If you have an exceptional beard growth, it would be wise to make use of this gift to your benefit. Although the issue is you do not know how to braid your goatee. Never fear
A great way you can use your exceptional beard growth is to keep up with the latest goatee styles that add charisma to your entire look. One highly popular trend is the braided goatee.
If you are unfamiliar with what a braided goatee is, allow me to enlighten you. It is simply interlacing and reversibly interweaving your beard strands into a braid.
You can choose to do a single braid, two braids or multiple braids. Also, the length of the braid is totally up to your preferences. However, you need to have at least 2 inches of goatee length in order to be able to twist and braid the beard hair strands.
Origins of a Braided Goatee
If you brush up on history, you will be surprised to know that a braided goatee is a style from the fearless warrior in the early Scandinavian era from the Vikings.
That will make sense if you recall the beard styles of the Viking characters in the Viking TV series. Despite braids being associated with females, the Vikings actually wore their braids with pride and honor. Their braids instilled fear, dominance, and masculinity among their peers and enemies alike on the land and in the sea.
Another example of a fictional fierce warrior who had a braided goatee is Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones. If you would like to try out the Viking braided goatee style for its imposed rewards, this post will really help you out.
If you are not interested in the Viking style but believe that braiding your beard is a cool way to keep it neat and tidy, then this post is also for you. Other people hypothesize that keeping your beard hair in a braid protects it from natural elements that make it susceptible to split ends or weakens the beard hair.
Choosing Your Preference
The great thing is that you can have an open relationship with a braided goatee. Meaning you don’t have to commit to that style if you find out that it doesn’t suit your preferences.
You can always try different braid styles. If you don’t like your braided goatee, you can untangle it and then comb it, and you are back to normal. If you do like your beard braids, however, you can always get creative with this style. That includes the number and length of braids but most importantly, the addition of decorative beads which adds a creative touch to your braid.
If you have a thick beard, you can choose to make a single braid that is not inclusive of the entire beard hair. Meaning, you have both a braid and free beard hair lying around.
Other people who don’t have a very thick beard might choose to include all their goatee hair in the braid. Some people prefer to make two or more braids. You can choose the number of braids that you feel reflects your style. However, it is important to determine the number of braids you are going to do as that determines how you will partition your beard hair.
You also need to determine how you will secure the braid in place. One of the options is to use a beard hair wax. When it dries, it will secure the tip of the braid in place, keeping it all tied together. Another option is to use special hair rubber bands. Hair rubber bands are easy to acquire, and they also add a decorative touch to your goatee braid.
Prepping Your Goatee for Braiding
As we mentioned earlier, your desired number of braids will determine how you partition your hair. The general rule is that you need three strands to create one braid. Each of the three strands needs to be of equal thickness and length.
To achieve an equal length, you will need to carefully trim your goatee hair to make sure your strands are of equal length. Click here to see my reviews of trimmers for goatees.
The thickness of the strands will determine the overall thickness of the braid. If you have a thick beard and would like thin braids, consider doing more than one or two braids.
Braiding
If you want one braid, divide your goatee into three equal, vertical strands that are parallel to each other. Take the left strand and cross it over the middle strand so that it is now in the middle.
Next, take the right strand and cross it over the current middle strand. That way, it is in the middle now. By repeating this action of bringing the left and right strands to the middle, you interweave and interlace the three hair strands together into a braid. When you reach the desired length, pinch the tip. Tie the tip with a rubber band or secure it with hair wax, whichever you prefer.
Finally, you can add your desired clip-on jewelry. If your jewelry was the kind that had to be embedded while braiding, like a rubber band, make sure you do so halfway before you complete braiding. I recommend Beardaments Beard Ornaments (link to Amazon).
Final Thoughts
You need to untie your braids every other day to allow your beard to grow. When you untie your braid, your goatee hair will be slightly wavy for a day or two after it, but that is not concerning at all, it is due to your hair being twisted in a woven manner for a while. You also need to be careful about the tightness of the braid.
You don’t want your braid to be too loose. At the same time, don’t tighten your braid too much so that you don’t damage your goatee hair. If you are using a rubber band to tie the end of the braid, you must take care of its size.
Make sure the size of the band is correspondent with the thickness of the braid. When using jewelry to decorate your braid, use clip-on options as they are easier to insert and to remove.
I hope this article has shed some light on how to braid your goatee. You’ll be able to rock the beard styles your favorite Game of Thrones or Viking’s series actors.