A Beginner’s Guide to Beard Care and Grooming – Every Man Should Know

Welcome bearded friend! I am sure you will agree that proper beard care is crucial to the look, shape and health of our beloved beard. Gone are the days of wild growth and beard anarchy. Grooming isn’t just for the mean part-time suburban hipster, it’s for seasoned guys like you too.

This beard care guide was created to help you with any beard situation. In every difficult phase of beard growth. I’ll help you get over that disgusting itch, tame wild whiskers, improve your daily routine and give you the right instructions if you want to trim the hairy beast.

This guide really does cover everything you need to know about beard care. A digital reference work, so to speak. You don’t have to read everything, don’t worry. Just jump to the part that interests you right now:

Why you should groom your beard

I am well aware that there are men for whom the word care in connection with their own body seems rather alien. “Isn’t that what women need 2 hours in the bathroom for?” “Such a Metro phenomenon?”, one hears again and again. Body care and above all beard care is by no means unmanly.

I’ll even go so far as to say that beard care is an absolute must for anyone who decides to leave even more than 1mm of stubble on their face. But why is this so important? The beard grows without the right care. That’s true, but the right care decides between a woodsman and a gentleman, between a casual statement and too lazy to shave. The right care for your beard will help you:

• Make your beard softer and smoother
• Stop annoying itching
• prevent beard dandruff
• Make your beard smell manly
• uvm.

These are just a few of the bearded problems that can be solved with the right grooming measures. What the measures look like, which products you should use and where you get them from – you will find out all this in this article. Let’s get in:

These are just a few of the bearded problems that can be solved with the right grooming measures. What the measures look like, which products you should use and where you get them from – you will find out all this in this article. Let’s get in:

“You still have a lot to take care of” – Master Yoda

Beard care tips and instructions

The following beard care tips are divided into a full beard, a 3-day beard, and mustache care.

Full beard care: how to maintain a beard & keep it healthy

This section is by far the most detailed, and not without reason. Anyone who has cherished, cared for, trimmed, loved and often cursed their beard for several months or years will know how much attention a magnificent beard sometimes requires.

So let’s first devote our full attention to the full beard and start with an unpleasant topic:

How to stop beard itching

Your beard is itchy and you don’t know what to do about it? Don’t worry, I was in the same phase as you are now and got the itch under control with a few simple remedies.

Especially when the beard is still quite virgin (about 2-3 weeks old), it starts to make you pull out the razor with an unpleasant itching. You must stay strong, young Padawan! The following tips will help you:

The nourishing base oils in beard oil make your beard softer and smoother and counteract itching. Gone are the days of wiry and prickly beard hair. Massage into dry beard every morning after showering.​

There are special shampoos and conditioners for your beard. Above all, these ensure that your beard is cleaned and does not dry out. And that’s a good thing, because: brittle and dry whiskers increase the pricking and scratching. When choosing shampoo and conditioner, pay attention to particularly mild products. Most specialty beard shampoos have natural-based ingredients.​

The beard brush is one of my favorite tools. With it, care products such as beard oil or balm can be distributed evenly in the beard. It also stimulates the body’s own sebum production and untangles frizzy beard hair.

You can find the full article with more tips here: 7 simple tips on how to stop itching effectively

How To Soften A Beard- Most Effective Ways to Soften Your Beard

There are many reasons why your beard isn’t soft. These include, for example, a lack of moisture and incorrect or lack of care. But how can you treat your bearded mane to soften it? Very simple: With the following beard care routine, even a perwoll sweater can pack up.

Wash your beard with shampoo and conditioner every other or third day. The shampoo will clean your beard of dirt and impurities that have built up throughout the day. The conditioner then ensures that the outer cuticle layer of the beard hair is closed.

After this treatment, your beard will feel noticeably smoother. However, you only reach the Persian cat level after the second step.​

Once you’ve gotten through the washing and drying process, it’s time for 2 natural emollients: beard oil and/or beard balm. Beard oil consists of a mixture of nourishing and moisturizing base oils and essential oils. Beard balm, on the other hand, is a bit firmer. It usually contains beeswax and shea or cocoa butter and is therefore also shaping in addition to its caring properties.

The application is quite simple: Massage a few drops of beard oil thoroughly into your beard with your fingers. Be economical with the dosage, otherwise your beard will quickly shine like the fries from the fry shop next door.

The application of beard balm does not present you with any major challenges either: scrape some balm out of the jar with your fingertip and rub it between your fingers until a homogeneous film is formed. As with the beard oil, you can now massage the balm into your beard.

