With so many shapes, styles, and lengths to consider, sideburns are an important part of your grooming routine. Trimming your sideburns can help frame your face, even out your head shape, and elevate your hairstyle and beard. In fact, the most popular men’s haircuts require cutting the sideburns to match the style, especially when you need to blend the sides into your facial hair. The best sideburn styles can make you look more rugged and masculine, while chiseling your jawline and cheekbones. Whether you want short, long, thin, thick, square, pointed, tapered or no sideburns, there are many ways to trim your sideburns. Before you start cutting, trimming or shaving, let’s explore the different types of sideburns to find the right look for you!
When To Trim Your Sideburns
Deciding when to trim your sideburns varies from one man to the next. Some men need to trim more frequently than others based on genetics, which can affect how fast and thick your hair grows out. Whether you should trim or shave your sideburns depends on your haircut, beard style, and desired look.
If your sideburns are full and wide, you don’t need to maintain them as often as someone who has thin or tapered sideburns. A good rule to follow is to trim your sideburns once they start to look unruly and unkempt.
Moreover, your sideburn length and shape should fit your haircut. Most guys don’t really need to cut their sides inbetween trims. Nevertheless, hair always grows back, so if you want to experiment with different sideburn styles, feel free to groom when you necessary.
How To Trim Your Sideburns
If you’re wondering how to trim your sideburns, the process is easier than it seems. For starters, you’ll need good hair cutting tools like a razor, trimmer, or clipper with the right size guards.
Follow these steps when trimming your sideburns to ensure an even cut on both sides.
- To start, wash your hair. Before any trimming takes place, you’ll want to start with clean hair that is free from oil, grease and styling product.
- Now comb your sideburns downward, which is their naturally the direction of hair growth.
- Next, select the right guard for your trimmer. The guard you select is based on the length you want to trim your sideburns. If you are shaving your sideburns off, then you’ll want to use a razor. Further, guys with tapered sideburns will want multiple combs to blend the lengths slowly.
- After you’ve attached the correct guard to your trimmer, place the machine against the side of your face so the comb is flush with the surface. Run the trimmer up your side to cut your sideburn to the desired length. If you are clean-shaven, turn the trimmer upside down and create a line to determine how short or long you want to keep your sideburns.
- Trim and shape your sideburns as appropriate. If you are shaving, a razor or electric shaver can be useful in getting a smooth close-cut.
- Remember to comb down your sideburns so your clippers grab all the hairs.
Repeat the process on the other side. Then take the index fingers of both hands and place them under both sideburns to compare. This allows you to make sure you don’t end up with uneven sideburns. Make necessary adjustments to square them off.
Shaving Sideburns
You may prefer to shave your sideburns with a razor or trimmer. A good beard trimmer will cut your sides very short and leave a little stubble, but shaving your sideburns off can only be achieved with a razor. Learning to trim your sideburns with a razor also becomes essential if you want no sideburns at all.
Shaved sideburns look better with a clean-shaven face so it’s likely you’ll be cutting and shaping after a shower. Apply your pre-shave oil all over, and then use your shaving cream to add moisture for maximum protection and glide.
Ideally, you’ll be shaving with a DE safety razor so you can create the perfect sideburn lines to match the length you want. If you’re using an electric razor or a traditional cartridge razor, be careful about trimming too high up the sides.
Once you start trimming, you can avoid ingrown hairs by running the blade down your sideburns for a clean, close and comfortable shave.
Sideburn Styles
Men have a number of different sideburn styles to choose from. From modern to classic and short to long, the best men’s sideburns can flatter your face and complement your haircut and beard. Between width and length, you’ll want to decide on a design before you start trimming. To inspire your look, find out which style of sideburn you should get!
Long Sideburns
Long sideburns work well for men of all face shapes, and can be shaped to complement your style. Longer sideburns can frame your face, create a rugged flair, and look good with short, medium and long hair on top. Before trimming long sideburns, think about what styles and designs make the most sense for your dimensions.
If your face is long and narrow, cutting your long sideburns into a wide shape helps enhance your natural features. If your face is wide or round, trimming thinner and longer sideburns can help elongate your face and flatter your dimensions to look more proportional.
Long sideburns are also great with all hair types, lengths, and textures. From short to long hair, guys can grow longer sideburns for a fashionable finish. This style is face-framing and provides an added flair, especially if you’re already rocking a well-kept beard.
Short Sideburns
Short sideburns are suited for clean-shaven faces, classy fashion sense, and short to medium-length haircuts. Clean-cut and smooth, short sideburn styles look handsome on men who work in offices and must maintain a business professional appearance.
