If you have a beard, it’s probably one of the most distinctive things about your appearance. Do you have a short, neatly trimmed goatee or a longer, more rugged look? Have you shaped and styled it, or let it grow bushy? Each of those things can be a distinguishing fashion choice.
Beards require maintenance. Keeping them clean, trimmed, tamed, and healthy-looking is no small undertaking. If you have a beard and are struggling to keep it looking at its best, these beard grooming tips are for you. They will save you time and money, and help you keep a thick, healthy, and good-looking beard, whatever the weather.
Essential Beard Grooming Tips
1. Use a Sulfate-Free Beard Shampoo
Washing your beard regularly removes dead skin, dirt, trapped bits of food, sweat, and bacteria. It’s basic good hygiene to wash your beard like you would wash your hair. Remember, though, that beards and head hair are not the same, so they need different cleaning products. A quality facial hair shampoo that is sulfate-free such as Beard Wash Shampoo by Ranger Grooming Co should leave you with an awesome-looking, soft, and invigorating fresh-scented beard.
2. After Shampooing, Apply a Beard Oil
Beard oil helps to nourish your beard hair. Your body produces oils naturally, but washing your beard will strip some of them away. Pollution, exposure to the elements, and even things like seawater or chlorine in a swimming pool can also strip away oils. Nourishing your beard with oil such as Honest Amish Classic Beard Oil will keep your beard thick and healthy.
3. Trim Your Beard Regularly
Every few weeks, spend a few moments trimming your beard to get rid of loose ends, uneven patches, and stray or twisted hairs. Follow the contour of your face as you do this, taking care not to trim too much. Use sharp, good quality trimming scissors for men. If there’s one area where it is worth spending a little extra money, it’s on your scissors and shaving kit. Cheap products may cut you, or leave you with a raggedy looking beard. Good quality products will be easier to work with, give better results, and save you time in the long run.
4. Don’t Neglect Your Neckline
If you’re trimming your beard so that it’s fairly short, you’ll want to make sure that your neckline is neat and tidy. You may want to shave the area surrounding the beard, and also moisturize to keep your face and neck looking youthful and healthy. Think of your neck as a ‘frame’ for the beard. If it looks haggard, so will you. If it looks well-kept, your beard will look awesome and dapper instead.
5. Comb Your Beard
Combing your beard will help to distribute the oil, and will also help to prevent tangles and knots from forming. It’s important that you choose the right kind of comb. A metal or plastic comb could stress and damage the hairs of your beard, leaving you with split ends and a frazzled appearance. A wooden comb such as the one in this Naturenics Premium Beard Grooming Kit is a great choice.
6. Use a Beard Brush (As Well as a Comb)
You might be wondering why you would brush AND comb your beard. Well, a beard brush is used for a different purpose. It helps to massage the skin under the beard, improving blood flow and distributing your skin’s oils. This improves the texture and appearance of your beard and encourages the hairs to lay smoothly.
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7. Choose the Right Trim for Your Face
Perhaps the most high-impact beard grooming tips anyone could give you is to get the right trim, at the right length, for your face. Play with some online makeover software and see how different beards would look. Find something that works with your bone structure, rather than against it.
8. Eat Your Vegetables
Nutrient deficiencies can lead to thinning hair. You might not feel all that manly eating broccoli and carrots, but a varied diet including green leafy vegetables and fresh fruits can make you feel more like your true self. You need Vitamins A, C and E, Biotin, Niacin, and Zinc for good beard health. So eat those greens!
9. Strong Men Have Strong Beards
Exercise is a good stress reliever, and it also helps to boost circulation and improve overall health. It helps you sleep better, which improves testosterone production. Strength and endurance-based training can increase testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the two key hormones for beard growth. Increasing your manly hormones can help to create a thicker, healthier beard.
10. Treat Your Skin
You might not expect to see “moisturize” in a list of beard grooming tips, but here it is. You need healthy skin for a healthy beard. Daily use of moisturizing cream such as Marlowe Men’s Facial Lightweight Moisturizer can keep your skin supple and hydrated, which will support the growth of a healthy beard.
11. Drink Lots of Water
You might love that shower beer after a tough workout, but your liver doesn’t. Save the beers for special occasions and get into the habit of drinking water instead. Your skin, and beard, will thank you for it and you’ll age like George Clooney instead of Macaulay Culkin.
12. Get Enough Sleep
Your body repairs itself while you’re asleep. Burning the candle at both ends might get you some kudos at work, for a while, but long-term it will be detrimental to your mood, your appearance, and your overall health. Whatever else is going on in your life, make sure you get to bed on time and get enough sleep. It will help restore your energy levels, calm the nervous system, and be beneficial in countless ways.
Quick Wins for Your Beard
With beards only recently coming back into fashion, it’s likely that your dad will have taught you how to shave, but not so much about proper beard care. Of the tips above, we’d say if you were short on time and money the most important things are using a good beard shampoo plus a high-quality, all-natural beard oil. Nourish your beard regularly with oil that softens and strengthens, and you’ll have a beard you can be proud of, and that your love will want to run her fingers through.
Good quality beard care products don’t have to cost the earth. Just a drop or two of beard oil is enough to treat a short beard, and after a week or two of using it, you’ll find there is a noticeable improvement in the luster of your hair.
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