Beard Grooming – the ultimate guide

We have completed a guide dedicated to Beard Grooming

It can be a headache navigating the mass of marketing around beard grooming products, contradicting advice, and misleading claims. For something that would appear to be a simple subject there seems to be a never-ending supply of articles and advice all over the internet. Beards are more popular than ever before and announce a new age of masculinity and the embrace of the true image of the male form.

Not everyone has had the initiation or experience with facial hair that leads to a perfectly kept man mane, this can make it harder to find the advice you need. That’s why we have created The Ultimate Guide To Beard Grooming so you can find everything you need to know in one place, you will be able to quickly get up to speed with what its going to take to grow the perfect thick glossy beard that woman pine over and men are jealous of.

We will also go over subjects like how to apply beard oil and balms and why? We will discuss men’s beard grooming products and answer questions like What is the best kind of Beard Brush or Beard Comb. We will give you a step by step guide on how to get started and grow a beard from start to finish. So, let’s get to it.

First things first its important we cover the basics.

Growing a beard.

Every Man (and some woman for that matter) have the ability to grow a beard. Some of us may need a little help or guidance, but we all fundamentally have the ability. So why do some of us men struggle? Well, it can come down to a lot of different factors. Things like genetics, age, testosterone levels, health, facial scarring, and medical treatments or medications as well as skin conditions.

Obviously the first thing we need to ensure is that we are doing all the things we can do in order to optimise beard growth before we start to look at any kind of products and treatments. Some of these simple things are eating well and exercise. A good diet and exercise will help you maintain healthy testosterone levels which are imperative if you are going to grow a beard.

Next, we need to make sure we are looking after our skin. This means eating healthy in order to reduce skin breakouts, and staying hydrated, and no not just beer! Even if it is mostlymade of water haha. Also staying out excessive sunlight that might cause sunburn or other harsh environments that damage your skin is important. The reason for this is to reduce any kind of scarring that damages the skin as this will prevent skin follicles from forming and make it harder to grow a uniform beard or moustache as well as damage existing growth. Some products can help mitigate this if its not possible to avoid these situations like sunscreens or moisturisers that are SPF rated.

If you are taking any kind of medication that may interfere with hair growth, you may want to consider talking with your doctor about alternatives also. There are a host of medications that can inhibit hair growth that you may be unaware of.

If you are being discouraged by your lack of growth, don’t fret there are a many other additional beard grooming products you can use to help increase not only the appearance of your beard but also improve or increase growth also.

Now that we have built the basis of what is required to grow a beard, lets move on to how you will maintain it.

Maintaining your beard

When growing a healthy beard, a lot of people underestimate what is required at the start to end up with a strong thick beard. Growing you beard out for the first time is the crucial stage that will be the foundation of the future strength and over all appearance of your beard so its important to take the time to get it right. Here are a few pointers.

Washing your beard

Don’t wash your beard with harsh soaps and keep washing with shampoo to once every few days or less. Washing with abrasive soaps will weaken hair and drain it of natural oils and washing with soaps or shampoos to often will fatigue the hair. In fact, we recommend not using any kind of soap on your beard or face at all, and stick to non-lye based beard grooming products. Organic or natural face washes or shampoos are a good way to minimise the amount of harsh chemicals your hair and skin is exposed to. That’s why its always important to read the ingredients on your beard grooming products packaging.

Combing and brushing your beard

Using a Beard Brush or Beard Comb that is too coarse or grabs at your hair will pull beard hair out and snap hairs caught in the teeth of the comb. We recommend using a wooden beard comb like THIS one with wider teeth that doesn’t have the cast edges inside like plastic combs do. A wooden beard brush will also absorb oils rather than leave any slick on your beard hair if you accidentally add to much.

Using a beard brush or beard comb when beard grooming is a great way to keep your beard nice and presentable as well as remove dry and loose skin. Boar bristle beard brushes are the most common form, but you may want to consider a softer bristle if you have thinner hair. We also recommend starting to brush your beard from the bottom to the top. This will reduce the likelihood of you comb or brush grabbing at tangles and pulling out hair and thinning your beard.

Beard grooming, oils and balms

Moisturising your skin and beard hair with beard balms or beard oils like these will help keep the skin underneath supple and prevent drying. It will also help keep the hair hydrated and moisturised preventing breakage or split ends. This will lead to a stronger and longer beard over time. You want to make sure your beard oil or beard balms contain quality ingredients like jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, sandalwood nut oil, argan, shea butter, mango butter and cocoa butter.

Take the time to read the ingredients as this will make a difference when using any kind of beard grooming products. Try to stick to natural ingredients and steer clear of overly complex formulations that have ingredients you can’t identify.

To apply beard oil, you can follow these easy steps.

How to apply beard oil when beard grooming

Start by making sure your beard is clean and dry. If your beard is damp, it won’t absorb the Beard Oil, we would advise against hair dryers or beard straighteners generally as the heat can be damaging to the hairs structure, however a cooler blow dry will be quite safe to use. And if Its dirty, well….. Thats just gross, and its not going to give your beard a good reputation haha.

Once your beard is dry you can use one of two methods. You can take the beard oil and drip it directly onto or into your beard and massage the beard oil in or you can drip it into your hand and rub it into your beard using you fingers to massage it inward towards your skin.

