It is important to note there is no specific right way of shaping your beard. Shaping different beard styles is determined by aspects such as different patterns of facial hair growth and different face shapes. The important thing when shaping your beard is understanding what best works for you and the kind of finish that you are looking for.
Shaping the beard is not a hard task and most people can actually achieve it effortlessly. The beard should show your personal style as well as compliment the hairstyle on your head. Below is an easy guide on how to shape different beard styles to achieve the best looks.
- Start With the Large Setting and Work Your Way Backward
For perfect shaping, it is not advisable to start working with the shortest guard immediately. This is important, especially if you are a beginner in shaping your own beard. The importance of this is that you can always do more trimming, but you cannot undo a too-short cut.
In most beard styles, you will realize that you will need to repeat the cutting more than one time before achieving the perfect shape. It is actually safer and easier to do gradual trimming other than going direct for the desired length with the first cut.
2. Keep Trimming the Beard as it Grows
Just like any other hair, your beard will outgrow with time. To maintain the desired shape, it is good to trim as the beard grows.
When the beard is left untrimmed, the ends get scratchy and frayed, which alters the beard shape. Regular trimming also helps keep everything in the required place to maintain the original beard shape.
3. Keep the Borders in Mind
The borders of the beard are important when it comes to shaping. You need to know whether you need to alter them or leave them in their original position. Some beard styles require major outlines of the borders on either the chin, cheeks, or neckline.
How detailed the borders should be is determined by preference and style. The beard borders need to be properly defined regardless of the style you are going for. The border should be trimmed to the skin level for proper highlighting.
For easier detailing, you should use a guardless trim since it allows more precision without much effort. It is, however, recommended to follow the natural outline of the beard to avoid quick outgrowing of the beard.
4. Trimming the Neckline
The beard neckline should be left in almost the same position for most men unless your beard style requires you to eliminate the hair underneath.
You should imagine of you shape starting from the ear on your jawbone and proceeding all the way to sink on your neck point.
You can determine the major point of your neckline with a simple experiment. You need to put the pointer and middle finger together and place them somewhere above Adam’s apple. The position they land is u in this shape should specifically land on your neckline.
5. Trimming the Cheek Lines
Trimming the cheek lines is also a personal decision that should be made based on personal preference. The outlining of the cheek lines should be determined by where the natural cheek line stops.
The whiskers’ destiny is determined by the beard style you choose. It is also best to follow the natural outlining of the cheek lines, especially if you don’t want to go through the trouble of doing regular trimming often.
You should consider using a beard trimmer to get a little taper in order to make your beard more defined.
6. Pay Attention to What Looks Good
At the end of the day, what matter is getting the best you can achieve on your final results. Sometimes it is a matter of what looks good for you and not what the rules are.
In some cases, you may find that you can grow a full beard, but that is not what looks best on you. In this case, you can opt to trim the sides and focus on the chin. This is what will be best for you regardless of the fact that it is recommended to choose beard styles that complement the natural growth of your beard.
