The shaving industry works tirelessly to make all types of facial hair seem like an unhygienic problem that men need to rid themselves from.
But they can’t stop the heavy stubble, which has been found to be the hottest facial hair style time after time again, in scientific studies consisting of thousands of subjects.
The heavy stubble is the longest of the stubble beard styles with a length of 4-5mm (1/8 inch). It’s commonly known as the 10 day beard, as it will take an average man approximately ten days to grow the amount of facial hair needed to pull off the heavy stubble beard.
Today, you will learn everything you need to know about the heavy stubble, including how to grow it, trim it, maintain it, and what are the best styles and examples to look inspiration from.
You will also learn what face shapes best match the beard style and why exactly is it being called “the most attractive facial hair style”.
let’s take a closer look:
What is a Heavy Stubble Beard
The heavy stubble beard is commonly known as the “10 day beard” or “lazy man’s beard”, as the names imply, this style is fast to grow and quite carefree to maintain.
It’s a noticeable step up in length compared to its shorter versions; the light stubble that takes just one day to grow, and the medium stubble which takes approximately three days to grow.
The heavy stubble is one of the most attractive facial hair styles a man can grow. It’s also perfect for men who don’t want to commit to growing a full beard, but still don’t care about the clean-shaven look either.
How Long is Heavy Stubble
Heavy stubble is approximately 4-5mm (1/8 inch) in length, making it the longest of the three main stubble beard types (the 5 o’clock shadow and designer stubble being the other two).
If it would be any longer than that, it would be categorized as a short boxed beard and if it would be any shorter, it would be medium stubble instead.
A man with the average beard growth rate of ½ inch per month will be able to grow a heavy stubble beard in 10 days if the starting point is a clean-shave.
Is Heavy Stubble Attractive
In a study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, the heavy stubble with 10 days of beard growth was chosen as the most attractive beard style by the 9991 subjects.
The subjects ranked the facial hair styles as follows:
- heavy stubble
- light stubble
- light beard
- clean-shave
Another study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences had 60 subjects, and they too were asked to rate different facial hair styles and clean-shaven faces to see which of them would be the most attractive and visually pleasing.
Once again, the stubble styles reigned supreme, this time with the following results:
- light stubble
- heavy stubble
- light beard
- clean-shave
- heavy beard
Bottom line: it’s safe to say that yes, a heavy stubble beard is attractive – and that’s not just an option of a style magazine this time – but an actual scientific result formed by close to ten thousand subjects and what they perceive as attractive.
Best Heavy Stubble Styles & Examples
Full Face Heavy Stubble
The Heavy Stubble Hollywoodian
Natural 10 Day Beard
Heavy Stubble with Shaved Neckline
The 10 Day Goatee
Heavy Stubble with Short Sides
Patchy Heavy Stubble Beard
Which Famous Men Wear the Heavy Stubble
The heavy stubble is a popular choice of facial hair among many celebrities, and why wouldn’t it be – it’s the job of these men to look great – and the heavy stubble is proven to be the most attractive facial hair style of them all.
Some of the bearded celebs known for rocking the heavy stubble beard include: Adam Levine, Jason Statham, Chris Hemsworth, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Beckham, and Ryan Reynolds.
How to Grow Heavy Stubble
Growing a heavy stubble will take roughly 8-12 days due to differences in the rate of growth from one man to another.
So if you want to get a heavy stubble, start by setting down the razor and don’t shave your face at all for that time.
After the eight to twelve days have passed, your face will have an uneven growth of 4-5mm stubble all over it, and the beards neckline and cheeks are obviously not yet groomed.
It’s up to you whether you want to leave your heavy stubble looking completely natural, scruffy, and unkempt, or if you want to trim it to even length and clean the edges.
I would highly recommend the latter choice, because on most men, a well-maintained 10 day stubble just looks so much better than its naturally grown version.
How to Trim and Maintain a Heavy Stubble Beard
To properly trim a heavy stubble beard, it’s recommended that you first let your facial hair grow out for approximately two weeks, so that even the slow sleeper hairs can catch up and you are sure that there’s enough length to pull off the needed 4-5mm.
Once your beard has grown for two weeks, here is the step-by-step approach to trimming a heavy stubble:
- Take out a dedicated stubble trimmer or a basic beard trimmer, and set the length to 4 or 5 mm. If your trimmer uses guard combs, use the one marked with “4mm”, “5mm” or “1/8 inch”.
- Carefully go through your whole facial hair area with the trimmer and make sure to not miss a spot. For best result, consider using a stubble trimmer with contouring head, such as the i-Super Stubble trimmer from Conair.
- Once you are pleased with the length, take out a razor or a shavette and use it to define the heavy stubble’s neckline and the cheekline. It’s up to you where you want to define these at, but a general rule of thumb is to keep the neckline at 1″ below the actual jawline and the cheekline as high as you can without it looking patchy.
How to maintain a heavy stubble, aka. 10 day beard:
- At least weekly, set your trimmer to the desired length (4-5mm) and trim your stubble down to the required heavy stubble length.
- You could use a drop or two of beard oil, but for stubble beards it’s actually better to use a regular face moisturizer or a lotion-based beard moisturizer daily.
- Using a beard exfoliating scrub and regularly brushing the beard with a boar’s bristle beard brush will remove any dead skin and beardruff, as well as prevent ingrown beard hairs (which are common with stubble).
What Face Shape is Best for the Heavy Stubble
The heavy stubble is a safe beard style. It will look good on any of the seven main face shapes.
Still, if you want to find the perfect facial hair match for your face shape, know that the stubble beards are a best fit for the diamond face shape, the square face shape, and the oblong face shape.
Why these three you ask?
Well, it’s because the stubble won’t hide any of the defined and angular features that are typical to these face shapes, and for the tall oblong face, a stubble is a solid choice because it won’t add any extra length to your already long face.
For round, heart, oval, and triangle face shapes the stubble is a good choice as well, but not necessarily the best one.
You see, with shorter and softer face shapes such as these, you will want to use a longer beard style which you can then shape in a way that it adds length and definition to the weaker areas of your face – stubble beards are obviously too short for doing this.
Conclusion
Thinking of growing the hottest beard style of them all?
Then the heavy stubble, aka. 10 day beard, aka. lazy man’s beard, is your best choice. It’s scientifically proven to be the most attractive facial hair style.
It’s also quick to grow with its short 4-5mm length, and very easy to maintain if you own a stubble trimmer or a beard trimmer.
Sure, some hardcore beardsmen will probably tell you that the stubble isn’t a “real beard style”, but I guess that just shows there are gate-keepers in every sport, even in something as mundane as growing facial hair.