You’ll also want to cut your sideburns short if you have wavy or curly sideburns that make it difficult to keep your hair flat and styled properly.
To cut your sides short, be sure to trim your sideburns at a line positioned above the bottom portion of your ear lobe. Ideally, you should line up your sideburns with the middle of the ear. To keep your sideburns short and sharp, never cut higher than the top of your ear to avoid a weird finish.
If you’re clean-shaven, have a stubble beard, or keep your facial hair short, a short tapered sideburn style is perfect for you.
Tapered Sideburns
If you’re looking for a modern twist on a classic style, tapered sideburns are cool and stylish. Much like a fade haircut, these sideburns are achieved by gradually tapering the hair by going shorter and shorter in length down the sides.
The taper starts at the top of the ear and is created by blending hair short to shorter down the sideburn. If you have a bald fade on the sides and back, guys can even begin tapering their sideburns within the faded cut.
Ultimately, the lowest part of your sideburn will have the thinnest, shortest hair. If you’re going for taper faded sideburns, you’ll need to maintain the style with regular grooming to ensure the style holds its shape.
Invest in a quality beard trimmer with multiple attachments to blend the hair seamlessly. Men with facial hair may even want to try the popular beard fade.
Thin Sideburns
Thin sideburns work best if you have short hair or prefer to use products to slick back your hair into an edgy retro style. If you have a beard, skinny sideburns blend in well and are easy to accomplish at home. Plus, thin sideburn styles are unique and stand out, allowing guys to experiment with a different look.
To get thin sideburns, all you need to do is grab your trimmers and start thinning out the width of sideburns as you trim down the sides. You can anchor the cut against your ear, keep the style trimmed equally on both sides, or trim angled for a sharp finish.
Finally, take a razor to clean-up the cut. This is where a straight razor can come in handy. What’s more, men with beards will need to blend and shape this style properly into their facial hair. Either way, you’ll need to regularly trim and maintain your sides.
Thick Sideburns
Thick sideburns come in a variety of bold styles that can highlight nice cheekbones and jawlines. Most thicker sideburn styles are long, full and wide, creating a design similar to mutton chops.
Reminiscent of 70s sideburns, this shape isn’t particularly on-trend and fashionable nowadays. However, if you’re looking to have fun and experiment, you need to be patient and let your sideburns grow out until they connect to your beard. Brush the hair down with a comb to keep it sleek and groomed.
Pointed Sideburns
Pointed sideburns are a trendy style for guys who want a cool look. Modern and attractive, sharp pointed sideburn styles can come down from your sides or up from your beard if you have have a skin fade.
No Sideburns
Choosing no sideburns is always an option for men who don’t want to worry about maintaining additional facial hair. Shaving off and having no sideburns is often a result of a haircut. Specifically, bald fade haircuts trim the sides and back down to the skin, and can even blend into your beard.
Masculine and edgy, no sideburn styles look handsome with short, medium length and long hair as long as you get a low, mid or high skin fade cut.
To shave off your sideburns completely when trimming between haircuts, use a foil shaver or beard trimmers with no guard and cut the hair. Depending on your natural hairline and men’s hairstyles, you can cut your sideburns up to a certain level.
Use a mirror to help you determine where to begin trimming when you want to remove your sideburns entirely and take the time to use the index finger method to ensure you cut them evenly on both sides.
Sideburn Fade
Men with beards are gravitating toward the trendy sideburn fade. Perfect for when you want to tidy up your look without having to trim your entire beard, a taper fade with your sideburns allows you to create a refreshing style. Faded sideburns look best on men with beards and short to medium length hair on top.
How To Fade Sideburns
To start, you’ll need an electric beard trimmer, multiple guards of different lengths, and a comb. Fading your sideburns is achieved by gradually tapering the hair from a short to shorter much the same way your barber fades your sides and back during a haircut.
Blending your sideburns into a beard does require additional skill because the trimming process needs to be clean and graduated. The end result will be a sideburn and beard fade combined into one. A bad mistake may mean a quick visit to the barbershop to get it straightened out, or worse, having to trim your beard much shorter.
Before you start to taper your sideburns, we recommend a dry run. Press different guards against your beard to get an idea of how much hair you’ll be cutting off and make adjustments accordingly. Remember that you can always trim off more hair and go shorter, so start conservatively.
After choosing the three guards you’ll be tapering with, start with the largest size attachment since the hair at the top of your sideburn is going to be the thickest and longest.
How you fade your sideburns and beard depends on where you want the blending to begin and how quickly you want the hair to get shorter. Find the right length for your look and work down the sides.
Your sideburn fade will naturally transition your sides into your beard for a smooth stylish look women will find irresistible.
