How to Grow & Style the Balbo Beard

The Balbo beard is a popular, sophisticated facial hair style that features a disconnected mustache and a goatee-like beard that extends along the jawline. It’s a versatile look that’s straightforward to grow and maintain, and we’ll show you exactly how! Keep scrolling to find your perfect Balbo style, with tips from professional barbers and facial hair specialists.

The Balbo Beard Explained

Barber Jacob Joseph says a Balbo beard is a neck beard with a mustache. To achieve the look, grow out your facial hair and carve an outline from the curve of your jawline to the hair around your mouth. Shave your cheeks and sideburns so it looks like a disconnected mustache and goatee.

Section 1 of 7:

What is a Balbo beard?

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A Balbo beard is a beard with a disconnected mustache and no sideburns. Balbo beards are typically thick, but they come in all sizes and lengths. They combine a disconnected mustache and goatee, with the hair extending along the jawline and the cheeks and sideburns shaved clean.^{[1]
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Research source} It’s “like the Italian beard fade, but it’s not faded,” says Joseph.^{[2]
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Expert Source

Jacob Joseph
Barber and Barbershop Owner

Expert Interview}
- The Balbo beard is a popular, versatile style known for its clean, sharp, and modern look.
- The hair on the beard end of Balbo beards is typically cut short, but this varies based on style.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Jacob Joseph is a barber, barbershop owner, and men’s grooming content creator. He provides educational content on how men can maintain their beards at home.

Juan Sabino is a professional barber with over 20 years of male grooming experience and over eight years of professional barber experience.

Marlon Rivas is a facial hair specialist with over 15 years of experience in managing and providing barber services.

Timmy Yanchun is a professional barber and the co-founder of Svelte Barbershop + Essentials. He’s been featured in GQ, Men’s Fitness, and Hypebeast.

Mark LoBiondo is a licensed cosmetologist and the owner of Markdaniel Barbershop. He has over nine years of experience in the industry.

Section 2 of 7:

How to Grow & Style a Balbo Beard

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"If you are interested in growing a beard, give it at least a month to see how your beard grows," says facial hair specialist Marlon Rivas.^{[3]
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Expert Source

Marlon Rivas
Facial Hair Specialist

Expert Interview} Four weeks may seem like a long time, but it gives your beard an ample amount of time to grow. That way, once you’re ready to cut the Balbo beard, it’ll have sharp definition and stand out. So, put your razor away and let your hair grow out for the next four weeks, then once the four weeks have passed, grab some beard trimmers.
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Use beard trimmers to cut the outline of your beard. Turn on your beard clippers and shave down the facial hair on the side of your face, starting from your sideburns and working your way down to the angle where your jawline starts to curve. Once you’ve cleared the area, line up the remaining hair on your jawline with a precision razor, and make sure to cut off any hair above the line.^{[4]
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- If you want a more circular Balbo beard, cut away the hair on the jawline, too.
Once you’ve got the beard outlined, grab that precision razor and use it to outline the mustache, as well. Gently trim your top lip into a straight line that curves into the remaining hair on your beard. Then, use the razor to separate the beard just below your bottom lip.^{[5]
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Unless you want to rock the Balbo with stubble style, use a razor to shave any remaining stubble away in the newly shaved areas. Make sure to get underneath your chin too and shave any excess hair there, as well. Once you’ve gotten rid of the extra stubble, you’re good to go!^{[6]
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Section 3 of 7:

Balbo Beard Styles

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The Classic Balbo beard balances the hair on the bottom with the mustache on the top lip, making for a neat, sculpted look that helps mold your jawline. It’s the basis for other Balbo beard styles, making it a great choice if you’re looking for something that’s classic, recognizable, and sharp.
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Extended Balbo Beard The Extended Balbo beard brings the hair on your chin down a bit, which adds elongation to the face and helps spice up your look. Rather than opting for the short length on the jawline, it comes down about an inch (2.5 cm) or so, making for a bold look that does all the talking for you.
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Balbo with Goatee The Balbo with Goatee is a classic that’s been worn by plenty of celebrities, from Christian Bale to Johnny Depp. It combines the Balbo with a goatee without veering too far from the traditional goatee look, opting for a small strip of hair in the center of the chin just above the rest of the hair. It’s for the guys who want a little bit of flair without drawing crazy attention.
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Patchy Balbo Beard If your facial hair’s growth pattern is more casual, this is for you! The patchy Balbo beard works with your casual growth pattern by letting it reign free of the jawline and upper lip (within the guidelines of the style, of course). It’s a great choice if you don’t have the fullest beard, but are still looking to find a smooth style that suits you.
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Faded Balbo Beard The faded Balbo beard brings a modern element to the classic style. For this style, the hair on the sides of your jawline is faded downward so that there’s a casual gradient leading towards it. This makes for a smooth transition that’s perfect if you’re looking for a clean, eye-catching style.
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Balbo with Stubble This style brings a more casual look and feel to the Balbo beard, bringing the hair down on the sides and upper lip down to a stubble. It keeps the general shape, but is much less pronounced than the classic and extended styles. This makes it perfect if you’re looking for a laid-back, rugged look that still has hints of sharpness.
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Short Balbo Beard The short Balbo beard takes the look even shorter than the classic, going for a compact look that hugs the jawline. While the hair isn’t cut down into stubble, it doesn’t grow out into inches, either. It’s the perfect choice if you want to show off your hair without letting it get long.
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Long Balbo Beard The long Balbo beard lets your facial hair hang free. While the mustache and beard are still disconnected, they’re grown out an inch (2.5 cm) or longer, depending on the person and their preferences. While they do require more maintenance than the average Balbo beard style, in return, you get to rock a bold, eye-catching look.
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Balbo with Handlebar Mustache This striking style combines the twirl of a handlebar mustache with the sleekness of the Balbo beard. Rather than blending into a gap like the classic Balbo beard, the edges of this style twirl outward like a handlebar. It elevates the classic look to the next level, making it great for those looking for a vintage vibe.
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Balbo with Thick Mustache The Balbo beard with a thick mustache is just as it sounds, a classic Balbo beard with a thick mustache on the tip lip. It divides just below the bottom lip, making for a pronounced look on both fronts. Pick this style if you want to show off your mustache while still putting some hair on your beard.

