Hold your horses, we’re not going to ask you to shave, okay? But a little grooming goes a long way during the weird growth stages of your beard and mustache. Here’s how to clean up your beard without jeopardizing its growing glory.
Tools to trim
Before you start chopping off your facial hair, first you need to prepare your tools, make sure they’re clean, and take things slow. If you’re not confident with your skills, especially for the first time, we recommend you find a barber shop near you whom you trust and let them professionally handle your trimming every couple of weeks.
What you need to have:
- Comb or brush: to detangle your hair, particularly due to fact that you need to cut dry, not wet to get a primary image of what the final outcome will look like.
- Clippers: mostly used to trim, but are optional if you have high-quality scissors
- Scissors: post-trimming, for detailing and shaping.
- Beard oil and balsam: to moisturize and soften the beard and mustache
How to trim
- Comb everywhere to make sure your facial hair is directed in the same way.
- Use clippers to trim evenly, regardless of your beard length. Start upwards and work your way down and gradually decrease the clipper settings and you move outwards. And most importantly don’t trim assuming all hairs are within the same length.
- Comb again to the side to shape with the scissors for a more natural look, and afterward, comb down over the lip to remove anything dangling over the lip. Also, when you trim the underside, stretch out the skin for better results.
- Moisturize with beard oil and balm to keep the skin and hairs from drying, falling, or if you’re in the early growing stages, itching.
For short beards
- Comb it down dry.
- Set your trimmer at the longest length and decrease the frequency on the second run, but only if needed.
- Turn the trimmer to lower setting and use it to shorten the whiskers around your beard. Start at one side and head towards the center, then do the exact same thing on the other side and finish at the neck area and run the trimmer through your whole beard to finalize the look.
- Comb it again to make sure it’s symmetrical (unless it’s not the look you’re going for), and hydrate as previously mentioned above.
For long beards
- Comb your beard based on the direction it usually grows.
- Use the scissors to remove hairs sticking out and jumping over your lip.
- Move the comb to the side of the beard just below your ear.
- Comb a small portion of hair so that a small amount shows through the teeth of the comb.
- Use your scissors to cut through the teeth. Repeat on the other side and center.
- Comb a final time to clean stray hair and double check if you’ve evenly cut on all sides.
It might seem a bit complicated but if you man up and go through each bullet point one by one, you’ll be a pro in no time. And if you feel like you deserve some pampering, visit your barber shop and ask for his or her advice, they’re professionals who’ll definitely give you the best advice. And once you feel ready to trim on your own, visit our online store and buy the necessary tools for the perfect beardful experience!