We have said this before, and we will say it again - beards are awesome. 

While most men look awesome in beards, there are a few, who look like grooming gods when they style their beards right.

© Instagram/vickykaushal09

One of the silver linings for this year, would be the fact that men started taking grooming seriously, and many men who otherwise wouldn’t have grown a beard, actually grew one out.

Plus, given that we did not have access to our favourite barbers for a better part of the year, we ourselves became barbers. The same goes for our celebrities.

© Instagram/virat.kohli

Keeping that in mind, we pick the best beards that we have seen on social media this year, and selected the most iconic ones. 

© Instagram/darshanyewalekar

These are the men and their beards, who proved that being your own barber can be a good thing.

Please note, this is not a ranked list in any way. After all, all beards are awesome.

1. Kartik Aaryan

© Instagram/kartikaaryan

Right at the start of the year, Kartik grew a rather thick, and bushy beard, that was seriously drool-worthy. 

However, the salt and pepper stubble that he donned for Manish Malhotra’s Ruhaaniyat was in a league of its own. 

2. Rana Daggubati

© Instagram/ranadaggubati

Rana Daggubati has great beard growth and has often styled it in a very elegant, and classy manner. However, he has somewhat of a patchy growth. 

This year, we saw why we consider him to be a grooming god. For his wedding, he trimmed and styled his beard in such a manner, that the patchy part actually looked much lighter, and almost a deliberate style choice. 

3. Shahid Kapoor

© Instagram/shahidkapoor

Shahid’s beard game from last year was really strong. This year, however, it is even better. 

Taking complete advantage of the dense growth that he has, he kept his beard relatively short, given how chiselled and sharp his jawline is. 

He also kept things neat and tidy, by giving his beard the definition it needed. The beard, along with his long hair, makes him look dope.

4. Suniel Shetty

© Instagram/suniel.shetty

Of course, Suniel Shetty was on this list. Not only has he consistently shown how awesome salt & pepper beards look, but he has also shown just how important it is to give your beard a definition or a shape. 

5. Vicky Kaushal

© Instagram/vickykaushal09

This, here, is Vicky Kaushal embracing his patchy beard with great panache and confidence, just how we’re supposed to. Remember, all beards are great, as they are styled well.

6. Ayushmann Khurrana

© Instagram/ayushmannk

We have seen Ayushmann try a number of different things with his beard this year. We also saw him go for a dope looking handlebar for some time this year. 

But this one, right here, the goatee-meets-the-short stubble is the dopest of them all. Clean, and sophisticated, just like the man himself.

7. Salman Khan

© Instagram/beingsalmankhan

Salman Khan is not someone who usually keeps a beard. But boy oh boy, are we glad that he did keep one this year. 

His style of the short boxed beard is actually very cool, and a low maintenance at that one. If you ask us, this is actually a great style to go for, if you’re planning to let your beard grow out for the first time.

8. Vijay Deverakonda

© Instagram/thedeverakonda

Vijay Deverakonda had a pretty strong beard style last year as well. 

This year, we saw him give his beard a little more definition, play with volume and give it a character. 

We totally approve of the hybrid between the french beard and the box beard that he has gone for here.

9. Darshan Yewalekar

© Instagram/darshanyewalekar

Finally, we have Darshan Yewalekar, the hairstylist to Ranveer Singh. He was one of our favourites from last year, simply because of the size and volume of his beard. 

This year too, he finds a place on this list. Man, the patience it must have taken to grow something like that. This is a beard that we’re sure, a lot of men envy.

View the full article