Section 4 of 7:

Maintaining Your Balbo Beard

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Clean and moisturize your skin and beard. According to professional barber Juan Sabino, “healthy hair follicles grow out of healthy skin, so you have to moisturize, you have to make sure that your skin is clean, and you have to make sure that your beard hair is conditioned.”^{[7]
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Expert Source

Juan Sabino
Professional Barber

Expert Interview}
- Clean your skin daily.
- Licensed cosmetologist Mark LoBiondo says to "Use shampoo and hair conditioner on your beard as you would your head hair. Do not shampoo too frequently (once per week)."^{[8]
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  Expert Source
  
  Mark LoBiondo
  Licensed Cosmetologist
  
  Expert Interview}
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Use beard oil to keep your Balbo beard soft. According to Rivas, “adding the beard oil [gives] the beard a little bit of fuller, uniform look and it maintains the scraggly hairs.”^{[9]
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Expert Source

Marlon Rivas
Facial Hair Specialist

Expert Interview} Apply it 1-2 times daily after showering so that your pores are open.
- Rivas suggests using unscented beard oil with a thicker base, as it’ll last longer throughout the day, keep your beard shiny, and help retain moisture.^{[10]
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  Expert Source
  
  Marlon Rivas
  Facial Hair Specialist
  
  Expert Interview}
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Work with a barber to keep it trimmed and pick a style. Professional barber Timmy Yanchun says that “one thing you can do to really maintain and enjoy your beard is to go to a barber, get it trimmed, and ask what style works for your face shape.”^{[11]
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Expert Source

Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber

Expert Interview} Bring photos of the different Balbo beard styles so your barber has an idea of what they look like.

Section 5 of 7:

Balbo Beard vs. Other Beards

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Van Dyke Beard The Van Dyke beard is also a separated beard that has a mustache and a sleek strip of hair on the chin. The difference between the Van Dyke beard and the Balbo beard is that the Van Dyke beard has a thin, twirling handlebar mustache instead of a more casual mustache style.^{[12]
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- The beard section is also trimmed into a sharp V-shape, creating more contrast between the two styles.
Like the Balbo beard, the Anchor beard is also a sleek beard that separates the bottom half from the mustache. But the Anchor beard takes it one step further, separating the bottom half of the beard from the hair below the bottom lip to create a soul patch and a dynamic look!
A circle beard is a mustache and beard that aren’t disconnected. They’re cut into a lightly rounded, goatee-like shape that gives the style its name. While it's similar to the Balbo beard in terms of where the hair is, the construction is vastly different, with the Balbo beard taking many more liberties when it comes to gaps and the lack of sideburns.^{[13]
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An extended goatee has a long bearded end that helps shape the face. While the Balbo beard also helps shape the face, it isn’t as long as the extended goatee. The extended goatee also reaches a wider area than the Balbo beard, going across the jawline and stretching far past the tip of the chin.

Section 6 of 7:

Best Face Shapes for a Balbo Beard

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Square face shapes look best with the Balbo beard. According to Joseph, the Balbo beard suits someone with a squared face and stronger cheekbones, as well as someone who lacks puffy cheek lines.^{[14]
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Expert Source

Jacob Joseph
Barber and Barbershop Owner

Expert Interview} The beard can help soften the sharp angles of square faces, making the style a super flattering choice!
- Joseph notes that the Balbo beard may not be flattering on round faces because the cut-off hair can “make the face appear rounder.”^{[15]
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  Expert Source
  
  Jacob Joseph
  Barber and Barbershop Owner
  
  Expert Interview}
- This doesn’t mean the Balbo beard is limited to those face shapes, though; anyone can rock it as long as they’re confident in how they look.

Section 7 of 7:

History Behind the Balbo Beard

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The Balbo beard was Balbo’s signature style, so it makes sense that it was named after him. Balbo was one of the figures who ushered Italy into fascism in 1922. Although he was a fascist, he was one of the only people who opposed Italy’s alliance with Nazi Germany and their persecution of Jews.^{[16]
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Research source} He was also a prominent figure in American pop culture, which helped popularize the style.