GQ's favorite grooming expert Matty Conrad is back to critique more beards on some of today's biggest stars, including Ryan Reynolds, André 3000, David Beckham, Tom Hardy and more.
Director: Noel Howard
Director of Photography: Callum Gunn
Editor: Graham Mooney
Host: Matty Conrad
Producer: Graham Corrigan; Sam Dennis
Line Producer: Jen Santos
Production Manager: James Pipitone
Casting Producer: Cynthia Simpson
Camera Operator: Oliver Smith
Gaffer: Luke Strahm
Sound Mixer: Alex Shamku
Production Assistant: Miranda MacDougall
Post Production Supervisor: Rachael Knight
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Graphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin
Designer: Lea Kichler
Animation: Brady Jackson
Filmed on Location at Victory Barber & Brand Gastown in Vancouver, British Columbia
Director: Noel Howard
Director of Photography: Callum Gunn
Editor: Graham Mooney
Host: Matty Conrad
Producer: Graham Corrigan; Sam Dennis
Line Producer: Jen Santos
Production Manager: James Pipitone
Casting Producer: Cynthia Simpson
Camera Operator: Oliver Smith
Gaffer: Luke Strahm
Sound Mixer: Alex Shamku
Production Assistant: Miranda MacDougall
Post Production Supervisor: Rachael Knight
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Rob Lombardi
Assistant Editor: Justin Symonds
Graphics Supervisor: Ross Rackin
Designer: Lea Kichler
Animation: Brady Jackson
Filmed on Location at Victory Barber & Brand Gastown in Vancouver, British Columbia
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Beards are still undeniably cool, but they're not for everybody.
00:04 So today we're going to look at some of our favorite celebrities and decide whether or not a beard is the right look for them.
00:09 My name's Matty Conrad, and this is The Grooming Guide.
00:13 Now, first of all, speaking as a Canadian, I just want to make it clear to you that Ryan Reynolds is a goddamn national treasure.
00:26 Now, we're used to seeing Ryan Reynolds quite often either with a beard or without one, so this is kind of a tough call.
00:33 Here's a picture of Ryan Reynolds with a beard that is nice and short and not outlined, and it gives him a really nice, friendly vibe, generally handsome.
00:40 He's got a bit of a rough-and-ready look, but let's have a look at his beard when it is overgroomed.
00:44 There is an element to overgrooming your beard that can start to make you look like a mid-'90s television show illusionist.
00:50 But when it comes to Ryan's facial hair, I think keeping things short and tidy but not necessarily outlined, again, is a great look for him.
00:57 I think there's something about just being able to augment the shape of his face and his jaw.
01:01 It gives him a little bit more of a maturity, and I really like the look on him overall, especially when you contrast it against no facial hair at all.
01:08 In which case, he's got a great jawline. I mean, there's objectively nothing wrong with this guy's face, but it's almost too much.
01:15 It's like there's just too much handsome there.
01:17 Leave some for the rest of us. Keep the beard.
01:20 Andre 3000
01:23 Andre 3000 is a style icon.
01:26 This guy has absolutely taken his look to very, very solid extremes.
01:32 And a lot of the time, he likes to change his facial hair inside of that.
01:35 Now, let's look at him with a full beard here.
01:37 You can see that it really fills out the bottom area of his face and gives him an overall rounder kind of shape.
01:42 But when you transition to something more of a goatee style, you can see that it stretches the face shape out and makes him look a little longer and leaner.
01:49 Now, there's varying degrees of how well sculpted that beard style is.
01:54 You can see with the mustache and anchor style, it's very, very sculpted and looks a little bit much.
02:01 I actually kind of prefer him in the first shape, which is just a little looser, more casual.
02:05 It has a "I care less what you think" kind of vibe, and I think that always reads really well when it comes to style.
02:11 So when it comes to Andre 3000, I like him with a bit of a goatee style, not necessarily a full beard.
02:18 David Beckham.
02:21 David Beckham is also a style icon, but I think he has a very different style.
02:26 And it's really transitioned throughout the years.
02:28 He's tried many different haircuts and many different looks.
02:31 But the one that I think he settles on the most when it comes to his facial hair is what we call shape stubble.
02:35 And shape stubble really gives you the outline or the shadow of a beard without necessarily creating a lot of texture or change to the face shape.
