How To: Get The Right Beard Neckline

Growing a beard? You still need to shave to keep it in shape gentlemen. One of the most frequent concerns our bearded clients have is how to establish a more refined shape once they have grown their facial hair out. Having a correctly positioned neckline to define your beard's edges can indeed make or break the stature of your facial hair. All of that time and patience spent growing a beard warrants perfection in shape to match the length and weight. To ignore the finer fundamentals would be a damn shame. Let our barbers' advice guide you along the road of handsomeness once more. Absorb their expert words of wisdom in order to turn that well-grown block of fuzz into a defined and shapely piece of grooming art... So, how do you go about trimming your neckline? Should I use an electric trimmer or a straight razor? For a cleaner, sharper line you should shave with a straight razor. An electric trimmer is always a useful tool to have at home, the advantage being that they are more forgiving when trimming against the grain of hair growth, but they don’t cut as sharp nor prove as effective defining sharp lines. With one blade, a Straight Razor provides the skin with less irritation (a huge advantage cutting with the grain) whilst also cutting sharper and more precise. Should I leave my beard's edges to run naturally or cut a curve? The Murdock barbers generally always encourage clients to round off their necklines. You see a lot of bearded men about town with harsh, pointy, squared lines that make their beards look almost stuck on. Shaving a rounded line brings a much more natural and appealing finish. The Method Step 1 As with a full shave, before applying blade to skin, be sure to prepare your skin properly. Use a hot towel or take advantage of the effects of a steamy shower to help open your pores. Apply Pre-Shave Oil to soften your facial hair and prepare the skin for the razor's edge. Helping the razor to glide, not drag, across the face. Once your skin is thoroughly prepared, feel for the crescent amongst your facial hair where the bottom of your chin and top of neck meet (roughly at the top of your Adam’s apple). Step 2 Proceed to shave along a natural curve right up to the bottom of your ears. You want to be stretching your skin with your fingers behind the blade to expose the hair as best possible. This is the sure-fire template to go by. Remember, when using a straight razor to keep your blade at a 30-degree angle to allow it to glide smoothly across your face and cut hair effectively. Work your shave to create space so that your fingers aren't slipping and straying away from the targeted hair.

"Shaving a rounded line brings a much more natural and appealing finish."

Step 3 When working a blade around your neck and throat area, a key tip is to always pay extra attention to the direction of your hair growth, as this can vary greatly in these areas. If your neck hair grows sideways, you can work from underneath. When shaving your Adam's apple, the trick is the pull the skin tight to each side. Step 4 After shaving along your beard’s natural curve, sometimes this will leave a small triangle of hair remaining behind the ear which should be shaved off to complete your natural finish. Let us know how you get on maintaining a sharp, natural neckline at home and for any further beard grooming assistance, do also get in touch with us on Twitter.