How to Shave a Long Beard

While it may seem like the act of shaving a long beard off is quite a hassle, most of the difficulty is probably psychological. If you've grown a truly long beard then it's probably taken years of your life and you've most likely grown quite accustomed to the beard. You'll be amazed, of course, at how different you'll feel right after you shave. But, the truth is that the actual process of shaving the beard is simple and painless if you go about it in the correct fashion.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Good razor
• Mirror
• Scissors
• Shaving cream
• Electric beard trimmer
• Aftershave (optional)

1. Trim the beard first. Before you do anything else, take a pair of scissors and, using a mirror to help you see what you're doing, trim the beard as close to your face as possible. For best results, trim the beard down to no more than half an inch in length.

2. Use the electric beard trimmer. Use this to trim the beard even closer to your face than you could get it with the scissors. At the end of trimming with the electric beard trimmer, you should have your beard down to just a thick, longish stubble.

3. Soak your beard and face in hot water. Splashing hot water on your face and beard will soften the hairs and make them easier to shave while also protecting your skin against painful irritation and ingrown hairs.

4. Apply shaving cream to your face liberally. Your should coat your face at least 1/4 inch thick with shaving cream before you begin to shave. Shave as you normally would.

5. Check for any spots you've missed. Since you've been growing a long beard, you might be a little rusty when it comes to shaving, so take a moment and check to make sure you did a good job.

6. Wash your face and apply aftershave, if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• To avoid a mess, try trimming your beard with the scissors and beard trimmer outside, if possible. This will keep hair from getting everywhere in your house and causing a headache of a mess that'll be in need of cleaning when you're done shaving.
• Be careful when trimming your beard close to your face with scissors so as not to cut yourself.
• Avoid using water that's too hot. Use of extremely hot water while shaving can cause burns and scalding.

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