Beardstache
The Heavy Moustache Over Short Beard Look
A beardstache is a full, heavy moustache worn over a short beard or stubble. The moustache is the feature and everything below it is deliberately kept shorter, so the two read as different lengths rather than one continuous beard.
At a glance
- Also known as
- Nothing else in common use
- What it is
- A heavy moustache over light stubble.
- Length
- Short, under an inch
- Growing time
- 3 to 4 weeks
- Trim how often
- Every 3 to 4 days
- Best face shapes
- Oval, Square
- Moustache
- Yes
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A heavy moustache over short stubble means two different lengths, both maintained, both needing a blade that cuts clean.
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The variations
The same shape, worn differently. What changes is length, density and how much you take off at the edges.
Will it suit your face?
Where a style puts weight, and where it takes it away, is what decides whether it suits you. The table below is the short version.
| Oval | Ideal | No shape to correct, so anything from a pencil to a handlebar sits well. |
|---|---|---|
| Rund | Works | Go wider than the mouth rather than heavier, so it does not add bulk. |
| Platz | Ideal | A strong jaw carries a heavy moustache without looking top-loaded. |
| Länglich | Ideal | Horizontal weight across the lip breaks up the length. |
| Heart | Works | Draws the eye down from a broad forehead. |
| Diamant | Works | Adds width across the middle of the face. |
How to cut one, in four steps
- Grow it out3 to 4 weeks. No trimming at all in that time, including the hairs hanging over your lip.
- Set the shapeComb it down and flat, then cut to your outline. Never cut it wet, it dries shorter than you cut it.
- Clear the lipTrim along the top lip line so it does not end up in your mouth. Scissors give more control than a trimmer here.
- Wax and trainWarm the wax between your fingers first, work it in from the centre out, then shape the ends.
Full detail, tools and the common mistakes are in the guide below.
What makes it a beardstache
Contrast in length, not in shape. The moustache is grown out properly, thick and covering the top lip. The cheeks, jaw and chin carry stubble or a very short beard, usually two to five millimetres.
That gap in length is the whole style. Let the beard catch up and you have a short full beard. Shave the beard off entirely and you have a plain moustache. The beardstache sits in between and needs both parts maintained at different lengths at the same time.
The moustache hair is usually left to grow past the lip line, which is what gives it the weight. It is not waxed or curled, which separates it from a handlebar.
Beardstache styles
Classic beardstache. A thick moustache over three to four millimetres of stubble. The reference version and the easiest to keep.
Heavy beardstache. A fuller moustache over a slightly longer short beard, closer to seven or eight millimetres. More presence, and it needs a denser growth to work.
Beardstache with a soul patch. A tuft below the lower lip breaking up the stubble underneath. Adds a second point of interest without adding length.
Faded beardstache. The stubble graded shorter up the cheek toward the sideburn, so the contrast with the thick moustache is stronger at the top. Of all the beardstache styles this is the sharpest.
Tapered beardstache. Stubble kept shortest at the cheeks and slightly longer at the chin, which lengthens a rounder face.
Which face shapes it suits
A beardstache puts horizontal weight across the middle of the face and keeps everything below it light.
Round. Good, provided the stubble stays short at the sides. The moustache draws the eye across rather than down, and short stubble at the jaw adds definition without width.
Square. Very good. A heavy moustache balances a strong jaw, and the short beard keeps the jawline visible rather than hiding it.
Oval. Works without adjustment.
Long. The best case, arguably. Horizontal weight across the middle is exactly what shortens a long face.
Heart. Works, with the moustache balancing a broader forehead.
Across face shapes the limiting factor is density rather than anything else. The beardstache depends on a thick moustache, and thin moustache hair over stubble reads as a face that has not been shaved rather than a style. On round faces in particular the moustache needs enough weight to act as the focal point, or the whole thing falls flat.
What you need
Very little, and that is part of the appeal.
An adjustable beard trimmer handles the stubble. Guards in the two to eight millimetre range cover every version of the beardstache, and half sizes help if you want the contrast finely judged.
Small scissors for the moustache. Using the trimmer on it is how most beardstache attempts get ruined, so having a separate tool for the separate job is worth the drawer space.
Beard oil for the moustache hair once it has grown past the lip. A comb to pull it flat before trimming.
No wax, no balm. This is not a shaped moustache.
Growing it
Three to four weeks for the moustache, and the stubble takes care of itself.
Grow everything for the first fortnight. Once the moustache has some length, start cutting the cheeks and chin back to stubble every few days while leaving the moustache alone. That gap opens up over the following couple of weeks and the style begins to read.
The moustache is the slow part. If it comes through thinner than you hoped, giving it another month usually helps more than any product does.
Cutting and shaping
Two different jobs on the same face, which is what makes this style fiddly despite looking casual.
Trim the beard first. Take the cheeks, jaw and chin to your stubble length with a guarded trimmer, going against the grain so the hairs stand up and cut evenly. Do this every two or three days.
Leave the moustache. Comb it down and only trim what sits over the lip line, using scissors rather than a trimmer.
Set the cheek line. Soft, at stubble length. A hard cheek line under a heavy moustache looks over-engineered.
Set the neckline. Two fingers above the Adam's apple. This matters even on stubble.
Check the contrast. Stand back. If the moustache and short beard look like one thing, the beard is too long or the moustache is too short.
Keeping it
Every two to three days for the beard, and the moustache gets left alone apart from the lip line.
The maintenance trap is trimming both at once. It is easy to run the trimmer over the moustache out of habit, and that removes the contrast the whole style depends on. Some men use a different guard, or simply do the moustache with scissors, precisely to avoid that.
Apply beard oil to the moustache once it has real length, worked into the moustache hair rather than the skin. The moustache hair on a beardstache gets long enough to go dry and coarse, where the stubble underneath does not. A full beard needs oil everywhere; this style needs it in one place.
What goes wrong
The beard catches up. The commonest fault. Trim the stubble on schedule, not when you remember.
The moustache gets trimmed by accident. One careless pass costs a fortnight.
The moustache is not thick enough. If it looks thin over stubble, grow it another month before deciding the style is wrong for you.
The neckline is ignored. Stubble is not an excuse for skipping it.
Questions we get asked
How long does it take to grow a beardstache?
Three to four weeks for the moustache. The short beard takes only a few days, so the moustache is the part that sets the timeline.
What length should the beard be?
Two to five millimetres for a classic beardstache, up to seven or eight for a heavier version. What matters is that it stays clearly shorter than the moustache.
Can you grow a beardstache with a thin moustache?
It is the one thing that rules the style out. The contrast depends on a thick moustache, and a sparse one over stubble reads as unshaven rather than deliberate.
Do you wax a beardstache moustache?
No. It is worn full and combed rather than shaped, which is what separates it from a handlebar. Beard oil is the only product it needs.
Which face shapes does a beardstache suit?
Most of them, and long or square faces particularly. It adds horizontal weight across the middle and keeps the jawline visible.
How often does it need trimming?
The beard every two to three days, the moustache only along the lip line. Keeping those two jobs separate is the whole discipline of the style.
Other moustaches
Same shape, different length or moustache.
Browse by what matters to you
The same directory, cut a different way.