Start here
What’s This About
A goatee is hair on the chin with the cheeks shaved, and the styles are variations on how much of the mouth it surrounds and whether it joins the moustache. The classic goatee is chin and soul patch only, the circle beard joins chin to moustache in a ring around the mouth, the Van Dyke keeps the moustache and the chin separate, the anchor runs the chin hair a little way along the jaw, and the soul patch, landing strip and chin strap are the sparer relatives; the right one is decided by the face, the beard you can grow and how much shaving you will do each week.
This guide answers the questions men ask when they take the sides off a beard, such as
• What are the goatee styles called, and what does each one look like?
• Which goatee suits a round, long or square face, and a bald head?
• Should a goatee be long or short?
• How do I trim and shape one, and where do the lines go?
• How long does it take to grow, and how do I look after it?
and many more!
Each style has its own card with the lines to cut and the order for the barber.
Key Points
01Grow before you cut, letting the chin and moustache grow until you can see the coverage; for a long circle beard Beardbrand suggests growing a beard and trimming the cheeks away, while the Book of Barbering says there is no need to grow a full cheek beard first.
02The circle beard is the common choice, and Beardbrand calls it “the most common goatee style”, the moustache joined to the chin in a ring around the mouth.
03Take width from the mouth and length from the face. The Book of Barbering uses the corners of the mouth as a reference rather than a fixed border, and suggests extra chin length on a round face, if you want vertical emphasis, and a shorter chin on a long one.
04The cheek line, shaved clean, and the neckline, started low and raised only if needed, are the two lines that finish it.
The short answer
A goatee is a beard with the cheeks removed, and the styles differ in whether the moustache stays and whether the two connect.
Beardbrand’s guide, from a beard-care retailer, defines the standard goatee as hair “just grown from the chin and soul patch but does not include the mustache”, generally kept around half an inch to one inch, and the circle beard as “the most common goatee style”, in which “the goatee connects to the mustache forming a circular shape around the mouth”.
The Book of Barbering, by the barber Khamis Maiouf, describes the same circle beard as one where “the moustache runs down beside the mouth into a rounded chin beard” with clear cheeks, and says a Van Dyke “combines a separate moustache and chin beard”, adding that “a handlebar is one way to style the moustache, not a requirement for every Van Dyke”.
So the three parts of the decision are moustache or not, connected or not, and how far along the jaw the chin hair goes; the cards below take them in turn.
Key rule. Let the chin and moustache grow until you can see the coverage, decide whether the moustache joins the chin, shave the cheeks clean, and set the neckline low before raising it.
The goatee styles, from smallest to fullest
Scroll horizontally to see all columns →
| Style | What stays | Moustache | Connected | Along the jaw |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soul patch | A small patch under the lower lip only | No | No | No |
| Landing strip | A vertical strip from the lower lip to the chin | No | No | No |
| Chin strap | A thin line of beard along the jaw towards the sideburns | Optional | No | To the sideburns |
| Classic goatee | Chin and soul patch | No | No | No |
| Chin puff | A longer chin beard; Beardbrand and Wahl define it differently (see below) | No | No | No |
| Circle beard (full goatee) | Chin, soul patch and moustache in a ring | Yes | Yes | No |
| Disconnected goatee | Chin and moustache with a gap at the mouth corners | Yes | No | No |
| Van Dyke | Chin beard and a separate moustache, often a handlebar | Yes | No | No |
| Anchor | Pointed chin beard with short arms along the jaw, moustache above | Yes | No | A short way |
| Extended goatee | Chin beard spread along the lower jaw, cheeks still clear | Yes | Either | Well beyond the mouth |
Classic goatee, the base
Hair on the chin and under the lower lip, about the width of the mouth, cheeks and upper lip shaved; Beardbrand puts the standard goatee at around half an inch to one inch long.
Wahl’s guide says the classic goatee “is the foundation for many styles but looks good on its own as well”; the Book of Barbering suggests it when you dislike a moustache or your upper-lip growth is much lighter.
Ask for “a classic goatee, no moustache, half an inch, width of the mouth”.
