Beard Costume Ideas
Beards. When the hair on your head extends to the front of your face! Yeah. It's not much of a tagline but that shouldn't affect how you feel about adding a little fur to your face. A fake beard can make a multitude of characters come to life, from the jolly fuzz of Old Saint Nick to a chiseled Hollywood chinstrap that would look just right in the early aughts. Are you ready to add a transforming touch to a range of costumes? You'll find everything from realistic costume facial hair to a silly beard that's just for fun! Keep reading to find the perfect beard for your face.
Some beards are instantly recognizable. Just take Dumbledore versus Hagrid. You can tell them apart just from their beard shapes! A beard paired with an eye patch can turn you into a hard-boiled sea captain with tall tales to tell. Or a fake Italian mustache could make you into an opera-singing pasta chef.
And here's the thing: if you have a great fake beard that you love, it doesn't have to be limited to one costume. Take a Santa beard, for instance. Great for the holidays when paired with red cheeks and a red velvet hat. Pair it with a conical felt hat, a cotton tunic, and a little pipe and you'll look like a garden gnome. Want something more mystical? How about pairing your curly beard with a long, white wig and a dignified robe? You could become a whole range of wizards, ranging from Dumbledore from the world of Harry Potter to Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. The power of facial hair is a pretty amazing costume force!
Realistic-Looking Fake Beards
There are a few things to look for when you're picking out a realistic beard to wear for a disguise. For one, how is the beard attached? The typical beard that straps around your ears with elastic bands won't cut it. Why? Because that beard won't move with your face while you're talking. If the beard style allows, you may want to pick facial hair that sticks onto your face. You might even add some extra spirit gum to make sure that your chin hair won't come off halfway through an onstage monologue or while sweating on a Halloween dance floor! While fixing a beard believably to your face is the most essential part of choosing a realistic-looking beard, there are other factors to consider. Choose a beard that matches your own hair in texture and color. Then, if you have long hair, you can let it flow right over the beard—and you'll be surprised how many people fall for your disguise at first glance!
Fake Goatee
It can be surprisingly easy to make a fake goatee look realistic, as sticking it onto your skin is the only practical option. There are quite a few characters who use a goatee to flush out their…well…character. Shape and texture go a long way when adding personality details. For instance, the bowler goatee worn in the photo above is instantly recognizable to fans of The Big Lebowski, while the fake goatee and mustache set made for our pirate costumes has a classic yet somewhat dangerous touch. Choose your shape to create the character in your mind. From TV personalities to storybook characters, we've got the goatee you're looking for!
Fake Mustache
Have you ever dreamt of getting a free sample from the grocery store, turning the corner to put on a disguise, and repeating the process? Any fan of fake mustaches can tell you that that is, indeed, a hilarious and doable idea. Who can get mad at someone wearing a fake handlebar mustache? If anything, that just goes to show that the samples they're giving out must really be something!
Considering a mustache is just hair on the upper lip, there’s a lot of variation! For instance, Einstein’s bushy white mustache is instantly recognizable and a great way to make even a kid look like the mature mathematician! Going back even further, the gloomy stache of Edgar Allen Poe will make you into a different kind of genius altogether. Now, it may seem strange to add Rod Kimble’s mustache from Hot Rod in there but hey, he’s a guy with a dream too! You don’t have to be a creative genius to pull off a mustache. You don’t even need to be able to grow your own facial hair. All you’ve gotta do is have the courage to wear a mustache with pride!
Glue on Beard
If you’re looking for a quick way to add a realistic beard onto your face, the glue-on beard is a great way to go. Now, hold up. Don’t go reaching for the rubber cement. Our adhesive beards come with a sticky backing. All you have to do is take off the paper backing and apply them to clean, dry skin. Want to use your celebrity goatee set over again? Simply follow the instructions on "How to Stick a Fake Beard on Face" at the end of this page to learn the best way to make it stick. Whether you're using the stick-on backing or spirit gum, be sure to avoid your laugh lines because that will make your dignified sensei beard stay put. When it comes to glue on beards, remember that you have plenty of choices, from pirate beards to facial hair that’ll transform you into a spokesperson for fried chicken!
Fake Handlebar Mustache
The handlebar mustache is a favorite of all sorts of characters, from cowboys on the plains to cops on the beat. Be sure and choose the right style. For instance, the thin handlebar mustache is perfect for an old west oil baron looking to pull the wool over the eyes of an innocent population of townsfolk. Then again, a curving handlebar mustache will bring to mind a turn-of-the-century entertainer such as a circus ringmaster. And finally, the modern bushy handlebar mustache creates the perfect facial hair style for a cop or bounty hunter.
Long Costume Beard
If you want to become a wise, old sage, fixing a long beard to your face is a great shortcut to circumvent years of study. The best way to make sure your look stays put is using a beard with elastic straps that fit over your ears, as the weight of a large beard is sure to drag on your skin if fixed with spirit gum.
