Beard Care and Grooming Supplies

Washing

Wash the beard two or three times a week with a beard wash or a gentle shampoo, not body soap, which is too harsh for facial skin and strips the hair. Work it to the skin with your fingertips rather than only over the surface. Rinse fully and pat dry rather than rubbing. Daily washing dries coarse beard hair out; not washing at all leaves food, product and dead skin against the face, which is what most beard itch actually is.

Oil against balm

Beard oil is for the skin underneath and for softening the hair, and it absorbs without leaving hold. Beard balm contains a wax or butter, so it conditions and also gives light hold and shape, which matters more as the beard gets longer. Short beards usually need oil only. Longer beards benefit from oil to the skin and balm through the length. Apply either after washing while the beard is still slightly damp, a few drops or a fingertip of balm, worked from the skin outward.

Brushing and combing

A boar bristle brush distributes oil from the skin down the hair and trains the direction of growth, which is what makes a beard look even. A wide-tooth beard comb detangles without pulling. Coarse, tightly curled beard hair tangles at the base and needs the comb more than a straight beard does. Brush daily; it does more for the shape than trimming does.

Trimming

Trim with the beard dry and in its natural position, since wet hair sits longer and you will cut more than you meant to. Use a guard and go longer than you think for the first pass. Define the neckline about an inch and a half above the Adam's apple, following the jaw curve rather than a straight line, and leave the cheek line high and natural unless you have a specific shape in mind. Trim every one to two weeks to keep the shape rather than reshaping every month.

Ingrown hairs and irritation

Curly beard hair curves back into the skin easily, which produces bumps under the beard as well as at the shaved edges. Gentle exfoliation two or three times a week with a soft brush or a washcloth helps release trapped hairs. Do not dig them out. If bumps are persistent, painful, filled or spreading, that is worth a doctor's opinion rather than another product, since infected follicles and keloid-prone areas need proper treatment.