By Sander - The Beardmen A masculine beard with a healthy shine doesn’t just happen: you have to work hard for it. All day long, your beard hair is exposed to various factors that stunt beard growth and they can cause skin irritation and/or make your beard feel harsh. With these grooming routines and products, your beard will always look groomed and healthy. Let’s get started!
Why Maintain Beard Grooming?
Throughout the day, your beard is exposed to many culprits: rain, polluted air, UV rays, excess sebum and accessories like a trimmer and razors. Especially on days with extreme weather conditions, you can feel your beard hair getting harder and stiffer. And this is not good for your beard, nor for the skin under it.
Finally, of course, you just want to look good with a groomed beard. A beard can easily look unkempt, so you’ll need to adopt daily grooming routines.
How Do You Maintain Your Beard?
In this Ultimate Guide, we’ll tell you exactly how to maintain a beard. There are three parts to maintaining a beard:
- Using the right beard care products
- Using the right beard accessories
- Applying the right grooming routines
1. Beard grooming: Which grooming products to use?
Applying good beard oil is not enough. It’s important to know what kind of products your beard needs. Every beard is different: Some grow faster than others, some have thicker or thinner beard hair and there are all kinds of beards and types.
Below we discuss different products that help with proper beard care. We try to indicate for each product which beard it is best suited, but ultimately it is also a matter of trial and error:
Using beard oil
Beard oil helps keep your beard hair in check and gives your beard a nice shine. It also softens the beard. It is a grooming product and a styling product at the same time.
We recommend beard oil for all types and kinds of beards. It is actually essential because it moisturizes the skin under the beard. So perfect for dry skin.
Shampoo or soap
Wash your beard regularly with a beard shampoo. A beard shampoo helps remove all residue and excess sebum.
A beard shampoo, like beard oil, is important for good hygiene and necessary for all beards.
Conditioner
A beard conditioner helps remove natural oils, sebum and other grooming products.
A beard conditioner softens your beard hair. Therefore, it is particularly intended for people with hard and coarse beard growth.
Beard foam
A beard foam is used to soften your beard and has a moisturizing effect. It makes trimming and styling easier.
It helps against beard redness and dry underlying skin, but a good beard oil makes beard foam unnecessary.
Beard serum
Need to breathe new life into a dull beard? Try using beard serum for a nice shine. It also softens the beard.
A beard serum is especially for owners of lifeless beards that you can’t model.
Beard wax or mustache wax
Styling the beard is done with a beard wax. It also gives your beard a nice polish.
Beard wax is particularly recommended for long beards. However, it is vital to rinse out the wax thoroughly with a beard shampoo at the end of the day.
Beard butter
Beard butter is made of natural fats that soften your beard and prevent dry and irritated skin.
Beard lotion
You can buy beard lotion as a cream or spray. A lotion is mainly for the health of your beard.
Beard balm
A beard balm allows you to style your beard hair.
Beard scrub
Use a beard scrub to remove dandruff, flakes and dead skin cells. This is done by massaging the scrub in slowly. This is considered extra care for a less groomed beard.
You might be thinking: why do I need a special shampoo or wax for my beard? A good question: because these products are tailored to your beard and the underlying skin, which have different needs than head hair. So it’s not like you can use any shampoo or oil you like.
2.Beard grooming: what accessories do you need?
A beautiful beard is not only achieved by using the right products: proper care can only be achieved with the right beard accessories. Which accessories are really necessary?
Comb and/or brush
To shape your beard and make sure your beard hair grows in the right direction. Brushing a beard is not only for longer beards, but also for short beards.
Note that a beard comb or brush takes quite a bit of hair with it. So be careful if you want to grow a nice full beard.
Beard scissors come in handy for trimming whiskers or when you have uneven beard growth. This tool gives you more control than a trimmer.
A beard dermaroller is mainly used to stimulate beard growth.
Straightener
A beard straightener is used to style a beard. This turns a curly beard into a sleek beard.
Trimmer
Trimming your beard is important for a well-groomed beard and to remove all dead hair.
3. Daily routines for a healthy beard
To best maintain your beard, we recommend the following grooming routines:
- Hair washing: At the end of the day, wash your hair with beard shampoo. If you use oily styling products, wash your beard with a conditioner as well.
