As your beard gets longer, you won’t be able to trim it with a trimmer anymore. You’ll either have to turn to a professional every few weeks — and that gets expensive — or learn to trim your beard yourself using beard scissors.

If you’re a bit scared to tackle beard trimming yourself because you’re afraid you’ll mess something up, you’re not alone. Many guys have messed things up so badly that they’ve had to just shave everything off and start over. But it’s possible get beard trimming with scissors right on the first try if you follow the my tips and advice in this article.

Here are some useful pieces of advice you can use for trimming your beard with beard scissors:

Get the right tool. The best beard scissors aren’t just any old pair of scissors you have sitting around. You need extra-sharp, precision-made scissors that will cut on the first try so you don’t have to chase hairs around or trim the same spot over and over to get the length you’re aiming for.

Make sure your beard is dry. You’ll want to wash up afterwards anyway, so start with a beard that’s dry and relatively clean. A little beard oil or your own natural oils won’t hurt anything. If you trim when wet, your beard will look shorter when dry than you desire. If washing in advance is necessary, you need to make absolutely sure your beard has dried completely before you start trimming.

Keep a comb nearby — and maybe a razor or trimmer too. To make sure hair is pointed in the right direction, all you need is a good comb. If you plan to clean up the neckline or the cheek line, however, you’ll need a razor or trimmer. These aren’t bad words when it comes to facial hair and can help you maintain a professional, well-groomed look, if that’s what you want.

Invest in a real beard comb. While a hair comb will work, the teeth are often sharp and can scratch the sensitive skin on your face. Besides, if you’ve made the effort to have a massive beard, you need a beard comb. It’s part of the process and part of the kit of a beard grower.

Comb your beard up and out to start. Make it look fluffy so that you look like a psycho. Your hair all needs to be standing on end so you can see what’s uneven. In most cases, one side grows faster than the other, and you actually need to trim the short side first so you can then trim the long side to match. And any unevenness needs to be evened out completely for good results.

Hold the comb where you want to cut. When possible, always pull the comb through your beard hair and use the comb to hold the hairs you want to cut out straight. Never cut a hair with your beard scissors that isn’t being held in position with either the comb or your fingers.

When in doubt, cut less. You can always come back through with your beard scissors again and cut off a little more. You’re probably more concerned with evening things out than with removing length, so only cut what you have to. And don’t contort or stretch your face because this can result in you cutting the wrong amount as well.

Consider carefully how you will trim under the chin. It can be hard to get an even cut in this area, but the same idea of combing out straight and only evening things up or removing a small amount of hair applies. It may take several passes to get under the chin right, but you can do it.

Comb everything into natural position and recheck. When you’re nearly done, comb everything into its natural position and then play with it a little. Even if you’re out in the wind or you have to reset your beard with your fingers after a workout, make sure it looks okay. Make any corrections necessary before you wash up and call it a day.

It always helps to finish with a bit of beard oil to seal off those cut hairs and get them used to their updated styling.

When you think carefully, cut as little as possible and follow this advice, you can get good results with beard scissors that will allow you to have the best beard possible, no matter the length.

Click here to see a great pair of beard scissors at Amazon that will do the job for you nicely — at a great price too.