7 Beard Shaping Tools To Keep Your Beard Immaculate
Crafting the perfect beard is both an art and a science. You want to look good, but it’s not as easy as jumping right in and making your vision a reality. Like any project, you need the right tools for the trade. Building your beard toolbox will give you options and versatility, allowing you to create the perfect beard every time.
It’s great to have beard shaping tools if you like to change up your style from time to time. You might go long during no-shave-November or during the hockey playoffs, but you might want something a little cleaner and more sophisticated for a series of job interviews or for your wedding. The right beard tools will allow you to achieve any look, any time.
1. Shape Guides
Shape guides are larger tools, typically made of plastic. They have shapes on every side. Some are curved, some are straight, some are diagonal. They might even have marked measurements for inches and angles. This is going to be your guarantee to symmetry.
If you’ve ever tried to eyeball your beard measurements, chances are, you’ve found yourself having to make some unwanted adjustments. Accidentally taking too much off one side means you’ll need to balance out the other side, completely changing the look you were attempting to achieve.
If you get frustrated enough with attempting to simulate perfect symmetry, you may have even found yourself shaving your beard off and vowing to shape it better next time.
When you use a shape guide, you’re dramatically reducing the possibility for error. Use the guide on one side. Flip it over and use it again on the other. As long as you keep the guide lined up properly, you’re going to get the same result on the left and right sides of your face.
2. An Eyeliner Pencil
What does an eyeliner pencil have to do with your beard? A lot more than you might think!
Eyeliner pencils are designed to be safe to use on skin and easy to remove -- something you won’t get from a normal pen or marker. When you’re lining up your guides or drawing a perimeter, use an eyeliner pencil to make your marks. Simply trace along your guide.
Draw your lines first. It will be easy to visualize what your beard will look like if you make those cuts or shave those hairs. If you don’t think you’ll like the end result, all you have to do is remove the eyeliner pencil and draw it again until you’ve defined a boundary you’re confident with.
It’s the “measure twice, cut once” philosophy. You wouldn’t haphazardly waste lumber making the wrong cuts. Don’t waste a perfectly good beard by being too hasty about measuring and cutting. Take your time. Get it right. Feel confident with the end product.
3. A Good Comb
Every hair follicle on your body will grow and shed at different times. That’s why it seems as though you’re constantly losing beard hair, but not losing substantial beard volume. Some of your hairs will be longer, and some will be shorter. If you make shaping cuts into your beard that don’t account for this discrepancy, you might wind up looking patchy or thin in spots.
A beard comb will help you to gently gather a section of your beard and look at different hair lengths. Pull the comb through to the end. There will be a few stragglers that are longer than the others. When they’re easy to see, they’re easy to trim.
Beard combs also come in handy if you have a mixture of fine and thick hairs. It’s not unusual to have a combination of textures, lengths, and colors in your beard. The coarser hairs may be a little harder to manage, and the finer hairs might get tangled among them. You can’t cut or shape your beard without a decent, strong comb to help you untangle the hairs and individually assess the lengths.
4. Beard Scissors
Not all scissors are created equal. Don’t feel tempted to pull the scissors out of the desk drawer and start trimming your beard with them. While they’re probably sharp enough, their size will prove to be a bit unwieldy. You can’t use large office scissors with any kind of precision.
Scissors designed for hair cutting are a better option, but they’re still not perfect. They’re often smaller and easier to handle, but they’re less functional on smaller beards. If you have a very long, full, proud beard, hair cutting scissors might be your best option.
For modest to medium length beards, you should specifically seek out beard scissors. The small scissors that come in manicure kits aren’t as sharp at the fulcrum, which can lead to snags and uneven cuts. Beard scissors are the same size, but they’re designed to function differently. Don’t settle for subpar scissors and risk choppy cuts.
5. A Boar Bristle Brush
Not every man will need a boar bristle brush, but those who do will appreciate it. Medium to long beards often get tangled and have a tendency to look a little tattered. Boar bristle brushes gently detangle a beard while helping to evenly distribute the beard’s natural oils, leading to the appearance of a healthy, softer beard.
Boar bristle brushes can also add volume to your beard. If your beard looks a little thinner than you would like, your boar bristle brush will help it look fuller and a little more luscious. If you’re worried your beard is so thin that you feel tempted to trim it shorter, try a boar bristle brush first. If not, keep the boar bristle brush. It will work just as well on your hair.
6. A Beard Straightener
A beard straightener is a completely optional product, but the men who need it are often elated to find it out that it exists. If your beard is prone to frizz and needs constant smoothing to stay shapely, consider using a beard straightener to tame it.
7. Beard Oil or Pomade
After you’ve spent all that time trimming and grooming your beard, you want it to stay in place throughout the workday. You wouldn’t apply a product like hair gel or hairspray to your beard. Beard oils or pomades can help.
One of the biggest benefits these products provide is conditioning and strengthening. They’re often fortified with vitamins and ingredients that help to improve the health of your skin, promoting better beard growth and softer beard hairs.
They also leave behind a little bit of a texture. You can comb your beard and shape it the way you prefer, and then apply a little bit of an oil or pomade. This will help to gently retain the shape without the use of products that weren’t designed to be applied to the face.
Conclusion
Every man has tools for his trade. If you’re the proud owner of a strong beard, you need and deserve the right toolbox to maintain that beard. Expert grooming isn’t difficult when you have the right supplies. You can be your own barber in your own home, and achieve an expert result custom tailored to you.
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/science-hair#2
https://empoweredsustenance.com/boar-bristle-brush-benefits/