Aberlite Clear Shaper Review – A Major Step-Up
Aberlite Clear Shaper
A major improvement from the Aberlite Flex Shaper, the Aberlite Clear Shaper offers multiple styles and methods to trim your facial hair to the exact shape you are looking for. The clear design and the white grease pencils make this much more useful than other guides on the market.
Pros
It comes with a pair of grease pencils so you can draw the shape on your face rather than hold the guide to your face
It has multiple styles included with directions to get the look you want
Clear plastic so you can see what you are working on and where you are drawing the line
Arrowed Shape on the guide so you can easily tell what side you are using
Heavy-duty plastic that won’t bend or break easily
Cons
Awkward to hold in your hand
Pencils have to be sharpened often
You can lose sight of your guidelines if you don’t draw them bright
It takes some time to learn how to use it properly
So far, we have looked at several different plastic guides for shaving your beard. I have reviewed The Beard Black Shaping Tool, the Aberlite FlexShaper 2.0, and one of my earliest reviews My Perfect Goatee. We even have a run-down of several different types here: The Best Beard Shaping Tools for Shaping a Great Beard.
This time, we are taking a look at another guide from our friends at Aberlite: the Aberlite Clear Shaper.
This heavy-duty guide made of plastic is very close to the Beard Black in design but has a few other options added to it.
Is it as good or better than that little black piece of plastic? Let’s find out.
What is the Design Like?
The Clear Shaper is a strangely shaped piece of plastic that is almost bigger than my head. When I got this thing, I was expecting something much smaller, more like the Beard Black in design, but instead, I seem to have received a strange spray paint template.
That isn’t far from what it is.
This item is designed to be held against your face at various angles and sides, so you can use the provided grease pencil to draw on the style you want for your beard.
Each side of the template can be used to create a beard style with gentle curves or sharp edges. Luckily there is a style guide on the packaging so you can decide how you’d like your beard to look. Don’t throw away that box.
There is also a great touch on the template: the brand name on a rubberized shield-like logo. That shape makes it incredibly easy to identify which side you want to use. It acts as a guide so you can quickly identify which edge would work best.
I like that it is clear plastic, so I can see my face better as I trim and shave. This makes it so much easier to gauge where to place the template and draw your lines with the grease pencil.
How Easy is it to Use?
Like many of the other guides we have reviewed on this site, the Aberlite Clear Shaper takes some practice to learn how to use.
You need to figure out which sides you want to use, and then draw the pattern on your face.
I can tell you that you will need to sharpen your grease pencil almost after every line drawn. Which is pretty inconvenient and makes using this tool take twice as long as using other guides.
It does represent multiple extra steps in your grooming routine. This will make your shaving and trimming routine take longer, especially as you are learning how to use it and experimenting with different styles.
How well does it Perform its Job?
For this review, I trimmed and shaved using this template over two weeks. I alternatively used just a beard trimmer to shape the beard or used a razor and shaving soap. Sometimes, I did both to make sure I got a full idea of what it is like to use this shaper.
After I got the hang of using it, I rather liked using this. It performed the job better than any of the other guides I have reviewed for this site.
Granted, that is not saying much. However, this is the first one that seemed to both make sense to me and was not uncomfortable to use.
Beard Trimmer
Overall, this was the quickest and easiest option. It is very easy to keep your trimmer inside the lines and trim accurately, provided you manage to have a precise trimmer.
The one real downside of this method is that the lines you shave might not be as clean or accurate as if you were using a safety razor.
Razor
Unlike using a beard trimmer, this option will be the most time and labor-intensive. I built a lather using shaving soap with my Yaqi shaving brush and Hawk V2 razor.
The good side of this method is that it gives you clean lines and a close shave. I prefer it, partially because I enjoy shaving with a safety razor but also because the lines are clean, making my skin look great.
The downside is that it is very easy to accidentally lose the white lines of your grease pencil while you are applying shaving soap. Getting an even level and shaving on either side of your mustache is twice as hard with this option as with your beard trimmer.
Value For Money
This is where we hit another snag.
Is this piece of hard plastic (and technically a pair of grease pencils) worth the 20 USD Amazon is asking?
Honestly, I would not say so. After about two to three weeks of using this guide, you are going to have a general idea of how you want your beard to look and you won’t need this template at all.
While that is fine for me as this job requests that I change products every week or every other week, most guys are going to want much more out of their hard-earned $20 bucks. After all, that is 1-2 full pizzas, and I would honestly prefer the pizzas to this Clear Shaper.
Common Consumer Complaints, Issues, and Positive Reviews
The spread of review scores for the Aberlite is somewhat wider than most of the other items we look at.
Most items are typically lop-sided heavily on the positive side, but this one has more negatives and critical reviews than most other products.
Positive Reviews
Looking over the majority of the positive reviews, many people are not very glib when it comes to what they like about it. More than anything, I get “This product is good” or “Just what I needed” which is good for that consumer, but lacks detail for me to get perspective on why people like this product.
One point that does jump out at me is that people like the durability of the guide. It is a solid piece of plastic and won’t break easily. They also comment on the large size, which makes sure that it isn’t going to get lost. I have to agree because I could lose anything. I am absent-minded like that. So the fact that it is large and durable means it is easy to find and not easy to accidentally break if I drop it or need to travel with it.
Others have commented that the instructions are easy to follow, allowing the guide to be used much easier. I would agree here as well, as the pictures and directions are so much easier to follow than any other beard guide I have used.
Consumer Complaints
Several consumers are not a fan of the learning curve of this tool. It is not easy to get used to and does take some time to learn. Honestly, I cannot blame them. The ability to just pick up and use an item for your grooming is an ability that is often not appreciated until you need to practice just to use it. That might be a breaking point for some guys.
One point I will echo that comes up a few times is that this is not a product for someone who wears glasses. Multiple reviews commented that it is hard to hold up to your face while also attempting to use your glasses to see. Every time I have used this, I have needed to use my contacts. Otherwise, this will either sit awkwardly on your face or knock your glasses askew.
Finally, multiple users have talked about how they think this is overpriced for what it is. My thoughts are above, but it is good to see that others tend to see shaving supplies and tools like I do.
Final Thoughts – Who is the Aberlite Clear Shaper For?
While I find this guide much better than any of the other guides we have seen on our website, I still find these guides more of a novelty than anything else. They seem to me to be more for younger guys who are still learning how they want to style their beards and need some help.
That isn’t a disparaging comment. We all have to start somewhere, and getting a new look or learning how to get that look is important. Live your true self.
If you have an extra 20 dollars and are dying to get a new look, then you might want to pick up this guide.
However, I wouldn’t recommend it beyond just the novelty option.
