see also: Facial Styles The Imperial beard refers to a small, tufted beard that was worn by Emperor Napoleon III of France. His thick beard sprouted from the chin and just below the lip, and he wore it with a dramatic, well-waxed moustache that pointed at the ends. While the beard is called the Imperial, the emperor's overall look was far from stately. In fact, he was short and pale, with a hooked nose. An Imperial tends to look best on rounder faces and is a longer, thinner version of the Van Dyck. Don't want to wait several weeks to see how an Imperial would look on you? Check out the Gillette Facial Styler and see how 18 different facial styles would look right now!