02:42 Grooming tip number 98.
02:44 If you find trimming your beard once a week to be too high maintenance, try shaving.
02:49 My favorite look for David Beckham is when he wears shape stubble that is nice and kept neat and short, but not necessarily outlined.
02:55 He already has very strong growth areas, so he doesn't necessarily need to enhance that using sharper lines.
03:01 You can see here in this style that he's starting to grow his shape out a little bit.
03:05 And it makes him look a little frumpy and a little bit more chubby in the cheek area.
03:08 And in this next shot where he's just a little bit leaner looking, that's because it's kept nice and tight.
03:14 And he hasn't allowed it to grow out and create like a wider silhouette for his face.
03:18 But now let's look at David Beckham without a beard at all.
03:20 I mean, I know this is an older photo, but he kind of has a baby face.
03:24 And I think that wearing that stubble shape really brings out more of a masculine sex appeal.
03:29 So for me, I'm going to have to say short stubble is his best look.
03:32 Tom Hardy is a great representation of somebody that uses his beard to give him a more rough and ready appeal.
03:42 It's never over groomed. It's always just a little rough. And I think that's perfect for him.
03:47 I've seen pictures of him in film roles where he's gone clean shaven.
03:51 And while he is objectively an incredibly handsome man, he always looks better with a beard to me.
03:56 It just seems to suit his personality better.
03:59 I mean, Tom Hardy always looks like he should perpetually have a bit of a Mad Max vibe.
04:03 Or like he just climbed off of a really scary looking motorcycle.
04:07 You know, so for me, this type of shape on him works really, really well.
04:11 I mean, here he's got a little bit more of a grown out beard.
04:13 And even though his beard growth is not particularly dense, it grows in all the right places.
04:17 It gives him a very strong looking chin, which is what's so great about this look for him.
04:22 And even when he wears a shaped stubble, it's not really that shaped.
04:26 It's just kind of grown in and there's something about it that really works for him.
04:30 This does not work for every guy.
04:32 A lot of guys, when they try and grow this kind of shape in, that doesn't necessarily have any outline or any kind of clean up to it,
04:38 they just start to look kind of dirty.
04:41 But something about that works for Tom Hardy.
04:43 Grooming tip number 900.
04:45 When trimming your beard, less is more.
04:47 Start small. Remove more as needed.
04:50 If you start with too much, you may be back to the drawing board.
04:53 Expressing your personality through your beard is not just about the shape that you choose,
04:57 it's about the way that you groom it as well.
04:59 Now, if I had to pick between clean shaven and bearded, I'm 100% bearded on this one.
05:04 Dev Patel.
05:07 Now, Dev is a perfect example of what you should do if you have a patchy growth.
05:13 This one is for my patchy kings out there, okay?
05:15 Just because you don't grow a full thick beard doesn't mean you can't have something that can be complementary to your face shape.
05:21 You can see here in this image that he's actually grown out a really nice even dispensation of hair,
05:26 and it gives him just a little bit of a rougher feel,
05:28 and he's paired it really nicely with a hairstyle that works with that vibe.
05:32 So this is a really great way to grow a little bit of a beard without necessarily overdoing it.
05:36 When you have hair like this that is a little bit patchy, the longer you grow it, the more diminishing returns it can have.
05:42 So it's actually probably a good idea to keep it a little on the shorter side,
05:46 which is really good because right now, shorter beards are starting to come back into fashion,
05:51 and longer beards we're not seeing as much.
05:54 Now, it's not that you can't grow this style out, it's just that when you do, it's going to start taking on a very different shape.
06:00 Now, you can see here that as he starts to grow the beard out, he's playing to the strengths of his beard,
06:04 but the darker areas and the heavy mustache and the shaping starts to make him look kind of like a villain.
06:09 So my favorite look for Dev is definitely going to be the shorter, closer, little bit rough beard without the strong outlines.
06:16 I've always really loved Common's style. It's always been really understated and very classic and cool.
06:25 He's not somebody that chases a lot of trends, and he's definitely somebody that has a great understanding of his own style.
06:30 But when it comes to his facial hair, you can see he's tested the waters in a few different shapes.
06:35 But when it comes to Common's face shape, he's really created a nice kind of square shape on his beard.
06:40 I like him with a fuller beard. I think this looks really good, and he keeps it very well maintained,
06:45 which is very complimentary to his face shape.
