It’s not just about the beard – it’s about how you maintain it. Even the fullest, thickest, healthiest beards look lackluster when proper care falls under the bus.
Fortunately, proper beard maintenance isn’t difficult to master. Though there are a lot of different factors that go into it, the most important steps are easy to learn. Before looking at the various types of beard and mustache trimmers, for instance, it’s better to make a habit of regularly shampooing and conditioning your beard with the right products.
Simply put, using a top quality beard shampoo and conditioner on a regular basis will do wonders to increase the overall health of your beard. And a healthier beard is a better-looking beard. It’s a win-win no matter how you look at it.
Below, we will discuss the ins and outs of beard shampoo and beard conditioner. These two products are essential for every bearded man to keep in their arsenal. For more accessories, check out what else you need in a good beard grooming kit.
Why Should You Know More About Beard Shampoos and Conditioners?
With just a few minutes of use per day, beard shampoo and conditioner not only make your beard look better, but feel better as well. And what’s more masculine than a beard that both looks and feels great?
Besides, you owe it to yourself as a man to give a little attention to detail. Not only is it a manly attribute, but others will notice.
Simply put, you need to get over the fact that facial grooming has been traditionally seen as feminine. It’s just not true.
Add in the fact that the average male adds half a millimeter to their beard length every day, and it’s even easier to see why beard grooming is so vital. Indeed, understanding the proper care and maintenance of your beard is the key to stepping up your beard game to all new levels.
What is Beard Shampoo?
Beard shampoo comes in all different shapes and sizes. At its core, it’s a specially designed concoction that helps you clean and maintain your beard.
Though many men use normal shampoo on their beards with decent results, there are a number of reasons to opt for a special beard shampoo. Chief among these is that it’s designed specifically for facial hair. Because facial hair is so sensitive, beard shampoo is created to be as gentle and thorough as possible, to prevent irritation.
Pretty much anyone with a beard will benefit from beard shampoo. When you’ve mastered the habit of keeping your beard clean and soft, you can then move on to choosing the right beard balm and mustache wax.
Types of Beard Shampoos
There are various versions of beard shampoos in the market today. We’re not just talking about brands, but different ways in which we can handle and use these shampoos. These include the following:
1. Liquid
This is the most common form of beard shampoo and the kind you’re probably used to. It’s convenient, easily available, and possible to use at the gym, at home, and any other place.
2. Shampoo bars
Some people might prefer using shampoo bars, so beard shampoos are available in this form as well. If you travel a lot, restrictions in certain places might limit the liquids you can carry. In such conditions, a shampoo bar is the best option. Bars are also good for doing away with leaking risks in your baggage.
Ingredients in Beard Shampoos
When you’re on the lookout for a quality beard shampoo, it makes sense to look at the ingredients on various offerings. Some ingredients may not be the most ideal ones to put in a shampoo, especially one that’s meant for use on a beard. Overall, you want to look for mostly organic ingredients that are derived from natural sources as much as possible.
Some of the best beard shampoo ingredients to watch out for include:
- Shea butter
- Cocoa butter
- Essential oils such as peppermint, cedarwood, and pine
- Carrier oils such as jojoba, coconut, argan, tea tree, and avocado
- Vitamins such as biotin and Vitamin E
- Glycerine
- Natural scents
- Aloe vera
A beard shampoo formula with the above ingredients can both clean up the beard and make sure each strand stays moisturized. The result is likely to be facial hair that looks and feels nourished, hydrated, and fresh.
Ingredients to avoid
Here are a few ingredients that one should ideally avoid when choosing a beard shampoo:
- Synthetic fragrances
- Sulfates
- Mineral oils
- Alcohol
- Parabens
- Sodium chloride
- Phthalates
- Propylene glycol
Beard shampoos with these undesirable ingredients may provide a cleaning effect on your facial hair. They might even make a beard seem softer and more manageable for a short period of time. In the long run, however, using these ingredients can lead to skin irritations, allergic reactions, weaker hair, and depleted moisture in the beard. These effects also lead to dry skin, dandruff, and many other issues.
Why Do I Need It?
Do you have a beard? If the answer is ‘yes’, then you probably need to invest in a quality beard shampoo. This is especially true of those with long beards, as those long strands get dirty and even matted if you don’t take proper care of them. Plus, it’s easier for debris to get stuck in a long beard. Along with a proper shampoo and conditioner, combing a long beard is also quite important.
However, it’s important to understand that beard shampoo benefits every beard owner, no matter what their beard length is. The top benefits of beard shampoo include:
- Cleaner facial hair
- Softer and smoother facial hair
- Less irritation of beard and skin underneath
- Improved health of skin and beard
- If you use a quality organic beard shampoo, it can actually preserve the beneficial natural oils in your beard hair
- Using beard shampoo can reduce itching and prevent any unpleasant odor coming from the beard
- Makes the beard easier to groom, as it prevents facial hair from growing unevenly or in different directions–this makes the beard easier to groom, style, and shape as needed
- When you grow a beard, your facial and neck skin will produce more dead skin cells than before; using a quality shampoo will exfoliate these cells and replace them with useful oils
Simply put, most guys have no idea how smooth and soft those coarse, wiry hairs on their face can feel with the proper care and treatment. Beard shampoo is the easiest place to start. All you have to do is apply a little per day, rinse it off, and you’re set to go.
