Whether it's trimming your nostril hair, perfecting a skin fade or eradicating your body hair to become as slick as a seal in oil, Philips has you covered with a vast family of gear to cater to almost any grooming need you might have.
What's the difference between a beard trimmer and a hair clipper?
Beard trimmers are, as the name suggests, largely focused on maintaining a solid beard. In all cases, these devices will have sharp, fast-moving blades that sit beneath guiding teeth to coax your beard hair in the right direction to avoid tugging the hair. Beard trimmers often have a decent range of cutting lengths with beard combs and guides, with different lengths, but will stay below 3cm, because there aren't many of us who can grow a Gandalf-esque beard of glory.
On the other hand, hair clippers cater to longer head hair lengths and will usually have guiding combs that deal with anything beyond increments of a few mm. The motors will probably be a little more powerful to contend with thicker, longer hair and they might be corded to maintain that power over a longer trimming session.
Body groomers are an entirely different arm of the men’s grooming routine, but no less vital for it. Eliminating the hair across your body is a bit more of a perilous task, but there are dedicated shavers and trimmers that are purpose-built for this. If you’re after a tool that can do anything you ask of it, then many trimmers are complete grooming kit, with the capability to shave everywhere you need it to without any painful nicks and scratches. Some, like the Panasonic Multishape, can even double up as electric toothbrushes, nose and ear trimmers, or come with self-cleaning and sharpening chargers.
How do you clean a beard trimmer?
Keeping your beard-trimming blades clean and sharp is the key to guaranteeing consistent results, and it couldn't be a simpler task. Most washable beard and nose trimmers below have removable heads that need to be held under a warm tap to clear out dirt and then pat-dried with a towel. We'd suggest you go through this process every few weeks or so, or at the very most after each shave.
To keep the blades sharp, you'll need to buy blade oil, which should be slathered on and left to work its magic every fortnight. Some devices have self-sharpening blades that don't require the rigamarole, but it's good practice to maintain to ensure you don't get dull blades that result in nicks and tugs in all the wrong places.
What features should I look for in a beard trimmer?
Design - We’re not necessarily concerned with the look of the trimmer here, but the overall design definitely factors in when choosing something new. The ergonomics are an obvious consideration, especially if you’re planning to use it as an intricate shaver to get at the edges of your beard or around your body. Durability should also be something to think about, as it’s going to be knocking around a packed bathroom cabinet and needs to be robust enough to stand up to scrutiny.
