Movember may well be shortly be coming to an end, but that shouldn't stop you trying to make your facial hair a cut above the rest.Enter the Beard Trimmer 9000 from Philips. This laser-guided trimmer uses a state-of-the-art laser technology to ensure perfectly straight, crisp lines when grooming - allowing various, intricate styles and putting an end to the dreaded 'wonky' sideburns.It's the world's first trimmer to feature this sort of tech - projecting a bright red beam across the desired area, which you can then follow with the clippers. This, the manufacturers claim, allows for more precise styling - and increases confidence to try more daring looks.But don't expect the innovation to come cheap. The Beard Trimmer 9000 is priced at £99 and is only available in Boots stores.'We started the development of the advanced laser guide in the Beard Trimmer 9000 in 2009 when our team was exploring ways to make beard styling easier for men,' said Michael Plothe, senior product manager at Philips.'Nowadays, around one in five men change their facial style at least once a month and we know, for example, that more than 60 per cent of British men are seriously considering changing their style in the near future. 'To perfect a style is not exactly easy, so if a product can show exactly where the hairs will be cut, the end result will be more even.'Research revealed that men were looking for a sharp thin line to guide them while trimming their stubble. And although the company pondered about using LEDs, Plothe admits it would not have had the same effect.'The eye is a better optical sensor than a high quality camera and the men we spoke to had made it very clear that the crispness of the line was a strong requirement,' he said.'That is why we opted for laser light as opposed to for example LED, as a laser can be sharper. 'We had to meet international safety standards and make it an intrinsic fail safe class 1 laser product, which means it is similar to the harmless red light used in, for example, a laptop mouse, but still bright enough for what we needed. 'The fact that we do not concentrate the laser light into a small dot, but spread it out along a line with much lower intensity helped make this possible.'However, converting an elliptical dot into a clear, sharp line, proved tougher than expected.'A laser projects an elliptic dot of light, like you see from a laser pointer,' Plothe explains.In order to convert this into a thin line, we needed to design an incredibly precise optical prism to re-direct and carefully funnel the light. In addition, we applied high-precision production techniques to manufacture the moulds for these prisms.'This means that men can now use the Laser Guide to dynamically establish the ideal angle and beard shapes, as the line was purposefully designed to project wider when removed further from the skin. When on the skin, the laser line width spans twice the width of the cutting element.'Then, when we had nailed all of this, we had to bring this optical transformation to life through a relatively tiny window, while ensuring the Laser Guide was fully waterproof, could be switched on and off over and over again, would not drain the battery life AND that it would not break if dropped on the floor, bearing in mind it is placed next to the trimmer’s cutting element!'To make this happen, the development team had to combine their expertise in a variety of areas.These included working with experts in geometrics, ergonomics, skincare and precision engineering.Plothe added: 'Combine all of this with the extensive laboratory, stress testing, and numerous in-home tests to ensure the functionality, quality and safety would match our high standards and you can understand why it took years to introduce!'The hard work, though, seems to have paid off.'We’ve already had feedback from consumers that, with the help of the laser guide, they now have more confidence to experiment with new styles and try things they did not try before,' Plothe added.  'Plus, we have seen strong sales, showing that this innovation is exactly what men have been looking for to help with their facial styling.'(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az