The Cut Buddy Beard Shaper Review – Training Wheels for the Beard
The Cut Buddy Beard Shaper
Despite being small, compact, and easy to travel with, the Cut Buddy Beard Shaper is not a must-have item. The most it can provide to any guy is a start on their beard-growing journey. Experienced beard owners are better off just doing what they normally do.
Pros
Comes with a Grease Pencil for Drawing the Shape you want
Attached beard comb
It is small and fits easily in the hand
Clear plastic so you can see your beard edge better
Cons
Small curves do not fit a large face
It is easy to lose track and misalign your beard/goatee
Since I started with Shaving Advisor I have had the privilege of using and reviewing several beard-shaping tools:
Each one has had its positives and negatives. However, there is one constant I have found with almost all of them: they are here for beginner beard growers who are still searching for a style.
Also over time, I have become less than charitable with these templates and guides. Mostly, I see them as a way for some plastics designer to make a quick buck off a guy who is insecure about his beard shape.
Does the Cut Buddy rise above this, or is it just another tool you will eventually go out of?
What is the Design Like?
First off, I do like how small and compact this is compared to the other options I have reviewed. It can fit easily in a drawer, medicine cabinet, or a toiletries bag if you are traveling.
The My Perfect Goatee and the Aberlite FlexShaper were small as well, but they were very uncomfortable to use.
While in some ways being small is a boon, in others, it can also hurt the process.
Because it is small (and yours truly has a large face) some of the curves don’t exactly fit. For example, I can’t just hold it up to my neck to make an even cut along the neckline of my beard. I have to roll it slowly to get a straight line.
This is strange because the selling point on Amazon is that it is made for all faces. Maybe my face is just too big.
Unfortunately, rolling it like that makes it all too easy to create a jagged or crooked line rather than something straight.
The fact that it is clear helps a great deal. You can see your beard as you draw your line or trim. That makes it much easier to make sure your lines actually connect and are even.
How Easy is it to Use?
If you can trace on paper or follow a guide while cutting, you can use the Cut Buddy.
It is so easy to use that most guys will probably be able to use it without even looking at the instructions on the back of the packaging.
One little nitpick, though, is that the packaging has the instructions printed on it rather than on a page with it. That means it can be all too easy to tear open the package and lose your instructions.
How well does it Perform its Job?
For this review, I trimmed with the Cut Buddy using it as a guide holding it up to my face as I trimmed, and another time using the grease pencil to draw on my face and then follow the lines.
I used this over about two weeks, trimming every few days.
Beard Trimmer
Using the beard trimmer is probably the most accurate way to trim and shape your beard; however, it is the most awkward.
Holding the guide up to your face while also holding up the beard trimmer can get your arms all tangled up and block out your face in places.
However, it is much easier to make sure you don’t miss a spot or slip up and leave a gouge into your beard.
Lining your curves is much easier as well.
Grease Pencil
Using the grease pencil is overall the easiest and quickest option when you are shaping with the Cut Buddy.
It is not as accurate, and you have a higher chance of slipping up, but you can see what you are doing so much better. It is also faster.
I would recommend the grease pencil overall just for simplicity’s sake.
My only complaint with this option is cleaning off the grease pencil after I am done.
Razor and Shaving Cream
This option is the most complicated, with the most potential for making a mess. However, it will create clean lines on your beard.
There are two ways you can use this: a) use the Cut Buddy to draw on your face with your lather brush, or draw on your face with the grease pencil and then apply your shaving cream based on their lines.
Overall, while you are going to get the best in clean lines, I would not recommend this option because it does take longer and makes an even crazier mess to clean up.
Value For Money
As of the time of writing this article, you can get the Cut Buddy on Amazon for 10 USD.
On our pizza scale that is one pizza for the cost of this one Cut Buddy, delivery cost or shipping and handling notwithstanding.
Is this product worth the 10 bucks?
Honestly, that is hard for me to say. I have a mixed opinion about most shaving guides. You aren’t going to get as much use out of this product as you think, considering you only need it for a short time before you know how to shape your beard without it.
That being said, 10 bucks isn’t going to break your bank too much.
If you need this shaper, then you aren’t going to miss 10 USD. However, don’t pay any more than that.
Final Thoughts – Who is the Cut Buddy Shaper For?
Overall, this isn’t a bad product. However, it is not a must-have product.
If I had to say who exactly the Cut Buddy is for, I would say it is for guys who need to train themselves to cut their beards just a specific way. If you are a younger guy who hasn’t had a great deal of experience cutting your beard, then I would recommend the cut buddy.
For guys who have had a beard long term and already have a style they like, they would not get much out of the cut buddy at all, and their money would probably be better spent elsewhere.
Related Reviews
The Beard Black Shaping Tool Review – Solid Guide for Starting Out
Aberlite FlexShaper 2.0 Review – The Cone of Shame
