Picking the right beard style for an oblong face is easy, all you really need to do is to avoid styles that are long at the bottom and have pointy chins that would further elongate your long face features.
Other articles in this series:
- Beard Styles for Round Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Oval Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Triangle Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Diamond Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Square Face Shape
- Beard Styles for Heart Face Shape
Since the main feature of an oblong face is the twice as long height compared to the width, it can be very easy to make your head look abnormally long with the wrong kind of facial hair.
Does that mean you can’t grow a full beard or nice thick facial hair with this shape of face?
No of course not.
Many oblong faced men rock full beards, but the key here is to choose a beard style that gracefully compliments your face shape and doesn’t swing it out of proportions, and in this post you will learn how to do that for the oblong face.
What Does an Oblong Face Shape Look Like
The most prominent feature of the oblong face shape is that its long, far longer than any other face shape.
If you have an oblong face, your face height (from chin to the hairline) is roughly twice as much as the width of your face (rectangle shape).
For comparison, oval shaped faces have the height at 1.5x of the width, and round faces have equal height and width.
Another key feature of an oblong face is that the widths of your forehead, jaw, and cheekbones are equal or close to each other, and the chin is slanted and not pointy.
For comparison, if you would have a long face but it would have a pointy chin and wide cheekbones, then that would no longer be an oblong, it would be a diamond face shape.
Some popular men with oblong shaped faces include: Ben Affleck, Jason Statham, Hugh Jackman, Sascha Baron Cohen, and Jon Hamm.
Bottom line: Oblong face shape is a tall rectangle shaped face with equal jaw, cheekbone, and forehead widths and twice as high total face height compared to the widest width of the face.
How to Know if you Have an Oblong Shaped Face
Ultimately the best way to truly determine your face shape is to measure it with a good old roll of measuring tape.
All you need is four different measurements: One is the height of the face (from chin to the hairline vertically), the next is the width of the forehead (from temple to temple horizontally), then the cheekbones (from edge to edge under the eyes), and lastly the jawline from the widest edge to another (usually the mandible below the ears).
Here is an example image from where to take these measurements:
You have an oblong face shape if:
- The height of the face measures twice (or close) as long as the widest width.
- The widths of the forehead, jawline, and cheekbones are close to each other.
- The sides of your face are straight and the jawline is sloped but not round.
What Kind of Beard Compliments the Oblong Face
The best beard styles for oblong face shape are those that add no additional length to the face, and grow high up on the cheeks to mask some of that elongation.
With the oblong face, you can even let your beard grow a bit in width, as wider styles help your rectangle face shift slightly more into the ideal oval shape.
It goes without saying that stubble and very short beard styles bode really well with the oblong shaped face, and styles with prominent thick mustache can help take attention away from the length of the face.
Do you need to use the beard to hide or mask the fact that you have an oblong face?
Not really. Oblong is a nice looking masculine face shape that doesn’t need to be distinguished or accentuated in any way if you don’t want to.
That’s also part of the reason why stubble and short beards work so well, because they only add some scruff and definition to your jaw without really hiding the natural features underneath.
What Kind of Beards Poorly Fit the Oblong Face
Men with the oblong face shape want to avoid facial hair styles that are long and pointy at the chin, as this would only elongate your already long face and make it look completely unproportional.
Take the above bearded actors with oblong faces for example; they all have their professional stylists who help them choose the right beard styles for them, and none of them really have a long beard.
Ben Affleck’s short full beard is a great example, as is Jason Statham’s stubble, or the Wolverine beard of Hugh Jackman which has no chin hair at all.
Jon Hamm is also known for his oblong face and big bushy beard, but if you take a closer look, his facial hair is never really that long. It’s full, thick, but quite short and nicely lines up with his natural jawline without adding length to the face.
Keep these examples in mind when choosing the right beard style for your oblong face. You may be tempted to add length to your facial hair, but it’s almost always a bad idea for men who have long faces.
Best Beard Styles for Oblong Face
Stubble Beards
Stubble beards of various lengths are suitable fits for an oblong face shape.
