Growing an Evil Beard for Halloween? Here’s How.
Photo by Jay Wennington on Unsplash
If there’s any holiday that appeals to our desire to dress up and role-play, it would probably have to be Halloween. No other holiday in the American tradition gives us that much license for fun: from trick or treating to walking around in one’s best cosplay to attending parties all around.
Depending on your approach, you could be the guy who plans out his Halloween costume months in advance or the other guy who waits until a day before Halloween before frantically making up a costume. This would probably be a piece of cake for the DIY folks, but for us, lesser mortals, we’ll have to work harder than them.
Whichever way you go, there are three things to remember when choosing a costume: first, it has to be memorable; second, it doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg—which on All Hallow’s Eve might not be the best way to splurge—and third, it should be comfortable.
How to be memorable? Dress up like a villain!
- The Fascination for Villainy
- How to Turn Your Comfortable Beard Into a Sinister Goatee
- Get Into the Halloween Spirit with a Straight Razor
The Fascination for Villainy
People are drawn to the thrill of embodying villains, captivated by their boldness, mystery, and allure that let us explore our darker sides.
Photo by Raúl Magdaleno on Pexels
As it turns out, there’s a public fascination for villains. Even Netflix1 admits this, saying that people respond better to images of supervillains than heroes in its film archive. Curious about this, we googled this topic online and came up with some clarifying answers.
For novelist Charity Bishop2, this interest in villainy is simply a natural offshoot of human nature. Being naturally curious, human beings are fascinated by not just what transformed them into villains but also what keeps them there, she said.
Cultural analysts, meanwhile, view villains as archetypes. They say that a villain serves as a symbol for a society's moral decay or as a symbol for revenge so that it can produce a sense of justice or closure for the collective unconscious.
Right now, though, we’re sure your unconscious is looking for closure about your costume dilemma. So, let’s get back to the topic at hand.
Need to spend less? Work with what you have.
Now, if anything is a dead giveaway for a villainous character, it would have to be a beard. More specifically, a goatee beard.
It’s a common trope in television and film, and women love it. If you have to have a villain wearing a beard, it has to be a goatee. TVTropes3 call this the Beard of Evil. According to the site, “The Beard of Evil has a long history of being associated most closely with the Evil Twin4 or Evil Counterpart5. It also scores extra evil points if combined with a shaven head6.”
We’ve always considered this an unfair imposition on what is otherwise a nice, elegant beard style. Just look at Dr. Strange and Tony Stark, who have nice, sharp, and sexy goatees. Would you call them evil?!
But apparently, even science agrees.
At the University of Warwick, Drs. Derrick Watson and Elisabeth Blagrove have found that the downward-pointing triangular shape that a goatee gives the face is downright threatening for most people.
In their study7, they found that when people shape their eyebrows into something that suggests a downward-facing triangle or grow a goatee to make their chin look pointy, their face takes on a negative expression, and people respond to it negatively.
How to Turn Your Comfortable Beard Into a Sinister Goatee
Now, as goatees go, there are a lot of styles. All of these are worth trying on, especially if you have the facial contour. For your Halloween costume, though, we will zero in on those styles that card-carrying villainous stereotypes have unfortunately appropriated.
The Pointed Beard
A pointed beard adds a rugged, classic edge to Halloween costumes, ideal for a polished yet menacing look.
Photo by Anya Juárez Tenorio on Pexels
Also known as the Ducktail Beard, we generally call it the devil’s beard because that’s how medieval painters often painted satyrs and devils: with lush, pointed beards on their chins. Why? The better to tickle, we suppose.
If you already have a full beard, converting it to a pointed one is easy. Just trim it accordingly. However, if you’re starting from scratch, you should have started growing your beard four months ago so that you would have enough hair to work with before your Halloween party.
The Bespoke Unit8 offers more specific instructions:
- Wash, blow-dry, and brush your beard down to place before starting.
- Get a pair of clippers and hold them vertically while running them down from the cheeks towards the tip of the beard’s growth. This will taper the top and sculpt the undergrowth.
- To ensure symmetry on both sides of the chin, trim each side, step by step, while regularly brushing the beard to isolate stray hairs.
- Lower or neaten the cheek lines and carefully define the neckline.
As always, we recommend a straight razor during this part, as it will allow you to be more precise in defining the beard line.
Depending on how devilishly sexy you want to look, you can opt for a pointed tip or a slight curl, the latter done by twisting or rolling the tip back on itself.