Fake Red Beard
If you want to transform yourself into a Viking warrior at a moment’s notice, fitting a rugged red beard over your face is a great way to go. Choose from a free-form beard like the one above or our Made By Us long braided wig. Whatever you choose, you’re sure to feel fiery and ready for battle!
Santa Beard
Santa’s cheery beard has to be the most famous beard in the whole world. After all, it’s the beard that spreads cheer to all the good little girls and boys on Christmas Eve. Santa’s beard has gone through a few changes over the years and you’ll find a few of the styles on our site! Whether you’re interested in the old-school Santa with the giant mustache and straight beard or the modern, curly style, you’ll have everything you need to gain your iconic Christmas look this year!
Alternative Fake Facial Hair
We've covered beards. We've covered mustaches. We've covered the combo of the two in the iconic goatee. But that's not the only important facial hair out there! In the following section, we'll discuss all sorts of sideburns, from mutton chops to the chin curtain. We'll cover all the alternative places you can add fake facial hair to your face and different ways to achieve this. And we'll also discuss beards that you wouldn't usually see wandering the streets of cities near you.
Fake Sideburns
Sideburns: the hair that grows on the sides of your face. Almost everyone has them, but they're just styled in different ways. The styles tend to be as simple as long and short with a few wild variations, like the mutton chops that were so popular in the Victorian Era. If you were wondering what we meant by "chin curtain" earlier, we were talking about Abraham Lincoln’s classic style of facial hair. The famous president was said to be bearded but he also relied heavily on sideburns!
Ready to create sideburns on your own? While sticking on sideburns with spirit gum might be a good idea, you can also add on the style of your choice with makeup. Using hairy dashes, create sideburns worthy of Elvis Presley or a pencil-thin chinstrap with an eyeliner pencil.
Fake Eyebrows
Ah, the windows to the soul. Wait, we suppose eyebrows are the window trimmings of the soul. But still, they're pretty important. If you want to make your character believable, eyebrows are important! They're even the main feature of the face for characters like Disney's The Mad Hatter.
While you might like to purchase fake eyebrow hair for extra character definition, makeup is also a great way to add expression to your forehead. For instance, if you're putting together a Frida Kahlo costume and want to recreate the artist's iconic unibrow, makeup is the preferred choice. A few gentle brushes with a well-sharpened eyebrow pencil will create a believable unibrow without appearing over the top. Those who aren't confident with their eyebrow pencil skills could look up a fake beard makeup tutorial to gain a little more confidence. If you need some seriously bushy brows, a cartoonish mustache and eyebrow set can make you look like Charlie Chaplin or Einstein in a moment without needing any makeup skills!
Stick on Mustaches
Other than using makeup, a stick-on mustache is the quickest way to make your mustachioed character come to life. This dapper pencil mustache featured above could create all sorts of characters, from the pictured pirate to a lovelorn Hollywood actor from the silver screen era. The same goes for many different mustache shapes. Those looking for a classic realistic mustache might be interesting in reusing a magician’s mustache made from real hair. All you need is a little spirit gum to use your facial hair again and again!
Fake Mustache for Kids
If you have a child in your life who loves to dress up, making sure they have a stick-on mustache (or two) is sure to be the way to their heart. Yes, we're talking girls and boys here! A dapper mustache, as pictured above, can help your kiddo transform into a villainous character set on an evil plot. And what kid doesn't want a little more drama to their dress-up wardrobe?
Costumes for Men with Beards
Before the dawn of running water and triple blade razors, men grew some mighty beards! Iconic beard-growers include Jesus of Nazareth and most other biblical characters—Moses tends to have a pretty great beard as well! Want to embrace the mythic realm of Mount Olympus? Well, all of the major gods had mighty beards. Pair a white wig and beard set with our Poseidon costume and you’d look right at home on an ancient Grecian urn. And of course, anyone who's looking to take on the dignified demeanor of an old wizard will need a nice, long beard that may or may not be the source of (at least some of) their power.
How to Stick a Fake Beard on your Face
So you're wondering how to stick a beard on your face? If you want to get serious about applying a stick-on beard to your face, we have a few tips! The fake facial hair adhesive that comes stuck to the back of the mustache and beard above works great for a few hours or even a whole Halloween night. But those who are starring in plays or planning on sweating, eating, and talking a lot will want a more reliable stick-on technique.
First, you’ll want to make sure the area of application is clean and dry. Then, you’ll want to apply a thin layer of facial adhesive. Stop right there with that beard. Put it down. You're not ready to apply yet! Let the first layer of spirit gum dry completely so that it creates a foundational surface and prevents any problems with sweat. After the gum is dry, apply a second layer and wait a few moments for the spirit gum to become tacky. Now, using care to make sure the placement is just right, apply your fake beard to your face, pressing down gently to make sure it attaches to the gum.