That’s because a stubble won’t add any length to your already long face shape, but it will nicely add some scruff and roughness to it.
It’s also worth mentioning that time after time again women have rated the heavy stubble to be the most attractive beard style, and so if its a good fit for your face shape as well, you’re in a good place.
So what sort of stubble could you try with an oblong face?
- Light stubble (5 o’clock shadow): 0.4mm in length, grows in a day.
- Medium stubble (designer stubble): 2-3mm in length, grows in 3-5 days.
- Heavy stubble: 4-5mm in length, grows in 10 days.
Pick one of the three above and see how it fits your face. Chances are, if you truly have an oblong face, then any of the above stubble beards will be a perfect match.
The BeardStache
The BeardStache has been one of the most popular beard styles of 2020, and while it’s a “modern beard style” many men have unintentionally rocked this style on-and-off for a long time.
So what is a BeardStache then?
It’s a full face stubble growth (typically medium or heavy stubble) combined with a strong full mustache that nicely frames the face.
The stubble part takes only ten or so days to grow, but the mustache typically requires a good month or two of growth before it looks decent enough.
The good thing about BeardStache is that it doesn’t hide or accentuate the jawline or chin, nor does it add any length to your face, making it a good choice of facial hair for men with oblong shaped face.
You can read more about the topic in our full guide to growing and trimming a BeardStache.
Short Boxed Beard
If we go a step higher in beard lengths from the stubble beards, we will find the short boxed beard style.
So what is it you ask and how come it’s a good fit for oblong face shape?
Well, the short boxed beard is a short full face beard typically at a length of ½ inch. It features clean sharp neckline and cheekline that is trimmed into a step-cut shape. It’s so sharp and clean style that some call it “the corporate beard“.
Also read: How to trim beard neckline at home.
There are two variations to the style; the high-box and the low-box, and as the names imply, the only difference is the height of the cheekline. In high-boxed beard the cheekline will be as high as it naturally grows, and in low-boxed variation it will be usually 1″ lower than that.
For oblong face shape, the high-boxed beard is the best choice, as it leaves less skin showing on your face, which creates the visual impression of a slightly shorter – more oval shaped – face.
Sine the average beard growth rate is ½ inch per month, it will take you approximately one month to grow out a short boxed beard.
To learn more, check out our full guide to growing and trimming a short boxed beard.
Classic Full Beard
Perhaps the most versatile beard style of them all is the classic full beard with minimal trimming and mostly natural growth.
It’s also an amazing pick of beard style for the oblong face shape, as long as you don’t let it grow out too long in length.
Think of the full beard styles often sported by Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm, those are often full and natural looking, but short enough so that they won’t elongate their already oblong face shapes.
If you’re thinking about going with the full beard, then taking inspiration from those two guys is never a bad idea. After all, you can be certain that they regularly get beard trims and guidance from actual hair and beard styling experts.
The Wolverine Beard
Think I would leave this absolute masterpiece of a beard style out of this list? No chance.
The wolverine beard is the beard style that Hugh Jackman sports in the X-Men series. It constitutes of a 1″ long extended mutton chops, stubble mustache, and a shaved chin gap.
Granted, it can be really difficult of a beard style to pull of without looking like a complete jack-ass, but still, it can be done.
The reason why a wolverine beard is one of the best fitting beard styles of oblong shaped men is the fact that it adds practically no length thanks to the shaved chin, and it also helps to add some roundness to your face due to the mutton chops.
This helps in shifting your face more into oval shape region, and of course we can’t leave out the fact that Hugh Jackman himself has an oblong shaped face.
Believe it or not, we actually have a full dedicated guide for growing and trimming the Wolverine beard, so check that out if you’re brave enough to experiment with this beard style.
Conclusion
Men with oblong shaped faces want to look for beard styles that are short and don’t add any length or pointy parts to the chin or jaw.
Some good beard styles for the tall oblong face include the stubble beards, BeardStache, short boxed beard styles, and natural full beard.
If you’re brave enough you may even go ahead and give the Wolverine beard a try.