Circle beard (full goatee), the common one
The moustache joins a rounded chin beard down each side of the mouth, making a ring, with the cheeks shaved; Beardbrand notes it is “worn both short and long, with the lengthier version often referred to as a long goatee”.
Wahl’s description is that it “takes a regular Goatee to the next level with fuller hair at the chin and around the mouth”; Beardbrand’s own advice is “If you’re going with a circle beard, grow it long”, and the Book of Barbering’s is to keep the bridges only where the growth is there, since a deliberate gap may be easier to keep than a sparse bridge.
The order is “a circle beard, half an inch, connected, cheeks clean”.
Van Dyke, in two pieces
A pointed or rounded chin beard and a separate moustache, with bare skin between them at the corners of the mouth; the moustache is often, but not always, a handlebar.
Beardbrand’s version “combines a chin puff and mustache (typically a handlebar mustache)” and “has more of a T shape and usually does not have a connection point with the mustache”; curled ends, in the Book of Barbering’s words, “need more styling than a short, natural moustache”.
Ask for “a Van Dyke, keep the moustache and the chin separate, point the chin”.
Anchor, along the jaw
The chin beard extended a short way along the jawline on each side, so the outline looks like a ship’s anchor, with a moustache above and a gap at the corners; Beardbrand describes “a disconnected goatee that extends outwards along the jawline”, wider than the moustache, and the Book of Barbering “the pointed chin and short upward arms along the lower jaw”.
The Book of Barbering notes that it needs enough growth for the two arms as well as the point, and that the cheeks above the arms should stay clear so the outline shows.
Ask the barber for “an anchor beard, mark where the arms end before detailing the edges, moustache separate”.
Extended goatee, a fuller style
The chin beard spread along the lower jaw well beyond the mouth, with the cheeks still shaved; the Book of Barbering warns that connecting it all the way to the sideburns moves it towards a chin strap, and filling the cheeks towards a full beard.
Ask for “an extended goatee along the jaw, stopping short of the sideburns, cheeks clean, half an inch”.
Soul patch, landing strip and chin strap, the smaller styles
The soul patch is the small patch under the lower lip, which Wahl calls “subtle and cool” and says “doesn’t take much to grow or maintain”; the landing strip, in Wahl’s words, is “similar to the Soul Patch but with the hair connecting the bottom lip to the chin”; the chin strap is a thin line of beard along the jaw towards the sideburns.
Ask for each by name; the width of the strip is the only decision.
Scruffy goat, with stubble
A circle beard with stubble left on the cheeks and neck rather than a clean shave, which Beardbrand describes as “a full, thick circle beard combined with one to two weeks of scruff grown on the cheeks and neck” and names its personal favourite; keep the stubble shorter than the goatee so the chin stands out, and, as the Book of Barbering says, “You do not have to shave everything bare for a deliberate result.”
Ask for “a circle beard, leave the cheeks at stubble”.
Which goatee for which face, and for a bald head
A goatee changes the shape of the lower face because it can add length at the chin without adding width at the jaw; the Book of Barbering treats face-shape advice as “a starting point, not a rule”, and puts growth first.
For a round face, if you want more vertical emphasis, the Book of Barbering suggests “a modest point or extra chin length”, and says a rounded goatee still works if you prefer it.
With a long or oblong face, keep the chin short and the shape rounded rather than pointed, and consider the extended goatee for width; in the Book of Barbering’s words, “keeping the chin shorter avoids adding more apparent length”, and “A little width may give the balance you want.”
On a square face, a rounded circle beard softens the jaw, and a squared-off goatee repeats it; both work, and, as the Book of Barbering puts it, “Choose the effect you like.”
For an oval face, the Book of Barbering’s advice is to compare the same width and length choices and let your growth, preferences and upkeep decide.
If the chin is weak or receding, some length at the chin, as in a circle beard or a chin puff, can add bulk where the chin is small; check it from the side, because, as the Book of Barbering notes, the front view does not show projection beneath the chin.
With a bald or shaved head, a circle beard or an anchor with some length is one option if you want weight lower on the face to offset a bare scalp; none of the sources checked here sets a rule for it.
When the cheeks are patchy, a goatee sidesteps a beard that will not fill in at the sides, because the cheeks are shaved anyway; for a moustache that will not join the chin, Beardbrand calls the disconnected goatee “the easiest goatee style to grow, especially for younger men”.
