How To Trim Your Own Beard: A DYI Tutorial

Let’s be honest, trimming your own beard at home is [f$%#] scary.

We’ve all attempted it at least once, and for some, the fear of messing your beard up badly just once is all it takes to never trust yourself again.

Sometimes, when you're in a pinch though and need to clean things up, finding a good beard barber isn't always easy or available.

And if you have a good barber but can't get an appointment scheduled, a DIY beard trim is a skill you need to have—even if it’s just a quick cleanup to get you moving through the day, especially when you're in-between barber visits.

So today I’m going to walk you through some do’s and don’ts on trimming your own beard, and demonstrate what I do for my beard in hopes that it helps you with yours.

What You'll Need

Before you start trimming, you'll need the following to get started on your DIY beard trimming routine:

1. Beard scissors
2. Beard trimmer with trimmer guards
3. Beard wash and conditioning products
4. Beard styling and grooming products
5. Handheld mirror
6. Bathroom mirror
7. Blow dryer (optional)
8. White shirt (optional)

Before The Trim

Now that you've got the supplies you need, here's your next steps to prepare for your trim:

1. Wash and condition your beard
2. Apply your oil, butter and/or mustache wax (for those that have handlebars)
3. Fully dry your beard. If you use a blow dryer daily, make sure you go through that entire process before trimming to ensure you get an accurate cut.

By washing and styling first, you’ll have a more accurate look at where the hairs really lie down and where the hairs need to get trimmed.

Trimming The Sideburns And Cheeks

Let's start with cleaning up the sideburns and cheeks. Keeping this area tight makes a massive impact on your beard’s overall style and appearance. It gives your beard a more presentable look and makes your face look more organized.

Preparing for the trim

Get your beard trimmer (any great trimmer will do, but for optimal trimmers, the MT-1 is our choice), and grab one of the trimmer guards. The length of the guard will depend on how long or short you want to trim your beard.

Run it up on your sideburns to loosen up and expose the longer hairs for you to trim. This technique will help you assess how much hair needs to be trimmed off before you actually start using your beard trimmer, and help prevent you from making big mistakes when you trim.

The Trim

Here's how you can trim your sideburns and cheeks at home:

Start on one side first

Start on one side with the longest guard you have to give you some length. The 18mm guard on our MT-1 beard trimmer with the zero blade pulled back is one way to get you that length.

Clean up the top of the sideburns with the longest guard first and slowly start taking off these unwanted hairs.

The beard from the top of your ears should be shorter and gradually get longer as the beard goes further down your cheek and jawline. This will create a "faded" look.

Then, slowly work your way towards the cheek area, even a little bit down from that area, so that the cheeks are also shorter in length. It creates a fuller beard and provides a nice fade from your cheeks to the rest of your beard.

If you have handlebars, pull them down so you can reach the top part of the beard so as to not accidentally trim the mustache.

Match the other side

Using the exact same technique on the side you just did, match the other side so that it looks uniform and cohesive.

Here's a recommendation: always match both sides with the same length of guard so that it looks uniform before you go down to a shorter guard.

Now that you have trimmed with the longest guard, work your way down to a shorter guard until you have a good length that you're satisfied with.

Remember, it's YOUR beard. Find a good length that works with you and go with that.

Blend From Longer To Shorter

When you're trimming your own beard, you want to blend the beard so that it goes from longer on the bottom to shorter on the top (towards the top of your sideburns). You do this by using shorter guards as you go higher on your face to achieve that faded look.

Gradually go shorter on the guard as you go up towards your sideburns to give you that nice faded look.

The shorter your guard will depend on how short your hair is on your sides, and how short you want your sideburns to be and how much of a faded look you want.

Cleaning Up Your Lines

There are three lines you need to think about when you're cleaning up your beard: cheek line, back line, and neckline.

Cleaning up these lines are super important when you're first starting your beard growth. As you grow your beard out, and if you already set it properly, it's just a matter of resetting it and maintaining it.

The cheek line

Try to keep your cheek line as high as possible, depending on how much your hair grows in that area. Trim off the rogue hairs that grow above your cheek line to make the line tighter and more intentional.

Using the zero gap blade on the MT-1 beard trimmer, trim down the rogue hairs.

Try to be as natural as possible. Don't be too nitpicky on the mirror while you're trimming.

The back line

Next step is the back line, and your best friend for this step is a handheld mirror.

Position yourself in your bathroom mirror to look at the handheld mirror so you can see where your hand is going when you trim. It may be awkward at first, but as you use the mirror more often, you'll get more comfortable with it, and will get easier and better at trimming your back line.