The Fu Manchu Mustache
Named for a villainous mad scientist from a series of books and films with his name on it, the Fu Manchu will, unfortunately, take months of preparation. That’s because you need to grow it from the upper lip without any attachment to the face.
Shave the hair on your upper lip relatively short, except at the ends. Let the excluded ends grow out extensively, and train them to hang perfectly downwards with a mustache wax.
Beardoholic9 recommends these steps:
- Grow out all your facial hair and only trim the rest when the mustache has grown out fully. Continue grooming the mustache 2-3 times a week to ensure that only the hair at the ends is allowed to grow.
One can use a trimmer, but we prefer a straight razor for a cleaner trim. This allows you to shape the mustache to the desired style and prevent the other parts of the mustache from growing long and bushy. - Shave the rest of the beard cleanly to allow the mustache to hang straight down physically.
- Apply mustache wax as you pull down the beard. Repeat the procedure until the hair hangs down naturally to the chin.
When it has fully grown out and can hang down properly without any pulling, congratulations—you’ve now got a Fu Manchu mustache.
Get Into the Halloween Spirit with a Straight Razor
The Naked Armor Lancelot Straight Razor boasts a sleek black finish, adding an air of sophistication and mystery that makes it the perfect accessory for creating a bold Halloween look.
Of course, this may sound tedious and require a lot of work. But you can pull it off if you use the right tool. And that’s why you need to use a straight razor.
Yup, there is nothing like another unfairly maligned product to pair with an equally maligned beard style. Between the straight razor and the pointed beard lies a long history of horror stereotypes, from film to literature.
Still, we gotta admit nothing does the job better than a straight razor.
A straight razor gives you total control over the pressure and shaving angles needed to achieve these beard styles. Its sharp blade can cut close to the skin in the fewest passes, giving you a close and clean shave.
Here at Naked Armor, our Lancelot Straight Razor is the perfect grooming tool for Halloween, blending a sleek, dark aesthetic with precision craftsmanship. Its striking black design and bold 7/8" blade exude a mysterious, edgy vibe, ideal for those embracing the spooky season. The Japanese stainless steel blade offers a razor-sharp edge for effortlessly clean shaves, perfect for crafting sharp, defined beard lines to complement your Halloween costume.
With its round point, this razor provides safety and control, ensuring you can get a precise shave without the risk of nicks—ideal for last-minute touch-ups before heading out to your Halloween party. Whether you're going for a classic vampire look, a dapper werewolf, or any other sharply groomed character, the Lancelot Straight Razor guarantees you'll be perfectly styled and ready for the eerie night ahead. Its luxurious feel adds an extra touch of sophistication, even in the midst of Halloween’s thrilling chaos.
So yeah, choose a straight razor to get your evil Halloween beard down to pat, and count how many fang-tastic beard compliments you'll get. Of course, you can always just chuck out the preparation and opt for the fake villainous beards. But where’s the fun in that? See you at the parties!
More Naked Armor Reads
How to Create a Designer Stubble Beard Using a Straight Razor
How to Make Your Neckbeards Look Cool
Beards in the Workplace: Is It Really Unprofessional?
References
- McAlone, N. (2016, May 3). You are more likely to click on a villain than a hero, according to Netflix. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-says-people-respond-better-to-villains-than-heroes-2016-5
- Bishop, C. (2010, November 18). Society’s Fascination With Villains. The Sacred in the Secular. https://charitysplace.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/societys-fascination-with-villains/
- Beard of Evil. (n.d). TVTropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BeardOfEvil
- Evil Twin. (n.d). TVTropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilTwin
- Evil Counterpart. (n.d). TVTropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EvilCounterpart
- Bald of Evil. (n.d). TVTropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BaldOfEvil
- Inglis-Arkell, E. (2012, June 1). Scientists prove that a goatee makes you look evil. GIZMODO. https://gizmodo.com/scientists-prove-that-a-goatee-makes-you-look-evil-5914836
- What Are Pointed, Ducktail & French Fork Beards? Different Styles & Maintenance. (n.d). Bespoke Unit. https://bespokeunit.com/grooming/beards/pointed/
- Vinnie - Barber. (2024, February 22). 10 Cool Fu Manchu Mustache Styles & How to Grow Them. Beardoholic. https://beardoholic.com/grow-fu-manchu-mustache/
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