Every man with a beard knows the importance of proper beard maintenance. Cleaning up the lines of your beard is a necessary, near ritualistic, task in the modern day and age! After all, with some simple trimming and shaping, you can transform yourself from looking scraggly to like a greek god in minutes! And today, we’re going to show you how to do this by using the 3 beard lines, and what those lines mean with regards to the shape and cleanliness of your beard.
Real quick, the three beard lines are as follows:
- Cheek Line
- Neck Line
- Lip Line
When trimming or shaping your beard, following these three lines will help you transform a scraggly beard into any beard style you wish!
Trimming Your Beard Cheek Line
The cheek line of your beard is exactly what it sounds like. It’s the area of your beard that grows up towards your cheeks and defines the contrast between your beard and the skin on your face. In most cases, as long as the cheek line isn’t shaved below the jawbone, it can be used to define a variety of beard shapes and styles. This is the purpose of the cheek line.
The cheek line of your beard tends to be most important for defining an overall beard style and shape. For example, a low cheek line (sometimes called a chinstrap beard) is a wildly different type of beard than a full beard. And for no other reason than that the cheek line is taken lower.
You may be wondering how low you should shave your cheek line so that you can get a clean and tidy look without going so low that your beards shape is put off. Generally, you can find exactly where your cheek line should be by holding up a straight pencil, ruler, etc. from the point at which your ear connects to your head down to the corner of your lip. That straight line defines the perfect cheek line for your beard.
Trimming Your Beards Neck Line
The neck line of your beard is the entire area below your jawbone that separates the beard hair and the clean-shaven skin from the rest of your neck. This line goes from one side of your ear, down below the jawbone where it makes a 90-degree turn under the jaw to the other side. This line makes the biggest difference in terms of making your beard look neat and tidy, especially with shorter beards where the neck is very visible and not covered by longer beard hairs.
Most times, if you’re in a rush and can’t shave or trim your whole beard, shaving just your neck line will do the most in terms of making your beard look complete and tidy. This line also helps define and give you a more prominent jawline due to the contrast between the darker hair and lighter skin. This contrast not only cleans up the look of the whole beard, but helps define the jaw.
It’s important not to make the mistake that most bearded men make when defining their neckline by shaving that line either too high, or by following the outward curve of their jawbone under their chin. Shaving that area can cause the appearance of a “double-chin” even if one never existed there, because the blank skin and the natural fold of the neck will be visible.
To find your neckline, you’re going to use that straight edge you used earlier. Stand naturally looking directly forward with your usual posture, then take your straight edge and slid it under your chin all the way back until it hits your neck, then lift your head and take a look at that line. That’s typically where your jawline should sit.
If you’re going for the longer bearded look, you won’t want to shave your jawline. The hairs on your neck need to grow out and give some structure to the longer beard hairs that come off your chin and cheeks.
Trimming Your Beards Lip Line
Your beards lip line is the area of your beard that hangs off your top lip. In some cases, you may not need to touch this area much, if at all, and in other cases, you’l be trimming it often. It all depends on the beard style you want, and how long your beard is.
The lip line really doesn’t do much in terms of making your beard look much more or less tidy like the neck line does, and also doesn’t drastically define the entire beards shape like the cheek line. So, what’s the point of your beards lip line? One word: Options.
Your lip line defines your mustache, and there are so many ways you can style a mustache to make an otherwise average looking beard look different from day to day. A longer mustache can be combined with mustache wax to give an ordinary beard a classic handlebar look, a shorter mustache can clear the rest of your lip and keep a shorter beard looking tidy. Put simply, the lip line is all about giving your beard styling options from day to day.
To trim your lip line, consider what kind of bearded look you want to achieve. Your mustache can usually be as large as you want, even with a shorter beard to give a goatee-style look. However, rarely are mustaches trimmed shorter than the rest of your beard, so keep that in mind. If you want the ability to style your ‘stache with something like Volt’s mustache wax, then keep growing your lip line out for longer hairs to work with. Otherwise, if you have a shorter beard, trim most of the hair that hangs below your top lip.
Overall, your beard has 3 lines that require consistent trimming and maintenance:
- Cheek line: This line defines the beards overall shape and style (Chinstrap, Full beard, Goatee, etc.)
- Neck line: This line helps define your jaw and keeps the entire beard looking clean and kempt.
- Lip Line: This line gives you options when it comes to styling and accessorizing the rest of your beard.
When it comes to your beard growth and maintenance, following the tips in this article will help you define your beards natural shape and style! For reference photos and more, check out some of these search results!
If you liked the idea of using some Volt Mustache Wax or Beard Oil in your beard to help define it’s shape, then sign up free for Volt’s Amp-It-Up rewards program and start earning Amps to redeem for the mentioned products!
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