Beard Neckline Too High? Here’s The Easiest Fix
It’s happened to the best of us. You’re standing over the mirror with your clippers in hand. One wrong move, and your beard is toast.
It turns out that one wrong move is much easier to make than you may have initially thought. Before you know it, you’ve taken a chunk out of the neckline of your beard.
Fortunately, trimming your beard neckline too high doesn’t need to be the end of your beard.
Today, we’ll cover some tips on what you can do if you trim your beard neckline too high. We’ll also share some advice on how to sculpt your beard line properly.
What Is the Proper Location of a Beard Neckline?
The first step in accurately sculpting your beard is to identify the right spot to end your beard. Thankfully, men have a built-in indicator for where to place your beard line.
Your Adam’s Apple, the bump in your throat that’s roughly halfway between the base of your neck and your chin, serves as a landmark when crafting a neckline.
Take note of your Adam’s Apple, and groom your beard so that it ends in this general vicinity. Most men keep their beards about a ½ inch to an inch and a half above their Adam’s Apple.
If your beard line falls below this mark, it’s going to look messy and unkempt. Meanwhile, if your beard line is too high above your Adam’s Apple, it’s going to look awkward and out of style.
What to Do When Your Beard Neckline Is Too High
If you’ve made a mistake trimming, don’t panic. There are a few different things you can do to salvage your beard. Before you pick up the razor and hit the reset button, try some of these suggestions.
Buzz It Down
Buzzing down your beard with clippers is the easiest and usually best-looking way to mitigate your neckline disaster.
By reducing the length of your beard, you can eliminate the stark contrast between your darker and fuller beard and the neckline area you’ve trimmed up too high.
After your neckline has had a few days to grow in, the contrast will be even less noticeable. Once your neckline blends in with the rest of your beard, you can fix your mistake once and for all and carve in a proper neckline.
Fade the Neckline
If you have a pronounced neckline that ends abruptly, which is a style many people prefer, consider fading it out, so there’s less contrast between the rest of your neckline and the area you’ve shaved too high.
You can fade out your neckline using a beard trimmer or hair clippers and an assortment of guides so you can uniformly trim down your neckline. Fading the neckline will take focus away from the area you’ve shaved too high while you allow it to grow back in.
Style Your Beard Differently
If buzzing your beard down or using styling aids doesn’t help, you can head back to the drawing board and adopt a new beard style altogether.
Some beard styles lend themselves well to a high neckline, like a goatee, Balbo, anchor, or Van Dyke. These styles can eliminate the issue of a neckline that’s too high, and you may end up liking it better than your current style.
Lean on Styling Products
If your beard is on the longer side, you may be able to temporarily hide your error while your beard grows back along your neckline. A beard brush and some medium or high hold beard wax may be able to do the trick and divert eyes away from your neckline.
After a shower, brush your beard down toward the area where you’ve shaved your neckline too high. Apply some wax or pomade throughout your beard to help it keep the direction and shape in place.
Difference Between Jawline and Neckline
Call in the Professionals
Barbers deal with men’s hair and beards all day, every day, and no one is more qualified than a barber to turn your beard snafu back into a masterpiece.
If you’ve exhausted all your other options and your neckline still doesn’t look right, take a trip to your barber. Your barber will either be able to trim your beard in a manner that eliminates your high neckline or at least distracts from it.
Sculpting the Perfect Neckline
Learning how to sculpt the perfect neckline is something that comes with time. While you’re perfecting the craft, there are plenty of handy tools that act as “training wheels” for crafting the various lines of your beard.
These beard templates act as a cheat sheet so you can achieve clean beard lines without having to do them entirely on your own.
All you’ll need to do is hold the template up to your face and rough in your beard lines so you can see where they’re supposed to be. Then, you can clean them up with a razor or trimmer to achieve a crisp and tight beard line.
The Old-Fashioned Way
While beard template tools can help, it’s also easy to trim a perfect neckline without any help. All you’ll need is a mirror and a beard trimmer.
While looking into the mirror, lift your head upwards. Place your index finger above your Adam’s Apple, so your finger rests on top of it if you need help visualizing where to place your line.
Using your beard trimmer, define a line straight across your throat below where your finger is resting. This line serves as your rough guide for you to refine the neckline.
Chances are, your rough line will be slightly lower than the ideal location for your beard line. Carefully define your final line while looking in the mirror, and refine it as necessary.
Regular Upkeep
With the help of either a beard template or a professional barber, it’s easy to get your beard and neckline looking their best. Once you’ve achieved a style you’re happy with, don’t be afraid to break out the scissors or clippers regularly to redefine the shape and look of your beard.
If you find that you shaved your beard neckline too high, don’t panic. Take a shot at the tips on our list, and you should have no trouble rehabbing your neckline and restoring your beard to its enviable glory.