So you thought that the beard was only worn by lazy students, fishermen, terrorists and Mr Twit then you are in for a great suprise. My friends we now live in the future and the times of having to trim ones face with a reletively sharp instrument - we now have electricity and moving blades and vaccums and everything.....

With the correct trimming the beard can take on endless styles, colours and displays. Come on a wild journey through the wild and wakky world of Beard Trimmers....

As men (some women too) we are cursed with the fact that we will always have hair growing out of the front of our faces and that in modern day sociaty it is considered correct to trim that hair or at least keep the growth in check.

The amount of growthage varies from person to person, the trimming, cutting and shaving of that hair usually adhears to the same group of rules.

Those of use that like to keep our faces free of fluff n stuff will shave - razor or electric shaver. If wet shaving here a couple of rules that come in handy when wanting to leave some skin on said face(these rules will also come in handy when in areas of beard trimming later on):

- First off wash your face - with warm/hottish water to open up the pores in your face, you can also leave a wam flannel on your face for 1min after washing to really open those pores up! It also helps protect your face incase you knick yourself with the Razor.

- Secondly you'll need a good handfull of shaving cream/foam and apply it evenly to your face and neck - or other areas you wish to shave.

- Shaving -Use a new razor to ensure a close shave and start from the top of the cheaks and work your way down to the jawline, light, long even strokes. Over the area above your lip pull the skin over your front teeth to tighten the skin there and again in light even strokes shave in a downwards direction. When coming to the hair under your chin, lift your chin up and work in reverse - from the bottom to the top. This reduces the chances of later getting grown in hairs.

- Rinse the ravor clean then your face and look for patches that you may have missed, theres nothing worse than spending 10mins shaving, going out on a date and then being told that you have a random island of hair in the middle of your chin!!! Wet the razor and remove those little patches.

- One thing that we are not known to love so much is moisturising our faces. Believe me the results on your skin afterwards will tell you that you should be doing this after every shave. Many men just slap on some aftershave or fragrence and think that the burning feeling is doing good - it just dries the skin! My advice is leave enough time to moisturise, settle and then just before you leave bang on some fragrence. Later said date will comment on your smooth silky skin - well no promises but your in with a chance - Moisturise...

THE number 1 rule is be patient. How long has it taken you to grow your beard?? Well if you rush the trimming and styling then all that itching and looking like a vagrent are for nothing and you'll have to take the lot off and have a white spotty face for your troubles.

Choose your trimmer wisely, make sure its the right one for the job and your desired end effect. You can buy many different types of trimmer from little money to outright expensive. I have a Remington HC 320, a good unit for a good price. The head comes off, usefull when you want to do some detail work. Big names to watch out for are Remington, Babyliss and Braun, you should look at a few models and make your own comparison before making your choice of weapon.

Good Luck and good trimming...