Determining Your Ideal Stubble Length
Stop shaving. Let your stubble grow to the point of being a short beard. As with a regular haircut, you can always take more off, but you can’t put back what is no longer attached. Grow your beard to a length that you know is slightly longer than you’d ever want to keep your stubble. How long this will take depends entirely on your particular beard growth. For some men this may take three or four days while for others it could be over a week.
Use a long setting on your hair trimmer. Start with a slightly longer setting on your trimmer such as a 4. This will take all of your hair down to an even length. Especially for men with dark, thick beards, this setting will probably be too scruffy for the look they want, but it works for some—think Hugh Jackman.
Shorten in increments. Once you have an even length to work with, begin trimming your stubble down in increments to find the right length for you. The length you decide on will ultimately depend on your hair density, hair color, and how clean of a designer stubble look you want. Remember that you may also choose to keep the stubble on different parts of your face at different lengths to achieve a cleaner look. You may decide that the best look for you is using a 3 setting along your jaw and moustache but a 2 setting on your cheeks to create a more blended look that fades rather than ends dramatically. Don’t worry if taking the length down makes spots like your cheeks feel patchy. Some men such as Ryan Gosling rock the designer stubble look with barely any hair extending onto their cheeks. You’ll clean up those patchy spots in the next step.
Clean the edges. Once you have the length of your stubble where you want it, you can take care of stray hairs or asymmetrical spots by cleaning up around the edges. For this, you can take the setting guard off your trimmer to use it as a set of electric clippers, or you can use a plain old safety razor. Common areas to clean up while edging include the sparse hairs some men get high up on their cheek bones or upper lip hairs that might take away from the definition one wants in his moustache.
Trimming Your Neckline
Decide how you want your neckline stubble. For many men, deciding how they want the stubble look to transition to their neckline is the hardest part. If you decide on a slightly longer, more rugged look with your stubble, then you probably want to keep some stubble on your neck as well. For a cleaner look—or if the hair growth on your neck is too patchy—then you can clean it up in an easy way.
Fade the hair at your neckline. If you decide to keep some of the stubble on your neck, then fade it out. Shorten the length to a 2 setting past your jawline and then to a 1 setting around your Adam’s apple. This allows you to fade the hair out in a natural way without leaving a sharp contrast between stubble on your face and a smooth neck.
Shave it just beyond your jawline. If you keep a shorter, cleaner stubble look and don’t want the hair to extend to your neck, then you can shave it smooth just beyond your jawline. Take your fingers and feel for the spot just behind your jawbone under your chin where the skin gets soft and you can push at it; this is the spot where you want to create your natural edge for your neckline. By shaving starting at this point, you allow the stubble to extend down the visible portion of your jawline and the sharp contrast line stays hidden under your chin.
Deciding If Stubble Is Right for You
Decide your face type. Though men may like the designer stubble look for several reasons, you should especially consider it if you’re prone to shaving irritation and ingrown facial hairs. Maintaining the hairs at a short length can help clear up skin, and it can also give baby-faced men a more rugged, handsome look.
Stop shaving to gauge your beard growth. Some men may think they can’t pull off stubble due to sparse or patchy facial hair growth. When shaving every day or two, this can be hard to determine since some hair may simply grow more slowly. Stop shaving longer than you normally would—up to a week even—and decide then if you believe your hair growth can warrant a stubble look.
Be prepared to maintain it. If you’re looking for a truly low-maintenance facial hair style, then the stubble look may not be for you. Though you don’t have to tend to stubble every single day, you’ll still have to clean it up approximately three times a week, and the process can potentially take longer than regular shaving alone.
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