How to Use and Apply the Product
It doesn’t take a genius to understand how to use beard shampoo. However, if you haven’t used beard shampoo before, it may help to take a look at the following guidelines.
The first step is, of course, to have a beard. The second is to take a small amount on your fingers (specific amount depends on beard length – but think dime sized) and gently massage it into your beard. Ensure that the shampoo is massaged all the way down to skin level. At this point, wash the shampoo off. That’s all there is to it. You’re finished shampooing your beard.
So how often do you need to wash your facial hair with beard shampoo? We recommend no more than one or two times a week. Important point: Don’t over-shampoo, or it’ll strip your hair of the much-needed natural oils.
Do this and you’ll keep your beard soft, smooth, clean, and much more comfortable than before.
What is Beard Conditioner?
As its name implies, a beard conditioner is simply a grooming product that is used to condition your beard. Like hair conditioner, it’s often used in conjunction with beard shampoo.
The end goal of a beard conditioner is to moisturize and improve the health of your beard. While doing this, it also makes your beard softer, smoother, and shinier by feeding it the nutritional oils that it needs.
Many men also use beard conditioner to help style their beards. It helps you manage and control your beard rather than having your beard manage and control you. (Style? Yes. Most conditioners are otherwise called balms, and most include beeswax specifically for styling).
Why Do I Need It?
The reasons to use a beard conditioner are almost the same as the reasons to use beard shampoo. Overall, regularly using beard conditioner along with beard shampoo will usually work to improve your beard’s appearance and cleanliness. The individual benefits include:
- A softer beard that is more comfortable on a daily basis
- A smoother, shiner beard
- A bit of hold to aid in styling
- Improves the health of facial hair and skin underneath
In reality, there is no reason not to invest in a beard conditioner if you wear a beard. In addition to the many benefits discussed above, beard conditioner simply makes your beard that much easier to manage. If you’re not concerned about look or feel, you might be concerned with ease of maintenance. After all, no one wants to sport a scraggly, patchy beard that looks dirty and itches all the time.
And then, on top of that, there is health. A clean and soft beard is a healthy beard. And a healthy beard means a healthier you.
How to Use and Apply the Product
Beard conditioner is incredibly easy to use. All you have to do is put a dab on your finger, rub it into your beard, and then massage it all the way through. Be sure to massage it down to your skin.
Depending on the type of beard conditioner you use, you may or may not have to wash it out. Some beard conditioners are designed to be left in, similar to a beard balm. Others are more reminiscent of hair conditioners that need to be rinsed out after use. Be sure to carefully read the label of the particular product you’re using to see which route to take. If you want to use beard conditioner for styling purposes, you’d have to get a leave-in version.
How to Choose the Best Beard Shampoo and Conditioner
The key here is to experiment. Every man’s beard is different. The same goes for every man’s personal preferences. The consideration is similar when you’re choosing products for your hair. However, beard shampoos and conditioners are to be used on the face, which has sensitive skin. To avoid irritation, rashes, redness, or other issues, we need to be even more careful when choosing any products for our beard.
So, try out a few different beard shampoos and conditioners to see which is your favorite. You may want to conduct a patch test before trying any new products or brands. Observe the reactions and notice how your beard responds to a certain product. If all seems well, you can continue with its use.
Tips for Getting the Best Results
If you’ve invested in a quality beard shampoo and conditioner (the best ones may cost $20 or more), you also have to make sure to use them correctly. Here are some tips for correctly using the shampoo and conditioner in order to get the most attractive results possible:
- Assess your beard and know what you’re looking for–for instance, dandruff and frizziness call for products that can provide extra nourishment
- Massage in the shampoo with gentle movements; let the components absorb into the hair and skin
- After shampooing and conditioning, apply moisturizer when the beard dries
- Make sure that no leftover foam gets left in the beard
- Don’t dry the beard to harshly; use a clean towel to pat clean
FAQs
Here are a few common questions about using beard shampoos and conditioners:
- Can I use just water to wash a beard?
- It’s possible, but using only water won’t completely clean, moisturize, or condition the beard hair. This will make it wiry, hard, and possibly itchy.
- Should I use beard shampoo in the winter season?
Beard shampoos and conditioners are for every season. As long as you leave a reasonable amount of time between washes, these products can help to maintain your beard during the summer, winter, and all other seasons.
- Why should I not use beard shampoo every single day?
- It’s not necessary to shampoo your beard every single day. One every two or three days should be enough; anything more frequent than that can result in stripping away the necessary sebum oil that moisturizes the hair. This means dryness and skin irritation.
Conclusion
Even those men that tend to shun grooming products might absolutely fall in love with beard shampoo and conditioner. So now the next step is to start researching what beard shampoos and conditioners will suit you the most.
Indeed, there is nothing even the slightest bit feminine about keeping your beard in tiptop shape. It is a beard after all. And a beard is a symbol of masculinity, power, wisdom, virility, and strength.
So why wouldn’t you want to keep yours as healthy and great looking as possible?