Have you ever looked at your neckline in the mirror only to find that it had grown way down your neck? If you don’t pay attention to your facial hair, it can grow long and unruly, resulting in an unsightly neck beard.
The beard neckline delineates where a beard begins and ends. Starting from one ear running down the jaw, under the chin, 1 to 2 fingers above the Adams’ apple and back up the opposite ear. Using an electric razor, the curved neckline is easy to maintain a clean, sharp edge that defines the beards look.
Now is the time to get a more refined neckline and accentuate your face shape. We provide pro tips plus a guide for trimming your beard’s neckline correctly and prevent a bad-looking beard.
Where should my beard neckline be?
Let’s first line up your beard properly. The beard neckline is essential to facial hair grooming and determines the beard outline relative to a person’s face shape. Using the beard line diagram below…
- Visualize the dashed line curving from one ear to another.
- The midpoint is located 1 to 2 fingers above the Adam’s apple or 1 – 1.5 inches.
- Using an electric razor guide 1 – 2 sizes lower than your average beard length, fade to the virtual line.
- Finally, clean shave your neck up to the fade line.
Typically formed in a curved shape from ear to ear below the jawline and passing 1 to 2 fingers above the Adam’s apple. The beard neckline can be formed with an electric trimmer or blade razor.
The purpose of trimming and fading the neckline is to accentuate the beard and facial features.
If you’ve never shaved below your neck before, you may have some fears about shaving your neckline too short. This results in a strange clean-shaven neckline that’s too high on your jaw, which can distort the shape of your chin.
To find your beard line, place a finger on your Adam’s apple. Most men start their neckline about a ½” above your Adam’s apple. Yours can drop slightly lower on your Adam’s apple if you prefer. Most shave their skin clean beneath the neckline, however.
From the Adam’s apple, I like using 2 fingers up for a tighter look. However, I know guys that prefer 1 finger up for a fuller look.
Here are some examples of clean necklines to give you a sense of where to start:
Should I Shave My Neck When Growing a Beard?
The key to successfully trimming your neckline starts with shaving your neck. All the hair below your neckline should be clean-shaven. However, keep your beard and neckline longer if you want to change your chin and jaw shape.
How Far Down the Neck Should a Beard Go?
If you follow the guide below, define your neckline first by marking the spot just above your Adam’s apple. Below this point, your neck should be clean of hair.
When should I stop shaving my neckline?
However, there are always exceptions to the rule. Some men grow their neck hair longer with a thicker beard to re-shape and elongate their chin. If you’ve gained weight and want to hide a double chin, growing your neck hair longer can help create a natural fold.
The key is to trim your neckline, even if you keep it long so that your beard looks styled and well-groomed.
How to Fade & Shape My Beard Neckline?
In this guide, we show you the steps to get the perfect neckline and shave away your neck beard. Once your beard is well-defined and groomed, your neckline will complement your face shape.
Grooming Products and Tools
- Beard exfoliant
- 8-in-1 Beard shaping tool & comb
- Beard comb
- Electric beard trimmer or razor with guards #1 and #3
- Barber shears
- Good beard oil
Getting Started
It’s recommended to wash your beard or better yet, exfoliate before shaving and comb it thoroughly, with 8-in-1 Beard shaping tool. If you plan to fade your beard, then you’ll need an electric shaver or beard trimmer with guards #1 and #2.
1. Define Your Neckline Before Trimming
It’s important to know where to stop, especially if this is your first time defining your neckline. While most of the time, you won’t see your neck hair underneath your beard, it shows more on your profile and the side of your neck.
To define your neckline, place your pointer finger on your Adam’s apple, and then place your middle finger above it. Your neckline should start here, roughly at the top of your Adam’s apple (or a little above). You should remove any hair you can see below your chin line when looking straight into the mirror.
You may want to mark this spot so you don’t accidentally trim higher on your neck than you should.
Here’s a quick figure to show you:
This is your stopping line. You shouldn’t shave above this line, or your neckline will go up too high and result in a shorter, awkward beard. See what we mean below:
While it’s not the worst beard we’ve seen, the shave goes up a little higher on the side than it should. It’s also more square than a typical beard line should be.
#1: for a closer shave I’d suggest using Gilette Fusion5 and a little shaving cream. The Fusion5 is twice the price but cuts much closer than the Gilette Mach 3 and will give contrast to really define your neckline.
#2: For a super clean finish, be sure to trim shave all the way down to get any stray chest hairs.
Tips on Fading Your Neckline
If you like the faded look, you can fade up to where your neckline starts using a guard. However, the skin of your Adam’s apple and beneath should be clean-shaven.
2. Start Shaving at Your Adam’s Apple
Remove the guard on your electric trimmer and place it right at the spot you marked above your Adam’s apple. Now move downwards slowly, working on one side outwards from the middle. As you shave down with slow keen strokes, be careful to stay under your jawline.
As you shave outward, remember to curve your neckline up a bit at the end so it isn’t a wide, round beard line.
Once finished with one side, go back to the other and repeat the same shaving motion, following the same upward curved line to match your other side.
Tips for Fading Your Neckline
Start with a longer guard, such as a #1 or #2, shaving away your neck hair the same way as directed above. You should have stubbly, longer hairs around your neck. You can use the guard to trim up the bottom and fade it slowly upward.
3. Shape Your Neckline for a Square or Round Face Shape
Next, you should shape the corners of your beard by shaving a vertical line below the bottom of your earlobe and connect it with your horizontal neckline.
These corners may be more angular or rounded, depending on how you want your corners to blend in.
4. Clean Up and Finish
Once you’ve defined your beard style and shaped your neckline hair to your liking, you can do a clean neck shave below your Adam’s apple and around the sides of your neck to remove any stray hair.
