From city streets to corporate boardrooms, beards are everywhere these days. If you’re one of the many guys who has jumped on the facial hair trend, you probably know that achieving the perfect beard is easier said than done.
As if growing a full beard wasn’t difficult enough, there’s also the matter of choosing the right beard style for your face shape and slogging through a bunch of beard care products to maintain the ideal look.
If you’re willing to put a little time and effort into your facial hair, achieving an enviable beard is possible. With the following beard grooming tips, you’ll be well on your way to bushy, bearded perfection.
Here are several things you should know about achieving the perfect beard:
- The right beard style can hide imperfections and highlight your best features.
- Most beards go through awkward growth stages initially. Be patient and give it time to grow.
- Taking good care of your beard hair and the skin underneath is key to perfecting your facial hair.
Tip #1: Choose a Flattering Beard Style
Just because you can grow a full circle goatee doesn’t mean that you should. Similar to eye glasses or certain hair styles, your face shape can dictate what looks best on you.
To pick the perfect beard style for your face, figure out what your face shape is, and which features you want to highlight or soften. If you have a round face shape and want to create an illusion of a chiseled jawline, avoid thicker styles that make your face appear rounder and consider opting for stubble instead.
Plus, your girl might appreciate the heavy stubble over a big, bushy beard anyway. In a 2016 study published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, researchers surveyed more than 8,500 women on their facial hair preferences and found that “heavy stubble” was rated the most attractive (see claim: “We found that light and heavy stubble faces were more attractive than either full beards and clean-shaven faces…”)
Tip #2: Ignore Awkward Growth Stages
Facial hair grows at different rates, which means that most guys will inevitably go through awkward stages while growing out a beard. Unless you have low testosterone levels, there isn’t much that you can do to make your beard grow faster and thicker besides getting on a regular grooming routine.
Just be patient and give it a few months to grow before touching it with a trimmer. In the meantime, apply beard oil to your facial hair to minimize itch and promote healthy skin underneath your beard.
Tip #3: Wash and Exfoliate Your Beard Regularly
Washing and exfoliating are essential to achieving a magnificent beard. A word to the wise, though: Don’t use your bar soap to wash your beard.
Bar soaps have a high pH and can dry out the skin underneath your beard. According to a 1997 study published in Dermatology, increasing the pH of the skin irritates its protective barrier and changes the bacterial flora in the epidermis, resulting in dry and dehydrated skin (see claim: “The increase of the skin pH irritates the physiological protective 'acid mantle', changes the composition of the cutaneous bacterial flora…”)
The dry skin underneath your beard isn’t a good look and can result in beard dandruff, among other problems. Instead, pick up a beard shampoo or use a daily facial cleanser for men to wash your beard a few times a week.
You should also use a men’s face scrub to exfoliate the skin beneath your beard once or twice a week. This will remove oil and dead skin cells from the surface of your skin, which will help prevent dreaded beard dandruff and reduce acne breakouts.
Take the skin care quizTip #4: Shape Your Beard Like a Pro
Facial hair can have a mind of its own. By that, we mean that it tends to grow in all different directions.
As your beard grows, use a beard comb to brush your hair in the direction that you want it to go. You may hear some guys refer to this as “training” your beard.
Once you have enough facial hair to work with, it’s time to keep it in line with regular trims. Make sure that you define the neckline and cheek lines without making them appear unnatural.
Also, keep in mind that you can always set your trimmer to a higher setting and go back if it’s not short enough. The same can’t be said if you start out on a low setting and trim too much.
Aim for a Healthy Beard
Since facial hair growth often comes down to genetics and personal preference, it’s difficult to say what makes a beard “perfect.” Regardless of whether it’s a big, bushy beard or a small goatee, most guys will agree that healthy facial hair and skin are among the keys to perfecting any beard.
If you already have the basic beard necessities, don’t forget to grab the essentials you need for healthy skin. With Tiege Hanley’s skin care system for men, you can achieve perfect skin on top of your perfect beard.
