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The Medium Boxed Beard: Growth, Pics, Maintenance

May 26, 2022
The Medium Boxed Beard: Growth, Pics, Maintenance

Certain styles are difficult to identify and label, but actually more common than you might think. People grow them and maintain them without knowing what they’re called. 

The medium boxed beard is one of them. Here’s everything you need to know about it. 


Let’s get to it. 

What Is A Medium Boxed Beard? 

The medium boxed beard is defined by sharply defined contours, a low and sloping cheek line, a relatively high neckline, and approximately 1.5 to 2 inches of length at the chin. 

medium boxed beard
Image From Deposit Photos

It shares most of these characteristics with other boxed beard styles such as its close relative the “short boxed beard”. 

What distinguishes it, however, is that it has more length at the chin. 

The additional bulk at the chin is also sharply defined and trimmed into a box-like shape in sync with the rest of the beard. 

The low cheek line typically slopes down in an arc-like fashion, but is characteristically low enough to make it easily distinguished from a more natural-looking “full beard”. 

While the neckline is traditionally kept higher with boxed beard styles than with full beards, it’s important not to go too high with it. 

Going too high with the neckline is a quick way to achieve a double-chin appearance. 

Instead, the neckline should run around half an inch below the jawline, roughly parallel with the cheek line. It should also widen under the chin to around 1 inch to avoid the double-chinned effect. 

Overall, the medium boxed beard is a solid choice for men who don’t mind the relatively high maintenance requirements. 

medium boxed beard
Image From Shutterstock

3 Key Benefits Of The Medium Boxed Beard

Here are a few benefits of the medium boxed beard you should consider. If you were on the fence about it, these may be enough to swing it for you. 

1. It Defines The Cheekbones

This is down to the sharp, sloping, and low cheek lines. It’s a benefit that all boxed beard styles have and the medium boxed beard is no exception. 

Keeping the cheek line this low is a great way to expose the cheekbones and draw attention to them. 

The meticulous, sharp contours of the cheek line almost serve as a platform on which the cheekbones rest. 

The angular nature of the cheek line makes the cheekbones appear more chiseled and defined. 

2. It’s More Eye-Catching Than A Full Beard

This is, once again, partly down to the sloping cheek lines. 

But it’s also down to the box-like appearance of the bulk at the chin. It’s not really possible to get this appearance with a short boxed beard – there’s just not enough length to do it. 

But with a medium boxed beard, you’ve usually got around 1.5 to 2 inches of length at the chin to work with. 

You can sculpt out a nice box-like shape with well-defined angles and contours. 

While having a more natural-looking, bulky, and bush-like full beard has its appeal too, angular beards tend to be more attention-grabbing. 

If you’re looking for an eye-catching facial hairstyle, the medium boxed beard may be the one. 

3. It’s Great For Patchy Cheeks

Finally, the medium boxed beard is a great option for people who have generally good growth except for the cheeks. 

The cheeks are a notorious area of patchy growth for aspiring beardsmen. So much so, that it often puts them off from growing a beard altogether. 

A good solution to this difficult problem would be to choose a style that doesn’t actually require much growth at the cheeks at all. 

The medium boxed beard is a good option. The cheek line is so low that it removes the need for proper growth above it, as it’ll be shaved off in any case. 

Medium Boxed Beard: High Vs Low 

There are two main types of medium boxed beard – one has a higher cheek line than the other. 

Don’t get me wrong – both variations have a low cheek line relative to a full beard. 

In addition, they both also have that typical sloping cheek line that’ll allow you to easily identify it from a full beard style. 

But you could basically say that one type of medium boxed beard has a very low cheek line while the other one simply has a low cheek line. 

The “high” medium boxed beard has its cheek line running down the sideburns, curving at the bottom of the ear, and ending at the corner of the mouth. 

The “low” medium boxed beard has its cheek line running down the sideburns, curving at the bottom of the ear, and ending around ¾ of the way up the chin. 

Here’s an image comparing two medium boxed beards with the two different cheek lines. 

medium boxed beard - low vs high cheek line
Both have relatively low, sloping, sharply defined cheek lines, but the one on the left has a higher one. 

Images from Shutterstock and Deposit Photos

How Long Do Medium Boxed Beards Take To Grow?

It will take approximately 12 weeks to grow a medium boxed beard. The main reason it takes this long is that you need 1.5 to 2 inches of growth at the chin. 

While the rate of growth can vary from one person to another, an estimate of 12 weeks is a reasonable bet. 

By this point, you’ll have enough length there to sculpt the chin beard into a box-like structure using a trimmer or clipper. 

Before that point, focus on grooming the beard as best as you can to keep it looking tidy. 

Here are some styling tips to help see you through. 

Styling Tips For A Medium Boxed Beard

Remember, the medium boxed beard is quite high maintenance compared with the short boxed beard, mainly due to the additional length you’re working with. 

  • Brush regularly with a boar bristle beard brush. The benefits of brushing include training the beard to grow flatter and straighter, as well as redistribution of natural oils. 
  • Comb regularly. The benefits of combing include detangling and styling. A hand-cut sandalwood or pearwood comb would be better than a synthetic one. 
  • Define the neckline, half an inch below the jawline and roughly parallel with the cheek line. 
  • Shave all hair below the neckline – neck stubble is never a good look.
  • Beard oil. It’s a great way to keep the medium boxed beard looking moisturized, giving it a subtle yet noticeable sheen. 

Medium Boxed Beard: Ideal Face Shapes

In general, you can expect a medium boxed beard to lengthen the face, as well as make it look more angular. 

mens face shapes
Image From 123RF

The additional length you’ve got at the chin will act to lengthen the face, while the box-like appearance will square it off and make it look more angular. 

The sharp contours of the cheek line will also do this. 

While the medium boxed beard is quite versatile, potentially suiting a wide range of face shapes, there are a few that would benefit from these features more than others. 

Here are the ideal face shapes for a medium boxed beard: 

  • Round. People with round face shapes would benefit from the additional length at the chin, as well as the defining effects of the sharp contours. 
  • Heart. The relatively weak chin would be given strength and structure by the medium boxed beard. 
  • Oval. The oval face shape has the benefit of balance and versatility. It’s really just hard to wrong with – the medium boxed beard would just work. 

Diamond and square face shapes are already quite angular face shapes. They would usually be better off with a less angular and sharply contoured beard style. A more natural-looking full beard would be better when aiming for a balanced overall look. 

Oblong face shapes would be better off going for a beard style with less length at the chin. A short boxed beard would be a better option here than a medium boxed beard.  

Conclusion 

There you have it. Everything you need to know about a beard style that isn’t very well understood. 

Now that you know exactly what it looks like, why it works, and more, you should be one step closer to deciding whether or not it’s the style to commit to. 

Enjoy.