Shaping and profiling the winter beard

I'm growing out my winter beard - I'm in Canada -  winter comes early here and stays long.  its the coldest 8 or so months of the year so a beard isn't a bad idea.  I'm good with contouring profiling at the neck on the lower part of the beard but I've always struggled with the profile on the upper cheeks.

Can anyone advise me or point me to some good resources on this subject.  So far I've generally just let it grow up to my eyeballs and then let my barber mess with it.  He seems to know a thing or two about hair, beard or head.  I guess I'm afraid of taking off too much or making it otherwise angular and unnatural looking .  My wife isn't a big fan so I figure I ought to at least make it look pleasing to her - short of shearing it off of course.  I mean come on, I wear the pants in this house (when she lets me).  Marry a German and never have to make another decision again!

Mark

Marry a German and never have to make another decision again!

Mark

Funny that you think the common denominator is German heritage. My wife is part French, Native American and some Spanish and I can assure you that it is Pan-Geo!

My wife tolerates the beard for a month a year. I focus on the lower neck trim and the upper cheeks just keep it from connecting to my eyebrows. I should probably be a bit more attentive but part of my thing is just letting it go for that month of November. If the barber trims it up, go for it otherwise I am goin' native!

Not much help but am sure others will have more direction.

I have a beard that only gets trimmed up on the cheeks a tad and then a little bit on the lower portion of my neck. my beard extends maybe 1-2 inches below my jaw line. when I get my hair cut every 2-3 weeks, I slap a #2 extension on the clippers and go over my beard and mustache to keep it manageable.

I'd recommend oiling it with some sort of beard oil so it doesn't make the skin beneath the beard dry and itchy. I think the oiling also helps with the health of the beard hair itself as well.

check out this thread from CaD314: http://damnfineshave.com/thread-moustach...-w-recipes

Hey Andrew and Kevin, thanks for the tips. I've got the neck done properly thanks to my barber but I was wearing a goatee then and didn't need cheek advice. Now I'm going to have to go through the process again - if you've seen the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino then you know what I'm talking about. Walt (Eastwood) has an interesting relationship with his barber - they show their affection for each other with insults and racial slurs. Italian-American barber and Polish-American Walt. Its like that with my barber, I'll pay a price for having him do the job right. Oh well, I guess I'll know after that.
Mark

Sounds like my kind of barber!