A Review of The Sideburn Ruler

I really don't believe that trimming your sideburns and getting them even is really a difficult task. All you need to do is stand straight, look into the mirror, and level them off with your razor. While it is a clever, well made device, I don't believe The Sideburn Ruler really makes the task any easier.

Properly trimming the sideburns can be a difficult task for many of us. We often end up with sideburns that are uneven or sideburns that tend to creep down the face between haircuts. A new product called The Sideburn Ruler aims to eliminate this problem, but is it really necessary?

The Sideburn Ruler is a small patented device that hangs over the ear and is intend to help you achieve even sideburns. The front piece dangles in front of the ear and has numbered marks which you can use as a guide when trimming your sideburns. This is a good idea in theory, but the maker assumes that everyone's ears are evenly attached. I don't agree. Few people's faces are completely symmetrical. During my last trip to the optometrist, he had to adjust my glasses to fit straight because one of my ears is slightly higher than the other. In fact, the textbook Men's Hairdressing, Traditional and Modern Barbering by Maurice Lister instructs that one should not use the ears to determine the level of the sideburns because they are seldom level.

During my test of the product, I found that it actually complicated the process of trimming the sideburns. Keeping the product level was difficult and I found I kept knocking it out of the way with the razor. One of the barbers in my shop tried the product and expressed similar comments. The Sideburn Ruler took a normally quick and easy part of my morning and added another step to it. I still believe trimming the sideburns does not require an assistive device for most of us. Placing your index fingers at the bottom of each sideburn and looking into straight into a mirror to check for evenness should be all you need to do for a good result.

This review is just my opinion, so feel free to judge for yourself. If you feel you've got ears that are evenly attached and simply can't seem to get those sideburns right, this may be your ticket. At just $9.99, it's not a big investment and the thing is very well made out of aluminum so it should last forever.