06:47 And instead of letting everything turn very, very round, as often happens with bald guys,
06:52 he's got a really nice, strong anchor to the bottom of his face shape, which creates a strong jaw shape for him,
06:57 keeping things a little more square.
06:59 Another really great way to do that is sometimes by wearing a goatee style, which he's also done.
07:03 Having a goatee style is a great way to elongate your face shape, especially if you don't have hair on top.
07:08 It can give you just a little more interest to your face and create a slightly more square shape.
07:13 As far as which one I prefer, I think I'm going to go full beard on this one.
07:16 Now, I know I said short beards are in, but something about that look works for me, and I kind of dig it.
07:21 Now, Jack Harlow is somebody that I don't think is particularly well known for his beard.
07:29 I mean, he's got those really awesome curls, and I think girls find that really dreamy, which is great.
07:34 But when it comes to his beard, it's not super thick or super defined, and that's okay.
07:40 Like, don't let yourself be discouraged just because you can't grow the thickest beard on earth.
07:44 But it does mean that when you're wearing certain things with it, you are going to emphasize the shape or thinness of the beard,
07:51 like turtlenecks.
07:53 Turtlenecks is not a good style choice when you have a really thin, patchy beard that you're trying to grow out
07:58 because it really shows how thin and how patchy it is, especially if you're using solid colors like very black or very white.
08:06 Very black is going to show almost entirely the outline of the beard, and it's going to make the hair appear lighter.
08:11 A white background is actually going to show how thin and see-through the beard is.
08:15 So, if you have this type of beard, make sure you're not pairing it up with very solid, bright colors that you're wearing underneath it,
08:21 and try and keep your neck area somewhat exposed.
08:27 Jason Schwartzman is, I think, a very transformative actor.
08:31 I love all of the stuff that he does with his Wes Anderson films,
08:35 especially because he uses his facial hair to capture and embody elements of his characters.
08:40 And that's one thing that I think is really interesting.
08:42 People that try different facial hair really does express different things.
08:47 Look at this picture of Jason Schwartzman with a full beard.
08:50 My God, look at that thing.
08:52 He looks like a high-fashion model.
08:54 This is just a very cool look, and maybe it's the longer hair, maybe it's the suit,
08:58 but I think the beard is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
09:00 But what it really demonstrates is what he's capable of growing.
09:04 Now, let's look at a couple of the other styles that he chooses through some of his films, like this one from Asteroid City.
09:09 This was a very bold choice.
09:11 He's got very low lines.
09:12 It disconnects from most of the rest of his face shape.
09:15 His disconnected mustache.
09:17 He's got that little soul patch in the middle.
09:19 It definitely has a kind of an older, timey vibe to it, and it's not what we see in most modern beards.
09:26 But it also kind of draws his face shape out and makes his cheeks look a little droopy.
09:31 So sometimes when you take those lines too low, they really start to expose a lot more of your face than you wish it had,
09:37 and it changes the overall shape.
09:39 And let's go back to here where he just has a mustache.
09:41 And again, you can see what a dramatic difference his face shape takes on when you adjust the size and volume of his facial hair.
09:47 I have seen him without facial hair as well.
09:49 It makes him look a little bit younger.
09:51 And overall, I think the most striking look here for Jason is the full beard.
09:56 Now, Jon Cho is an actor that we're used to seeing clean-shaven, without a beard at all.
10:04 But we came across this picture of him with a goatee, and I'm here for it.
10:08 I honestly think this looks a little bit more badass.
10:11 This has got kind of a cooler look for his face, especially when contrasted against how he looks without a beard at all.
10:16 Now, when it comes to the density of a goatee or the shape of a goatee, sometimes you just have to work with what you got.
10:21 So he's just playing with the areas of his face shape that are probably the fullest and most dense,
10:25 which creates a really nice shape around his mouth, a little bit of articulation, and a stronger point at the bottom of his face.
10:30 This is a very flattering look for Jon.
10:32 When it comes to a goatee, there are a few things you want to think about when it comes to making it suitable to your face shape.
10:37 First of all, when you don't have a strong growth that connects your soul patch down to the main part or the anchor part of the goatee,
10:44 you really quickly get into a shape that we refer to as a circle beard.
10:47 And a circle beard can look okay, but it's not always the most flattering thing.
