Just the stubble

April 22, 2012 12:35 PM

How can I keep my facial hair regularly at "stubble" level?

I don't like the way I look clean shaven, but my facial hair is patchy and there's not enough consistent coverage to grow out a beard. I like the way I look with 3-4 days of growth (it grows slowly), but I find that I'm constantly cycling between shaving it all off and letting it grow back out to this level. Is there any kind of attachment/electric razor that will allow me to keep it consistently at stubble level?

posted by minorcadence to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (12 answers total)

Search for stubble trimmers on Amazon (or your other favorite e-commerce site). A cheap, crappy electric razor works for me, too.
posted by GnomeChompsky at 12:37 PM on April 22, 2012 [2 favorites]

The lowest 1-2 settings on most standard beard trimmers is basically a stubble setting as well.
posted by nanojath at 12:40 PM on April 22, 2012

Yes, they make products specifically designed for this.
posted by J. Wilson at 12:41 PM on April 22, 2012

I have a Whal electric hair trimmer and an eighth inch guide that stubles me out quite well. You have to practice a bit with the angles you hold the clipper at at various places on your face but you can get decent results once you learn to use it properly. Keep your neck clean with conventional razor I find it easier to keep a sharp line between the stubble and a potential neck beard.
posted by pdxpogo at 12:47 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Um.. buy a beard trimmer! I have this one by Philips. It's got a built-in vacuum that collects the hairs as you trim - completely brilliant.
posted by ZipRibbons at 1:07 PM on April 22, 2012

I have this one by Philips.

correct link
posted by John Cohen at 1:12 PM on April 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

Yes, a beard trimmer with adjustable settings is what you want. Grow your beard out for a few days, then experiment with the various settings. Pick the one that works for you and run the trimmer over your face every couple of days.
posted by dfriedman at 1:18 PM on April 22, 2012

I have a very basic Philips rotary electric shaver with one of those pop-up trimmers. The trimmer quite quickly cuts the beard hair down to what looks like a few days growth - takes about a minute. The bonus there is that you don't need a separate trimmer and shaver.
posted by pipeski at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2012

Philips makes a beard trimmer specifically for stubble. I trim down to stubble and went through a couple crappy trimmers before settling on this one which I love. It's also got a guard for using it for trimming sideburns, etc. One particularly nice feature is that if you use the guard, the height is set with a twist, so you can't push too hard and accidentally lower the guard.

This is roughly the result (I either trimmed the night before or a day before).
posted by mendel at 3:57 PM on April 22, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks for all the ideas. I'll check out the products recommended here.
posted by minorcadence at 4:55 PM on April 22, 2012

As pdxpogo mentions, keep the stubble tidy! Stubble only looks good and professional when the edges have been tidied up. Use a regular razor to create a distinct line at the neck and on the cheeks.
posted by Petrot at 5:38 PM on April 22, 2012

As pdxpogo mentions, keep the stubble tidy! Stubble only looks good and professional when the edges have been tidied up. Use a regular razor to create a distinct line at the neck and on the cheeks

This, this, a thousand times this. Stubble goes quickly from "George Clooney sexy" to "drunk and icky" if you're not careful.
posted by dotgirl at 5:55 PM on April 22, 2012