Reminiscent of tough New England woodsmen and refined Victorian gents, stylish guys from Brooklyn to Berlin have rejected baby-faced conformity in favor of full beards, moustaches and chiseled goatees. For men that decide to embrace a grown-out facial hair look, there's a lot to learn before grabbing their trimmer and styling a beard. You might be well acquainted with the art of clean shaving from years of tidying up 3-day stubble, but now you can learn how to properly trim your beard.
Beard Trimming Tips
Beard trimming is integral to any facial hair style – unless you want to look like a caveman. While a close shave is all about removing hair growth, careful trimming means knowing how to trim a short beard or a long beard – and everything in between. All beard styles will benefit from trimming. Firstly, let your grow out for at least four to six weeks without using your shaver. This doesn't mean you should neglect your beard care routine and daily washing with a facial cleanser, however. Nor should you overlook moisturizing. Once you've grown out your desired beard length, a good rule of thumb is to trim it around every seven to ten days. Between trims, tidy any hairs that grow outside of your beard with a pair of scissors or your razor.
Steps Involved in Trimming
Now that you've got the tools you'll need for beard trimming at home, all you need to do is to follow these steps for your complete grooming ritual.
Step 1: Clean, wash and dry.
Firstly, you should always shower with a beard wash and dry your facial hair before you start trimming. Well-hydrated hair that's lying in the way it grows will be easier to trim and let you see where any uneven areas might be.
Step 2: Brush it out.
Secondly, brushing your beard will get rid of any tricky knots and helps to stop your trimmer from getting snagged on untidy facial hair.
Step 3: Trim the beard.
Set your beard trimmer to the desired length setting. A product like the Braun Beard Trimmer 9441 is ideal for this since it offers numerous settings for every type of beard. Indeed, with AutoSense technology, it will adapt to the density of your facial hair. Given that it is also 100% waterproof, you can trim your beard in the shower or at the basin, as you prefer.
Work over your entire beard to adjust the main length you want all over. Remember that if you're switching between different lengths on areas of your beard that you also need to attach the correct comb attachment. For example, a 1-10mm attachment is ideal for shorter, smarter looks. How to trim a long beard best would mean using a 10.5-20mm comb. That's a great option for something like a wild Viking beard.
Step 4: Use a precision trimmer attachment.
The next stage is to shape your beard. You'll know how to shape your beard by looking at your beard trimmer's attachments. For example, the BT9441 comes with a Contour Pro Head and Detail Head Pro that makes shaping your neckline and cheeks straightforward. Utilize hair fading combs if you want to reduce the length of your facial hair at certain parts of your beard, such as where your sideburns would be, for example.
Step 5: Shape Your Beard's Neckline and Edges
Shaping a beard's neckline and edges can be challenging without the right tools. Starting with the neckline, set the lowest point of the beard two fingers above the Adam's apple and use Braun’s precision trimmer to clean everything below it. Follow a gentle curve towards its edges to avoid an unnatural look. For the cheek line, use the precision trimmer to define a straight edge for a professional look, or go for a softer and curved line for a more natural look. Tidy any hairs that grow higher up.
Step 6: Trim and clean the moustache.
Next, trim your moustache area since many men will want shorter facial hairs on their upper lip compared to the rest of their face to stop them from causing irritation. An adjustable comb or the aforementioned Detail Head Pro are ideal for this purpose. While you're getting the hang of how to trim your beard properly, your trimmer will serve you well for fading and clipping but having a good quality pair of scissors and a beard brush will make life a lot easier for thicker areas of facial hair – both on your beard and your moustache.
Step 7: Aftercare.
With the steps that we've outlined in our beard trimming guide, beard care will soon become second nature to you. That said, there are also a couple of aftercare points to remember. As well as keeping your beard and face clean with regular and thorough washing, it's also important to care for your shaving tools. Keeping these clean will ensure they stay in tip-top shape to maintain a perfect beard that you're proud to wear. Our final beard trimming tips are to use a high-quality beard oil that will nourish and moisturize your new facial hair and keep it soft. This will make your next tidy-up easier and reduce your chances of developing ingrown hair
Your Home Beard Trimming Guide
One of the most important parts of grooming is knowing how to choose the best beard trimmer for you. For any beard styles that are 3mm or longer, we'd suggest a trimmer with varied length settings and a range of combs you can attach.
If you're simply looking for a clean shave, something like the Braun Series 9 electric shaver will give you an extremely close finish but we're looking at the best tools to shape and style thicker beard growth.
A Braun beard trimmer such as the BT9941 with a ProBlade and a 40-step ProWheel that can be used for 40 individual length settings. Choose the right setting by simply rotating the dial on the handle and locking it in place.
