Facial Hair Tips: The Easiest Beard Grooming

Whether you have a full on beard or just some stubble, maintaining a beard and keeping it neat and stylish can be a mundane and sometimes overwhelming task. That goes doubly so for those of us that have wild unruly facial hair that likes to grow in exponential proportions.

The years since puberty hit me and I found myself sprouting the obnoxious weeds of hair on my face have been plagued with a constant fight to keep it under control. At first it wasn't so bad when I was a bit younger, shaving once or twice a week to keep my face baby smooth, but as I matured, my face decided it liked being hairy and so allowed the hair to thrive and flourish. This meant that by the time I was 18 I was shaving daily to keep my face smooth, or letting it grow wild when I'd had enough.

Keeping a well groomed face doesn't have to be a giant chore though. Thankfully I discovered a method that calmed the growth rate of my beard while simultaneously allowing it to be shaped and styled however I wished. All it took was a once a week grooming habit and it was all I needed.

The trick I am talking about I found after either running out of razors, or being too lazy to do the shaving, I can't remember which. This discovery changed my world though. One time, after allowing my beard to grow quite a bit, I'd had enough, but without a means to truly shave, what could I do? Well, I thought, if my beard is long I usually trim it before shaving right? So it can't be too bad if all I do is trim it right? Correct! I trimmed my face as if I would before a shave to get rid of the longer hair and hey presto! I felt almost clean shaven.

This trick supplied the need I had for having my face clean of a beard without needing to carefully shave it all the time, but after a few days, I discovered it had the second welcome blessing of somehow tricking my facial hair into not growing as fast! I don't know if this is a scientific fact, or if it is just my face, but I found that when I just trimmed, the hair did not grow back nearly as fast.

Trimming cuts the hair close enough to feel like a five o'clock shadow after a morning shave, so I stopped the shaving and haven't looked back. It's been nice to only have to deal with my face once every 5-7 days instead of the daily I was having to do before.

If you are the type of guy who wants to keep some facial hair, this trick can work for you as well! I myself like to keep my beard in what is commonly referred to as the Van Dyke, and so need to keep hair around my mouth, but nowhere else on the cheeks. I also tend to keep my sideburns cropped close, but styled somewhat far down next to my ears.

I trim my cheeks and neck just as above, keeping clean lines around the growth I want to keep, namely my sideburns, moustache, and goatee. That is all I need to maintain the trimmed look while keeping a beard style.

The further problem with keeping a beard style, especially around the mouth is that the growth it does get can be a pain. If you want to keep a goatee clean cut and not scraggly, follow this simple step. After trimming your cheeks, eschew the beard trimmer for a full on hair clipper. Attach a medium to big comb onto it, depending on your hair length desires, and liberally trim all the unruly hair away. I find this method to work very effectively for keeping my goatee clean and trim.

The moustache presents a problem all its own, hair growing down over your lip and into your mouth. It is annoying to have the pesky hairs poking and tickling your lip as well. I used to deal with this problem by taking my beard trimmer and cutting a line right along my lip line and hoping for the best. I found this to be ineffective in combating into the mouth growth though. The trick I liked best and still stick with is the same as above with the goatee, only using a smaller comb, again depending on your length desired, and trimming the whole moustache. Voila! no more lip tickling or mouth growing.

So if you want to keep yourself clean shaven or you want to maintain a clean beard, follow my tips or learn your own. It doesn't have to be a complex system, mine is pretty simple and easy to maintain without much hassle. A clean well groomed beard is better than an unkempt beard.