You don't have to go big to be a grooming idol. Sure, the volume of Bradley Cooper’s hair and Zayn Malik’s ever-morphing hair length and color are impressive, but sometimes it's the subtle grooming flexes that leave the most powerful, lasting impression. And nobody exemplifies the less-is-more grooming ethos quite like Idris Elba.

He never grows his hair very long, and his beard is almost always cropped close to the chin. It’s in these otherwise safe styles that Elba shines: He's constantly playing with contrasts—a “longer” beard with buzzed hair, or a crew cut with a salt-and-pepper goatee—and he always looks damn good.

And that is what makes him a grooming idol: He manages to switch things up with subtle shifts, and somehow continues to find new unique looks while remaining within a tried-and-true personal style. If you aren’t as artfully ambitious as Malik or follicularly blessed as Cooper, then let Elba be your grooming hero.

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This is classic Elba: He showcased a Van Dyke beard and full-coverage crew cut at the UK premiere of Molly’s Game in December.

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Just a week prior, his whiskers were more pronounced as he accepted a “Paving the Way” MOBO award.

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Elba generally keeps everything closely cropped, but we think he looks dashing with a fuller beard (especially with the sprinkling of salt and pepper across his face).

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Not many guys can pull off the goatee, but Elba sheared the sides of his beard with aplomb.

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Note how the scruff with a slightly grown mustache transforms him: Elba proves you don’t need to dye or grow out your hair to adopt an entirely new look.

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Bring the fade higher up for that retro-futuristic look.

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The fuller beard again, with freshly faded sides and a slightly longer top shows that the smallest contrast shift can make a big difference.

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This is about as long as you’ll ever see Elba’s hair, and it could not be more perfectly blended from top to sides. The full beard gives him a nice balance, too.

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At 2015’s Star Trek Beyond press tour through Dubai, Elba was freshly shaved. He looks great sans scruff, which is no shock. What is shocking is that he doesn’t deploy this look more.

Adam Hurly has been covering men's grooming since 2013 (and for GQ since 2016). He is also a travel writer. In Fall 2024, Adam is launching Blue Print by Adam Hurly, a men's grooming platform. Adam resides in Lisbon (previously Berlin, NYC, and San Francisco). He is a Sioux Falls, SD, native... Read moreWriterInstagramRelated Stories for GQFacial HairHair