5 Simple Tips To Make Your Stubble Look Thicker

A lot of men sit alone and wonder for hours on end how to make stubble look thicker.

Let’s talk through the ways you can do so, one by one.

By the way, if you’re interested, also take a look at this article listing my most recommended stubble trimming and grooming products.

5 Ways To Make Stubble Look Thicker

1. Change your stubble style

It’s no secret that certain areas of a beard generally grow thicker than others. The hair on the cheeks is notorious for sprouting thinner than that on the chin and mustache. 

This unfortunate discrepancy is exactly that – unfortunate. But, it’s pretty simple to fix without overcomplicating it. 

If patchy cheek stubble is getting you down, why not shave it off? There are plenty of styles that remove the need for cheek stubble completely. 

The most recognizable would be the goatee, of course. Goatees are characterized by hair on the chin but not on the cheeks. Must I say more?

If you don’t want to remove all of the cheek stubble, try dropping the cheek line a little to see if that makes a difference. 

Another common issue men have is patchy growth in the space adjacent to the corners of the mouth, connecting the mustache to the chin beard.

Why not adopt the stubble Van Dyke? In this disconnected goatee variant, the mustache is completely detached from the chin beard anyway. Simple. 

Other solutions could be the stubble without a mustache for a patchy mustache, or the hardline chinstrap for patchiness pretty much everywhere. 

Stubble is fun. Experiment. 

2. Grow it out or trim it down

This almost certainly looks contradictory at first glance, but hear me out. 

Men who want to learn how to make their stubble thicker can generally be categorized into two groups. Those with one or two frustrating patches, and those with patchy-looking stubble everywhere. 

If you have one or two frustrating patches, my advice would be to try growing the stubble out a little longer than you’re used to. 

One possibility could be that the bare patches may just need a little longer to grow and fill out, and you’ve been trimming and shaving too early up until now.

Another one is that you may be able to cover up a little patch here or there if your facial hair was just that little bit longer. 

This is less likely to work if you have general patchiness.

In these circumstances try trimming it down short. It often makes it look more evenly distributed.

There’s usually a sweet spot where the stubble looks thickest, and it’s your job to find it through trial and error.

Remember, seek professional advice if you’re concerned about the distribution of the patchiness.

3. Beard oil

They usually consist of essential oils such as argan oil and jojoba oil.

It can give stubble a nice, slick shine and a lustrous appearance. Sometimes it can make stubble look thicker than it otherwise would.

Beard oil would really only be beneficial if you’ve got heavy stubble, however.

4. Brush it

This is particularly useful for heavy stubble. Running a brush through those hairs could have a subtle yet significant impact on how thick that stubble looks. 

There may be hairs that have clumped together, or lie in different directions. Running a beard brush through it could un-clump those hairs, and also make them lie straighter.

This makes the stubble look thicker, and also more uniform. 

Get yourself an affordable, yet high-quality wooden brush with boar bristles. It’ll come in useful during your facial hair journey and is also an exceptionally cool thing to own. 

5. Keep It Clean

Funnily enough, I’ve saved the simplest trick till last. Some might say this goes without saying, but you’d be surprised how often it’s neglected. 

Again, this is more important for medium and heavy stubble. For those men with hair that lies thoroughly within the short beard category (>5mm in length), it’s crucial.  

An unclean, unkept, and greasy stubble beard will usually look thinner than it otherwise would.