inches, it will take you upwards of four months to grow out. It will be worth the wait though if you have a diamond shaped face.
You can find more information about growing and shaping this beard style in our detailed post about the Verdi beard style.
The Ducktail Beard
The Ducktail beard doesn’t get its name from Duck Dynasty (thankfully), instead it comes from the chin part that resembles a duck’s tail.
This is a big full face beard style that features short sides, sharp angles, and well-maintained mustache. The jawline tapers down to a wide but slightly pointy chin.
You could think at first that it wouldn’t be a good fit for the diamond face shape, as it actually accentuates the already pointy chin.
But in reality, if you let the jawline taper down to a wider point (one that actually resembles a duck’s tail) then it will balance out the naturally pointy chin as it makes it appear wider. It also helps distinguish the large cheekbones by adding width to the jaw.
You can also shape the Ducktail beard in such a way that the jawline doesn’t have such an aggressive taper downwards, and this is what I would recommend for anyone with a diamond shaped face.
This beard style is a long one, and high-maintenance as well. It takes about eight months and upwards to grow it as the length is anything from four to eight inches.
You can read more about this beard style from our detailed guide to growing and trimming the Ducktail beard.
Short Boxed Beard
Short boxed beards look good on almost any kind of face shape, as they accentuate the jawline without dominating the whole lower part of the face.
So what is a short boxed beard you ask?
Well, it’s a very clean and sharp beard style that is sometimes called “the corporate beard“. It consists of a full face beard at ½ inch length, with neatly trimmed mustache and a beards neckline that is typically kept a little higher than normal for a sharper look that “hugs” the jawline.
When it comes to balancing out a diamond shaped face, the short boxed beard style is a great choice if you opt for the “high-boxed” variation which has a cheek line that is left to grow as high as it naturally can grow (this helps distinguish the large cheekbones).
It will take you approximately one month to grow out a short boxed beard, and if you’re looking for a clean, crisp beard style for a diamond shaped face, it’s a great choice.
The Classic Full Beard
Everybody – well not everybody actually – but almost everyone loves a natural looking classic full beard.
And you know what? It’s pretty much a perfect fit for a diamond shaped face.
This is because the full beard is typically kept high up on the cheeks, which masks the wide cheekbones. It also rounds the jawline up a bit and therefore balances the pointy chin, and the sides should be kept short to avoid adding any extra width to the face.
All-in-all, a full beard = great choice for diamond face.
Conclusion
If your face is shaped like a diamond (wide cheekbones, pointy chin, and small forehead width), you might want to try and grow yourself a beard that accentuates the jaw and makes it a bit wider, without adding any width to the already wide cheekbones.
Some good choices of beard style for the diamond shaped face include the classic full beard, Garibaldi, Verdi, and the short boxed beard.
