Trimming your beard can be a truly satisfying activity, especially if you like to look clean and maintain a gentlemanly appearance while trying to grow a beard the right way.
Learning to use a beard electric shaver is not that difficult, but not easy. You need to make sure you choose the right shaver, prepare for the process, and learn how to use it correctly without encountering problems with red skin, cuts, scratches, irritation, or uneven trimming.
Pick the Proper Shaver
Before trimming your beard, choose the right shaver and DIY beard groomer.
The following suggestions should help:
- Choose the Right Shaver: A beard electric shaver or a beard trimmer is a small device similar to a regular shaver, designed to trim your facial hair more effectively and ensure that you get a clean shave.
- Start with the Right Guard: Depending on the length of your beard, you may need a larger or smaller guard. Consider starting with the highest guard for a closer trim and gradually moving to a smaller one.
- Master the Technique: Remember to keep your movements calm, slow, and careful to avoid making mistakes. It’s also good practice to brush the base of your beard as you go along. Take small sections of hair, compare the right and left sides to ensure they’re evenly proportioned, and gradually shape and sculpt your beard to your desired size and shape.
- Choose the Best Electric Razor: Different beard shavers are available, but a rechargeable cordless shaver is the best choice. It’s convenient to use and doesn’t require a nearby power outlet. Facial hair shavers often have removable and adjustable trimming guides, allowing you to control the closeness of the trim. Check the product instructions for the finer details. If you’re a first-time user, start with a guide suitable for longer facial hair.
Shaver Options
Rotary Shaver
A rotary shaver moves in a circular orbit, ensuring a much closer shave. This type of shave is popular because your hair won’t get pulled, and you’ll get a comfortable shave.
Rotary shavers can be great grooming tools for long and thick facial hairs.
If you are interested in having a particular facial hairstyle. For example, a goatee or chinstrap might be a good idea to get a shaver that provides a few different trimmer heads.
You need to be able to swap out a bigger trimmer head for a smaller one if it’s not cutting close enough.
Hair Clipper
You can also use a hair clipper to trim your beard. But, it will be much more effective at providing a close cut if you use shaving cream.
A hair clipper will need a few passes to achieve a proper shave.
There are a lot of advantages to using hair clippers for shaving, one of them being avoiding razor bumps and ingrown hair.
Foil Shaver
Foil shavers have a steel foil with oscillating blades that go back and forth. They lift the hair to cut it. These types of shavers are known to cut the hair very close.
Manual Razors
These are the ones with disposable razor blades. They come in different shapes and sizes. They do provide some of the best close shaves compared to electric shaving.
So, you can almost guarantee a proper shave.
However, they come at a price.
I suggest avoiding them as they can cause ingrown hairs, cuts, scratches, and razor bumps.
This is especially the case for people with sensitive skin. But, it still boils down to your personal preference.
Cartridge Razors
This type of razor is part of the manual razor family as it has a blade head or cartridge that can be detached. They can provide a smooth shave.
But, it has the same possible issues as above, particularly if you have sensitive skin.
Steps to Trim Your Beard with an Electric Shaver
- Preparation: Start by thoroughly washing and conditioning your beard. Then, make sure it’s completely dry before trimming to achieve the best results.
- Brush and Align: Brush your beard and mustache downward to ensure all the hairs are going in the same direction. This will make the trimming process smoother and easier.
- Trim Gradually: Electric razors have different settings, including guard lengths. For example, with the Bevel Shaver, turn the dial all the way up to start. However, it’s generally best to start with a high setting and then gradually decrease the length.
- Tighten the Skin: To get a closer trim, hold the skin on your neck tight with your free hand.
- Mustache Maintenance: Don’t forget to trim your mustache too. It can grow directly into your mouth as you grow out your beard. Trim it to the lip line using the same technique, gradually adjusting the length. You can even try brushing your longer mustache to the side and then trimming around it, brushing downward for the final trim.
- Taming Flyaway Hairs: If you spot flyaway hairs (also known as errant hairs) while trimming, resist the temptation to quickly trim it with your shaver. Finish your trim, brush your beard again, and then use scissors to clip any errant hairs.
- Neck hair: Don’t forget to trim your neck hair. You may need to pass the clippers through a few times before completely stopping your shaving session.
- It can be easy to miss those bits of hair, especially if you have a big beard to cut off.
- It’s worth checking every area of your face and neckline thoroughly so you can shave off the bits of hair left.
- Dry shaving: Let’s not forget about dry shaving. You can use an electric shaver without shaving cream. Although, it can help a lot.
- Wet shaving: You can’t go wrong with wet shaving. It helps a lot to wet your face before shaving and applying the cream. Wet shaving helps when using electric shavers. Because it allows for the shaver to glide much easier, and you can cut closer.
- Finishing Touches: After your trim your entire beard, apply products like Slope’s Priming Oil, lubricants, creams, or beard balm.
- These not only help your follicles stay free, but they also keep your beard hair shiny and healthy.
- Beard balm can help you avoid dry skin because they hydrate your skin. Dry skin feels tight and can crack.
- Beard oil: Some shavers come with beard oil. You can use it to clean your shaver after using it. (fix this sentence)
- Maintenance: Once properly trimmed and shaped your beard, maintaining its well-groomed appearance is simply a matter of regular upkeep. Wash and brush your beard frequently, and use a conditioner to keep it soft, to avoid dry skin, and to look great.
- Shaver clean-up: Don’t forget to clean off any loose hair from the device. If you leave excess hair in the razor, it can lower its lifespan.
Remember, investing in a high-quality electric razor with different length adjustments is essential.
For a more polished appearance, shave the non-bearded areas of your face daily and trim stray hairs around and within your beard once a week or as needed.
I hope you found this article helpful.