The Best Goatees For Seniors: Silver Is Sweet

The silver fox. A creature revered for its wisdom, cunning, virility, and charm. It’s no secret that age can do wonderful things to a man – the distinguished graying of a goatee is one of them. Here are the best goatees for seniors you can try out for yourself. 

The ever-growing plethora of available beard dyeing products on the market today may suggest that gray goatees are to be covered up. For some men, this may be the case. They simply can’t bear to let their youthful follicles slip away. 

But for many men and women alike, the gray goatee is to be worn with pride, with each silver strand telling a story of its own. 

I’ll first list the best options on offer, before diving into some additional goatee tips for seniors. 

Let’s get to it. 

The 6 Best Goatees For Seniors 

Trust me, there are loads of options out there. “Goatee” is a very broad term encompassing many, many different styles. Narrowing it down to a concise list wasn’t the easiest task. 

Before we go any further, a “goatee” is any style in which there is hair on the chin but not on the cheeks. Although that may be over-simplifying things slightly, that principle should never steer you wrong. 

Here’s are the best of them. 

1. The Silver Extended

An extended goatee is one where the bottom edges extend partially along the length of the jawline. It usually incorporates a mustache as well and this mustache is frequently connected to the chin beard. 

In other words, it’s usually a connected goatee style, but not always. In addition to this, the sideburns are frequently trimmed very short – but again, this isn’t mandatory. 

It’s a great goatee for a senior man because it can add definition to the jawline. As a man’s age progresses, the bone structure which was previously sharp can decline due to fatty excesses. 

Using facial hair to bring back some youthful definition is usually very effective. Even if it’s just an inch along the jawline on either side, it can still add a bit of contouring. 

It’s also pretty easy to achieve, with only a little bit of extra goatee to nurture on either side of the chin beard. 

2. The Gray And Full

The Full Goatee has been good to men for decades. It grew immensely popular in the ‘90s before the trend started to wane. These days, however, it’s back in full force. 

The concept is simple – a connected chin beard and mustache that encircles the mouth, with no cheek hair of course. 

That’s it. 

No bells and whistles. No fancy stuff. Just good ol’ fashioned styling that may not turn heads, but always carries with it a distinguished subtlety. 

It’s difficult to go wrong with this style. It’s so universally accepted that its versatility speaks for itself. There are very few situations in which it would be considered “inappropriate” – so few that I struggle to think of even one. 

But it’s the subtlety that makes this goatee style ideal for seniors, the elderly, and even middle-aged men. As a man reaches his golden era, he starts to long for simplicity and subtlety more than attention. 

Once again, it’s easy to trim and maintain. Ease of maintenance should also play a role when an older man determines what style he should choose. 

Perhaps in his younger days, maintaining a Ducktail seemed like a lot more fun. But with age comes compromise. A Full Goatee is just simple and there’s nothing wrong with that whatsoever. 

3. The Long And Full

Having said all that, there are still those who don’t mind a bit of extra maintenance. They’re willing to tolerate this in return for a more striking and attention-grabbing style. 

Enter – the long goatee.

“Long” is, of course, a very subjective term. But that’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself. Is a ½ inch long? What about one inch, or two inches?

Essentially, the inclusion of this glorious style in this list is to help you understand that allowing your goatee to grow downward is a simple way to make the beard stand out. 

For older men looking to make more of a statement, this goatee style may be the one. 

The main additional maintenance requirements of this style are brushing it regularly and potentially combing it if long enough. 

Brushing should be done with a boar bristle beard brush to straighten, flatten, and train the chin beard to grow neat and downward.

Those are just a few of the many benefits of brushing a beard regularly. 

Combing should be done with a decent (but not extortionately expensive), ideally hand-cut, sandalwood or pearwood, anti-static beard comb. A long goatee can tangle up very quickly, regularly running the teeth of a comb will do it the world of good. 

4. The Salt And Pepper Goatee

There’s just something about a “peppering” of gray across a dark goatee that looks so stylish. A simple way of describing the effect is a mixture of dark and gray/white. 

Before we move forward, I completely understand that this effect isn’t entirely within your control. Some men have it naturally as they transition from dark to gray. 

It simply reflects how some of their follicles have lost their color and others are clinging onto it for just a little bit longer. 

However, the big players in the beard dyeing market have caught on to the immense popularity of this effect. As you’d expect, they do have products out there specifically designed to produce this “salt n’ pepper” effect. 

Check out my article on how to dye a beard salt and pepper if you’re interested. 

As a senior man looking to use his goatee to reclaim just a little bit of youth, this may be a good option. Dyeing a gray beard completely black, brown or whatever it used to be, can look pretty obvious. 

