How to shape a beard

Before trimming your beard, it would be ideal to wash your facial hair with a specialized, beard soap. However, do not trim it while it’s still wet because you are risking to cut off too much.

After drying your beard, comb or brush it out from cheeks to chin to make it as straight as possible.

This will give you the idea of how long your beard really is, but it will also remove the remains of oil build-ups.

Combing and brushing your beard daily will help you identify the areas that need to be trimmed, but it will also prevent knots and create the appearance of added volume.

Now it’s the time for a beard trimmer. When starting, set the clippers to the highest level to prevent shaving off too much of your beard.

You can easily switch it to lower later if you decide to go shorter. The trimmer should be glided over your beard with light pressure.

For a thinner beard, move the trimmer upward to cut square across your facial hair.

For a thicker beard, the trimmer should go downward, in the natural hair growth direction.

No matter the shape you want to achieve, the most important parts of your beard that need to be trimmed are your cheek line, neckline, and mustache.

Almost every man’s beard is thicker on the chin than on the cheeks. Shaping your beard by starting from the cheeks is logical at this point.

This will ensure that your facial hair comes out more even without going shorter than needed on the sides.

Once appropriately shaped, cheek lines don’t require much maintenance. The only thing you will later have to do is cut any strays that appear up and away from the natural cheek line.

The only rule that applies is that beard cheek lines should be shaped by preserving the balance between tidiness and volume.

Sideburns are often the area most men neglect when shaping the beard.

It can be challenging to shape and trim them because they can either be the extension of your hair or the beginning of your beard.

As always when you start trimming your beard, cut off just a little bit of facial hair and then cut more. When it comes to beard, it is usually better safe than sorry.

Your sideburns should be shaped to look like a transition from your hair to your beard. When shaping them, you should take into consideration your hairstyle.

Men with short hairstyles should blend the sideburns with the hair to look like they disappear at the top of the ears.

Those with longer hair should let the sideburns grow above and below the ears, but keep them clean and neat.

Trimming the neckline is a very important part of beard shaping process.

The properly shaped neckline will make your beard look more natural. On the other hand, if you don’t pay enough attention to it, it may look unkempt and sloppy, and ruin your overall appearance.

Shaping the neckline begins when you get a clear idea of where you need to start cutting off. Experts suggest that the neckline should be at about 1 to 1.5 inches above the midpoint of the neck.

To determine where your neckline should be rest two fingers just above your Adam’s apple. Everything below your upper finger should be shaved.

After that imagine a line that forms the letter U shape when you look from one ear to another.

Shape your neckline to look like that but be careful not to start it too high up or your lower jaw will look like it lacks coverage.

To finish just cut the remaining coarse hairs down to the skin by going with the grain, not the opposite. This way, the unwanted growth will take more time to grow back in.

If you are among the men who prefer fading the neckline, you can do that instead.

Beard trimmer should be set two settings lower than the actual length of your beard. If you are not secure enough, you can go with longer settings first and cut more later.

After that, reduce the setting in half and trim halfway into the first pass to create graduation in length.

Neckline fading is not recommended for men with long beards because a proper neckline would work better for them. Also, men who are just starting the whole process of beard growing should let the facial hairs grow in for a month before fading the neckline.

If you fade it before that time, you may not achieve a perfect fade because there won’t be enough hairs to form a contrast.

Depending on your growth, you should trim your neckline every week or two.

A mustache is another part of the beard that needs maintenance, but it is often overlooked.

The usual misconception is that over time the mustache will simply blend in with the rest of the beard. However, if not trimmed properly, a mustache can ruin the perfect shape of your beard.

The length of the mustache can be determined in the same way as the length of your beard. After washing and drying the mustache, you should use the beard comb to identify the true length.

A properly shaped mustache shouldn’t cover your upper lip. The area around your lips is more curved than the rest of your face, which makes it harder to use clippers when trimming it.

Beard scissors are the best tool to use in this case. The line of your lips is the line you should follow when shaping your mustache.

This sounds easier in theory, but in reality, it can be a bit tricky. Cutting hair by hair is essential to avoid mistakes and a squared-off look of your mustache.

The area around your soul patch can be trimmed with clippers which have a high-level guard, once you cut off the longer hairs with beard scissors.

Cleaning the base where your mustache starts to grow is the final touch. It can be done with clippers, and if your cheek lines are shaped well, you will find it pretty easy to achieve.

Once you’ve shaped your beard the way you want it to look, you are going to want to keep it that way.

Good beard balm or wax will do the trick and hold your beard and mustache in place while making them soft and hydrated.

Make sure your beard is clean and dry before applying the balm. A dime-size of the balm, evenly distributed with a beard comb is enough to keep the shape of your beard all day long.

During the early stages of the beard growth, washing the hair is extremely important.

The skin cells are easily aggravated and will cause that incessant itching, so scrub the beard a few times each week to allow the hair to fill out and maintain the designed shape.

Utilize a beard wash to remove contaminants that could be causing the itching while keeping the hair clean. Pat dry with a towel to avoid frizz developing.

Always make sure to keep your freshly shaped beard moisturized and rinse all loose hairs or dead skin remains. Not only this way you will prevent beard itch, but you will also avoid the dryness, and help your beard stay in perfect shape.

Beard oil is definitely your friend regardless of which stage of development the hair may be.

When it comes to beard shaping, nothing to will help maintain the look better than the right beard oil.

They condition the hair and allow you to style it more easily once you have chosen the shape that matches your face.

Now that you have chosen the shape of the beard, to keep it looking that way each day you have to regularly trim certain areas each day to maintain the desired look.

Begin by running a beard comb or beard brush through all your facial hair to get it in line and train them to flow in a certain direction.

A soft hold styler will help hold the hair if you are going for a longer look, allowing you that extra sculpting power.

In order to maintain a healthy looking beard, you need to feed your beard.

The beard not only relies on fats and proteins, it thrives on vitamins too. Incorporate more milk, nuts, meats, and leafy greens into your diet.

A beard supplement will provide the hair follicles everything they need to help the facial hair grow healthy and strong.

Take good care of your beard along this journey and it will help you to look your manliest.

A little extra care will go a long way when it comes to beard shaping.