How To Get The Best 10 Day Stubble Beard [With Pics]

It’s a beard length that strikes a fine balance between masculine and sleek. When done properly, it looks rugged yet effortlessly tidy. You’re about to learn everything you need to know about 10 day stubble.

Men will vary in terms of how much growth they’ll have achieved after 10 days. But the average man can expect to have grown a certain length and have a certain look after this period of time.

That’s what you’re about to see.

After discussing exactly how much you can expect to have grown, you’ll see pictures of what it looks like to get an even better idea of what to expect.

We’ll then discuss exactly why it’s such a popular length – versatile, easy to maintain, and stylish.

Let’s get to it.

How Long Is 10-Day Stubble?

10-day stubble is approximately 4 to 5mm in length. It falls within the “heavy stubble” length range.

Genetics definitely plays a part. In general, however, it is safe to assume that the average male would be able to achieve this heavy stubble length after this length of time. Having said this, a millimeter or two longer or shorter than this figure would not be surprising.

Knowing this length is only useful if you’ve got longer facial hair and you’re looking to trim it down to a 10-day stubble length. So, if you’re looking to trim down to this glorious length, your best bet is to set a stubble trimmer to 4 or 5mm to get as close to it as possible.

Any shorter than 4mm should really be called light stubble or medium stubble.

What Does 10 Day Stubble Look Like?

10-day stubble looks like this:

That’s what you’d call a “classic” 10-day stubble beard. There’s hair on the chin, cheeks, and mustache with the neckline and cheek lines kept neat and well-defined.

It’s what most people think of when they hear the term.

What’s important about this look is that it can look fantastic when groomed properly. But if not, it can easily be confused for an “accidental” or “lazy man’s beard”.

You don’t want to look like you simply couldn’t be bothered to shave for 10 days. You want it to appear intentional and not accidental.

That’s an art in itself and so it’s important to groom and shape the stubble as well as you can.

The main focus, however, should be keeping the length looking even and keeping the borders of the stubble beard well-defined. Getting yourself a stubble trimmer to give yourself very intricate control over the length would be a good place to start.

It’s also important to note that 10-day stubble can be sculpted in different ways. You don’t have to go for a simple, classic stubble beard.

This length (4-5mm) can also be shaped into other styles. For example, it works very well for goatees, chinstraps, or even simple soul patches. The fact is, the length is versatile and there is plenty you can do with it.

Is 10 Day Stubble The Most Attractive Beard Length?

There is evidence to suggest that 10-day stubble may be the most attractive beard length. In 2013, an Australian study deemed that heavy stubble lengths such as this were more attractive than light stubble and heavier beards.

You can check the study out here if you wanted to.

Following on from this, the average man with any amount of facial hair (whether it was stubbled or fully-bearded) was seen as more attractive than the average clean-shaven man.

Interesting, right?

Having said that, fully-bearded men were seen as more “masculine” and better “long-term prospects” for women.

But speaking purely about attractiveness, stubble won and it won in style. 10-day stubble was what was classed as “heavy stubble” in this project, and it sure did draw some high aesthetic praise.

Although this research did draw some new attention towards the 10-day stubble length, it has almost unknowingly been worn by many male trendsetters for years.

There are certain theories as to why this might be.

It may be because it appears more intentional than short stubble, which can sometimes be confused with just forgetting to shave or being unkempt. This is really only an issue if it isn’t maintained or shaped properly though.

It’s bold enough to make itself more apparent and subtle enough to not appear shabby. In contrast, the 5 o’clock shadow, although a personal favorite, can appear pretty “middle of the road” and indecisive.

Heavy stubble also maintains versatility, however. It rarely looks out of place or loses its sense of formality. Plus, the range of styles that can be achieved with heavier stubble is certainly wider than that of shorter stubble.

The trend of rocking this length does appear to be expanding for these reasons. Ultimately, there are plenty of reasons why stubble is considered attractive. But 10-day stubble does seem to draw more attention than any other stubble length and many might say it was with good reason.

How To Trim A 10 Day Stubble Beard

To make things clearer, it needs to be said from the outset that “10-day stubble” is going to be used interchangeably with “heavy stubble”. Because in reality, that’s what this popular term refers to. It’s a look more than it is a specific length.

In order to maintain any permanent stubble appearance, it’s important to follow a step-by-step routine and follow it religiously.

If you’d like an in-depth tutorial on how to do this, we’ve laid it all out for you right here. If not, no problem. We’ve summarized it for you below.

1. Grow it out

To achieve this look you must first let your beard grow out. It doesn’t have to be anything woodsman-esque. But it should be long enough to determine the contours your natural beard follows, as well as where it’s thickest and thinnest.

As you’d expect, it would make sense to let it grow for at least 10 days. Following this you’ll know what your “10-day look” actually is and whether it’s too much or too little. Take a photo on the tenth day if you’d like to remind yourself in the future.

Letting it grow out for 2 weeks would be ideal, and most men (although certainly not all men) would have a heavily stubbled appearance by the end of this period.

2. Go for the trim

Once this is done, it’s time to whip out your toolkit. An excellent stubble trimmer such as the Philips Norelco Oneblade QP6520/70 would be ideal, as it comes with a wide range of length settings going as low as 0.4mm. This allows for intricate control of length for different parts of the beard.

Check it out on Amazon by clicking here.

