5 Short Beard Trimming and Style Tips

Anthony Mink |

Here at Live Bearded, we strongly believe you should rock the beard style you prefer and feel most confident with, and we know to find that style can be difficult. So for this video, we want to show you some short beard trim and style tips for those of you who prefer a short beard and prefer to trim it yourself.

Short Beard Trimming Routine

1. Style it first

When it comes to trimming a short beard, the same product rules apply. What I mean by that is you need to apply whatever beard products you use on a daily basis and style your beard as you do before you trim. 

For me, that means I cleaned my beard in the shower with beard wash, beard oil was applied as well as beard butter to give my beard the perfect hold. This makes my hairs lay down the way they do every day so you can really see what you need to trim off. 

If you personally blow dry your beard or straighten it, you want to make sure you fully style your beard and let it set before you trim.

2. Fade your cheeks and sideburns

When it comes to a short beard, you have the luxury of using an electric beard trimmer and guards to set the length of your beard. This makes your job a bit easier to get the hairs to be the same length and really have a tight, clean look. 

For me, I like the length of my beard with my 12 guard. Your trimmer may use colors for length, so don't just grab 12 because I use it. Grab your trimmer kit and a guard (not attached to the clipper).

Before you actually start cutting, run your guard up your beard to see how much it will cut off. You will see the hairs sticking above the guard to know what will get cut.

Once you know what length you prefer, it'll make trimming it back to your preferred length very easy.

short beard trim

I like to run the 12 guard to trim my sideburns down, as well as my cheeks down to my jawline. This keeps my sides tight and clean, and allows my chin to grow longer to give my beard the style and shape I love.

Of course, you want to match the other side and trim both sides down the same distance towards your jaw.

3. Trim your mustache

Everybody has different preferences with mustache styles. I personally like to keep mine shorter to match my beard length. So I use the same guard to trim my mustache down. This makes it super easy to trim the cheeks down and hit the mustache immediately after.

short beard mustache trim

After I take the length down, I use the trimmers without the guard to take the hairs down right at my top lip.

4. Freehand to shape your beard

When it comes to trimming the lower part of your short beard, you really want to freehand and treat your beard like a hedge. All I try to do here is trim away any rogue hairs that are sticking out or are noticeably longer than the rest. 

When you trim your chin area or the bottom of your beard, whether you block it off, trim it to a point, or round it is entirely up to you. I personally like to round the chin area as I feel it compliments my face shape the best.

5. Trim your under beard

One of the biggest difference makers in your short beard is your under beard. What I like to do is trim this area in a flat line to really bring shape to your beard style and elongate the shape. Getting this line right will make a huge difference in your short beard style!

short beard trim

Final Thoughts

These are the 5 steps I go through every single week. I personally recommend you trim weekly or every other week with a short beard because a small amount of growth changes your look much more dramatically.

Plus, if you trim consistently it really makes it easy to create a routine of how much you're trimming. It makes getting it right a whole lot more likely because you're trimming the same length off every week. 

If you're looking for a short beard style, I recommend following these steps to find the perfect look for you. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us anytime as we are always here to help!

Live Bearded, Brother!