I would recommend using the dripping method if you already have a thick beard using the pipette and inserting it into the beard and dripping a few small drops throughout the beard before taking your hands and massaging it in to the roots of the hair. This ensures it gets an even distribution throughout. Dripping the beard oil onto your hands first is recommended if your beard is less established and where dripping into your beard may cause overflow and a mess. Follow these steps and you will know exactly how to apply beard oil effectively every time.

How to apply beard balm

Applying beard balm is very similar to applying beard oil. You simply scoop a small amount onto your finger, place it in the palm of your hand and rub your palms together then streak your fingers through your beard like a comb and pat it down with your palms. Some beard balms are thicker than others and may not melt in as easily and you might need to generate some heat by rubbing it between your hands more before applying. It also pays to wash your hands with soap afterward to remove any residue.

Trimming and shaving your beard.

Obviously shaving is not something you first think of when growing a beard. But keeping your beard defined and eliminating stray out of place growth is essential for having a presentable appearance that is appealing, especially to the opposite sex. However, trimming and shaving can have disastrous results if the correct level of care is not taken.

 For this purpose, you may want to consider investing in some beard grooming tools to ensure you don’t accidentally over shave or over trim your beard. The safest way to trim a beard is with scissors but with the correct amount of care clippers can also be used.

 Some people recommend not trimming or shaving at all until your beard is well established, ultimately this will be a personal choice and be dependant on how your beard grows in. You certainly don’t want to not enjoy the experience or find people think it looks messy or unkempt.

This will get easier once you have and established beard, so best to take it easy in the early stages and avoid going any higher than the point where you neck meets the underside of your chin at the top of your Adams apple. Using a straight razor is an excellent way to remove stray growth outside of your desired beard profile and there are also beard templates available as a guide if you struggle to keep your beard uniform. Safety razors like THESE are also an excellent tool for removing unwanted growth and work out much more economical and eco-friendly than other razors and give a superior shave also.

Finally, we are going to discuss what beard grooming products you can use to increase, stimulate, or enhance your beard growth. This point is usually where it gets confusing for most people. There are so many claims and products on the market that its hard to identify what will actually work. So, we have compiled a very basic list of the main ingredients, treatments or medications that have been proven in a lab to work. We always recommend you read the label and follow directions on your beard grooming product packaging as well as consult your doctor before using medications.

First, we are going to cover the natural options as these are the kind of grooming products, we would recommend using first. They are very potent and can even out perform some prescription medications in lab tests.

Peppermint oil

Peppermint oil has been lab tested and out of all the natural oils had the highest increase in hair growth on mice. THIS study Showed peppermint oil to outperform all the other oils being tested and out performed minoxidil the most popular medicated hair growth treatment on the market. The results proved peppermint oil to be a powerful hair treatment for growth. Here are a few hair treatments and beard oils that contain peppermint oil.

Cinnamon Oil

Cinnamon oil has been lab tested as a hair growth treatment also. It performed well, even producing comparable results to medicated hair growth products in some samples. it performed best at 1% concentration. Cinnamon oil also has benefits other than hair growth such as increasing circulation, and this may even be one of the contributing factors to why it performs as a hair growth stimulant.

Cinnamon oil is a volatile and potent ingredient and should never be used in its pure form. The chemical that gives cinnamon its flavour and aroma is Cinnamanilide, here are the results of the study. There are several beard care products that contain cinnamon on the market, there are a few that are available HERE.

Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is another natural oil that has had positive results. The University of Maryland Medical Centre has several studies that showed jojoba oil increased hair growth above that of the control in this study. They found Jojoba oil increased growth and allowed new hair follicles to form. Although not the strongest natural hair growth stimulant, it does have added features that help.

Jojoba oil is often used as a carrier oil in men’s beard grooming products as it contains natural vitamin E. Vitamin E helps protect against sunlight damaging any active oils that are present in a formulation. It also helps with skin and hair repair. There are a whole host of beard care products that have jojoba oil in them, HERE are a few.

Minoxidil

Prescription only medicated pharmacy medicines are the last line in hair growth, Minoxidil has several studies that show it is a powerful hair growth stimulant, although it can have a varying array of potential side effects. Minoxidil is acquired via doctor’s prescription and guidance. Minoxidil can stimulate the growth of new hair follicles and the resulting hair. This study HERE compares Minoxidil with cinnamon oil and other natural oils for hair growth benefits.

Finasteride

Finasteride has probably the most notable and potent effects on men’s hair growth. Finasteride has been lab tested and has measurable positive results for hair growth (study results here). Some people might find they experience initial hair loss or other side effects like change in sexual function and/or hormones. HERE are some of those side effects. Finasteride is a prescription only medication and should only be used in conjunction with your doctor’s advice and guidance.

We hope The Ultimate Guide to Beard Grooming has helped you with your beard growing journey and that our tips will aid you in establishing a beard to be proud of. By following the steps laid out here and using the beard grooming products recommended you will have the absolute best chance of growing the best beard possible.

If you have any further questions you can contact us on our website contact form. Also, if you found this article helpful please share it or subscribe to gain more insights on beard grooming products or treatments as well as updates, new releases, and competitions. We hope you have a great day and stay hairy.