10:52 The way to keep it flattering is to make sure that those sidelines are nice and straight.
10:57 Keeping those right angles nice and strong prevent things from looking a little too circular around the mouth,
11:01 in which case it just kind of makes your face look wider and a little chubbier.
11:05 Honestly, I like Jon Chow with a goatee.
11:08 DJ Khaled!
11:11 Now, when it comes to beard shapes that look like this, you'll probably notice something looks a little different.
11:17 I mean, it goes from zero to 100% density within the space of a few millimeters.
11:25 And that's not actually realistic.
11:28 And that's because beards like this rely on something called enhancements.
11:31 They're usually a paint or a powder product that are used to make the beard appear more dense.
11:36 And there's a lot of artistry that goes into doing this type of beard, but there's not a lot of permanence.
11:41 They're spray-on hair fibers, and they use different shapes to try and enhance the look of a beard,
11:47 which is a really cool look that day.
11:50 So if you are looking at a picture of this and wishing you could have this beard,
11:54 you're probably not going to have it with your own natural growth.
11:57 This is the type of thing that you're going to need to go to a professional for,
12:00 and those enhancements, they really only last a couple of days.
12:03 So if you're planning on wearing this out for something,
12:06 you're going to have to go get it redone that day and pray that it's not raining.
12:10 But when it comes to whether or not this beard shape works for DJ Khaled, it most certainly does.
12:16 The actual shape that has been, let's just call it painted on his face, is very flattering to his look.
12:22 It works perfectly with his face shape and also works with his style.
12:26 So it's not a judgment call on whether or not it's okay to wear enhanced beards.
12:30 It has everything to do with whether or not those enhancements are going to compliment or detract from the face shape.
12:37 And in this case, I think it works pretty good.
12:39 If I could put one phrase to describe Tom Ford, it would be "understated cool."
12:48 The thing about his style and about his design work is that it's always been very classic and timeless,
12:53 and very seldom is it overtly flashy.
12:55 But it is always cool.
12:57 And I think he takes that same approach with his facial hair.
13:00 I love the look of Tom Ford with a beard, and I don't want to see him with a full beard.
13:05 I like him with just a short, clean stubble.
13:08 Because it really enhances the look of his face, it gives the maturity of his years that he has earned.
13:13 But overall, he looks great both ways.
13:16 The one thing I will say is in this particular picture, this is a little bit of a weird thing.
13:21 Because normally when you wear a beard style, it blends into your haircut.
13:24 And here you can quite clearly see where Tom's sideburn has kind of been left a little more solid.
13:30 What that tells me is he very likely didn't get that done in a barber shop or a hair salon.
13:34 That was likely something that he decided to grow in after he got his haircut.
13:38 So that's a good tip for you guys that want to grow in a beard.
13:41 Make sure that once it grows to an adequate length, you blend it into your sideburn
13:44 to make it look a little more uniform and cohesive with the rest of your haircut.
13:48 I mean, there's not a lot of bad things you can say about Tom Ford when it comes to style.
13:52 In fact, I feel weird talking about Tom Ford's style because he is style.
13:57 And I'm just a barber in Canada with a beard and a cowboy hat.
14:01 Now, when it comes to guys like Jeffrey Wright, this is an actor that's made a fairly significant transition in front of us.
14:10 We've seen him go from having a little bit of hair and no beard to having no hair and a lot of beard.
14:15 And one of the things I really like about his beard is its density.
14:18 He's got a really nice dense growth on his face shape, and he keeps it in that salt and pepper kind of shape,
14:23 but still nice and tightly groomed.
14:26 The cool thing about this is it really enhances the shape of his jaw.
14:29 It gives him a really strong, prominent jawline and makes him look, I think objectively, very handsome.
14:34 So Jeffrey Wright with a beard is an absolutely fantastic look.
14:38 Thanks a lot for watching, you guys.
14:39 Maybe you agreed with me on some of these assessments, and maybe not.
14:42 Either way, that's cool.
14:44 Style is all about wearing what you have confidently.
14:47 If you like it, then it's cool.
14:49 If you think we left somebody off this list, drop a comment below.
14:52 I mean, there is a whole wide world of beards out there to explore, and maybe we can explore them together.
14:59 Until then, good luck and good grooming.
15:02 [Music]