What's new

Symmetrical trimming

Hi guys,
Well at the risk of sounding stupid, or at missing the obvious ....
How do you get your stache and goatee symmetrical? Is there a trick I'm missing or do you just do it by eye? Seems like my "by the eye" isn't very good, so I was wondering if there was a way to avoid looking like a putz at work - when I think I have it right but then halfway through the day I look in the mirror and realize I'm a candidate for assclown with my 'stache thinner on one side than the other ... etc...

I'm hoping there's an easier way.. or maybe I'm just too critical.

Thanks
 
I struggle with this constantly, of course my face isn't perfectly symmetrical so that's the problem. I also have just a goatee no mustache since I can't grow one worth beans.

I try to follow two rules, first I find places on my face that are easy to start with the razor blade. So cheek bones are helpful and ear lobes are good markers. I focus on one side of my face only, so if I follow the cheek bones down I do so on both sides. If I use a specific spot on my ears on one side for side burns I use the same on the other. Then second, I don't try to even it from side to side. I hope that makes sense.

So if you look straight on my side burns are slightly off when compared to one another but are even with the same spots on my ears. My goatee is even on the sides vs. my cheek bones and eyes but are slightly off if you look square on to my face.

I figure most people aren't looking me square on and if you're as close as the bathroom mirror you're to close to me. Only my wife gets that close. :)

-Stephen
 
I use a small set of Wahl clippers, with a #3 guard. 2xAa powered for now, but I'd like to upgrade to the Wahl Peanut, which has an AC cord.

Wash my face, lather up the goatee, comb it into position, then clip it against the grain to thin out the bulk. It might take 3 passes to get everything symmeyrical.
Then I take the guard off, and do those whiskers that stick out over my top lip. Need to work carefully here, a half inch at a time. This usually takes 2 passes.
Rinse out my clippers, oil 'em up for next time, then rinse and put some aftershave on the goatee, and I'm done.

This takes me 5 minutes, tops. I get the sa,e results that my barber wants to charge an extra $16 for.
 
Yea, You're probably just looking too close. I know my beard doesn't come in perfectly symmetrical. My left cheek line grows in higher than my right and neither side comes in quite heavy enough to get a perfectly crisp line. So I just clean them up so they are fairly even. Also the right side of my chin is much curlier than the left, so I have to leave it a little longer or else it spring up and looks shorter. If I tried to make everything perfect I would whittle it away to nothing. When trimming a beard I find it's better to look for balance than symmetry. As long as you're close the human eye will fill in any little gaps or slight unevenness.
 
I think we're probably all being a little, a lot, self critical. I have no recollection of ever looking at someone else and thinking their facial hair/side burns were out of whack, i think it would take a pretty drastic imbalance for it to be evident to anyone else. That said, there's nothing wrong with striving for the best.

dave
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Thanks guys,
maybe I'm too critical... I am just never happy with the results.

Remember, nobody else scrutinises our beards the way we do.

I trim by eye, both with electric trimmers and scissors, depending on the trim at hand. The biggest piece of advice is do not even try to get it perfectly symmetrical. Our faces aren't symmetrical, and even if the beard was, it might not look even as an optical illusion with face variations. Also, if you are doing a trim and take a teeny snip too much off one side - STOP! Do not try to match it up the other side, as you'll think you've done the same again, and before you know it, you'll be shaving it all off. Also, with curly facial hair like mine, it will look different after the next wash to how it looks when you trim it. Any structural change seems to make the beard want to fall into a new equilibrium.

It's organic, let it look organic. Beards aren't meant to be perfectly symmetrical any more than self-tie bow ties are. Keep it tidy, but let it have it's own natural character at the same time. No need to over think it.
 

Whilliam

First Class Citizen
Remember, nobody else scrutinises our beards the way we do.

I trim by eye, both with electric trimmers and scissors, depending on the trim at hand. The biggest piece of advice is do not even try to get it perfectly symmetrical. Our faces aren't symmetrical, and even if the beard was, it might not look even as an optical illusion with face variations. Also, if you are doing a trim and take a teeny snip too much off one side - STOP! Do not try to match it up the other side, as you'll think you've done the same again, and before you know it, you'll be shaving it all off. Also, with curly facial hair like mine, it will look different after the next wash to how it looks when you trim it. Any structural change seems to make the beard want to fall into a new equilibrium.

It's organic, let it look organic. Beards aren't meant to be perfectly symmetrical any more than self-tie bow ties are. Keep it tidy, but let it have it's own natural character at the same time. No need to over think it.
+1 Indeed!
 
There are plastic guides / templates available. Just search for beard shaping tool. The 'Beard Ninja' one is specifically designed to be used on goatees as well.
 
Trim only very small bits at a time, and give it a few days before trying to even anything out. When I look in the mirror, I always feel like it's uneven. Then I see a picture of myself taken from the sort of distance most people are from you, and it looks pretty good.
 

strop

Now half as wise
There are days when I'm tempted to trim to even it out, but also know that it may look perfectly symmetric the very next day! I will never trim more than 1/8 inch off the very top of one side, and then no more often than every couple of weeks. One side does grow in a little thick than the other so it is occasionally needed.
 
Top Bottom