Monthly Archives: June 2013

Beard Trimming Styles

There are so many different ways in which people present their facial hair nowadays, from full beards to five o clock shadows and a whole spectrum in between. Whether your style is wild and wacky or subtle and stylish, there are lots of beard trimming styles and ideas that can help you out when it comes to your own facial hair. Beard trimmers and other products have really opened up your options, some of which we explore in this post.

5 o Clock Shadow

http://www.sxc.hu/photo/393563

This is the look a lot of us go for, simply the look most of us get after a day or maybe two of not shaving having been clean shaven. A look we associate with a lot of hollywood actors, busted by the likes of George Clooney a lot of the time and one of the simpler styles to achieve, just clean shave and leave it a day or two, or alternatively use a really close length shave on your trimmer to be perpetually living at 5 o clock.

Short Beard

Pretty self explanatory this one, slightly longer than the stubble look of the 5 o clock shadow and more of a full beard that covers the face with a little more thickness, though still not quite up to the lengths of the next mentioned…

The Jesus Beard!

So called obviously for its association with biblical images of Jesus, a Jesus beard is a full beard, relatively ungroomed.

A Goatee

The style a lot of people go for with their beards, the goatee, which is an area of beard around the chin, up around the mouth and under the lip with a shaved neck/rest of face! Popular and relatively conventional.

Balbo

The Balbo (named after the Fascist Italian leader who popularized the style) is basically a tuft under the bottom lip combined with a mustache.

Other Options

They’re the main beard styles you’re likely to see people create with their trimmer, but there are lots of other options too. If you’re going for just a mustache on its own you can go for everything from a subtle ‘tache to handlebars or even a horse shoe! Even once you have decided a style you can still vary it up by leaving certain areas with stubble for a less clean look. Don’t forget the sideburns either, whether you’re opting for standard ear length sideburns or going for the big old mutton chop look, which can even be combined with a goatee! The opportunities are almost endless. Get your hands on a great trimmer and start experimenting.

Conclusion

Style is constantly evolving as you know and though these are some of the more popular styles, people often find what looks best for them by experimenting, which is exactly what I would encourage you to do. Your beard can be key to the way you look, so make sure you get it right! Fortunately, the products we have available, and that you can see here on bestbeardtrimmerguide.org can help you to do this with the maximum ease!

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Beard Trimming Tips

Beard trimming is not always as simple as you think it might be, and lets face it, no two beards are exactly the same. Not to worry, though, we have compiled some excellent beard trimming tips to ensure you have the easiest, safest, cleanest and of course the best looking beard out there!

Equip Yourself Properly. A workman doesn’t start without his tools, so you need to work out what you need and take it from there, perhaps you’re going for a same length all over look that can be achieved with simply a good beard trimmer, or maybe you’re trimming some areas but wet shaving others, or even going for a fade look, whatever you’re trying to achieve, get the right tools and you’ll be on your way.
Consider the Mess. I can’t stress this highly enough, there inevitably will be mess when you’re trimming a beard, so it is important to be prepared. You can do so by being positioned over a sink or a waste bin to catch the dropping hairs, or even better, why don’t you get your hands on a vacuum beard trimmer and your mess can be kept to a minimum really easily.
Oil it up! A really simple tip that you will be thankful you stick to, use an oil (normally included when you buy your trimmer, if not available easily online) to make sure that your trimmer doesn’t pull and rip your hairs out (very painful). Also, clean afterwards to keep hairs out of the gaps between the blades.
Shampoo and condition your beard. This seems a bit of a daft thing to do unless you’re looking for a fluffy beard, but it does help a lot. Doing this keeps your beard soft and makes it easier to trim when the time comes.
Remember, it is not a race. At times we’re all guilty of rushing stuff, especially the stuff that is a bit of a chore, and lets face it we don’t really enjoy trimming our beard. However, it is important to be thorough if you want an even shave, so rushing it is the worst thing you can do!
Clean up your neckline. Beard trimmers have always really struggled with the neck area of your beard, and in my experience it is easiest to clean this area up with a simple and brief wet shave using a traditional razor.

Any Beard Trimming Tips to Add?

If you have some tips of your own, feel free to write them in the comments to help our readers out. I hope the above are helpful and make sure your beard looks its best.

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Philips Norelco QT4070 Review

Philips are one of the leading manufacturers of beard trimmers and grooming products around the world, and offer a large range of products in this ilk, from electric shavers to precision trimmers and all-in-one models, they like to push the envelope with their products, one of which is their Norelco QT4070, which certainly looks to take beard trimmers into the next age with some hi tech and high quality features.

