I know the social media (and probably some friends) have done us a lot of harm by showing off men with seemingly perfect and gorgeous beards and allowing us to think that they were born with it, or they have some magic powers. Although genetics has a huge role to play, there are a lot of things that must be done, asides the regular washing and trimming, before you can achieve your beard goals.
So maybe you have grown a beard (congratulations), and you want to manage and maintain it properly.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered:
- Take care of your body: To look good, you have to feel good. Whether you like it or not, the extent to which your body is taken care of determines the growth of your beard. So it is very important that you take care of your body by:
- Eating a healthy diet: To give your body the boost that it needs, eat foods rich in protein, nuts, vitamin C, and lots of leafy greens. If you think you are not getting enough nutrients, a daily dose of multivitamin supplements will do you a world of good.
- Exercising regularly: Exercise helps your body stay in shape and achieve a lot of things. So, a simple cardio and weight lifting here and there will do the trick.
- Ensuring that your skin is clean at all times: This is not just important, but MANDATORY! Beards are great, but they trap dirt and oil with time, so they cannot flourish on an unclean skin. Ensure that you exfoliate and wash your skin properly to open up the pores.
- Give your beards the right treatment: Your beards will grow based on how you treat it. You can do this by:
- Shampooing regularly: Do not make the mistake of using regular bathing or washing soap on your beards. Get a moisturizing beard shampoo (there are different ones for different hair types) and use it every other day, to keep your beards looking smooth and soft.
- Condition your beards: Use a quality conditioner for your beards. Beard hairs break easily, so conditioners prevent that and retain its texture. You can even use a leave-in conditioner if you do not want to rinse it out immediately.
- Make the best use of beard oils: Beard oils are amazing! Get one, apply a little portion on your beard and gently comb it through.
- Comb out tangles: Because of the nature of the beards, the hairs tend to tangle easily and may leave you looking untidy. You can defeat this by regularly combing your beards to loosen tangles. It is, therefore, advisable that you use a wide-toothed comb for this.
- Get the right shape with a beard trimmer or scissors: Most people advise that you trim your beards with scissors, but if you are going for a tapered beard, you can use a beard trimmer. Start from the bottom, trim in little groups and then work your way up, rather than just shearing everything off at once. You can also use a comb combined with the scissors to trim at even lengths.
However, ensure that you trim your beards when it’s dry to avoid complications. If you can’t do this yourself, get a professional.
- Clean up the edges: The difference between an average beard and a classy beard is the clearly defined edges, gentlemen! Shave any straying strand of hair, trim your mustache (if you’ve got any) and smoothen the neckline.