Beard Shaping Tool Reviews – My Best Recommendations After Testing

Sometimes we all need a little help getting the best facial hair shape.

Getting a general shape is pretty easy most days, but if you want a perfect Holywood-style beard with great symmetry, then you just might need a style guide to get it.

I have reviewed a fair few beard-shaping tools here on Shaving Advisor, but in the interests of making things concise and easy to find, I am going to make a rundown of the shaping tools I have used and reviewed.

We have them here ranked from best to worst. When judging a beard shaper, we look at the ease of use, comfort, and adaptability (i.e., how many different styles can you make).

1. Aberlite Clear Shaper

The best and most impressive option on our list, the Aberlite Clear Shaper is the model of beard shaper that I enjoyed using the most.

The clear plastic helps you to see exactly where you want to cut in relation to the rest of your beard. In essence, you can easily see how much you are cutting off. This helps with precision and detail.

In addition to that, the design is adaptable to multiple styles with either straight lines or gentle curves.  The plastic centerpiece allows you to quickly identify the correct angle you want to use, and the large size of the template is great for guys with larger faces. 

The grease pencil also makes it so much easier to draw on your face and then shave/trim rather than hold it up to your face while you use a razor or a trimmer.

Pros: Easy to use, easy to draw, adaptable to most faces and most designs, clear plastic so you can see your beard as you trim.

Cons: Hard plastic can be awkward to hold, non-bendable, not travel-friendly (large size), and expensive for just a piece of hard plastic.

Costs approximately $20.

2. The Beard Black Shaping Tool 

Being second best isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

In this instance, the Beard Black is almost as good as the Aberlite Shaper, but has just enough lacking to make it not as great.

The big downside is that it is solid black, so you can’t see the rest of your beard as you are trimming. It also lacks a grease pencil, so you will need to hold it up to your face as you trim. That is on the awkward side at least.

What is good about the beard black is the built-in mustache and beard comb. It is also made of lighter plastic, so it will travel better.

It is great for smaller goatees and mustache shaping, as well as getting the perfect sideburn cuts. It is just less adaptable as the Aberlite Shaper.

Pros: Smaller size makes it easy to travel with built-in mustache combs, precise angles. The best option for smaller and tighter beards, and inexpensive.

Cons: Not the best for larger beards and larger faces. The opaque guide makes it harder to see your beard, and you need to hold it against your face while you trim, which is awkward.

Costs approximately $10.

3. The Cut Buddy Beard Shaper

This small little tool is our most recently reviewed beard-shaping tool. It seems to take a few queues from one of our other shapers The Beard Black Shaping Tool. However, some differences make it feel slightly different.

It has some less dramatic curves for one thing, but has a similar level of adaptability as something like the Aberlite Clear Shaper. Also, like the Aberlite Clear Shaper, it comes with a white grease pen so you can draw the pattern you want on your face. This frees up your other hand for anything else you might need it for.

The downside I found with this one was that it was pretty small for my face. Granted I am a well-fleshed guy, but I needed to shift the guide multiple times while drawing the lines on my face. This caused issues with my lines getting messed up and having to go back and fix them several times.

Pros: Attached Beard/Mustache comb. The clear plastic lets you see the edges of your beard better, and it comes with a white grease pencil to draw lines on your face.

Cons: Small curves may not fit larger faces. It is easy to mess up lines, and cause an uneven shave.

It costs approximately $10.

My Perfect Goatee

This model of shaving guide was one of the earliest items I ever reviewed here on Shaving Advisor. I had seen it advertised to me all over the place, so this was the best opportunity for me to give it a good look.

It looks slightly complicated to use, but it is rather easy. You hold it in your mouth, and then use the rollers to expand the sides to the size you want your goatee to be.

It seems nice right? Except for the fact that the mouthpiece is intensely uncomfortable to hold onto as you trim your beard/goatee. It feels like when you have to wear that uncomfortable dentist mouthpiece when you are getting a mold done of your teeth.

The rollers are also very sensitive, so one bump and everything changes.

Also, it isn’t exactly cheap for what it offers.

Pros: High Adjustable and flexible ABS plastic. Usable with almost any shaver/trimmer.

Cons: Specifically for Goatees rather than beards. it is uncomfortable to hold in your mouth, and sensitive settings are too easy to upset. It is expensive for just a goatee guide.

It costs approximately $25.

5. Aberlite FlexShaper 2.0 

Last and least, we have the Aberlite Flexshaper 2.0

Ironically, Aberlite has both the top and the bottom options on our list.

I believe when I reviewed this the first time, the best phrase I could use for it felt like “Cone of Shame.” The unit is hands-free as it straps to your face using elastic bands. The shaper itself is focused on the neckline, making sure to give good clean lines on your neck to avoid the dreaded “Neck beard.”

While it does the job of making sure to get a good clean-cut line, it is so very awkward and terrible to wear. It feels like I am wearing a plastic collar that just irritates my skin and my beard.

The elastic also likes to slip around a bunch, especially if your hair is wet.

It does have a few upsides, such as being completely hands-free. You don’t have to hold it at all, so you can use it with a straight razor (or any other razor you prefer). 

Pros: Hands-Free and Flexible.

Cons: Awkward to wear and hard to adjust. It slides around your face and is not cheap.

It costs approximately$20.

– That just about covers it for the Beard Shaping Tools category for now and if any other great options become available worth trying, they will join this list.