Do Beard Products Prevent Split Ends?

Split ends are often the bane of any well-groomed beards existence. Learning to manage the damage is the first step you can take to ensuring your beard stays feeling and looking good for as long as possible. But what are split ends? And why do they plague our beards so much?

What Are Split Ends?

Split ends are not just a beard problem, but a hair problem in general. While they tend to occur mostly in the hair on your scalp, your beard is not impervious to their evil grasp.

Split ends are exactly what they sound like. As your hair become brittle or dry, it can “fray” at the ends like a rope would if unraveled or damaged, causing ends of your hair to literally split apart into thinner and thinner tendrils. You may be wondering if these split ends are really as bad as they may seem. After all, hair is dead so split ends shouldn’t hurt, right? And while that is true, split ends not only signal the poor health of your hair but also can stunt hair growth by causing hair breakage. Meaning that your hair with split ends is more prone to damage, tangles, and ultimately premature breaking.

What Causes Beard Split Ends?

Split ends occur when your hair is a special combination of dry and damaged. Hair tends to go through a lot of stress and movement throughout the day, and dry hair is all the more prone to breakage and splitting. The hair in your beard is put under even more stress, especially if you’re like us and tug/rub at it pensively.

Think of it this way, your hair is very porous like a sponge. If you’ve ever taken a fresh sponge out of its container, you’d quickly realize how stiff and dry it is. If you tried to bend or put much stress on a dry sponge, the sponge would crack and break instead of flex the way it does when it has been saturated with moisture. Your hair is the same way.

Anything that can cause dryness or excessive amounts of rubbing and rolling in your hair can cause split ends. This includes things like certain weather conditions, whether you blow dry or straighten your beard, whether you wear hats or not, and more.

Put simply, a beard is constantly rubbed, rolled around, and waved in the wind. And this creates the perfect environment for split ends to occur unless you take some special care to prevent them.

So, how do you manage split ends? And how can you prevent them?

Preventing Beard Split Ends

There are two main characteristics of healthy hair that ensure that it is relatively free of split ends. 1) Trimmed hair, and 2) hydrated hair.

Give Your Beard A “Dusting”

The first thing you can do to prevent split ends and cut them off at the source is exactly that. Cut them off. Once a hair splits, it’s not going to be possible to reattach it and create a whole hair strand once again. So, often, the best thing you can do is to trim your beard regularly. I’m not saying you need to shave your beard off, but taking off just a millimeter or so off the ends will give you what is called a “dusting” hair cut.

A “dusting” is a type of haircut that doesn’t take off much length, if any at all, but removes the damaged ends of hair that have the potential to split. This way, the tips of your hair can stay on the straight and narrow, and won’t become damaged enough to cause premature breakage or tangles. You don’t need to do this everyday, but at least every month to a month and a half will allow you to continue growing your beard to the length you prefer, and do it healthily at the same time. If you already trim your beard to maintain a certain length, you’re ahead of the game.

Hydrate Your Beard

Secondly, hydrated hair is happy hair. Like I mentioned earlier with the sponge, and saturated sponge is much more resilient to the constant bending, stretching, and other demands that you throw at it, much like your hair is. Hydrated and healthy hair is able to bend, stretch, and glide over itself much more easily, limiting its potential for splitting. If you’ve ever tried to stick a thread through the eye of a needle, what do you do? You wet the tip of the thread to bind the small fibers together and make them more unified and easy to deal with.

Hydration not only helps you manage your hair, but it keeps your hair stronger and more flexible. This is why it’s important to avoid things that damage your hair with heat, or by stripping away too many natural oils and moisture without actively replacing them.

You generally don’t need to shampoo your beard every day, and if you do, make sure you replenish the oils that the shampoo strips away with a natural beard oil or balm. You can also choose shampoos that rely on more natural ingredients instead of any harsher chemicals or detergents.

Consider using a wide-tooth comb to detangle your hair when it is still wet from washing. This way you can manage the tangles without pulling the hair out the way combing dry hair tends to do.

Most importantly, use a dedicated natural beard product every day to avoid dryness. A high quality beard oil or beard balm will go a long way in helping hydrate and keep your beard healthy and split-free. We tend to prefer beard balm, because it lasts slightly longer and also gives you some styling benefit, but some prefer beard oil because of its lightweight and quick-absorbing properties.

Overall, yes, beards tend to suffer from split ends just like the hair on your scalp does. But, keeping your beard well-hydrated and trimming your beard regularly is the best way to avoid split ends and any additional damage they may cause.

So, if you’re suffering from some split ends in your own beard and want to find a way to resolve the issue, but you’re hesitant to try something that you’re afraid won’t work, then consider signing up for Volt’s rewards program! It’s free, and by taking some simple actions, you can use your Volt Amps (points) to get $5 off some Volt balm to help you get started! Click the button below to get started!