It is not absolutely necessary that you use both care products. If you want to style your beard in addition to softening, the balm is definitely recommended.

Your face mat should have gained some suppleness after the first 2 steps. If that’s not enough for you and you’re fancy, spread the body’s own sebum and the built-in care product with a beard brush from the roots to the tips of your beard hair.

You can find out why you should pay attention to boar bristles when choosing a beard brush under the heading “Beard care products”.

Check out the full article with more tips here: How to Soften Your Beard – The Complete Guide to Softening Beards

Get rid of dandruff in beard: What Causes It and How Do You Treat It?

Is there anything worse than dandruff? Isn’t it enough that the little white skin cells are already trickling off your scalp? No, they don’t even stop at the facial skin under the beard.

Enough moaned. This article is problem-solving-oriented. So let’s tackle the dandruff problem under the beard. But before that, you should know why dandruff occurs in the first place. This will help you to avoid them preemptively. Causes of beard dandruff are mainly:

1. Dry facial skin
2. fungal infections​

But what helps against beard dandruff?

Due to its nourishing and moisturizing ingredients, beard oil is ideal for combating dry skin under the beard. The base oils contained, such as argan oil, almond oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil or macadamia nut oil, have a soothing and anti-inflammatory effect. They’re also perfect for softening your whiskers, making them less prickly.

Earlier I explained that one cause of dandruff is dry skin. So it’s not just about treating the symptoms, it’s about getting to the root of the problem.

Do you often take very hot showers? If so, you should reconsider your shower routine. If the water is too hot, your skin’s natural oil film will be attacked. The result: the skin starts to itch. So better wash your beard with lukewarm water.

In the course of the article you have already heard about the wonderful properties of a beard brush.

In addition to detangling and untangling your beard hair and the great facial massage, they can also help you with beard dandruff, because: Among other things, they ensure that dead skin cells are removed from the beard. It’s better if you have the scales in your brush than in your whiskers, right?

This tip may not be intuitive at first. But your diet plays an important role in maintaining your skin health. Skin problems are often a reflection of your inner health.

Choosing the right food sources is not really difficult: foods containing minerals such as radishes, radish, veal, fish, legumes, seafood, whole grain products or cabbage are rich in zinc and vitamin C and are therefore an important cornerstone for healthy skin. A lack of zinc can manifest itself in dry skin and hair loss, among other things.

Vitamins A, E and B7 also play an important role in your skin health. Nuts, flaxseed, carrots and dairy products are good suppliers of the vitamins listed here. You can find a detailed article on hair health through a balanced diet here.

Actually a no-brainer tip, but because many forget it, I’ll mention it here anyway: Make sure you drink enough fluids during the day. Too little water favors dry skin and thus tiresome dandruff.

You can find the full article with more tips here: Dandruff on the beard – How to get rid of it

How to Straighten Your Beard: 5 Clever & Effective Ways

If your beard has already passed its virgin status of the first 1-2 months, a question will be buzzing in your mind that you probably never would have thought of before:

How the heck can I straighten my beard? ($5 for me in the curse cash register)

The longer the hair becomes, the more unruly and adventurous it stands in all directions. Especially after getting up or showering, your hair frizzes and curls like a poodle at a hairstyle contest.

To prevent a bad beard day, here are the top steps to straighten your beard hair. Eric Bandholz explains his daily routine in great detail in this video:

Here I have summarized the steps again in text form.

What you need for smoothing:

• Bartol
• Bartbalsam
• hair dryer (with small diffuser)
• Bartkamm

So geht´s:

Spread some beard oil evenly on your beard right after you shower. As an optional step, you can then massage beard balm into your beard for the first shaping. This helps to keep the mane in check at first.

Now the hair dryer comes into play. Place the small diffuser or styling attachment on top and start drying the beard from bottom to top on low speed and medium heat. The goal of this step is to untie the large knots and separate the hair. Blow dry your whiskers until they are almost dry.

The hair should now basically be smoother and no larger curls should be left. Now it’s time to tame the hair that’s sticking out. To do this, blow-dry your hair from top to bottom with the styling attachment and use your hand or a comb (a brush also works) to help with stroking movements in the same direction. So the bath falls down nicely.

Finish off your beard with a beard balm (if you didn’t already use it in step 1).

Even if I don’t recommend it for daily use: You can also straighten your beard with a straightening iron as the last step. However, there are important points to consider here that can damage your beard hair if you ignore them.

It is best to get a small travel straightening iron for straightening. With this one you have far more control than with the larger counterparts. It should also have heat protection so that your whiskers are not exposed to unnecessarily high temperatures, which can destroy the hair structure.

