The most important first step to fashionably trimmed beard is patience. Make sure that you’ve given your beard enough time to grow out – typically one or two months. Some hairs will grow faster than others, so give your facial hair a chance to even out naturally.
Resist the urge to trim your beard during this time. If you start cutting into your beard before the slower growing hairs catch up, you’ll have uneven areas over time.
If you plan on growing a long beard, patience is even more important. Make a mistake, and you’ll have to start over, losing months of growth. For any length, beard trimming is a vital component in your beard maintenance routine.
Just like the hair on your head, facial hair requires regular trimming and shaping to look its best.
Let’s look at the tools you’re going to need.
How Important is Beard Oil
One of the most valuable tools in your beard trimming arsenal is a quality beard oil. Beard oil will keep your beard soft and lustrous while preventing hair damage.
Beard oil helps keep your hair healthy, so it looks great no matter the length or style.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Beard Oil Use Are:
- Do use beard oil daily
- Do apply it gently and smooth it in
- Don’t apply it roughly.
- Don’t use excessive amounts of oil, it won’t be absorbed anyway
How To Trim a Beard With Trimming Scissors
You will need a pair of well-made mustache and beard trimming scissors. Do not use regular scissors or nail scissors. Trimming your facial hair is a delicate and precise activity.
Scissors made just for facial use are designed to allow for the dexterous hand movements you need to trim facial hair. A good pair of beard trimming scissors is easy to find, and affordable, get a pair.
You Need a Beard Comb
Beard scissors are much easier to use if you have a good beard comb. In the same fashion that a barber uses a comb to judge the right length of hair to cut, you’ll use a beard comb to trim your beard.
A beard comb is also an efficient way to apply beard oil to every part of your beard evenly.
You’re Going to Need a Brush with That Comb
Once you’ve finished trimming, combing, and oiling, you’ll finish with a good brushing. Buy a boar hairs beard brush for best results.
Natural boar bristles are scaly allowing them to remove dust and excess hair product from your beard. Boar’s hair brushes will stimulate natural oil production and distribute it over the length of each hair.
Find a Beard Trimmer
An electric beard trimmer is an investment in your appearance. The different size clipper attachments will let you quickly fix uneven patches and trim your neck or cheeks.
Modern trimmers come with some handy features. Choose from trimmers that have a built-in vacuum system to keep the mess to a minimum, or self-sharpening blades.
Whatever brand beard trimmer you choose, pick one that has a reputation for reliability and easy use for trouble-free trimming.
How To Properly Trim a Beard
To properly trim your beard, focus on these key areas
- The neckline
- Cheek line
- Overall evening out
How to Trim a Beard Neckline
A poor job of defining your neckline will ruin the look of an attractive beard.
Start by studying the natural sweep of hair from the back of your sideburns (A) to below your jaw (C). Visualize a straight line from top to bottom.
Now we’ll use the sweep formed from the outside of one ear as it passes under your neck and connects to the back of the other ear (B).
The do’s and don’ts of well-done neckline are:
- Do use the natural contours of your face to judge the most appropriate line to follow
- Don’t go too high, a high neckline looks tacky and ruins the effect of a full beard
Here is the most important measurement you need to make – find where the line from your sideburn intersects with the curve connecting your ears.
You have now found your natural neckline. Go any higher, and your beard won’t look its best. Make sure to round the neckline where the sideburn line intersects your ear to ear curve for an attractive neckline.
How To Trim a Beard Lines
There are two schools of thoughts regarding beards and cheek lines:
- Going natural: let your natural cheek line grow the way it will
- Sculpt a cheek line that creates the look you feel best with
Unlike a well-shaped neckline, there are no hard and fast rules regarding a proper cheek line.
How To Trim a Beard Cheek Line
If your cheek line is uneven or ragged naturally finding the best height to straighten it is easy. Imagine a line straight from mustache to sideburn, shave there. The line will look natural and neat.
When you desire to create a particular effect, feel free to shave and sculpt any way you want. Symmetry is the most important consideration you have.
Always choose facial landmarks that will allow you to create an even look on both sides of your face.
How to Trim a Beard
Trimming the entire beard is where a good hair clipper with a large selection of attachments comes in handy. Scissor skills are hard to learn, and one improper snip can destroy the shape of your beard. Hair clippers are much easier to use well.
We recommend: Philips Norelco QC5580/40 Hair Clipper Pro
To avoid clipper accidents start with the longest hair length attachment your clipper set has. Now slowly work your way down until you hear the blades begin cutting. Here is where you need to stop if all you want is to even the hair out.
If your goal is to reduce the overall length of your beard, just continue using shorter attachments until your beard is the length you want. You’ll have an even growth on your face that can grow out handsomely.
Watch this video to see how it’s done:
There Aren’t Any Hard Rules
At the end of the day, your beard is how you express your individuality. Do whatever you want with it. But follow some easy guidelines to make sure that however you shape it, your beard will look good.
Photos from: kantver © 123RF.com, Olena Yakobchuk © 123RF.com and konstantynov © 123RF.com. IgorTishenko / depositphotos.com.
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Premium stuff! Now I don’t have to go to the barber every week.
I agree, be careful with the cheek and neck line… If you fail even for a little it will look ridiculous
I believe the neck line is the most difficult for men to grasp. I don’t know why, but most men butcher it and have it WAY to high. Double chins are never a good look for anyone. Cheekline can be debatable since the angle differs from different faces naturally. Keep as natural as possible. Keep lines to a minimum and smooth. I hate the look when you shave a lot off and then it starts coming back in and you have to shave literally every two days or everyday.