Beards are great. They look good, are warm in the winter, and you can stroke them while thinking. Be that as it may, beards require care. For this instructable, I grew my beard out for about a month, to show you how I maintain it.

You could always go to a barber, and if you just started growing your beard it might be best to get it shaped professionally, but i like to trim it myself.

Step 1: Combing

You want to start by combing out your beard and mustache. Begin with a larger comb, then switch to a finer comb. You should first comb in every direction, then comb down to straighten your beard.

Step 2: Shave Your Cheeks

Unless your going for a full beard, you want to carefully shave your cheeks, avoiding the beard itself. Then shape the back of your beard, shaving the excess hair from your neck and jawline, also this is a good time to shave off your sideburns if you don't wish to grow them out.

Step 3: Trim Your Mustache

I trim my mustache so that it is uniform in length across the board. Then I even up the bottom with scissors or my beard trimmer without the length attachment.

If you want a handlebar mustache, you want to grow it out all the way from the center to the sides, and trim any errant hairs that don't fit in. Also, it should be shaped with mustache wax so that it keeps its shape. Alternatively, you can let just the sides of the mustache grow out.

Step 4: Trim Your Beard

I use a trimmer, so I'll begin there. Set the length you want your beard to be, or a little more, to prevent over-shaving. Run the trimmer through your beard in every direction you can. repeat this until the sound of hair being cut stops.

If you are using scissors, you want to measure out how much you want to cut with your off hand, then carefully cutting. Repeat this until your beard is uniformly cut.

Step 5: Shave Your Sidburns

After I trim my beard, I cut my sideburns and jaw line down to size, usually half of my beard length. Do this the same way you trim your beard.

Step 6: Finishing Touches

Now all that's left is to shave off the stubble left behind by the electric razor. For this I use a regular razor on my cheeks, jawline and neck.

Step 7: Moisturizing

Beard hair tends to dry out. When it does, it make your beard unruly and scraggly. To prevent this, you want shampoo your beard while showering, avoiding regular soap, because it will dry out your bear. Also, you should look into beard oils and cremes. they moisturize your beard and smell great.