It is best to separate your facial hair into different tufts with hair clips. This gives you a good overview of which hairs have not yet been straightened.

Then take a finger-width tuft of hair and apply the straightening iron to the roots. Run it slowly towards the tips with a little pressure. Carry out the procedure a maximum of twice per tuft of beard hair in order not to strain the beard hair excessively.

When you have smoothed all the beard hairs, it is best to go through them again with a comb or brush. Finished.

How to Trim Your Beard The Right Way

Trimming the beard properly needs to be learned. It’s up to you whether your beard looks manly or like an exploded cactus. But with the right trimming technique and simple instructions, trimming the beard properly is not that difficult.

Thoroughly clean your beard before trimming it. It is best to use beard shampoo and lukewarm water. This is how you rinse out leftover food, residue from care products and other contaminants.

Afterwards, dry your beard with a towel or a blow dryer on a low setting to perfectly prepare it for trimming.

Now comb your beard properly. In this way you align all the whiskers in one direction and can better estimate their length.

Depending on the length of your beard, a high length setting on your beard trimmer may be sufficient to shorten it. So you can simply set the desired length and run the trimmer over your beard.

Do you have a really long beard? Then forget the shaving attachment​ and work with scissors or directly with the shaving head of your beard trimmer. For optimal length control, you should definitely use a beard comb to trim. So you always have an eye on how much beard you are actually cutting off.

Shorten the sides: A slightly shorter length is usually best for the neck and cheeks. This way you can give your beard a really nice shape.

Mustache trimming: Comb your mustache hair down and trim the excess hair. Then cut to the desired length either with the beard trimmer (with length attachment) or with beard scissors and beard comb.

Even the most thorough home barber doesn’t always get every hair the first time. At the end, go through the comb again and check the length. Individual longer hairs can be easily viewed and shortened.

You can find the full article with more tips here: How to trim your full beard

3 days of beard care

The 3-day beard was long considered a synonym for the unkempt man. But this cliché is long outdated. The 3-day beard is modern, good-looking, and widely regarded as a symbol of masculinity. However, with one restriction: it must be well-groomed!

Maintain the 3-day beard

As a bearer of a 3-day beard, the beard care routine is actually quite simple. If you heed the following 3 tips, a well-groomed stubble is guaranteed:

Trim regularly: Regular trimming is essential for a well-groomed 3-day beard. It ensures that your beard hair is always one length and does not grow beyond the 3-day beard status. If you trim your whiskers every 2-3 days, you’re on the safe side.

Unfortunately, our facial hair doesn’t always grow exactly where we’d like it to. It is all the more important that you shave them where you don’t need them, in other words: shave the contours of your 3-day beard. They define your beard and accentuate the lines and edges of your face. Read on if you want to know how to cut the outlines properly.

Trimming and shaving puts stress on your facial skin. Then give her what she needs. Proper care after shaving prevents annoying itching and burning. Aftershave with or without alcohol has a disinfecting effect. After shave balm restores moisture to your skin. Especially if you have very sensitive skin, I recommend a balm. Sometimes even a beard oil makes sense. It lays a nourishing, antioxidant and softening film over your skin, helping to prevent skin irritation.

You can find the complete article with further tips here: The right 3-day beard care – explained step by step

The 3-day beard trimming

Before trimming, it is advisable to soften the hard stubble a little. This works quite well with a facial cleansing/peeling and a warm, damp towel, which you can place on your face for 1-2 minutes. Softer beard hairs can be picked up better by the shaving blades when trimming.

A suitable beard trimmer is a prerequisite for trimming your 3-day beard. These come with one or more comb attachments that can be used to control the length.

So choose the desired length setting here (1-3mm has proven itself for the 3-day beard) or shave with the shaving head straight away. The latter is only recommended for very good models. If you trim without an attachment, the risk of injury increases (yes, you can also cut yourself with a beard trimmer)

It is best to drive against the direction of growth and with a little pressure over your beard hair. This ensures that these are first set up before they are shortened by the clipper.

Uniformity is the top priority. Nothing looks worse than an unevenly shaved 3-day beard. Depending on the quality of your trimmer, you may well have to go a second or third round over the same areas until all the hairs are the same length.

When all the whiskers have been properly trimmed, it’s time to shave the contours. You can do this either with a wet razor (safety razor, straight razor or system razor), the trimming attachment of the beard trimmer (if available) or, in an emergency, with a dry razor.

I prefer a wet razor. In my opinion, it cannot be surpassed in terms of accuracy and thoroughness.

