How to choose a beard trimmer for longer beards: tips for taming your facial hair

For those with longer beards or who are trying to grow out their stubble, you might be wondering why you’d need a best beard trimmer. Well, it’s all well and good achieving the beard length you want, but if you’re not styling or taking care of it, it can look messy and unkempt – not to mention it won’t be healthy or feel nice, either.

Overall, a beard is considered ‘long’ when it measures six inches or more. The average beard growth is around a half inch every month and it’s estimated that it takes around two - four months for a man to grow a full beard, but this completely depends on the person.

If this is the style you have or are hoping to achieve soon after a few weeks or months of growth, then you need a beard trimmer for long beards. Here’s what to look for when buying one of these beard trimmers, plus advice on how to trim your long beard.

P.S. If you prefer a short style, check out our advice on how to choose a beard trimmer for shorter beards.

What blade and length setting do I need for a longer beard?

In general, if you’re looking for a beard trimmer, you should choose one that’s designed for longer beards. A beard trimmer should say what it’s best for in its product description, and it’s really important that you pick the right one, as something that’s not designed for a longer beard can get easily tangled in your hair. Not only is this painful and dangerous, but it’ll likely break the trimmer, too.

Aside from reading the fine print, the most recommended blade for a long beard trimmer is a T-Blade. A T-Blade looks as you’d imagine – it’s in the shape of a ‘T’ and it’s best used for cutting hair and beards. More specifically, it’s good at styling your beard, particularly around the neck and ears. As always, you should look for a blade that’s extra sharp to ensure a precise and safe trim.

For trimming a longer beard, I’d recommend investing in a separate comb but you can also find beard trimmers that come with comb attachments. Longer beards require longer blades and attachment grades for taming them, like 25mm, and some might even be too long for guide combs. In this case, I’d suggest looking for a long beard trimmer kit that comes with multiple blades and comb attachments that can cater to the multiple stages of your beard's growth and lengths.

In our main beard trimmer guide, we’ve rated the Remington B5 as the best option for longer beards. It has an adjustable comb and different cutting lengths to play with, and can cut between 0.4mm -18mm. The design and build of the Remington B5 is super powerful and it easily cuts through longer and thicker hair.

How often should I trim my long beard?

This might seem like a silly question, as surely to maintain a long beard, you should just leave it alone, right?! Wrong. If you let your beard run riot, it’ll look patchy, untidy and all over the place, so to keep it in good condition and at your desired length, you’ll want to trim it.

It goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – that you don’t have to trim a long beard as often as you would a short beard. Instead, to maintain the shape, length and thickness of your long beard, you should look to trim it every three - five days. But if you’re trying to grow out your beard, you can leave it for longer like every two - four weeks.

It’s worth noting that if you want to get rid of your beard entirely, the best electric shaver is best for the job. But depending on the length and thickness of your beard, you might have to cut it with scissors first, in which case, I’d suggest going to a barber to avoid any mishaps.

How do I trim a long beard?

To start trimming a long beard, the first step is to wash it. Starting with a damp, clean beard will result in a more effective trim, plus you don’t want to be chopping through any food or dirt that might be clinging to the hairs (ew).

Once it’s clean, make sure to comb through your beard to remove any knots. If you skip this step, you’re more likely to cut off larger chunks of hair which could disrupt the style you’re going for and result in you having to cut your beard shorter than you wanted to.

Next, start trimming! With your beard trimmer, start at the neckline, move towards the jaw and then the cheeks and sideburns. Once you’ve done this and if your beard is particularly long, you might want to use scissors or the best hair clippers to tidy up any stray hairs – see hair clippers vs beard trimmers for more details. You can also pluck stray hairs that are harder to get to using tweezers.

Once you’ve got the trim you want, comb and wash your beard again to ensure the cut hair is gone. From there, apply moisturiser to your face to keep your skin happy, and use a beard oil so it smells and looks good.