However, with heavier stubble, it isn’t entirely necessary and a great, normal electric beard trimmer such as the Brio Beardscape would work just as well. That’s because you’ll be able to use the shorter-length guards to maintain it.

If you’re interested, check out the Beardscape on Amazon here.

Choosing the best beard trimmer for your specific needs is something that may not be as simple as it first appears.

The only parts of the beard you’d need a closer shave for would be the borders and everything outside them. In other words, you’ll want to define the cheek line, neckline, and sidelines, then shave everything outside them.

Before that, trim the beard down to 5mm. If this appears too long, reduce the length setting to 4mm and re-assess.

In general, a good rule of thumb would be that anything over 5mm is more of a “short beard” than “heavy stubble”, and anything less than 3mm is “short stubble”.

Don’t feel as though you need to have “heavy stubble”. If you feel that shorter stubble or a short beard suits you better, not a problem. Use your intuition and just have fun experimenting.

As you get better at this, you’ll want to vary the length setting so that you trim shorter in the thicker areas (usually the mustache and chin) and less short in the thinner areas (usually the cheeks).

3. Define the borders and shave outside them

The easiest and most effective way to define your beard borders is by using a beard-shaping template. It will halve the time and stress involved. But it isn’t essential.

This is a reasonably priced one on Amazon.

As we mentioned above, once you’ve trimmed the beard down to a length you like, define your borders (the neckline and cheek line) and shave any stray hairs outside these borders with a razor. Or, less preferably, the naked blade of your trimmer.

How To Maintain 10 Day Stubble

To maintain 10-day stubble, consider using beard oil from time to time. In addition, trim back down to the 10-day stubble range every 2 to 3 days. Varying the length of the stubble according to relative thickness can help to maintain a consistent length over time.

Now that you’ve grown it, you’ll want to make sure you maintain it as effectively as possible to keep it looking intentional and not accidental.

Here are a couple of additional tips you can use to make this happen:

• It’s long enough to benefit from beard oil.
• If you find that the stubble looks uneven in certain areas even after trimming everything down to the same length, consider trimming down a millimeter shorter in the thicker areas. For most men, this will be the chin and mustache area as cheek stubble is notoriously patchy. Overall, this should lead to a more even-looking result.
• Stubble dyeing is pretty popular and a good way of making it look fuller. The beauty of a heavy stubble length like this is that it’s easier to dye than shorter stubble. There’s just more of it to work with.

10-Day Stubble Style Pictures To Inspire You

Now, the routine we’ve laid out is for the classic stubble beard. If you want to leave it at that it’s absolutely fine because it’s a phenomenal style.

But like we said, the 10-day stubble length is fun. It’s long enough to actually try out some more attention-grabbing and interesting styles. Now, the question of whether these styles will suit you is partially subjective and partially objective.

Subjectively, you may just not dig the style and that’s fine. Objectively, it’s well-known that your face shape plays a large role in whether or not a particular facial hairstyle will suit you.

At the risk of over-simplifying a complex phenomenon (which will most likely be the subject of a whole separate article), the beard and jaw should work together should work in unison to bring about a nice, natural, oval shape.

With square-shaped faces, short on the sides and fuller/longer on the bottom works better. Likewise for round faces. However, with rectangular faces, the sides should be fuller and the bottom shorter. Ah and oval faces? Well, the world is your oyster as most styles should work.

But don’t take it to heart too much. If you want to try out a style, just go for it. If you don’t like it, start from scratch – it’ll only take (approximately) 10 days to get back to square one.

1. Classic 10-Day Stubble Beard

I didn’t want to move on before paying homage to the classics. This is what most people think of when they hear the term 10-day stubble so it’s worth dwelling on it a little longer.

2. The Full Goatee

The Full Goatee consists of hair on the chin that is allowed to connect to a mustache. Plus, as with any goatee, no hair on the cheeks.

Goatees work great for men with rounder faces. They elongate the face by adding prominence and drawing attention to the chin.

Simple, stylish, and not too difficult to maintain.

3. The Goatee With Chinstrap

The chinstrap is a narrow strip of hair that travels along the jawline from one sideburn to the other. It works particularly well with 10-day stubble which can add great definition to the jaw (if this is what you want).

You can choose to have a stubble chinstrap alone or combine it with a Full Goatee for a hybrid style. This often looks impressive and a little more mature than a chinstrap alone.

5 Day Vs 10 Day Stubble

While 10-day stubble is approximately 4-5mm long, 5-day stubble is around 3mm long. It should more accurately be described as “medium stubble”.

5-day stubble is also popular but often doesn’t look as definitively “bearded” as the heavier 10-day stubble length. This is why some men may be drawn to one over the other.

Medium stubble is obviously more subtle and less noticeable than heavier stubble lengths. In many ways, it’s easier to maintain and keep tidy than 10-day stubble for this reason.

It’s worth trying out both lengths to see which one you prefer. They’re only 5 days apart, after all. That’s the beauty of stubble – there’s plenty of room for low-risk experimentation with length. If you aren’t a fan of the 5-day look, you haven’t got long to wait before you’re back at that trusted 10-day length.

Conclusion

There you have it. We’ve talked about the length and what it can do for you. It’s attractive, versatile, and easy to maintain.

It’s a beard length every man should try out at a certain point in their lives. When used and styled correctly it can bring prominence to features you never thought you had.