How to Fade a Beard — Expert Tips & Techniques

Also known as beard gradient and tapered beard, a faded beard involves a short hair length (near the cheeks and sideburns) to a longer length. It gives a visually pleasing gradient effect and suits every face type nicely.

However, visiting a salon to fade the beard proves money and time-consuming. And you can’t fade the beard at home since you’re not an expert in this job. So, here’s our step-by-step guide about how to fade a beard to assist you in such a situation.

The challenges that you faced during and after fading the beard are also explained with their solutions. So go through this article and fade your beard with precision.

Table of Contents:

Part 1:Preparing for the Fade

Before fading your beard, a few steps need to be followed to fade the beard perfectly. And these steps are explained below. So look at them and fade your beard perfectly.

Collect the Necessary Fading Tools
- - - Electric Trimmer: You need a trimmer to trim your beard. Normally, an electric trimmer comes with an adjustable setting.
    - Shaver & Clipper: Both shaver and clipper are used for trimming the beard. However, a shaver is basically applied to create clean lines and edges.
    - Guards: To get the uniform length while trimming, guards are used. Basically, they’re attachments used with trimmers and clippers to fade the defined beard hair length.
    - Texture Paste: Texture paste is used to shape and style your beard so it can be faded properly.
    - Beard Comb: The purpose of a beard comb is to detangle your hair.
    - Beard Oil or Balm: Beard oil and balm moisturize your beard hair to soften the hair and reduce frizz.
    - Mirror: A mirror helps you see your beard at different angles while fading so you get the desired style.
Cleanse & Conditions the Beard
- - - Wash Your Beard: Use a beard shampoo to wash your beard to remove the dirt.
    - Use a Hot Towel: After washing your beard, wrap up your beard with a hot towel for 60 seconds. This process will get your beard hair in its natural condition so you can fade them as you like.
Trimming the Beards

After cleansing and conditioning your beard, trim it so you can get the consistent fading, and your beard look attractive. You need to follow the following steps to trim your beard:
- - - Select the guard size on the clipper according to your desired beard length. Now, trim your beard with a longer guard and gradually move toward the short guard.
    - Trim your beard evenly to avoid any chance of uneven hair. Start trimming from the neckline and ends to the cheekline.
Part 2:Choosing the Fade Style

Different Types of Beard Fade Style

There are different types of beard fade styles. So you can choose the one that best matches your facial look and personal preferences.

– Low Fade
Low fade starts from just above the earlobe. It’s achieved by tapering the beard down the neckline. It suits different face shapes and beard lengths.
– High Fade
High fade starts around the temple area and gives the beard a defined look. Moreover, it makes your face look bold, increasing your overall look.

– Mid Fade
Between low and high fade, it comes mid-fade. It gives a versatile look without extreme contrast and suits all face shapes.
– Taper Fade

Fading the beard from the top to the bottom with a constant decrease is called taper fade. It gives a classic and refined look to your face.

Face Shape & Personal Preferences

If you want to look attractive with a faded beard, you need to analyze your face shape and choose the style that goes well with it.

First, determine whether you have an oval, round, square, diamond, heart, pear, or oblong face shape, Afterward, choose the fade type that nicely suits it.

For example, a high fade on a round shape gives it an oval shape type of look and changes your overall appearance.

You can also fade your beard according to your look, like professional, classic, or another type. Also, having a consultation with a barber will help you make an informed and right decision.

Part 3:Step-by-Step Guide to Fading a Beard

The following steps will make you quickly fade your beard at home. So read them out and easily fade your beard.

– Detangle Hair
After selecting your fade style suited to your face shape and cleansing your beard, it’s time to untangle it. Use a beard comb and detangle your beard to trim it properly.
– Use a Clipper for the Baseline

To trim your hair from the baseline and give a refined look to your beard, take a clipper and shape your neck baseline.

– Fade Beard as You Desire

Start fading your beard using a clipper according to your style.

Shape Lipline, Upper Line & Lipline

Use a razor or precision trimmer to shape the lipline, jawline, and baseline. Make sure to use the razor in the right direction to get the exact shape line.

– Use Scissions for the Final Refinement

If long hair is left in the beard’s lower part, use a pair of scissors and cut this hair so your beard looks refined.

– Shaving Around the Beard

Use a quality shaver to shave the hair deeply around the beard, like chicks, and the neck’s lower part.

This process will give a prominent look to your faded beard and make your face appear smooth. However, while shaving your beard, avoid razor burns; otherwise, it’ll irritate and hurt your skin.

Part 4:How to Fade Sideburns into Beard
- - - Cleanse & Condition Your Beard: First, wash your beard and wrap it in a hot towel to get the hair naturally.
    - Decide Your Sideburns Area: Now, comb your beard and decide where to fade.
    - Fade the Sideburns: Afterward, fade your beard with the clipper. Start trimming your hair with the largest size of the guard, like 12 guards. Afterward, use 9 guards and then 6 guards to trim your hair.
    - Shape Sideburn Line: Now, shape your sideburn line with a razor or precision trimmer. For this step, always choose the best electric razor for optimal results.
Part 5:Maintaining the Faded Beard

Trim Your Beard Once a Week

You need the basic beard-faded tools like a trimmer, scissors, and a comb. Use these tools and trim your beard weekly so it looks well-maintained and in good shape.

Moisturize Your Beard

Using beard oil or balm keeps the beard hydrated and prevents dryness, split ends, and itchiness. So, moisturize your beard daily so your beard hair looks good and stays healthy.

Brushing & Combining Your Beard Regularly

It’s recommended to brush and comb your beard daily. This process detangles your beard hair, giving it a neat look.

Part 6:Troubleshooting Common Issues
It’s needless to say how a much-faded beard looks stylish and awesome. However, it comes with some challenges that you need to troubleshoot:
Beard Itch & Dryness

You often find your beard itchy and dry. To overcome this issue, regularly moisturize your beard with oil or balm. Moreover, exfoliating the beard will keep it from itchiness.

Ingrown Hair

You experience ingrown hair when the hair curls back into the skin. To overcome this issue, trim the hair in the direction of hair growth to avoid ingrown hair while fading your beard.

Moreover, the hair stays often hidden in the dead skin during the fading process. So, it’s recommended to exfoliate your skin before fading your beard to get all hair to come out from the dead skin.

Beard Patchiness

You often experience some areas of your beard that appear patchy and thinner. Normally, slow hair growth is the cause of beard patchiness.

So, adjusting your beard style to complement your natural style is recommended in such a situation. You can also use beard oil since it improves the beard patchiness.

Conclusion

Your query on how to fade a beard is explained above with the step-by-step method. Moreover, different styles of beard fade and how to maintain your faded beard are also mentioned.

However, before fading the beard, ensure to have the required tools so you get the optimal results. After fading the beard, you need to be an expert to troubleshoot challenges like ingrown hair and beard patchiness as well.

So always ensure to consider the mentioned guidelines and considerations so you won’t experience anything unfavorable while fading the beard.