When you first get a trimmer, start with one of the longer lengths. As with any haircut, you can always go back and take more off if it suits you. You can’t go back and put more on. I use one of the AA-powered trimmers once or twice a week and find that it suits me well. I use the #4 setting on the Braun. Experiment to see what length looks right on your face. The same setting on my moustache, followed by a quick trim even with my lip-line, keeps it out of my food and drink quite nicely (except for BBQ - heh).
As others have said, use it without the guard on your neck, followed by a shave a couple times a week. Like many, my skin gets irritated if I do it more often than that.
Some guys use soap, but your wife will appreciate it if you use shampoo and conditioner.
Beard (bear) trimmers are the way to go for sure, get one with an adjustable length setting. I have a rechargeable, but keep it charging all the time, as otherwise it might not last an entire trimming session.
Bippy (the currently not so) Beardless
Looks like I’m the only scissors-user here. I comb it out to a Gabby Hayes look, then hack away with the scissors until it’s to a length I want and all the stray scragglies are gone, then comb it back down.
I just shaved mine off, like I do about twice a year every year. I have a grungy nighttime job and don’t mind looking unshaven for two weeks to grow it back.
The biggest broblem is dandruff. Keep it short and use a dandruff shampoo and you’ll be fine.
Really? The barber four blocks down – whose joint looks like you’ve suddenly stepped into 1934 – evens and shapes my beard once a month or so for three to five dollars, depending on how he feels about me at the moment.
I tip him a buck and trim the moustache (to keep it out of my mouth) in between visits with a pair of hair-cutting scissors.
Bearded friends have also suggested getting the electric trimmer, but I like seeing my barber.
I’ve had a beard for over 30 years, which stops AT my chinline. My barber Pete[god bless 'im] trims it down to a fare-thee-well every time I get a haircut, about every 5-6 weeks. Initially it’s so short that I can’t even get a grip on the whiskers. I just wash it with face soap[I like the cocoa butter type] and I know when I’m getting close to a trim, because it then makes lots of lather[enough to shave with] My eyebrows, however, are another matter-every 2 weeks without fail, or I feel like I’ve walked through a cobweb.
I have no advice to contribute to this thread, but I’m just trying to imagine Spoons in a beard. And a hat. I’m getting a kind of a desert rat vibe.
(Spoons and I used to work together. Until about a year and a half ago, when encroaching baldness nixed it, I had long straight hair similar to his. One day by accident we dressed similarly. We tied our hair back identically and went up to a co-worker and freaked him out by greeting him in unison.
Somewhere in my computer there is a picture of me in the beard I had for three months at college in 1992. I don’t remember doing anything unusuall to care for it, just soap and water when I washed my face, but I am far from any sort of beard expert.
I had long hair then too, but I eliminated the beard when people started to call me ‘Jesus’. Somehow I don’t think Spoons will have this problem–his hair is lighter in colour than mine. )
Yep, that’s the unspoken scourge, two words that disturbed the hell out of me when I first started growing mine out – “beard dandruff.” The concept had never even occurred to me, and then I got all paranoid. Since then I’ve used Head & Shoulders as Head & Face & Chest & Nether-regions. (Can never be too careful).
I bought a Remington “Precision” beard trimmer about two years ago at Target for around $20, and it’s been a pretty good investment. I don’t have a ton of hair to work with, granted, but at least for me, it works fine. It’s battery-operated, so I put a couple of rechargeables in it and it lasts for at least a few months, trimming it about twice a week. It’s got a little clipper for the mustache, but I usually just use the beard part instead.
Eventually, I’m going to have to follow DMark’s advice about dyeing it, but I’m putting that off until I start to get comments on it.
(And for the record, I totally agree with Medea’s Child. For other men, that is. Mine is for convenience only.)
Have had a beard for 30 years. It’s grayed over the years but I just accept that as another change in life. As for trimming, I’ve always let my barber take care of that when I get my haircut.
Have been searching for a good barber since moving to Houston and am happy to report that I found one yesterday. I was in his chair for 45 minutes and was extremely pleased with the results. He even pulled out one of those power massagers at the end. I haven’t seen one of those in over 20 years. Felt great. (for those that might not know what I’m talking about, it is a vibrating device the barber slips on his hand then rubs over your scalp, neck and shoulders).
And on the greying thing: at 48 I’m getting a little grey at the temples and salt-and-pepper through the beard. Lemme tell ya for nothing: women love it! Don’t even consider dying, it invariably looks dreadful. Every man I know that dyes thinks it’s a big secret and only he knows, but actually people are laughing behind their hands.
Again…if you do that horrible black stuff, yes - it looks really stupid. But if you go the two shades lighter (light brown or even medium blonde) it will wash away the grey but not be overpowering and fake looking. Plus, you don’t do ALL of it…just a small area. If you need to do your entire beard, well - then just leave it grey. But for people like me who have just one small patch of grey - it looks dumb if I don’t do anything. And my SO didn’t even notice I was doing it for years until he happened across the box one day and asked whose it was.
But if you have a neat grey temple thing going that matches the beard, stick with it. I was talking more for the people with those odd splotches that don’t look as good.
Spill the name-- over here in Manhattan the only place I’ve found that’ll trim a beard is Chelsea barbers, and they want close to three times that amount. .
Of course, they’ll also give you a straight razor shave for $30, but I do that myself at the moment.
I tried a few other beard trimmers but the only one that wasn’t a piece of shit is my Wahl rechargable. The battery will lose it’s capacity after a while but with the Wahl it’s user replacable though you may have to go to an electronics parts place or battery shop to get a sub-C NiCd cell. I can always find them at hobby shops that specialize in model airplanes. The adjustable guard slides on, is pretty sturdy and it does an excellent job.
