Cut your Beard like a Pro: Incl. Instructions

Trimming a beard is easier said than done. If you want to be able to trim your beard perfectly, you should be familiar with a few tips and tricks.

To achieve a professional-looking result, some practice is required. Once you have mastered the technique of trimming your beard properly, you will save money and the time-consuming trip to the barber.

 

Get Your Beard Trimmed or Trim It Yourself?

How do I trim my beard? Or should I leave it to the professionals? Many men ask themselves these two questions every day when looking in the mirror. Once you get the hang of trimming your beard perfectly, we definitely prefer doing it yourself.

• It saves not only time and money,
• but you can also enjoy valuable me-time in the bathroom.

When do you ever take time for yourself? With the right grooming products, just like in a barbershop, of course.

Check out our Störtebekker Shop for the suitable high-quality beard products and sets.

 

Pros and Cons of Trimming Your Beard Yourself

We want to give you an overview of the pros and cons of trimming your beard yourself.

The Advantages

• You save money. Regular visits to the barber add up.
• You save time. If you have regular appointments at the barbershop, it takes time, including travel time, that you might not always have.
• Regular beard trimming can become a nice me-time ritual that you might not want to miss soon.
• You can listen to your favorite music in your own bathroom and enjoy the beard grooming time even more.

The Disadvantages:

• You need to do it yourself - just sitting back and relaxing isn’t an option when you trim your own beard.
• You are not a professional - accordingly, the risk of something going wrong is higher.
• It requires some practice and the right equipment, as well as the right grooming products, to achieve a professional-looking beard trim.
  
  You can find the right beard products for purchase in our Störtebekker Shop.
• The risk of injury is greater than with a professional.

When It Makes Sense to Have Your Beard Trimmed

Here are the pros and cons of going to the barbershop.

The Advantages:

• You are served by a professional with professional equipment. The quality of the equipment significantly influences the final result.
  
  
• You receive styling advice on top. The barber will initially advise you on which beard style suits you best.
  
  
• If you have a condition like psoriasis or an allergy, you will receive professional advice on it.
  
  
• If you plan a radical change to your beard style and shape, the professional will give you the necessary input.

The Disadvantages:

• Not every barber is good - you might have a bad experience.
  
  
• At the barber, you might be persuaded into a beard style you wouldn't have chosen yourself.
  
  
• The barber experience is not always relaxing - depending on how busy the shop is, your visit might be stressful.
  
  
• At the barber, you are always involved in small talk. If you want your beard care to be a me-time ritual, you might not find that moment there.

How to Trim Your Beard Properly

Trimming your beard yourself is not rocket science. We have prepared a tutorial on beard trimming to make the procedure clearer for you.

1. Always start with cleaning your beard: Wash your face and beard with a scrub and a beard shampoo. This will remove dead skin flakes from the beard and loosen stubborn, ingrown hairs.
   
   
2. Dry the beard with a towel or shaving towel - do not rub.
   
   
3. Now comb the beard - depending on its length - in both directions to ensure that you catch all the hairs while trimming. You can use a beard comb for this.
   
   
4. Use the trimmer to go along the contours against the direction of hair growth and first trim or shave (for a smooth transition) the contours.
   
   
5. Now shave all the beard stubble outside the contours cleanly and smoothly. It is best to use shaving foam and a wet razor or a safety razor.
   
   
6. Only now should you trim your beard to the desired length.
   
   
7. Wash your face again with clear water to remove beard stubble and prevent the skin from becoming irritated.
   
   
8. Now you can proceed with care using after shave balm and other products.

Clippers or Scissors: What’s Better for Trimming Your Beard?

Whether you should cut your beard with scissors or use a beard trimmer depends partly on your beard length.

• A longer beard is ideally trimmed with scissors. They allow you to shape smaller areas and intricate beard styles like a mustache perfectly.
  
  
• The beard trimmer, on the other hand, is suitable for shorter beards, 3-day beards, and larger areas. You can adjust it precisely and achieve an evenly trimmed, clean result.

4 Tips for Trimming Your Beard

If you want to trim your beard into shape, there are various tricks and techniques. We want to share the most important ones with you.

1. Cutting the Beard Straight

If you want to trim your beard as straight as possible, it is recommended to start at the chin and work step by step forward against the direction of hair growth.

Cut from the chin over the neck, then move to the jawline and sideburns. Only then move on to the upper lip.

Depending on the beard style, a cutting guide may also be useful.

2. Cutting the Beard to a Point

Start with small cuts on the neck and then work around the chin and cheeks upwards until the basic contour is as you envisioned it.

Continue with the same approach through several rounds until the beard reaches the desired point.

3. Trimming Beard Contours

To trim the beard edges, tilt your head slightly back and place two fingers on your Adam's apple. This gives you the optimal contour on the neck. Everything below this line should be shaved.

Shave all other contours above this line. Start from the center and work your way to the sides, then return to the center. Never shave your contour in one go; always do it in several small steps.

4. Cutting the Beard on the Neck Properly

We have already explained what the ideal beard line on the neck looks like above. Shave everything below this line cleanly and smoothly to avoid an unkempt appearance.

Start again in the center and then work your way to both sides, then return to the center. For a perfectly smooth result, shave twice - both with and against the direction of hair growth.

Conclusion

Don't be afraid to trim your beard yourself! Even if a small mistake happens here and there (who says a barber never makes mistakes?), you will quickly develop a routine, and the desired contours and styles will come naturally.

FAQ

How often should I trim my beard?

How often you need to trim your beard depends on your beard growth. Not every hair grows at the same rate. Generally, you should trim the contours every two to three days to prevent your beard style from looking unkempt.

: If you have a longer full beard, you should use the beard scissors whenever you notice that the hairs are growing at different lengths and would look wild without trimming.

Even or especially with long beards, it is important to keep the beard hairs at the same length.

My Beard is Mis-trimmed: What Can I Do?

If you have mis-trimmed your beard, you are not alone. It happens to everyone from time to time. It now depends on what exactly went wrong:

1. Took too much length off one side: Trim the other side similarly to achieve an even length. It will grow back!
   
   
2. Cut a gap in the beard: Try to conceal it by making some corrective cuts around it with the beard scissors and comb.
   
   
3. Significant gap cut: In an extreme case, artificial beard fibers can help. These are hair fibers from a can that are distributed in the beard similarly to salt shaker and conceal the gaps.
   
   
4. Contoured Mis-trimmed: Use a beard comb to see where you might be able to fix it. You might need to turn a straight edge into a slightly rounded contour.