A Quality, Even Trim

We all want to trim our beards evenly, nobody wants patchy facial hair and with the Norelco QT4070 you’ll make sure you’re as even as anything, whatever length you choose, and trust me there is a lot of choice. Anything from a 5 o clock shadow look 0.5 mm up to an 18mm fuller beard length, all easily controlled on the body of this trimmer with an easy lock wheel.

Portable, Corded and Cordless

You can use the Norelco QT4070 on either corded or cordless mode, and a powerful lithium ion battery means a good life on cordless mode and taken wherever it is most convenient for you, in fact just one hour on charge will give you a massive 50 minutes of cordless use thanks to its powerful lithium ion battery.

Vacuum

This is without a doubt the main selling point, and the unique aspect of this beard trimmer, it is a relatively new technology which has been introduced to a few different kinds of trimmer now, and of course makes for a mess free beard or stubble trim, taking one of the main inconveniences out of the grooming procedure! No more messing around with hairs stuck in the sink, simply empty your trimmer’s vacuum in the bin and you’re ready for next time! This is one of the best vacuum trimmers on the market today.

Multi-Functional LCD Display

I love when a modern beard trimmer has a cool display, and this is one of the products to include this feature, showing you your length setting and battery life remaining, A really cool feature that we will see in every beard trimmer one day I am sure.

Conclusion

The Philips Norelco QT4070 is, all-in-all, an excellent trimmer. Available at around $50 this is worth the money, with futuristic technology, brilliant features and of course a mess free trim every time. Saves a lot of hassle! It is excellently reviewed on consumer sites around the internet so you won’t be disappointed with what this can do for your QT4070.

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Conair iStubble Review

Even though it sounds like the latest in Apple technology, you’ll have to believe me when I tell you it isn’t. You’ll also have to believe that Conair, the manufacturers of the iStubble, have no affiliation with an 80s film starring John Malkovich, they are in fact a maker of hair and grooming product as you may already know, and they’ve really pushed the boat out with this model, as we explore in our conair iStubble review.

Price

At the time of writing you can pick up an iStubble for around 40 bucks, which isn’t a bad price for a quality beard trimmer, roughly on a par with some of the Philips Norelco models explored already on our blog. The RRP is $60 for the iStubble GMT900 but in a competitive market, the models that have been out a little while tend to be available for a little cheaper, as is the case here.

The “Floating Head”

This is the real unique selling point of the iStubble, the “floating” head, designed to be as flexible as possible and to track the contours of your face as you trim, is a truly excellent piece of design, which makes for a closer, more accurate and more comfortable trim, making those hard to reach areas as simple as the rest of your face to trim. Once you’ve used the floating head design, you won’t want to go back to ordinary trimmers.

Length Control

The length control on the iStubble is truly impressive, offering settings from 0.4 mm up to 5 mm, easily controlled via the LCD screen (another hi tech feature of this beard trimmer) and excellently motorized length control confirm the iStubble’s status as one of the most impressive of its kind available today.

Other Features of the Conair iStubble

Cordless – no tangling of wires or need to be next to a power supply, just charge and go.
Impressive, Clear LCD display to show you what you’re doing at all times.
Rapid charge – no more waiting ages for your trimmer to be ready to go.
15 different length settings, great for full beards, stubble looks, goatees and other styles.

Conclusion

The Conair iStubble, and especially the GMT900 model we talk about here, are really pushing the boundaries of tech when it comes to grooming and facial hair. I love what they’re trying to do with their range and they’ve pulled it off with this one, which has been excellently received and well reviewed almost everywhere. Without a doubt this is one of the coolest trimmers you can own, that will impress people wherever you take it, which can’t be said for many other models! Comes with top recommendation from me especially because of its floating head.

Instructional Video from Conair themselves:

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How to Trim Your Beard Evenly

Image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

We’re all about the art of beard trimming here at bestbeardtrimmerguide.org, and we know better than most that getting an even trim on your facial hair is certainly not the easiest thing to do. Fortunately, there are loads of great tools to help us with this and even more tricks and techniques to ensure your beard length is even all over. No more uneven tufts of facial hair or neck hairs that just wont go away as we show you how to trim your beard evenly and get the look you want every time!

Decide on Your Beard Trimming Equipment

This is first on your to do list if you want that elusive evenness! Get your gear ready. It doesn’t have to be expensive or top of the range, but it does need to equip you properly for the job. Personally, I recommend a beard trimmer with many adjustable lengths and ergonomic design that will move with the curvature of your face and get into the awkward areas. Even if you can’t get your hands on this, you can do a good job with:

A basic trimmer
A comb
Hairdressing scissors (or ordinary scissors if you need)

Top tips for Ensuring Your Beard is Trimmed Evenly

Make sure your beard isn’t wet. A wet beard, or worse, wet in patches, means you won’t get a proper representation of length in the mirror or when it comes to shaving, and often you’ll shave off too much.
Give it a comb first, this will serve to untangle any hairs that could snag or become a problem and make sure that the hairs are as straight as possible so will be trimmed at the same level, giving you the same length!
You might want to trim with scissors first if your beard is long, this means no pulling when you run your trimmer over your facial hair.
Make sure your trimmer is set to one length securely before running this over your facial hair.
Do not just give a once over and assume your beard is trimmed and ready to go, you will probably need to go over the areas a couple of times at least, or until the hairs stop being trimmed, to make sure you have got it all.

