The goatee is one of the most interesting facial hair styles around. Neither full beard nor fully clean-shaven, goatee styles tend to be varied and creative just like their wearers.
When it comes to how to shave a goatee the intricate style requires careful preparation and good equipment – hence we recommend a good double edge safety razor to ensure maximum accuracy.
Does a goatee make you look evil? Actually it can! Researchers from the University of Warwick conducted a study to assess why so many evil characters in popular culture tend to have goatee beards.
The study found that the human brain tends to perceive downwards-facing triangles as threatening and as brains perceive goatees as making the human face resemble a downwards-facing triangle it can be interpreted as looking sinister.
Of course goatee styles can have other counter cultural significance – like beatnicks, hippies and heavy metal. This is a beard style that is guaranteed to stand out from the crowd. This is partly because it requires some effort to maintain.
Being clean shaven generally means an easier, quick shave in the mornings while having a full beard often means no shaving at all. But with a goatee you have to spend more time in the mirror and so the people who go for it tend to really identify with it.
How To Shave a Goatee
The reason a goatee style can be challenging is because of its clean lines. You’re unlikely to always shave along those lines so you’ll very likely end up with an edge of different lengths. For this reason when starting your goatee you may want to grow a full beard for a week or two first so that the initial shaping is all done at once.
At this point some people like to use a trimmer to define the goatee area by trimming down everywhere that’s going to be shaved. This is because common cartridge razors get clogged easily with longer hair. With a double edge safety razor this is much less likely as there’s only one blade and more space for water to flow through the head and remove hairs.
When it comes to shaving the goatee, simply shave as you normally would but leave the area where you want to keep the facial hair. At this stage it is probably best to keep things broad rather than going straight for a particular style that may or may not suit you.
One area of concern is under the chin. You may want more of a “chin puff” in which case leaving an inch-sized area under the chin can help. On the other hand if you want to stay short, clean and crisp then you can shave right up the bottom of the chin.
It is generally wise to use your facial features as reference points to get your lines right. However, keep in mind that your face itself is assymetrical and so watch out for any lopsided shaving. As the face is a natural miracle, don’t stress too much about getting everything perfect. Even your beard doesn’t grow in a perfect straight line with even density.