You want your back line to run the back of your sideburns in a nice natural shape. Depending on the growth of your neck and the back of your neck, you'll want to trim it so there's separation between them.

As you run the back line down, you can either square out the corner of the back line, or round it out. Whichever you choose, just try to make it as natural as possible.

It can be daunting at first to have to use two mirrors to trim your back line, but keep at it, and don't get discouraged or frustrated if you don't get it right the first try.

Just like your head hair, it's totally common for your beard hair to have swirls, cowlicks, and other ways that it grows that may not be consistent or symmetric.

No one has a perfect beard, so find what works for you, get familiar with your beard and try to match it up on both sides as much as possible.

The neckline

Last but not least is the neckline. General rule of thumb is to trim the neckline one finger above your adam's apple, especially if you have a short beard. If your growing your beard longer, then let your neck hair grow naturally out so that you can have that extra length and fullness.

Keep going back and forth on and trim off the excess hair above the adam's apple to give you the neckline you want.

By keeping the cheek, back and neck lines trimmed, you're establishing beard lines that will look intentional, styled and on point, and even if you didn't do anything else.

Hedging / Trimming the Beard

Time to trim flyaway hairs for a more uniformed shape.

One general rule of thumb here is to treat your beard like a hedge. This is primarily for medium or longer beards.

Don't use guards on the bulk of your beards as that will turn your medium-to-long beards into a short beard.

REMEMBER: Use the trim guards to keep the cheek and sideburns tight. To keep the rest of your beard tight, trim by hand using scissors or use the zero gap blade to trim and hedge your beard.

Just like hedging a shrub, work your way from the outside, and work all angles and trim all the flyaways. The tighter the sides are, and the longer the proportions are—even on a long beard—the more balanced and well-defined look it will be.

Repeat the process on all parts of your beard.

More tips:

• Don't talk while you trim
• When you trim the rest of your beard, LESS is MORE
• Turn your head constantly to spot flyaways and other hairs that are sticking out
• Use the walls around you to see those pesky flyaways. White walls are especially great for this technique
• Wearing a white shirt will show better the flyaways your trimming off
• Use a handheld mirror to look for areas under your beard that need trimming
• When trimming the front stache, you can either use a guard length or do it naturally. Trim it just a little bit off the lip

How Often Should You Trim?

Now if you’re wondering how often you should trim, well, it varies.

Start off with checking your trim to see how you feel. Do you feel like you're in a pretty good spot after your trim? Do you feel good about your lines, trim and length?

For shorter beards, it's good to trim more often, as new growth is more noticeable. This helps keep your beard orderly and tight, especially if you're looking to keep that short length.

The longer your beard grows, the less frequent trims are needed. However, even long beards should clean up the sideburn areas weekly or every other week to keep things tidy.

Use your discretion on how often you want to trim depending on the beard length you want and the length you have.

What Should I Use For Trimming?

If you're starting out, beard scissors work very well in trimming, sculpting and keeping your beard on point. Like a bonsai tree, using scissors forces you to take your time, be precise in your trimming and not rush into the process.

For those who are more experienced in trimming, we suggest using a high-quality beard trimmer like our MT-1 beard trimmer, which has a lithium ion battery that lasts for 4 hours at a time, and a heat resistant ceramic blades that's safe for the skin.

Recap

DO's

• TAKE YOUR TIME. Never be in a rush and don’t feel like you have to get it perfect
• Make sure that the trim guard is securely fastened on your trimmer before you trim
• Wash, condition and style your beard before you trim
• Scissors are great for beginners. For more experienced trimmers, use a product that is fast, precise, and won't overheat
• Use a handheld mirror when you're trimming your back lines
• Check in weekly on your beard. Use a handheld mirror for close-ups and hard-to-reach areas.

DON'Ts

• Don't be too nitpicky while you're trimming. Nobody is going to be staring at your beard close enough
• Don't talk while you trim
• Never trim your beard when it's wet
• Don't go back and forth in trimming one side and then the other
• Don't get frustrated when it's your first time. Be patient, it takes time to be good at trimming your own beard

If you want to give the DIY beard trim a go, my last recommendation is to TAKE YOUR TIME. Never be in a rush and don’t feel like you have to get it perfect. Nobody is going to be staring at your beard as closely as you are so chances are what might bug you won’t even be noticed by others.

If you still aren’t comfortable, find a beard professional and get regular trims on the books. Just make sure to really vet them out to confirm they know how to trim beards and be extremely specific with what you are looking for.

Our Mission is to help Beardsmen look, feel and be their best.

If you want trimming tips, style advice, or anything at all, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at support@livebearded.com anytime.

Live Bearded, Brother!