Facial hair is a fashion accessory in various senses. Some facial hairstyles like the unconventional Muttonchops and Hulihees are equivalent to bell-bottom jeans and satin suits; but the stubble is like a timeless three piece suit, serious and polished.

The stubble is amongst the few facial hairstyles that, if pulled off properly, exudes virility and class. However, it is not for everyone. Some men can pull off the appearance and look smashing; while for others, the stubble should only go as far as the morning mirror. It teeters on the lines of scruffy masculinity and homeless despair, so your attempts to look like a cultured vessel of masculinity can nastily spiral off towards the chronic alcoholic wife-beater genus.

Now, will the stubble look good on you? There is only one way to find out. Give the stubble a chance and grow it out for a few days. If it makes you look more miserable than handsome, shave it off and act like it never happened. How fast you grow your stubble depends on your genes. Some men may take from 2 to 5 days to grow proper visible stubble while others already have something going by the end of the day. Hence, it is often referred to as a five o’clock shadow.

Why you should have a stubble.

Your efforts to grow some stubble gives your face an appearance of a more angular jaw structure (squaring out the jaws) which the fairer sex seem to love more than the round double chin. And unless you’re Dayhang Rai, disguising your double chin is a good idea.

It’s also a good bet if you want to tone down the stuck-up look that often comes with suits and other formal wear. A suit and tie at the workplace can be tedious and overwhelming; growing a stubble helps balance professionalism at the office while letting your personality shine.

Also, if you suffer from the baby-face-syndrome and feel that this does not do justice to your manliness, the stubble is your savior. Finally, the women love a little stubble, at least the look of it. It is a pretty even split between “Damn, that’s sexy” and “Ouch, that hurts”. The stubble is prickly to the touch and a woman’s soft skin may not react well to it. But it might just be the reason you got that close.

Maintenance

1. To achieve the perfect stubble, use an adjustable beard trimmer with the built-in guard all the way back
2. Trim your hair, making multiple passes for consistency
3. Clean up your mustache with a scissors or a precision trimmer, removing any stray hairs.
4. Shave or trim any hair that grows below the top of your Adam’s apple using a razor or a trimmer without a guard.
5. If your stubble grows high up on your cheeks, shave or trim the hair just below your cheekbone parallel to your jaw line
6. Every 2 – 4 days, or as necessary, repeat steps 1 – 3 maintain a relaxed but tidy look Any longer, and you’ll be sporting a beard.
7. Run your fingers over your stubble to check for consistency. Make another pass with a trimmer until stubble is even, using even pressure.