- Apply beard oil: before going to bed, apply beard oil. Massage it well. This is good for the beard and the underlying skin.
- Beard balm or beard wax: model your beard with a balm or wax. It gives your hair a nice glow. A beard wax is slightly harder and stiffer than a balm.
- Extra care: Do you have dry skin, flaky skin or does your beard hair feel hard and coarse? Then use a beard scrub while showering and beard lotion after showering.
- Cut & Trim: Depending on your desired beard length, cut & trim your beard hair once every 2 – 4 weeks. A stubble or short beard should be trimmed more often.
Maintaining different beard lengths
Every beard is different and the biggest difference is in the beard length. For example, stubble requires different care than a long beard. Here’s how to best care for your beard.
How do you care for stubble?
Stubble is about 1-2 mm long. It is especially important to use a soothing beard oil after trimming it. That way, your skin won’t get irritated and your beard will stay nice and healthy.
Let your beard stand? Then trim only the uneven areas.
How to take care of a short beard?
A short beard has hairs about 1 – 2 cm long. A short beard is prone to stiff hair that can cause irritation. This makes using beard oil especially important. Brush your beard when it is longer than 5 cm.
You will notice that your beard growth is not uniform. This can be solved by trimming the beard regularly. This will require a skilled hand, but it will come naturally!
How to groom a long beard
A long beard is less prone to short, annoying hair that can cause a lot of itching. Beard oil is still a good grooming product, but for a longer beard, a balm is often better. It not only takes care of your long beard hair, but also shapes it nicely.
As you can imagine, with a long beard it is important to wash properly. This is done by massaging a shampoo and/or conditioner into the beard. After showering, comb or brush your beard in the direction of growth. Using a beard brush is especially important for longer beards.
Shaping your beard? Use beard scissors to cut off any outliers so that the beard length is the same everywhere.
How to groom a mustache
To properly maintain a mustache, it is important to wash it properly and cut or trim it regularly. If you have a long mustache, we recommend using beard oil and possibly mustache wax to shape the hair. For your cheeks, use a razor or trimmer.
There is a difference between a short mustache and a long mustache. The more hair, the more attention the underlying skin needs.
Beard grooming tips
For a groomed and beautiful male beard, we have a few more tips for maintaining your facial hair:
- Regularity is important: Stick to your grooming routines. The more you invest in your beard, the more you’ll get in return.
- Use products with natural ingredients: choose natural grooming products: this way you can enjoy a beautiful beard for a long time.
- Give your beard extra attention in winter and summer: In extreme weather conditions, your beard can use some extra attention. This is because both the beard and the skin underneath dry out more quickly.
- Don’t overuse grooming products: Find out which grooming products are right for your type of beard growth. Grooming products are good, but using too many of them can clog pores.
- Keep an eye on beard and scalp health: dry skin, itching or bumps? It is important to address these ailments as soon as possible by taking proper care of your facial health.
The most important thing is to wash your beard properly and keep it clean. Therefore, the most essential beard products are: beard oil and beard shampoo.
How to trim and cut?
To best care for your beard, it is important to trim it regularly. You can do this with a beard trimmer or beard scissors.
Trimming a beard can be quite tricky at first. You do need a practiced hand for it.
Frequently asked questions
Everyone should have a well-groomed beard with a healthy shine. Our website is full of tips on how to take care of your beard and encourage beard growth. Here are some frequently asked questions:
How to maintain a beginning beard?
When you’re just starting out, your beard will be short and prickly. This can cause quite a bit of irritation. Use a beard oil to soften your beard hairs.
What should you put in your beard?
From a beard shampoo to a beard balm, there are lots of grooming products for your beard on the market. The most important ones for proper care are: shampoo and beard oil. To shape your beard, use a balm or wax.
How should I groom my beard?
To best care for your beard, wash it regularly with a shampoo. If you have a longer beard, you should brush and comb it regularly. Using beard oil is recommended for both the beard itself and the skin underneath.
How to maintain a full beard?
With a full beard, it is especially important to properly maintain the skin underneath. A full beard makes it harder for the skin to breathe, so beard oil is good to use. Other than that, it is important to exfoliate the hair and skin regularly.