The anchor beard style is a clean, crisp classic look that adds style and sophistication while accentuating your face’s shape. It has a reputation for being difficult to style, and its crisp sharp lines do require some effort, but the results are well worth it.

The anchor beard is a part of what’s called the Inverted-T family of facial hair. They are a disconnected beard style, where the chin hair and mustache don’t meet. The name refers to how the soul patch and chin hair merge to look like an upside-down capital T.

The anchor beard gets its name specifically because its shape resembles the classical look of a ship’s anchor. It is classified by sharp, well-trimmed lines.

This is a versatile look that suits both young and older men. It exudes confidence to the person who’s wearing it. Anchor beards require a lot of effort, and that care shows in your appearance. It has a boldness that elevates your charisma.

The key defining trait of the anchor beard is that they’re usually trimmed very short. The mustache is disconnected and usually trimmed into either a pencil or pyramid shape. It’s not uncommon to see a mustache styled further with wax or even into a handlebar.

The soul patch and chin hair are grown to be uniform with each other. Typically, this look uses a chinstrap that grows up to the jawline.

The anchor beard doesn’t suit every face shape. It adds shape and definition to the chin, which is helpful for men with rounder faces where the chin is not accentuated.

Men with triangular-shaped faces should avoid this look. Growing facial hair exclusively on their sharp, narrow chins will adversely accentuate their wider jawlines. Men with narrow chins or narrow jawlines most likely won’t be able to pull off this look.

People with oval faces and heart-shaped faces are perfectly suited for anchor beards. Oval faces benefit from the added shape the anchor beard adds to their chin and jawline. Heart-shaped faces can use this style to add emphasis to their typically weaker chins.

If you have a round face, you can use this look to make your face look squarer. Make sure to use sharp, angled lines to do so.

People with square or diamond-shaped faces can use the anchor beard to accentuate their sharp features. Men with square faces need to make sure they have sharp lines to their anchor beards since they want it to work with their faces. If you have a diamond-shaped face, you can get away with a softer, rounder beard to soften your sharp, angular features.

An anchor style beard is best styled from a full-beard. Since they’re usually shorter and more trimmed, you won’t need to wait 4 weeks for your beard to grow. For most men, you can start styling after 2 weeks.

You’ll want to use electric trimmers to shape your anchor beard. After that, use a razor to clean up your cheeks and neck to further sharpen the look.

Start by cleaning and combing your beard. You want your beard hair to be aligned. Trim your beard from the outside-in. Start at the sideburns and trim your cheeks, as well as your neck. Once that’s done, it’s time to shape your remaining hair into an anchor beard.

Use a lot of precision here, as it’s incredibly easy to lop off more than you wanted to. Feel free to trim down to a larger goatee, then carefully remove hair to slowly sculpt your preferred anchor facial hair. After all, it’s much easier to remove than add hair.

Trim your mustache connector hair and shape your chin hair into the desired contours you’d like.

A shaped mustache is also key for the anchor beard. For a pencil mustache, trim the top portion under your nose until your mustache creates a straight line. If you prefer a pyramidal mustache, trim the ends at an angle, starting at the ends of your mouth and moving upwards.

Once your beard is shaped, use a straight razor and shave closely around the beard hair. You want a close, clean shave on your cheeks and neck for your anchor beard to truly stand out.

The mustache is the easiest way to add variation to the anchor beard. While the classic look uses either a pencil or pyramid mustache, it is by no means the only way to style this beard.

Mustaches are incredibly difficult to shape, so as long as you keep it trimmed short, you can get away with not putting a lot of effort into it. Make sure to shave your mustache connectors starting from the edges of your mouth, though.

Going in the opposite direction and adding more style to your mustache is also an option. A waxed or handlebar mustache will sell the anchor beard. Let your mustache grow out and wax the ends so that they curl. Make sure to keep your lines crisp and still shave your mustache connectors.

Adjusting your chin and jawline hair is another way to add variation to your anchor beard. You can choose to grow a full chinstrap to the edge of your jaw. Alternatively, you can trim it shorter to the middle of your jaw or closer around your chin.

Adopting a modified goatee and letting some of your beard connectors grow in could add extra sharpness while remaining a crisp appearance.