What Would I Look Like With a Beard? (AI Beard Filter)

You can see what you would look like with a beard by adding one to a photo of your own face, so you can judge the shape before you stop shaving. Glow Up Studio in Toybox AI draws stubble, a full beard, a goatee or a mustache onto the portrait you upload and gives you back one still image. A live camera filter is different: it follows your face on screen as you move. This page covers the five styles and what to type for each, how to shoot the photo, what a preview can't tell you, and the American Academy of Dermatology's advice if you decide to grow it.

What would I look like with a beard? Five styles to try

Glow Up Studio's "Facial hair" group has five styles, and you can pick more than one, such as Goatee with Mustache. Set "How bold?" to Natural ("Photorealistic and subtle" in the tool) when you're deciding what to actually grow. When none of the five fits, open "More options" and type your own beard in "Describe your own" (up to 300 characters). The descriptions in this section are written for that box. A "Try this prompt" link fills it in for you; the box sits inside "More options", which shows "Custom details" once it has text.

Stubble

Stubble is a dark shadow along the jaw, chin and upper lip, the stage between a shave and a beard. Preview it first if you've never let your facial hair grow, because every longer style passes through a stubble stage. Letting real stubble come in also answers "what do I look like with a beard" for free, so compare it with the preview before you pick a longer style.

What would I look like with a full beard?

A full beard covers the cheeks, chin, jaw and upper lip. Look at two lines in the preview: the cheek line (where the beard stops on your cheeks) and the neckline (where it stops under your chin). Those are the two lines a barber shapes, so decide where you want them.

A short full beard trimmed to about half an inch, with a clean, natural cheek line and a neckline just above my Adam's apple, the same dark brown as my eyebrows.

Change: "half an inch" to "a quarter inch" for a close-cropped beard.

Goatee and mustache

A goatee sits on the chin and around the mouth, with bare cheeks. Mustache and Handlebar cover only the upper lip; a handlebar is the long style with curled ends. Pick Goatee and Mustache together to try the connected look, or describe it:

A neat goatee connected to a thin mustache, short and even, with bare cheeks and a clean-shaven neck, in the same color as my hair.

Gray, salt-and-pepper or a long beard

None of the five styles has a length or color setting, so describe those in "Describe your own", on its own or with a style picked.

A salt-and-pepper boxed beard about 1 inch long, grayer at the chin and the sides, with neatly trimmed cheeks and a slightly rounded shape at the bottom.

A long, full beard that reaches about 4 inches below my chin, slightly wavy, with a matching mustache that covers my top lip, in dark blond.

To see the gray that comes with age rather than a styled salt-and-pepper, age the photo first with Age Changer, then add the beard; the page on what you'll look like when you're older walks through it. For a joke, the "Costume" group has a Santa Beard, which is a costume piece, not a realistic beard.

Beard filter app or photo preview

A beard filter app runs on your live camera. On Snapchat, Face Lenses change how you look as you film: open the Camera screen, swipe through the carousel, tap a Lens, then capture a Snap. Which beard looks you can try depends on which Lenses the app offers. Glow Up Studio works as a beard filter online instead, in your phone's or computer's browser, on one photo you choose.

Pick a live Lens to see a look in motion. Pick the photo preview when you want to set the exact style, length and color, in a picture you can keep.

Tips for a believable beard preview

• Show your whole jaw. Face the camera with your chin level, not tipped down, and keep hands, scarves and high collars away from your neck.
• Start from a shaved or lightly stubbled face. A clean jawline in the photo makes the new beard easier to judge, because you can see where it starts.
• Light your face from the front. A window in front of you avoids a dark shadow under the chin that reads as extra beard.
• Wear your everyday glasses. If you wear glasses most days, keep them on for the photo, so the preview shows the face people actually see.
• Check the color. Compare the beard with your eyebrows and hair. If it's off, name the color in "Describe your own", such as "dark brown with a little red".
• Keep "How bold?" on Natural. Extra ("Bold, glossy, more dramatic") and Chaos ("Go maximal, weird, and playful") are for fun edits, not for deciding what to grow.

Limits of a beard filter

• It can't tell you whether you can grow it. The preview draws the style you pick. It has no way of knowing how your own facial hair grows or where it comes in patchy.
• Your face may shift slightly. Glow Up Studio adds the beard to your portrait, but the result is drawn by AI, so compare your eyes, nose and skin with the original.
• One angle per run. Each run gives you one still image. For another angle, upload a second photo taken from that angle, with your face still clearly visible.
• Exact shaping takes a written edit. For a precise shape, such as a boxed beard with a hard line on the cheek, Pro plans can use Smart Editor with an instruction like "square off the beard at the bottom and make the cheek line a sharp straight edge; keep my face exactly the same".
• Someone else's face needs their OK. Ask before you add a beard to a friend's photo, because the Terms require their explicit consent.

To pair a beard with a new cut, try on hairstyles first and add the beard to that result. For something more permanent, the tattoo preview guide shows ink the same way, on a photo of the spot.

If you decide to grow it

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) starts its beard advice with the skin underneath:

• Stubble phase. Until the beard covers your skin, use a moisturizer made for your skin type with SPF 30 or higher. If ingrown hairs are a problem, the AAD suggests a gentle exfoliating scrub once or twice a week, with moisturizer right after.
• Wash every day. Pick a gentle facial cleanser over soap, rinse well in lukewarm water, and pat your face dry with a clean towel.
• Once it's grown in. Beard oil suits normal to dry skin, beard conditioner suits acne-prone skin, and a fragrance-free, non-comedogenic moisturizer suits sensitive skin. Go easy on oil or conditioner at first; adding a little more later beats a greasy beard.
• Trim with an electric razor after putting on shaving oil, cream or gel. Longer beards can also be trimmed with scissors.
• Shave your neck at the end of a shower, in the direction the hair grows, and put in a fresh blade after 5 to 7 shaves.
• Keep your hands off it. The AAD says stroking your beard carries dirt and germs from your fingers onto your skin.

How to try on a beard in Glow Up Studio

1. Open Glow Up Studio and log in. Any account can use it, since it's on the Free plan; each photo currently costs 75 credits.
2. Under "Your photo", upload a portrait (JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB), or take one with your phone's selfie camera.
3. Under "Accessories", tap "Facial hair" and pick Stubble, Full Beard, Goatee, Mustache or Handlebar. You can pick more than one.
4. Leave "How bold?" on Natural.
5. To set a length or color, open "More options" and type it in "Describe your own".
6. Press "Create glow up". The beard usually appears in about 30 seconds.
7. Check the beard against your own face. On a Pro plan, adjust it in "Want to change something?" (currently 85 credits), for example "make the beard a little shorter at the cheeks". Otherwise, run it again with a new description.
8. Download the PNG to show your barber. Unsaved results are removed after 24 hours, so keep the styles you're still weighing in your gallery.