Beard Maintenance Tips For All Beard Lengths & Thicknesses
No matter what stage you’re at in your beard-growing journey, beard care and beard maintenance are important if you want to look good with facial hair. Each bloke will grow a different beard to the person they’re standing next to, so there’s no one trick to guarantee a perfect beard. That’s why a regular maintenance routine is a must if you want to graduate from stubble to a full-fledged beard.
Just like gym or work, there’s no point comparing yourself to celebrities and people on the street blessed with Viking beard DNA. Your beard is for you, so these tips are to help produce the best results for your whiskers!
Men’s moustache trim - Completed by HMB Barbers
Know What You Can Grow
Beards come in all shapes and sizes, and that variation comes down to genetics. Sure, we all think of the full-bodied lumberjack when we imagine a beard, but not every man carries the gene to grow that.
Some blokes have more hair follicles on their face than others, and some have thicker hair. Because of that they will grow denser, coarser beards. You know, the type where you can’t even see the chin underneath. In reality, only a small percentage (about 25%) can grow behemoth beards like that.
Don’t worry if you feel like you can’t sprout a full beard either. It’s not a sign of having less testosterone since most men who have patchy beards still have regular testosterone levels. It just means your family grows facial hair differently. The best way to tell what beard you can grow is to look at the older men in your family. You should be able to identify some similarities with either your father or grandfathers.
These Tips Can Improve Your Hair Growth, But Won’t Change Your DNA
Maintaining expectations is important when it comes to beard growth. These tips can help improve your beard thickness and promote peak beard growth, but if it’s not in your genes to wear a certain beard type, it just won’t happen. That’s like expecting to go blonde naturally when your hair is dark.
Men’s haircut and beard trim - Completed by HMB Barbers
Wash It
A clean beard is a happy beard. Just like your hair, you want to wash your beard about 1-2 times a week. Washing it too much or too little can damage your beard, so keeping a good schedule is perfect. Clean and conditioned hair promotes beard strength, so it’s less likely to be damaged.
Don’t reach for your hair shampoo either! Your beard hair is different to what’s on your head. Specialised beard shampoo keeps your whiskers soft, smooth and non-frizzy. We recommend the ‘Bearded Chap’s Beard Soaps and Washes for top-notch Aussie quality beard care. It’s what all our pro barbers use, and we always recommend it for home use because it simply works the best! With three distinct scents to choose from, you’ll surely be able to find the perfect wash for you.
Skin Care
Out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind with beard care. It’s far more important to have good skincare with a beard than it is without one. Beards draw natural oils away from the skin and collect dirt which can be irritating. Regular moisturising and exfoliating prevent itchiness, beard dandruff, irritation and other related issues. Better yet, healthier skin can improve hair growth because it improves blood circulation.
Fade haircut and beard line up - Completed by HMB Barbers
Trim Regularly
It’s a myth that trimming hair stimulates growth. Your hair will always grow as thickly as it is naturally. What beard trimming does is make your beard look thicker and adds structure to it. Regular beard trimming is great for people who are happy with their length and want to focus on filling it out. If you’re someone who worries about a thin beard, trimming it can make it seem fuller.
Beard Oil
Hate the beard itches? This is the leading reason most men want to shave their whiskers off. This is where beard oil comes in. Even beards of a few inches will benefit from a few drops of a quality beard oil, which creates a barrier on the surface of your skin that keeps moisture on the roots of your beard and prevents dryness.
Being in Australia, humidity is a real beard killer since it can make facial hair frizz up and dry out. If that sounds like a common problem, beard oil can help ensure your beard is healthy and moisturised at all times. For best practice, apply two to three drops of beard oil to your hands, rub together to warm the oil and then apply directly to the face. Remember, the oil is for the skin, not the hair itself.
At HMB Barbers we trust Australia’s own ‘Bearded Chap’ beard grooming products. By using the finest oils from around the world, the Bearded Chap’s oils are some of the best you can get in the market. To pick your own up, visit your nearest HMB Barbers, or check out our online store! By far our most popular scent is the Gin & Tonic beard oil. With strong tones of citrus and juniper, you’ll always smell ready for a party!
Promote Growth
There’s a lot of ‘snake oil’ on the market right now, but a few options for beard growth actually do work. We recommend a derma roller as the best natural method to promote thickness. Essentially a beard roller uses microneedles to stimulate your skin to increase the production of collagen and keratin, both of which are crucial to hair growth.
Be Patient
Patience is the biggest killer when growing and looking after a beard. People who want to grow their beard out shouldn’t touch their beard at all for 6-8 weeks until their beard develops a good natural structure. If you’re happy with your beard length, most people get their beard touched up every 2-4 weeks, depending on the level of structure they want from it.
Find The Right Style
Like we said earlier, not everyone’s beard grows the same. A big part of looking good with a beard comes down to the style you wear it in. If you’ve given up on trying to sprout a big, bushy beard, maybe try for something thinner like the Johnny Depp goatee and moustache combo, or some designer stubble. Oftentimes if you have a thinner, or patchy beard, it’s going to look better trimmed short where hair struggles to grow and longer where you can grow decent thickness (this tends to be the chin and moustache area).
Exercise & Diet
Going for a run and eating a few carrots won’t mean a lush, thick beard is going to erupt from your chin. But, lifestyle changes are proven to increase testosterone levels and improve blood flow, two big things when it comes to beard growth. Exercise also lowers stress which also helps keep a nice beard.
Supplements
To create something, your body needs to take energy from somewhere else. Hair growth requires certain vitamins and nutrients, so what you put into your body can impact how well your hair grows.
Like with all supplements, check with your doctor to ensure it is safe for you to be taking. Supplements to look out for are: biotin, vitamin E, protein, zinc, magnesium, copper, vitamin C, and vitamin D. Not all these vitamins are linked directly to hair growth, but they can improve other body functions. As we know, a healthy body will produce healthier hair. Alternatively, you can shift your diet and lifestyle around to increase your intake of these vitamins naturally.
Get A Pro’s Opinion
If your beard pursuits have left you scratching your chin (literally and figuratively), come and chat to one of our barbers. HMB Barbers are experts on men’s grooming and style, so we know from experience which beards look best on certain people. Even one trip to the barbershop is enough to guide your beard in the right direction so you’ll know how to keep looking your best.