Conair GMT182CS Beard & Mustache Trimmer - Keeps Me Looking Neat, with Ease.

I’ve been playing around with growing a beard and mustache for several months now and although I’ve had a mustache in the past this is the first time I’ve decided to grow a beard. Mustaches are relatively low maintenance as far as facial hair is concerned. A decent mustache comb and a sharp pair of the appropriate sized scissors are pretty much all you need to stay looking tidy.

A beard in whatever form requires a lot more attention unless the desired result is to appear like the Unibomber or Grizzly Adams. So as I started to let my beard grow out I began contemplating what I would need to groom the new growth. I knew from the advice of friends with beards that typically you want to wait at least two to three weeks before you do serious shaping so that the beard with fill out some. When the second week was ending I started looking in various stores to see what was available. I came across a model from Conair that was rechargeable, seemed to be fairly sturdy, and featured a wide array of attachments and decided to give it a try.

The Trimmer

The Conair GMT182CS Professional Multi-use Trimmer is a rechargeable men’s grooming aid that was nominated for the 2006 FHM Magazine Grooming Award. The trimmer includes three trimming heads and multiple trimming combs to give you total control and maximum flexibility when grooming mustaches, beards, and sideburns. The trimmer comes with a stand that has slots for the accessories and acts as a recharging stand when the included adapter is installed at the base.

The trimmer itself has a red light to indicate charging. There are three controls on the trimmer Turbo, On/Off, and Taper Control. The Turbo button increases the blade power by 15% to aid in cutting thicker hair. The three position Taper Control adjusts the actual height of the cutting blade on each of the three heads and acts as a fine tuner in combination with the combs. The three cutting heads are easily exchanged by simply pressing upwards on the installed head and locking a new head in place by pressing downwards. The three heads range from a large head intended for longer hair to a fine detailing blade for precision trimming of fine beard lines.

My Experience

I’ve had the trimmer for about six weeks now and use it about twice a week to keep my beard neat. I’ve tried all the cutting blades and experimented with the various combs. I’ll have to say I’m extremely impressed with the level of precision the trimmer allows between the various blades and combs. The blade that works the best for me also happens to be the solid steel head with is very sturdy. I’ve combined this with the middle of the three jawline combs and this gives me exactly the look I desire.

Unlike the crappy Remington trimmer I reviewed a couple of months ago the Conair feels solid in my hands. Everything is made of plastic these days and most of it is made in China which is no longer necessarily a good thing. Of course this product is also made in China, but it appears to be very well constructed.

Leaving the trimmer in the stand means that it charges constantly which often isn’t a good thing with rechargeable batteries. I try to leave mine out but unlike my electric razor I don’t use the trimmer every day. As a result I place it in the charging stand about once a week just to make sure all is good. Speaking of the stand the only complaint I have about trimmer is that the various combs, cutting heads, and other accessories don’t stay very well in the stand. This is a very minor problem and given that I’ve found the four items I’m apt to use frequently the rest can get stored away in a zip-lock bag.

If you have a mustache or beard I can’t recommend the Conair GMT182CS highly enough.

Maintenance

It is recommended that you clean the blades using the included brush after each use. About once per month Conair recommends applying a small amount of the included oil to the cutting blade using newspaper. They caution about keeping the oil out of reach of children, so there must be some risk of toxicity if injested.

In The Box

- Facial hair blade
- Hair trimmer blade
- Fine detailing blade
- 3 Jaw line combs
- 2 Adjustable combs
- Mustache comb
- brush
- Lubricant oil
- Storage stand
- Adapter

The Warranty

The GMT182CS comes with a two year limited warranty.

Price

The MSRP is $24.99 but I paid $19.99 and this is the price I’ve seen advertised with most retailers.