How to Cut & Maintain an Italian Beard at Home

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With tips on achieving the style's signature fade

Co-authored by Marlon Rivas and Elaine Heredia, BA

Last Updated: November 19, 2025 Fact Checked

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How to Cut an Italian Beard

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Maintenance Tips

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Face Shape Modifications

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Style Variations

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Video

You don't have to be Italian to enjoy the Italian beard style. You also don't have to be a barber or a TikTok influencer to copy this facial hair trend! We're about to show you how you can achieve this look at home with just a few hair tools. Keep reading to learn how to cut and maintain your beard in the Italian style, with beard care tips from professional barbers.

What is the Italian beard style?

The Italian beard is a style of facial hair that's gone viral on TikTok and Instagram. It's characterized by a disconnected mustache and a fade on the cheeks. The bulk of the facial hair is at the bottom of the beard, where the edges are trimmed close to the jaw. The neck is shaved below the Adam's apple.

Section 1 of 4:

How to Cut the Italian Beard Style

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1
Cut a guideline from the corner of your lips to your earlobe. Using electric trimmers or clippers without a guard, shave the line upward, against the grain of hair growth. This is what you'll use to create the Italian beard style's signature fade.^{[1]
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- For a straighter and more accurate line, press a comb against your cheek from your lips to your earlobe and shave above it.
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Woody Lovell is a professional barber with over 20 years of experience in the male grooming industry. He's also the founder of The Barbershop Club and a line of quality grooming products.

Marlon Rivas is a facial hair expert with over 15 years of experience managing and providing barber services. He owns MGX Professional Men's Grooming and founded Busystyle.com.

Timmy Yanchun is a professional barber who's been cutting hair since the age of 13. He's opened 6 barbershops and is the co-founder of a men's grooming company called Svelte Barbershop + Essentials.

Mark LoBiondo is a licensed cosmetologist with more than 9 years of experience. He specializes in providing barber services reminiscent of a classic neighborhood barbershop experience.
Shave in small strokes in an upward direction all the way along the guideline you created in the first step. Take care not to shave too much, since the goal is to create a gradual fade.^{[2]
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Keep the clippers 0.5 cm (0.20 in) from the top edge of the guideline, like you did in the previous step. Continue shaving in small, upward strokes.^{[3]
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Position the guard 0.5 cm (0.20 in) down from where you shaved in the previous two steps. Turn the clippers on and shave up from that new invisible line across your cheek. Shave downward for a few strokes, as well, to catch any extra-long hairs you might have missed on the first pass.^{[4]
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EXPERT TIP

Woody Lovell
Professional Barber
Woody Lovell is the Founder of The Barbershop Club, a gentleman's barbershop-as-social club rooted in 1990's traditional barbering based in the Hotel Normandie in Los Angeles, California. He is also the Founder of his own line of quality grooming products. He has over 20 years of experience in the male grooming industry and has consulted clients including professional athletes, musicians, and A-list actors throughout the Los Angeles area.

Woody Lovell
Professional Barber

Keep your face neutral when shaving your beard. The number one common mistake that men make when grooming their beards is making funny facial expressions. Avoid pursing or stretching your lips so you don't accidentally shave your hair at a weird angle.
Shave upward from the line you cut in the previous step. Pay special attention to any small patches where your hair is still thick and dark.^{[5]
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This step will clean up any remaining long hairs. It will also create a seamless gradation of hair from your cheek to your jaw.^{[6]
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Disconnect the mustache from the beard and trim it. Use trimmers to shave the hair connecting the mustache ends to the rest of your facial hair, then line the ends up with the corners of your mouth. Next, trim the top and bottom edges of your mustache so they don't go into your nostrils or over your upper lip.^{[7]
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- Facial hair expert Marlon Rivas says keeping the hair of your mustache neat will give it "a much more groomed appearance."^{[8]
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  Marlon Rivas
  Facial Hair Specialist
  
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Take the trimmers to the hair on your chin and trim away the extra hair growth around your soul patch. Next, to line up your beard on your neck, Rivas says to lift your chin and look for the "biggest, deepest curve of your neck," right around your Adam's apple. Then shave below that with trimmers or an electric razor.^{[9]
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Marlon Rivas
Facial Hair Specialist

Expert Interview}
For a cleaner look, clean up any remaining stubble and hairs above the fade on your cheeks with your electric razor. Take the razor all the way up to your sideburns.^{[10]
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Section 2 of 4:

How to Maintain the Italian Beard Style

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Since this style is so short, it will look noticeably longer if you let it grow out for more than a few days. With that in mind, trim the edges and clean up your fade at least once a week or whenever you notice it getting too long for your liking.^{[11]
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Research source} If you want to reduce the stubble above your cheeks and on your neck, you may need to shave those areas every 1-2 days.
Beard oil moisturizes your skin and nourishes your facial hair. Professional barber Timmy Yanchun recommends massaging the product into your beard "from the root of the hair to the tip," and applying it any time your beard feels dry to the touch.^{[12]
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Timmy Yanchun
Professional Barber

Expert Interview}
Licensed cosmetologist Mark LoBiondo suggests applying shampoo and conditioner to your beard hair to keep it clean and soft. But don't overdo it—once weekly is frequent enough!^{[13]
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Mark LoBiondo
Licensed Cosmetologist

Expert Interview}

Section 3 of 4:

Which face shape looks best with an Italian beard?

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The Italian beard looks best on oval shapes. But that doesn't mean you can't wear this style if you have a heart, square, or round face shape! Here's how to modify the Italian beard to complement the planes of your cheeks and jaw.^{[14]
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- Round or square: Grow your beard out longer at the chin. This will give the illusion of length to your face.
- Heart-shaped: Leave the facial hair on your cheeks slightly longer than normal to balance out your longer chin.
- Diamond: Grow out the edges of your beard and round them out with your trimmers.

Section 4 of 4:

Italian Beard Style Variations

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Shave all the facial hair off your cheeks, so that the only hair on your face is your mustache, your soul patch, and a small, short beard on your chin. Don't forget to clean up the hair on either side of your soul patch and disconnect your mustache ends from your chin beard.^{[15]
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Instead of fading the facial hair on your cheeks, just trim it down to the guideline and leave it full the rest of the way down to your jaw. In this variation, your mustache ends should connect to your beard. To keep your beard looking clean and precise, make sure to line up the bottom of it and shave off any stray hairs above the guideline.
Cut a traditional Italian beard, but make it your own by styling your mustache in whatever way you prefer. You might, for example, grow it out into an English mustache or curl the ends in the Van Dyke style.