1 Face, 8 Beard Styles With Matty Conrad

8 Styles To Take You From Full Beard To Clean Shaven

When GQ needed to deep dive into facial hair styles, they knew who to call. Matty Conrad (@mattyconrad) demos 8 different beard and mustache trends, sacrificing his own decade-long whiskers along the way. Keep reading for a recap to master everything from a lumberjack beard to a pencil-thin French 'stache. Grab your clipper and a mirror, you may want to try one of these out for size.

1. THE DUCKTAIL

A slim, pointy version of your average square-shaped beard.

Begin by setting your clipper all the way forward to 0
Using a pick, detangle and fluff beard away from the face
Flipping the clipper upside down, draw a straight line from the jaw all the way down the beard
Now, angling to the Adam's apple, use your trimmer to create a point from the jaw to the center of the beard

Don't forget—grab your Victory Beard Oil to rake through your beard to finish off these handsome styles.

2. THE LOWRIDER

A classic style to emphasize the jawline.

Apply a #2 guard to your clipper and work straight down from the top-line through the end of the beard on each side of the face. Pro Tip: Working the clipper down instead of upward gives a lot of control over hair removal
Punch a line from the chin straight back to the neck, creating a squared shape at the jaw
For the finishing lowrider effect, drop the topline down towards the jaw

Be sure to not disconnect the sideburns from the beard—the strong, linear silhouette is what makes the style what it is!

3. THE MASK

Shave off the sides of the lowrider and throw a string around the ears. We’ll call it this year's hottest new trend.

PS—if you need a real one, we've got some cool masks for you and your shop.

4. THE VAN DYKE

Named after Anthony Van Dyke, the disconnected goatee with a long mustache will add mystery to any mug.

Avoid the mustache, we'll need it for later—you can use a blowdryer to push it out of the way until we're ready to style
Create a diamond-shape goatee using a trimmer to completely disconnect the chin from the mustache
Shape the mustache with Victory POMADE to hold the stache in place and sculpt the hair

Make sure to twist, not pull the ends and pinch upwards to finish the iconic look.

5. THE GOOD OL' STACHE

Matty did Mr. Monopoly proud with this one. However, after a decade of not seeing his own chin, Matty will warn if you try this out—one chin is *not* guaranteed.

6. THE MAGNUM PI

Yeah, we know dad was rocking this back in the day.

Using a comb, brush all of the mustache hairs down and knock the tails off using a trimmer
Remember to use the flat side of the trimmer against your face to avoid harsh razor bumps

Pro Tip: Ditch the sideburns if you want to avoid the '70s porn stache look. Or don't, we won't judge.

7. THE FRENCH PENCIL MUSTACHE

....bonjour?

Use your upper lip as your guide for the shape, making sure not to go too thin to still leave a visible mustache
Symmetry is your goal here. Be careful to make both sides of the mustache even, both length and width

8. CLEAN SHAVEN

The moment none of us thought we'd ever be waiting for.

Just...ya know, take it off.

After the initial shock and awe, Matty recommends getting a solid face wash and moisturizer to help with the itch and irritation of the new whiskers coming in.