Nothing ruins the look of a well-groomed beard like red, angry-looking pimples hiding underneath it. Beard-related acne can be painful, frustrating and embarrassing.
The good news is that there are simple ways to prevent and treat your beard acne. With a few adjustments to your regular skin care regimen, you can achieve a blemish-free beard once more.
Here are three of the things you need to know:
- Beards must be washed regularly to remove bacteria-causing acne.
- A men’s skin care regimen that includes exfoliating and moisturizing can reduce beard-related acne.
- The wrong shaving technique can contribute to breakouts of razor bumps and beard acne.
Take Your Beard Hygiene Seriously
It’s a common misconception that beards harbor more bacteria than their clean-shaven counterparts. In fact, one famous study found the opposite to be true (see claim: “…however, certain bacterial species were more prevalent in workers without facial hair.”)
However, this in no way means that your beard doesn’t need to be washed regularly. Neglecting to wash your beard is practically asking for acne-causing bacteria to make itself at home near the hair follicles of your beard.
To keep your beard clean without over-drying it, wash your beard once a week with your shampoo and three times a week with conditioner. Don’t forget to wash the rest of your face with a men’s facial cleanser.
Tiege Tip: Choose a shampoo and conditioner with tea tree oil. This amazing ingredient contains antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties to help fight acne-causing bacteria (see claim: “Contemporary data clearly show that the broad-spectrum activity of TTO includes antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiprotozoal activities.”)
GOT ACNE?
Don’t Forget to Exfoliate
Exfoliating your beard and face twice per week is key to keeping your beard acne at bay. Dead skin cells and oils can build up on the surface of the skin, clogging pores and causing acne breakouts.
By scrubbing your beard and face with a men’s facial scrub, you can remove the dead skin cells and oil which may cause beard acne. Similarly, scrubbing your face will also help prevent painful, ingrown hairs from forming.
Guys, we promise you that exfoliating isn’t complicated. All it takes is 30 seconds of gentle scrubbing twice a week to achieve a blemish-free beard.
Keep Skin Moisturized
A lot of guys stop using their moisturizer when they get beard acne. This is the last thing you want to do if you’re struggling with breakouts.
Dry skin underneath your beard can trigger your body to create more oil to compensate, causing additional breakouts. Keeping your beard moisturized with a men’s facial moisturizer can help prevent beard acne by soothing your skin and maintaining natural oil production.
Beard oils can also help moisturize the skin underneath your beard. Just be sure to choose a beard oil product that doesn’t contain any pore-clogging ingredients.
Take the skin care quizUse a Men’s Acne Treatment System
Trying to get a handle on your existing beard acne? You may need a powerful men’s acne treatment system to eliminate it for good.
If you have sensitive skin, avoid acne treatment systems containing Benzoyl Peroxide and choose acne products containing Salicylic Acid instead. Unlike Benzoyl Peroxide, Salicylic Acid is suitable for all skin types and is a natural exfoliator (see claim: “…Salicylic Acid promotes individual corneocyte desquamation, thus simulating natural exfoliation…”).
At Tiege Hanley, we use Salicylic Acid in our acne cream—not our cleanser.
Why put Salicylic Acid in a cream and not a cleanser? It’s simple. Why would you want to wash off the active ingredient in your acne-fighting product?
Adjust Your Shave Technique
We’ve explained in a previous post that what many guys believe are pimples are razor bumps instead. However, shaving can be a sneaky cause of some beard acne.
Never cleaning your razor blades, using the same razor blade too often, shaving against the grain or using pore-clogging shaving products can all contribute to your beard acne. Fortunately, these can all be fixed with minimal adjustment to your skin care regimen.
Final Thoughts
Not every man can grow a full, lustrous beard. You deserve to proudly show off your beard in all its bushy glory.
Following these beard acne tips can help prevent and reduce the appearance of blemishes under your facial hair. If they aren’t working for you, it may be time to see a dermatologist.
