5 Essential Beard Maintenance Tips
Men’s facial hair is the worlds worst secret; its hard work to stay well groomed and look healthy. Anyone who has grown a full beard will attest that it looks easier than it really is. If a man sports a great looking beard it’s because he’s investing the time to shape and maintain it.
Guys with good beards don’t have bad skin either; no itching and partners don’t deal with beard burn. Their necklines are shaped carefully and the facial hair is styled in the best way possible, too. Achieving the ideal outcome comes down to three things: trimming the edges, effectively dealing with flyaways and nourishing both your skin and hair.
#beardtips
#1 Beard maintenance includes skincare
Some guys think - I need to remove this hair instead of I need to keep my skin healthy. If this sounds like you, then you might be having to deal with unnecessary irritation, infection, and razor burn. The Take your time and shave around the beard carefully, and use a quality razor that is sufficiently sharp. Any proper shave takes time, and the pre- and post-shave care is especially important. Even if you’re just planning to maintain your facial hair, be sure your skin is clean. You need to make sure the pores are open beforehand and properly sealed after to avoid irritation.
Making adjustments to your grooming ritual, such as starting off the shave with a hot shower, and end it with a cold splash of water to help prepare your skin. Beard balm can help cover and soothe your pores after a shave, other aftershave gel products can work well too.
#mustache
#2 Just relax when trimming your mustache
The mustache is often neglected, but it actually forms a really important part of the overall shape and look of your beard. Successful grooming above the lip is about creating a normal ‘resting’ face when trimming, to assure your mustache stays even regardless of how you move your face. To get results, you will likely want to invest in mustache scissors for great control and a more natural look.
You also need a small comb as you groom. Use it to move the mustache hairs straight down, then determine how much length need to be trimmed. Once you’ve figured out how much to remove, the size can be reduced by combing hairs away from your skin and gradually removing the top layers of the stache. Like most of the grooming tips here, taking your time to do it slowly and do it right is really the essence of tip #2.
#longbeards
#3 Know how to use beard oil and beard balm
Its not an either/or situation, both beard oil and balm have their strengths and their place as part of a mans grooming ritual. Essentially, beard oil acts as a moisturizing and conditioning agent that can help stimulate growth and treat your beard as well as the skin underneath, to make this work best though, its important to rub oil into the base of the hairs, around the skin. Hydration is key. On the other hand, beard balm is a styling agent that can help add volume and shape to your beard, it helps you to deodorize beard hair and helps lock in moisture - it becomes essential when maintaining large beards well. So, while both can nourish the hairs, oil is for softening the bristles and hydrating the skin, and balm is for styling and protecting the hairs from environmental wear and dehydration.
#mensgrooming
#4 Your beard neckline should form a “U” shape
It's difficult to understand what you're supposed to do with a beards edge, and it's so easy to go wrong. Barbers recommend that there is one, well established way to do this well. The tip goes like this: Take your index and middle finger, and place them together above the Adam’s apple to determine the baseline for the bottom of the beard.
This measurement helps to set a line from this point straight across the neck. Start there with your trimmer or razor first, then trim the hairs underneath. The next step is to move from this point above the Adam’s apple and shave a “U” shape from the back of both ears, behind the jawline, well defining your neckline in the process.
#beardstyles
#5 fade your beard neckline too
This tip is for shorter beards which often look better when there is a softer contrast from beard to skin. Beard fading works in much in the same way a barber fades the sides of your haircut — all you need is to follow a few simple steps with your trimmer.
Put a 1-guard on your clipper and close it all the way,
Trim roughly one full inch into the beard
Take the guard off and trim halfway up into the 1-guard line for a steadier contrast
The end result is a graduation from bare neck to full beard over the initial one inch of beard, creating a cleaner, distinguished look.
