Growing a sideburn. In the 1970s, wearing a sideburn was pure lifestyle. They often involved flamboyant strips of hair that worked their way down above the ears and blended with the wild beard hairs.
Now, thanks in part to the advent of clippers and trimmers, sideburns are often sleek in cut. In addition, barbers have made a contribution to the hair bag by giving the sideburn a preferably sleek and hip shape.
Although there are always those who love those bombastic cool Johny Cash sideburns. The trick, however, is to get the right sideburn styles and end up exactly symmetrical so your face is perfectly balanced.
Steps to a Full Sideburn
Growing your sideburns is the least of your troubles. They grow naturally. Some faster than others. Before a sideburn has any volume, it takes about 4 weeks. When the hairs are about three inches long, it's time to trim the sideburns with fine scissors, trimmers or clippers.
Then the question: how long do you want to style your sideburns? Your sideburns run parallel past your ears and down the jawline. Often to the top of the neck or to neck height. But up to that area, you probably don't want the sideburns to grow, so you need to determine where you want them to end and how wide and thick you want them to be.
What is the best way to style my sideburns?
There are many sideburn styles that help define your appearance. With short hair, a sideburn up to just halfway to the ear is aesthetically sleek. With medium to longer head hair, the length of a sideburn to the top of the earlobe is a stylish look. Although again, it depends on the width and length of your face.
And then you have to decide how thick you want the sideburn to be. Note: A thick sideburn will give you a fuller, wider face. If you leave a straight, narrow sideburn, you will optically have a slightly stretched face. What accent do you want to put. Short sideburns give you a balanced look. A sideburn tip is also tasteful. Often a trendy design to mask incipient baldness.
When a sideburn doesn't suit you anyway, you can remove the sideburn. However, there is a basic principle that when you grow your head hair you increase the sideburn in more or less the same volume. The longer and fuller the hair the fuller the sideburn. And if you have the cut on the head short?
Then cut the sideburn to just below the top where your ears begin and trim the sideburn to no more than 2 to 2.5 inches. Though it's certainly not set in stone. Test what you like as you go along.
How do you trim your sideburn?
Trimming your sideburn. Fortunately, there are several tools to make it easy. As soon as the length and volume of your sideburn allow, you can get started. When and with what tool?
With a good sideburn trimmer or clipper you can achieve a clean line of sideburns in no time. You simply set the beard trimmer to the position you want. Usually about 3 inches is a perfect length to give the sideburn the right shape.
If you want to look a little more artistic, you can also choose a wider setting. With a trimmer or clipper you can have a perfect result in no time.
Tips & Tricks on how to best trim the sideburns:
- Make sure the hairs are clean and no pomade, gel or other hair products stick in them.
- If the sideburn is rather tangled, comb it forward first and use scissors to cut away the hair outside the line of the sideburn. You can also comb the hair back toward the ears and carefully cut away the unguided hairs there as well. With a good comb, you will then make sure the sideburns are trimmed tightly.
- Be sure to use a good trimmer with an attachment. This allows you to set precise centimeters so you can determine exactly the desired model and thickness of the sideburn.
- Hold the trimmer upright and place it against the sideburn. Trim the sideburn by gliding the unit down over the hairs.
- Without the attachment, trim both lower sides of the sideburn exactly evenly. The trick is to then trim your sideburns to the exact same height in front of the mirror. Handy tools are your index fingers by placing the tips against the sideburn. In such a way that your index finger marks a certain line on both sides of the sideburn where you want the sideburn to stop. You can just mark those spots on your face so that you can clearly see where the sideburns can be trimmed tight and get the right symmetry.
- If the sideburn needs to stay wide measured it is best to take scissors in hand. Fuller sideburns match perfectly with somewhat longer hair so sideburn trimming is an excellent way to style without taking too much off and in line with fuller head hair. Of course, it does take some practice before you shape your sideburn as tightly as the barber.
With a razor you can keep the outer lines of the sideburn tight. In any case, if you're already wet-shaving, you can use it to keep your sideburn in perfect alignment. Although it is sometimes difficult to determine the right length. Especially if the face is full of lather.
Then a trimmer or pair of sideburn clippers can help you get the length and symmetry right. Of course, you can also give the sideburn a certain sharp design with a good Henson safety razor, for example.
Note: never use the line or position of your ears to mirror the sideburn. In fact, it is often the case that your ears are positioned unevenly on the head. So it's a matter of getting dexterity with the index fingers and, of course, looking sharply in the mirror.
Only with the right tools will you achieve the best results. Of course, we have perfect products to maintain your sideburn perfectly. Check out the tools below and try them out!
Braun - Beard trimmer
Enjoy an extremely precise, yet effortless, trim with this Beard Trimmer from Braun. With its German ergonomic design, the trimmer fits nicely in your hand and gives you optimal control while trimming.
Using its precision dial and included attachment comb, the trimmer offers you 20 length settings from 0.5mm to 10mm. This makes the trimmer perfect for precisely trimming almost any short to medium beard and hair styles. Then use the trimmer without the head to create sleek lines along your beard.
The trimmer has a lifetime sharp blade that cuts through your hair effortlessly and is also faster, sharper and more efficient than previous versions. A full battery guarantees as much as 50 minutes of trimming fun, and then you can charge the trimmer with the included smartplug. In 10 hours, the trimmer is fully charged.
Bossman - Barber Scissors
These scissors from Bossman are the perfect scissors to maintain and trim your beard, mustache and hair. The distinct shapes of the scissors ensure that the scissors sit perfectly in your hand and that you have full control while cutting or trimming. The scissors are made entirely of 4cr stainless steel which makes them very long lasting and even used by professional hairdressers. The scissors come in a modern, luxury packaging with magnetic closure.
Foligain - Beard Comb
The Foligain Beard Comb is a sturdy and compact comb suitable for all beard types. The comb is an all-in-one tool. It is equipped with measuring hands and a double comb in order to refine your beard style. With this comb, it is possible to create clean lines and polished edges. The Foligain Beard Comb can be used in shaping your neckline, jawline, cheekline, mustache, goatee, sideburns etc.
Of course, with these tips, tricks and necessary tools, we hope to support you sufficiently so that sideburn trimming, sideburn shaving and trimming your sideburn becomes a piece of cake.
Good luck!
Your friends, The Alpha Men.