Conclusion

The products available to us today mean that trimming our facial hair is easier than ever, and the world of male grooming is big business. Make sure you follow our guide on how to trim your beard evenly and get a perfect look.

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Best Sideburn Trimmer

Image courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

Sideburns are very popular among men everywhere, they can help greatly to balance the facial features, and make a cool addition to most hairstyles. Some people choose to bust their sideburns with a mustache or other facial hair, while some leave it at the burns. Either way, they can be tough to keep in check, and having one of the best sideburn trimmers will help immensely to get the job done.

To use the term “Sideburn Trimmer” is a little bit misleading, in that I’m not going to suggest a specifically designed and manufactured trimmer for Sideburns, but other facial hair trimmers that will work perfectly for this purpose. Most of the top beard trimmers come with many different lengths and features meaning you’ll have more control over your sideburns and the ability to work on other areas of facial hair too.

Detail Trimmer

Having said that beard trimmers with a bunch of features are amazing (they are) I do still feel that it is worth mentioning this awesome little detail trimmer with a tiny price tag! The Remington MPT-3600 Battery Operated Dual Blade Pen Trimmer is retailing at around $10 at the time of me writing this. Okay, so it won’t do your laundry for you, but if you’re already shaving the rest of your beard with an electric shaver or wet shaving method, then this is everything you need to start to detail your sideburns. Depending on the length you’re looking for then a little bit of scissor trimming might be needed, but for working out the detail and finishing the shape of your burns this is a top bit of kit.

Philips Norelco QT4050

This is a model of beard trimmer that crops up over and over again in the articles I write, it is the weapon of choice for so many bearded men all around the world, the Norelco QT4050 is versatile, and offers everything you could possibly need when it comes to grooming your facial hair. No less than 18 length settings mean you can use very short lengths for detail trimming and slightly longer for your personal preference. This is also a vacuum beard trimmer which means it almost totally eliminates the mess factor that can be such a pain when trimming sideburns.

Features of the Norelco include:

Precision zoom lock hair length selector
Maintenance-free blades which stay sharp and don’t need to be oiled
Contour follow comb for a precise, even trim
18 secured length settings varying from 1mm up to 18mm for your preferred look

Conclusion

The best sideburns don’t necessarily come from the best trimmer, and it is important to remember to keep your trimming even on both sides, to keep any blades well oiled and if your sideburns are any sort of length then comb them before you trim, which will help you to get an even length.

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How to Trim a Beard

Learning to shave is something of a right of passage when us guys reach a certain age, we all have the stereotypical image of our fathers standing at the bathroom mirror with us showing us how to shave off our facial hair, but in this day and age we don’t always want it all gone, and the image of being taught how to trim is not such a common one! Trimming a beard can be tough, and varies depending on length and style, which is why we’ve put together our how to trim a beard guide here on bestbeardtrimmerguide.org

Trimmer or Scissors

Even though this is a website all about the best beard trimmers, I’m not going to tell you that you need to go out and buy some! For the larger, less controlled and calculated beards, a pair of good hairdressing scissors will be an equally good option. However, if you’re looking for styles with multiple lengths or a lot of detail then scissors just wont cut it (excuse the pun) and having a trimmer will make your life a heck of a lot easier.

Outlining

If you’re looking for a style that has a specific shape such as a goatee, just a mustache, handlebars or just about anything other than a proper full beard you might well want to start with an outline, giving you the shape of the beard before you go ahead and trim. This can be done with most trimmers, or alternatively a specifically designed outliner. Remember to keep a close eye on the mirror and a steady hand.

Trimming the Neck/Face

On the neck, things can get a little tricky. The curvature of your face can make it really tough to get an even shave, luckily many ergonomically designed trimmers are flexible for a close shave and flex with your specific shape. On the cheek this is not such a problem, but skin can get irritable so it is worth getting a good quality balm for afterwards.