Dyeing the goatee salt and pepper would be a very subtle way to add a dash of youth while retaining the majesty of age. 

5. The Chin Puff

Speaking of subtlety, it doesn’t get much more subtle than this. The chin puff refers to a patch of hair extending from the tip of the chin to the lower lip. Think of it as an extended soul patch. 

It’s about as easy to maintain as it gets, with shaving being the most time-consuming aspect of it. 

Although it’s a very, very small goatee, it can still add a sense of fullness to the chin. It can also give off the illusion of the chin being longer, which can be beneficial to men with round or square-shaped faces. 

Considering the long-held association between soul patches and the artistic community, it can also add a debonair edge to a senior man’s face. 

It’s certainly one to consider if you’re looking for something that’s understated and very easy to manage. 

6. The Circle With No Soul Patch

Catchy name, I know.

The simplest way to describe this goatee style would be as a Full Goatee (also known as a circle beard) with the soul patch carefully removed. The soul patch is that little patch of hair that lies right below the lower lip. 

You’ve probably already got one and just don’t pay much attention to it. 

But removing it can lead to a box-like appearance to the chin beard and is generally considered quite a modern variant of the goatee. 

Although there isn’t anything about this goatee that makes it ideal for seniors, it just often works. It’s such a simple amendment to a typical goatee, and yet it can have a pretty significant effect on the look. 

If you’re looking for a way to make the common goatee stand out just a little, try removing the soul patch. It’s a straightforward experiment that would take less than a minute – you may be pleasantly surprised. 

Additional Goatee Grooming Tips For Seniors

Now that you’ve gotten an idea of how broad the range of goatee styles is, it’s time to talk about a couple of grooming tips. These grooming tips are quite universal, but the benefits I’ve described are tailored and framed to speak directly to seniors. 

1. Be sure to remove the nose hair

Unfortunately, the rapid growth of nose hair is something which plagues men as they get older and there’s not a whole lot that can be done about it. 

The easiest option would be to blame the skies for taking hair away from where it’s most wanted and positioning it where it’s wanted the least. This probably wouldn’t be the best use of time, however. 

But removing it is very important if you’re rocking a goatee. It’s particularly important if the goatee style you’ve chosen includes a mustache. 

When nose hair is so prominent that the mustache just looks like an extension of it, you’re in trouble. An outpouring of hair from the nostrils flooding into the mustache and then down the cheeks and onto the chin. 

Attractive? Not quite. But there is something that can be done about it. 

Using a dedicated nose hair trimmer, be sure to remove it diligently and with purpose. A small pair of scissors would be fine, but a little tricky to handle. 

Leave a tiny, but noticeable gap between the mustache and your nostrils to ensure that people don’t think you’ve made this egregious grooming faux pas. 

2. Dyeing it may be an option worth considering

Don’t take this the wrong way. A gray goatee can, and often does, look great. But some men may disagree, and others may in fact look considerably better with a darker beard. 

This is often the case when the beard decides to gray before the scalp. It’s a common problem – it’s like our body parts just refuse to communicate with each other and coordinate. 

But anyway, that also falls into the “I can’t do anything about it” category. So let’s not waste time. 

But if you find yourself wondering why on Earth the scalp and goatee appear to be at odds with each other, dyeing the goatee may not be the worst idea. 

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a matching pair. Although dyeing may seem like a time-consuming pain, once you get to grips with the technique it’s actually quite satisfying. 

We’ve briefly talked about dyeing a beard salt and pepper, but you have many more options. Plus, they aren’t all artificial. There are some interesting ways to dye a beard naturally as well. 

Beard dyeing is interesting. It’s quite a broad topic, but if you’re interested in learning more, check out my other beard dyeing articles. 

3. Shave slowly and with precision

As a man gets older, nicks and cuts are more common and take longer to get better. Unfortunately, goatees come with an increased shaving requirement. That cheek hair needs to go and the swift cut of a blade is the only thing that’ll get rid of it. 

But be sure to use shaving gel to provide adequate lubrication and avoid double strokes that might needlessly irritate the skin. 

Shaving slowly will also allow you to edge with precision and make those goatee edges sharp and impossibly symmetrical. 

Beard grooming is something that shouldn’t be rushed. Set aside enough time in your morning routine to do the job effectively. 

Conclusion

There you have it. Consider it an essential guide to goatees for the senior man. 

Broadly speaking, there are few styles as distinguished and elegant as the goatee. The fact that there are so many possible styles within this umbrella term is a blessing. 

However, it’s important to be able to differentiate between them in order to have as full an understanding as possible. 

My advice would be to experiment and experiment well. Until you land upon the style you’ve always longed for, the journey is not yet complete. Most importantly – enjoy it.