The secret to a pro-grade beard is a
pro-grade neck fade. Pro barber
Miles Elliot of Freemans Sporting
Club Barbershop in N.Y.C.
shows us exactly how to do
this:
Step 1
“First, trim your entire
beard to the desired
length before you
begin fading,” says
Elliot. (See “Get into
Gear” on the right for
hardware.)
Step 2
Start your neck fade
by using the 2 or 3
guard to trim from
your Adam’s apple
to where your jaw
meets your neck.
Then use the 1 or
2 guard to trim
from the Adam’s
apple
upward
about an inch or
so. Anything below
the Adam’s apple
should be as hairless as
a baby’s bottom.
Step 3
Tidying up the cheeks is a
delicate dance. With the
guardless trimmer, eradicate the outliers. “You don’t
want a line so sharp that
your beard looks like a chin
strap,” says Elliot. In beards,
as with breasts, natural is
always better.
Step 4
“Last, clean up your mustache
by trimming any hairs growing
over the lip,” says Elliot. You’re a
man, not a walrus.