Where To Shave When Growing A Beard

Congratulations! You’ve decided to grow a beard!

Beards are certainly trending right now and can look really good – as long as they’re properly cared for from day one. Growing a beard takes time and patience and importantly, even in the early days, it’s essential that your beard looks like a beard and not just 5 o’clock shadow!

There’s plenty to learn about growing your new crop of facial hair and one of the most important questions you’ll have is where to shave when growing a beard.

Step 1 – Plan Your Beard

The first stage on your beard quest should always be to decide what type of beard you would like. There’ll be challenges along the way with some beards because it can take a number of months for the hair to grow evenly – especially on your cheeks.

Beard experts suggest that you should consider the shape of your face when planning your beard as ideally your face should be oval in shape, so you need to grow your beard to help achieve this.

In reality this means that if your face is circular, a slightly longer beard will create an oval shape, but you will need to keep the sides of your beard well-trimmed. If, on the other hand, you have a rectangular shaped face, a shorter beard will suit you best, but it will need to be fuller at the sides.  

Step 2 – Care For Your Beard

Growing a beard is certainly a challenge because in the early days, the skin underneath the new growth of hair can be very itchy and irritating.  There are several ways that you can ease this… The first is by regularly washing and conditioning your new beard. Secondly, it’s a good idea to start using beard oil as it will keep the hair soft and well hydrated – and, very importantly, the skin underneath too.

Beard oil is made with essential oils and vitamin E. The oil is easy to use, as you simply massage a small amount into your beard twice a day. You will be delighted with the results. As well as nourishing your beard, the oil also treats the skin underneath, ensuring that it’s kept well moisturised, which will minimise the itchiness.

Using a natural beard oil will also improve the quality of your beard. The oil deodorises the hair making it smell nice and also softens it. Beard oil can also promote hair growth. You can also use a beard brush a couple of times a day as this boosts the blood circulation under your beard and this in turn promotes growth.

Step 3 – Trim Your Beard

This probably sounds strange as you are trying to grow your beard but it is really important that your beard looks like a beard rather than an ‘after thought’ and looks as smart as possible.

You should not trim your beard until it has been growing for 3-4 weeks and when you do trim it gently, do so when the hair is dry as it will appear longer when damp and you could trim too much off. A good pair of facial scissors are ideal and beard clippers are ideal.

Wash and dry your beard. Brush your beard ‘against the grain’ so that it stands outwards. Fix the big guard on your clippers so that you cannot accidentally cut too much hair. Use your clippers and scissors to trim the hair very lightly.

You want to create a balanced ‘U’ shape stretching from the back of both your ears to just above the ‘Adam’s Apple’ on your neck. The easiest way to achieve this is with a beard trimmer and the idea is that the edge of beard is tidy and precise where it meets bare skin.

Leading To Our Main Question… Where To Shave When Growing A Beard?

Step 4 – Shaving Around Your Beard

Modern beard styles are smart and complement equally smart, tidy hairstyles, so it follows that your ‘neckline’ must be well defined too.

Basically, this means how far under your chin and down your neck your beard continues.

You need to decide where you want your beard to end and your neck to begin!

This is something that should not be attempted in a hurry. The aim is to have a beard that gives a balanced look,  not only to the shape of your face, but also the size of your beard should balance the amount of hair you have on your head.

If your beard is short in length, you need to take your neckline higher above your Adam’s Apple – 5cm or more.

If your beard is longer then allow the hair to grow lower down your neck – maybe even just below your Adam’s Apple. The easiest way to trim this difficult spot is using a pair of good mini trimmers, followed by a razor.

Once you’ve finished, apply some post-shave moisturiser to this area as the skin is particularly sensitive.

Step 5 – Don’t Forget Your Cheeks

This really is up to you and depends on how long your beard is and how trim you like your beard to look.

If you’re still not sure where to shave when growing a beard, we’lI leave you with this final piece of advice…

Having a tailored look for your growing beard will need regular maintenance, especially if your’re shaping the sides of your beard and the hairline on your neck. You may decide that you’d prefer to let your beard grow along the natural hairline of your face as is it will be easier to maintain because all you need to do is shape it. The choice is yours, The most important consideration as Michael Kontos, Artistic Director of the London School of Barbering explains is always symmetry…

“Because a symmetrical face is more beautiful to our eye, having any hair that’s imbalanced — unless you’re going for something avant-garde or creative — won’t look very good. Symmetry is really important”.