Puberty brings lots of changes in men, including growing hair in places besides just on your head. The amount of your facial hair depends on your gene, age, ethnicity, and hormones. You might have a small amount of facial hair, a full beard, or somewhere in between.
If you grow a full beard, it’s normal to trim it to a manageable length. If you are wondering “Can I use my shaving cream with a beard trimmer?”, you are not alone. I have heard many people ask the question; I guess everyone wants to learn how to do things safely.
No, you don’t need shaving cream with your beard trimmer. Shaving creams are meant to soften facial hairs to ensure a safer shave with a blade. Using a shaving cream before you trim will only gum your hair and trimmer all up and make trimming impossible.
Unless you want to shave a particular area of your face, you shouldn’t use shaving cream before trimming. The following sections will answer common questions on beard trimmers.
Using Manual Razor or a Beard Trimmer, Which Is Best For You?
Both trimmers and razors have their pros and cons. However, learning to use either, or both of them yourself is always better than having barbers do it all the time. You can invest that money into getting your essential grooming products.
This section will look at the pros and cons of using a razor versus a beard trimmer to help you decide which is best for you.
The most significant advantage of using beard trimmers is the speed. Using a trimmer will shave your hair faster than using a manual razor. You don’t need to use oils, shave gels, or cream, you just need the batteries and razors, and you are good to go. This will significantly reduce your shaving time and reduce the risk of having ingrown hairs and razor bumps.
On the other hand, using straight razors requires skill. You will need to practice a lot to get the right process and get familiar with the grain of your face. You will be needing more time to get your tools together, such as a bowl, brush, shave soap or cream, and the razor. This will definitely take time and require you to prepare ahead if you need to go out early.
Both of the methods have their advantages and disadvantages. What’s best for you depends on different factors such as the kind of shave you want, your lifestyle, and your skin’s sensitivity. If you have the time, you can use the manual razor, and if not, trimmers will do a quick job,
The decision is yours to make. Whatever you choose, make sure you finish up with a moisturizer. Hydrate the skin underneath your facial hair to guard it against dryness, which will cause itching.
Why Should You Use Beard Trimmers?
Whether you are just growing a beard or you want to maintain one, you will need to trim your beard once in a while to give you a pleasant and neater look. A tool that can help you with this is a beard trimmer. Let’s look at why you need beard trimmers.
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You Can Adjust The Length Of Your Beard
Razors will only give you a clean shave, and can’t achieve a sporting mid-length look. Trimmers have adjustable blades, which allow you to choose different styles and lengths of beard any time you want.
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Some Trimmers Are Lightweight And Portable
This is a good choice if you travel a lot. Packing your trimmers on the go is easy and will only occupy a small space in your bag. A trimmer has a powerful motor with skin-friendly blades that wouldn’t hurt your skin.
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Trimmers Are Multipurpose
Yes, you read that right! Trimmers are multipurpose because you can use them on your eyebrows, chest, and sometimes, your ears. Some come with an integrated light to help you to see dark areas as you trim.
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Trimmers Are Fast And Easy To Use
A high-quality trimmer usually comes with an over 8000 RPM integrated motor, which powers it and makes trimming fast without damaging your skin. It is built in a way that you can adjust it according to your face, so you wouldn’t sustain scratches and cuts.
Do You Need To Use Shaving Cream With A Beard Trimmer?
No, you don’t need to use a shaving cream while using a beard trimmer, and here is why:
Trimming is different from shaving. Shaving is scraping your hair off your face, while trimming is reducing the length of your hair. Trimming is a process that involves the shortening of your beard and not scraping your beard off. Even if you try using shaving cream while trimming, you will find that the cream will definitely get in your way.
Shaving creams are used to lubricate your skin and soften your facial hair in preparation for shaving. Using shaving cream before you trim will make your hair all goopy and end up creating a mess.
Note that some trimmers are not water resistant and you will end up damaging the product if you go under the shower with it.
Trimming Your Beard The Right Way
Want to start trimming your beard? Here are a few tips to help you do a good job.
1. Grooming Your Beard
Start with combing your hair in the direction it grows. This will ensure the hairs are facing the same direction and are at their full length. Decide on the way you would want your beard to look after you trim.
Do your normal shaving routine. Shave the exposed parts of your neck and cheeks. Then wash off the shaving cream.
Decide on the amount of hair you want to cut off. Position the hair length selector of the trimmer according to your preference. Make sure you select a longer hair setting if you are new to using a trimmer or can’t handle it perfectly. This will help you avoid trimming more than you should.
2. Trimming Your Beard Hair Length
Put on the trimmer guard attachment and ensure the cutting unit’s front is facing the opposite direction. You can start trimming now. Start with under your chin, then to your jawbone line, and with an upward motion, work towards your ear and upper beard line. The trimmer guard attachment should follow your face’s contours. Depending on what you choose, you can trim with your beard’s direction or against the direction.
3. Defining Your Beard Line
Now take off the trimmer guard attachment. Hold the trimmer allowing its cutting blades to face you. Start from your beard line edges, allowing the cutting blades to lightly rest against your skin. Use the motion towards your beard line’s edge to trim to your desired length.
Remove the trimmer guard attachment and hold the trimmer vertically with the trimmer cutting blades facing you. Start with the edge of your beard line, and with the cutting blades resting lightly against your skin, use motions toward the edge of the beard line to trim the beard line to the desired spot.
4. Thinning And Tapering Your Beard
Take off the trimmer guard attachment and instead, use the trimmer’s styling comb or any small comb you have to hold down your beard hairs in place while you trim. Hold the trimmer horizontally, while the cutting unit faces away from you, and gradually move the trimmer following the comb’s length.
5. Create A Stubble Look
Ensure your trimmer guard attachment is on. Set the position to 1 (1.5 mm) or 2 (2.5 mm). The cutting unit should face either up or down as you hold the trimmer horizontally. Start trimming using either a downward or upward motion, with your hair growth direction or against the direction; it all depends on your choice.
To get a close stubble look, take off the trimmer guard attachment and repeat the process of defining your beard line and thinning and tapering your beard. Always ensure you are not removing too much hair.
Bonus Tips
- Scissors can do a good job with trimming, especially when used by a professional, but beard trimmers do a better job. With a beard trimmer, you can adjust the settings to cut at different lengths.
- If you are new to using a beard trimmer, set it to a longer hair length and aim not to cut too much at first.
- The way your mustache and beard is groomed will inform people just by looking at you how important grooming is to you. It’s important to give them a good first impression.
- Dry hair is shorter than wet hair.
- Take your time to trim a little at a time.
- Even if you want a full beard, make sure it is well-groomed, wash the beard, use beard oil, beard balm, and beard wax to maintain and style it.
Conclusion
How you trim and the ideal length of your beard depends on your personal preference and you will ultimately make these decisions for yourself. We can’t really say there is a right or wrong way with how you trim your beard or the ideal length for you.
If you use the right razor, trimmer and beard products like oil, wax, or balm, you will do just fine! What’s important is to take care of your facial hair to prevent beardruff, infections, irritation, rashes, and bumps.