Our beard styles guide covers the full beards, the face shapes guide explains the proportions, and our moustache styles guide covers the moustache half of a Van Dyke.
Should a goatee be long or short?
Either can be deliberate; the Book of Barbering’s view is that “A neat short goatee and a well-kept longer one can both be deliberate choices.” Beardbrand keeps the standard goatee around half an inch to one inch, about 13 to 25 mm.
Extra length at the chin is the Book of Barbering’s suggestion for a round face, and a shorter chin for a long face; the chin puff is the long version, though the sources define it differently, Beardbrand’s being a standard goatee grown to “two inches or more” and Wahl’s a landing strip “extending down past the chin”.
The moustache in a circle beard is kept clear of the mouth; the Book of Barbering’s instruction is to trim hairs that fall into the mouth.
How to trim and shape a goatee
A goatee is shaped with a trimmer and finished with a razor, in an order, and the two lines do most of the work.
First, let the areas you want to keep grow until you can see their coverage and direction, then, as the Book of Barbering’s method has it, choose the boundaries and comb the hair into its usual shape before any hair comes off.
Next, set the cheek line. With a trimmer without a guard, cut the outline of the goatee from the corners of the mouth down to the chin, leaving, in the Book of Barbering’s words, “a margin around the chosen outline”, then shave the cheeks clean; it uses the mouth corners “as a reference, not a compulsory border”, and for shaved areas it advises shaving cream or gel and shaving in the direction of growth.
Then set the neckline. Where it goes differs between sources, so start low and raise it only if needed, because hair cut away cannot be put back; our guide on how to shape a beard compares the conventions.
Finally, shape the chin. Comb down and trim to length with a guard comb, starting with a longer setting than you think you need and working down, as the Book of Barbering advises; half an inch is about 13 mm and three quarters of an inch about 19 mm, but comb numbering varies between makers and beard-trimmer combs are often numbered differently from hair-clipper combs, so read the length printed on your own comb. Then preserve the centre length for a point, or round or flatten the bottom, and check the profile from the side.
Use scissors for the edges and strays; Beardbrand, which sells beard scissors, says “Scissors give you more control and precision than an electric trimmer”, and recommends the trimmer for setting the outline.
The Book of Barbering’s rule is that “Maintenance follows the look, not a calendar”, so check the outline and the length regularly and trim when either moves past what you want.
Beardbrand suggests beard oil or balm to keep the hair and skin conditioned, and a styling balm for a longer goatee; the Book of Barbering adds that oil or conditioner can help manage existing hair but neither creates new growth.
Common questions
Which goatee should I start with?
Beardbrand’s own pick is the scruffy goat; otherwise, a sensible first choice is the circle beard if your moustache joins your chin, or the disconnected goatee if it does not, at around half an inch to an inch with the cheeks clean.
Which goatee style is the most common?
Beardbrand calls the circle beard “the most common goatee style”; none of the sources checked here ranks the others.
Should a goatee be long or short?
Either can be deliberate; around half an inch to an inch is Beardbrand’s range for the standard goatee, and the Book of Barbering suggests more chin length on a round face and less on a long one.
Which goatee suits a round face?
A goatee with a modest point or extra length at the chin, which the Book of Barbering suggests for vertical emphasis; a wide extended goatee works against that aim.
Does a goatee suit a bald head?
It can; a circle beard or an anchor with some length puts weight low on the face against a bare scalp, though that is a matter of taste rather than a rule.
Sources checked for this article (12 September 2026, re-checked 12 October 2026)
Beardbrand, The definitive guide to goatee styles, Mike Lawson, 28 February 2020, https://www.beardbrand.com/blogs/urbanbeardsman/goatee-styles
Book of Barbering, Goatee styles: connected, disconnected or chin-only?, Khamis Maiouf, updated 5 October 2026, https://bookofbarbering.com/goatee-styles/
Wahl USA, Goatee styles: 14 looks to try, https://wahlusa.com/how-to/beard-mustache-trimming/goatee-styles
#Goatee #Styles #Men #Main #Versions #Trim
