Every bearded man wants to keep their beard healthy. A healthy and well-kept beard can mean the difference between looking like a boss, and looking like a nomad with nowhere to go…just saying!
The truth is, an unhealthy beard is straight-up uncomfortable. It will feel stiff, rough (like sandpaper), and ultimately lead to various other issues like breakouts or rashes on the skin underneath. The good news is, all of these negative effects can be easily avoided by simply taking the following 5 beard care steps to ensure that your beard remains in tip-top shape!
Let’s dive in!
Before We begin, check out this awesome Volt Video on exactly the same topic! Be sure to Subscribe to Volt’s YouTube channel!
1. Make A Commitment To Your Beard Care
Beard care starts with YOU! You’re the one who will have to make a commitment and follow the proper routines to ensure that your beard stays healthy and nourished. There are benefits and costs to having a beard, and the cost is some routine maintenance time and products! In our eyes though, maintaining a beard is an endeavor that is totally worthwhile!
The first step to this commitment is likely one that will have more benefits on your life than just a nicer and healthier beard. It has to do with quitting your vices that, more often than not, cause more harm than good to your health and happiness. For example, did you know that people who smoke have a harder time growing hair and keeping it into their older age?
The same goes for many unhealthy habits like consuming too much caffeine, drugs, or alcohol. Although the health of your beard may not be the first consideration you make when choosing to quit these vices, if you’re going to commit, might as well do it for the benefit of yourself as a whole, right?!
2. Exfoliate
Exfoliating is less about the health of your beard, and more about the health of the skin underneath your beard! Think of it this way, exfoliating is like digging the mound of dirt that you plant a seed into, which will eventually grow into an awesome plant. Without ridding the soil of contaminants and breaking the soil up a little bit, that seed will either 1) never get the water or nutrients it needs because nothing can penetrate the soil, or 2) that seed will not be able to grow. The same goes for your beard hair follicles.
Exfoliating can be done in a variety of ways, and very easily! You can choose a face scrub or face wash with exfoliating properties, or you can choose a beard brush made specifically to offer the right amount of bristle tension so that you can penetrate the beard hair and reach the skin underneath. In fact, we here at Volt have beard brushes made for exactly this reason!
By exfoliating, you’ll be priming the skin underneath the beard for nutrients (which we’ll talk about later) and stimulating blood to flow to the area, which causes faster and stronger hair growth. You’ll also be brushing or washing away any dead skin that clogs the follicles and cause acne and that dreaded “beard itch” or “beardruff” that many bearded men have experienced at least once.
3. Use BEARD Shampoo!
There is a HUGE difference between the shampoo you use for your scalp and the shampoo that you should be using for your beard.
The skin on your scalp is much tougher and more resilient than the skin on your face, especially if you’ve been rocking a beard for a while and the sun hasn’t damaged or tanned the skin on your face all that much. This means that there are often harsher chemicals or detergents used to shampoo your hair and scalp than you should be using for the more sensitive skin on your face.
By using a dedicated beard shampoo, you’ll be ensuring that your skin and beard retain at least some of their natural oils, making it far less likely that your beard hair or skin will become too dry, stiff, or even alter color. So, when in doubt, make sure you are using a dedicated beard shampoo/wash!
4. Avoid Rubbing/Pulling
We all love (and probably do) the classic “pensive man” face where we thoughtfully tug on our beards a bit to give the impression of deep thought, listening, or portraying some kind of intent. But, as cool as it looks to do, this does more harm to your beard than it does good.
Pulling and tugging your hair loosens the follicle, meaning that the hair is much more likely to fall out prematurely, or cause thinning and patches to the area. In fact, we’ve actually experienced this ourselves here at Volt from some of our chronic “beard-pullers” out there.
Overly rubbing or tugging at your beard is a habit that will be hard to break, probably because it happens subconsciously, but it will be worthwhile to avoid it.
5. Moisturize
If there is anything on this list that you should take with you, it’s this. Make sure you moisturize anytime you do something that would cause your beard to get dry, or strip it of the essential oils that it needs to maintain a soft, shiny, and healthy look and feel. This means moisturizing after you:
- Shower
- Brush Your Teeth
- Wash Your Face
- Use Beard Shampoo
- Go Swimming
- And more…
Moisturizing should be simple, and easy to do with some high-quality beard oil or beard balm. High-quality beard oil and balm should be 100% natural with no man-made preservatives or inorganic oils, buttes, or waxes.
Moisturizing your beard has tons of benefits including but not limited to: Helping you get rid of beard dandruff, helping you maintain a healthy shine to your beard, providing some style and hold to your beard (if you chose balm), and even helping reduce itchiness, breakouts, and rashes.
Beard oil does this by simulating the natural oil produced by your skin, which gathers dirt and debris over time and must be stripped away by washing your face or using beard shampoo. This allows you to apply the clean beard oil as a replacement and allowing you to benefit from all the effects I mentioned just now.
Overall, keeping your beard healthy is no small feat, and will require time, patience, and some forethought! but with the right tools, you can easily up your beard game and feel as great as you look!
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