Keeping Your Beard Stylish With Minimal Effort

So you’ve decided to grow a beard, great! Should be pretty easy, chuck your razor in the bin, wait a couple weeks, then enjoy being a lumberjack. Except, not quite, if you do just that, you’re going to end up looking like you’ve been shipwrecked. You need to take a couple steps to maintain it, not to worry, it’s still low maintenance.

Trimming

Don’t throw out your razor quite yet. You need to keep your neckline clean and after you’ve let your beard grow out to the right length, you’ll want to keep it from getting too long. There are a couple different lines that men choose to draw for where to shave, but the most widely accepted is the ear to ear line. In this image, everything below the red line needs to be shaved (not trimmed, shaved) at fairly regular intervals. Everything above simply needs to be trimmed and kept at your desired length (Shave off the random high flying hairs as well). As much as I’d like to sell you a membership for this, truth be told you won’t need one. Get an electric trimmer, and keep your wet shave razor for the neckline. Rinse it well after each shave and let it dry, and swap the blade for a fresh one as soon as it starts to tug. 

Washing

Your beard catches everything your face does, plus the odd crumb, so it does need washing. Just not the way you wash your hair. Normal shampoo is made to shift grease from your scalp, and on a beard it strips out the natural oils your skin produces. Your skin responds by making even more, and you end up with a beard that looks thin, dry and greasy all at once.

Most days, warm water is all you need. Give it a proper scrub with your fingers in the shower or at the sink, working right down to the skin, then pat it dry with a towel. Rubbing it dry just makes it frizz. If it needs more than water, say after a curry or a sweaty day, use a beard wash once or twice a week. It is far gentler than shampoo and leaves the oils where they belong.

Beard oil

Once your beard is clean and towel dry, it is time for beard oil. Put it on while the hair is still slightly damp and the skin underneath is warm, and it will soak in far better.

They are made in a variety of masculine scents [My beard oil is a very classic smell of frankincense] that can take the place of cologne or aftershave.

It’s made of all natural oils, such as jojoba, grapeseed, almond, and castor along with the essential oils that give the product its scent. Jojoba oil specifically is the magic ingredient; used by Native Americans for many years, it’s nontoxic, hypoallergenic, and enhances the beard’s natural oils. When you work beard oil through your beard and moustache, the hydration goes straight to the follicle, much like a conditioner does when you wash your hair.

That hydration will keep your beard healthy, but it will also hydrate your skin, which doesn’t get a lot of attention under a beard. This helps to prevent beard flakes, basically dandruff for your beard, and something you’ll want to avoid.

Beyond the work it does below the surface, beard oil is a great grooming tool itself. The hydrating ingredients will help to keep coarse hair neat and smooth, making your beard touchable, soft, tangle-free, and keeps it from getting frizzy. The photo shows a fellow bearded man before he used beard oil (left) and a couple of weeks after he started using it (right).

It’s easy to apply, before heading out the door, take a few drops into your hand and then apply it to your beard, work it in a little and you’re good to go! Since you only need a few drops, a 30ml bottle will last ages. I’ve spent a good amount of time perfecting a beard oil that has all the needed oils (without including chemicals), you can check it out here!

Combing

The last step, and the easiest one to skip. A comb spreads the oil evenly from root to tip, clears out tangles and trains the hairs to sit the way you want them to. Go for a wooden comb with wide teeth, as plastic ones snag and build up static.

Start by combing up and away from your face, against the grain, to fluff the beard out and lift any hairs that have gone flat overnight. Then comb it back down into shape. If you hit a knot, stop and work it loose with your fingers, because dragging a comb through it will snap the hair. Two minutes, and you are ready for the day.