Top Tips for How to Trim a Beard

If you can afford it, go to a barber shop and get it done professionally sometimes, this will mean a great looking beard for a special event or function.
Make sure you get a beard trimmer that will suit you, whether that means cordless, rechargeable, one length or fifty lengths!
Get the right care products, balms and lotions will avoid irritated skin and aftershaves will mean you smell tip top for any romantic encounters.
Don’t trim when your beard is wet, it will appear longer if you’ve just got out of the shower for example, so wait until it has dried so that you don’t shave too much off and regret it later.
Use a comb to help you get an even shave all over, this is especially important if you are using scissors as opposed to a shop bought trimmer.
Shave, rather than pluck, any stray hairs, you’ll regret plucking them as it can be painful and make your skin angry, plus there is less chance the hair will grow back normally.

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Wahl Beard Trimmer Reviews

Wahl are one of the most popular manufacturers of shavers and beard trimmers in the modern age, in fact, their website claims that they invented the electric shaver as we know it way back in 1919. Nowadays they offer a huge range of home and professional equipment for grooming. Their beard trimmers are some of the best value you can buy today and a large range of models means lots of differing features so you can find the trimmer that suits you best. Nearly 100 years at the top of the market speak for themselves, so without further ado, here are some Wahl Beard Trimmer Reviews.

Wahl 79300-400 Color Pro 20 Piece Haircutting Kit

I’ll start with what is one of the most versatile trimmers and shavers available at its price range, in fact this is super cheap at a mere $20 at the moment! You simply can’t argue with that price for all of the great features, including Self-sharpening, high-carbon steel blades, the ability to use to trim hair as well as facial hair, color coded system so you can easily find your length for next time, and a sturdy, hard-wearing design. What’s in the box? Kit includes: clipper, blade guard, colored guide combs, barber comb, styling comb, scissors, cleaning brush, oil, full use instructions and styling guide. 6 inch handled storage case.

The only downside (and you may not see it as a downside) is the fact that the guards and size guides are removable instead of being simple settings controllable on your trimmer, but that said for $20 this is extreme value!

Wahl Trimmer All-In-One Lithium Ion

Wahl are one of the manufacturers to have embraced the newer lithium ion technology that is revolutionizing batteries everywhere, which means it holds charge up to 10 times longer with 3 times the run time! Now that’s impressive.

Features of this model include:

T-blade trimmer with three guide combs.
Rechargeable with lithium ion battery
English and spanish instructions
5 minute quick charge for those of us in a rush
Trimmer, shaver, detailer and clipper blades.
1/8″, 1/4″, 3/8″, Charger, Beard Comb, Cleaning Brush, Blade Oil, Storage/Charge Base all included in the box.

Wahl 9906-717 Groomsman

As I usually like to do, I’ve included this as a budget model for those of us pinching the pennies, the Groomsman model comes in at around the 10 buck mark if you look in the right places, is cordless though you need batteries, and still offers ergonomic design, guide combs, seven different trimming lengths and all you need to experiment with your beard on the cheap!

Conclusion

Wahl offer an excellent range of Beard Trimmers, often complete with three year manufacturers warranties, that means that your back is well and truly covered!

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Best Goatee Trimmer

A goatee is a popular style of facial hair and is a great way to add a little variation if you’re getting sick of the same old beard or stubble. Goatees aren’t for everyone, and some say you need to have a certain type of looks to pull it off, but hey if they’re good enough to be sported by the likes of Christian Bale, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp and a whole bunch of other heart throbs, it has to be worth a good old go! For the coolest goatee, you’re going to want the best goatee trimmer, fortunately many of the best beard trimmers on the market today are designed for a load of different kinds of beard, goatee included.

Andis Outliner Trimmer

What we need for a style like this is a trimmer that offers control over the details of facial hair. The Andis’ fine cutting blades are great for fading and areas of detail, which is amazing for a style that requires two different lengths and some pretty delicate shaping at times. Not only does this work with goatee styles, it is great for necks, beards, mustaches, and the edging around the ears. Extremely quiet and high quality, built in the USA and built to last. Comes with a high recommendation.

Philips Norelco QT4070

I’ve already talked about this in an article I wrote about the best vacuum beard trimmers. The Norelco range is one of the best when it comes to the wide range of beard trimmers on the market, and the best made by Philips. A vacuum beard trimmer makes the whole clean up operation tons easier, but that’s not the only benefit for those of us rocking a goatee style. The Norelco offers a huge 18 lengths which mean you can contrast your beard for a goatee with a little stubble (as short as .5mm! And that you can use a slightly longer trim for the goatee itself. Comes with a manufacturers guarantee and complete with a load of excellent reviews on Amazon.

Conclusion

You wont go too far wrong with the two models mentioned, but remember that there is much more to styling a beard than just buying a decent trimmer, remember to keep your length relatively even, not to miss any detail and not to have your beard too short if you’re going to want to be near a woman, stubble rash is not fun! Goatees, on the other hand, are a lot of fun, make sure yours is best with one of these goatee trimmers.

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