Again and again the question arises where the contours should be drawn. The following rule of thumb has proven itself for the contours of the neck: 2 finger widths above the larynx as a starting point.

Never shave too close to the jawline, otherwise it can quickly happen that the lower beard line “slips” over your jaw when you laugh or pull a face. You don’t want the mocking looks.

Either curve your cheeks slightly or shave straight from your sideburns to your mustache. Tip: Use shaving oil to draw the contours. This will put a light, barely visible film over your stubble. So you can see where you need to shave the contours and still have the lubricity of shaving cream.

You can find the full article with more tips here: Trimming the 3-day beard

Mustache care: How To Look After Your Moustache

The mustache must also be nurtured and cared for. Whether as part of the full beard or without, with the following instructions you will learn how to get your mustache in the right shape. The beard man shows his entire mustache routine in the video here:

What you need to style the mustache:

• Bartkamm
• Fund
• Bartwichse

So geht´s:

It is best to start with wet beard hairs, either when you get out of the shower in the morning or after you have washed your beard at the sink. And there is a reason for that: wet hair makes it easier to shape. In combination with the hair dryer, they stay where they should be longer and easier.

Grab the blow dryer, set it on a low to medium heat, and comb your mustache hair from the center to the side or where you want it. Briefly hold the comb in the outer position and start over until the beard is dry.

The mustache should now have a solid basic shape. The correct styling now follows with the beard wax.

You can use either Hungarian or Bavarian beard wax. Rub this between your fingers to warm them up. This is the only way to properly distribute them in the beard.

Spread the sticky mass between the thumb and forefinger and work it into the beard depending on your individual styling preference. You can now twist the ends or just reinforce the shape from the previous step.

At the end, comb through again briefly with the beard comb, and the well-groomed mustache is done.

Properly clip the mustache

Make sure your beard is dry. This will help you better assess differences in the length of your mustache hair. Take a beard comb and comb your whiskers straight down. The whiskers sticking out over the lip should now be easy to identify.

Beard scissors or a beard trimmer are suitable for trimming. I personally prefer the scissors because the risk of a miscut is significantly lower. But the beard trimmer also works great, you should only trim carefully.

It is best to start in the middle above your upper lip and shorten the protruding whiskers. So you can slowly work your way outwards. Work the other side of the mustache the other way around: you start on the outside and work your way in.

You can also achieve the right length with beard scissors and comb or with the beard trimmer. You simply set the latter to the desired length and run the clipping comb over the beard.

Scissors and comb require a little more patience and practice. Run the comb into the beard from below, allowing the tips (or slightly more if desired) of your mustache to protrude through the tines of the comb. Now use the scissors to cut the tips.

Tips for beginners:

Don’t go all out. Start with higher length settings (beard trimmer) or work with shorter length settings (beard scissors and beard comb). This is how you prevent unwanted “clear cuts”. So you can gradually approach your desired length. With experience comes routine.

At the end, use the comb to check again whether all the whiskers are at the desired length. You may have to readjust here and there with the scissors.

You can find the full article with more tips here: How to trim your mustache

“With a big beard comes great responsibility” – Uncle Ben

What beard care products are there and why should you use them?

Growing a beard is relatively easy, right? But to make it look nice and well-groomed, a little work is necessary. This is where beard care products come into play. In this section, you will get to know all common beard care products. You’ll learn why they’re important, what they’re made of, and when to use them.

Beard Balm: What is it and do I really need it?

I out myself as a big beard balm fan and I believe that everyone with a full beard should have a can in their bathroom cabinet. Why does beard balm bring me so much joy? It solves several of your bearded problems at once:

It makes your beard softer, and healthier helps with beard dandruff and also has shaping properties. An all-purpose weapon for beard care.

What is inside?

Beard balm usually consists of beeswax, shea and/or cocoa butter, carrier oils and essential oils. The beeswax as the main ingredient mainly provides the hold.

So that the whole thing doesn’t get too hard (as with beard wax, for example), the care butter comes into play. It ensures a slightly softer mass and better distribution in the beard.

The most important care substances are the carrier oils. They provide the beard with important nutrients and moisture.

Now the balm just needs to smell nice to give your beard a nice, masculine touch after use. For this purpose, a wide variety of essential oils such as sandalwood, mint, bergamot or oakmoss are mixed together in different combinations. However, essential oils do not only score with their great smell: tea tree oil has an antiseptic effect and is said to help with acne and dandruff, for example.

Who should use it?

Recommended for anyone who values ​​beard care and styling. Especially from a certain length: If after about 6-8 weeks you have already reached a beard length where the hair frizzes and becomes more unruly, the styling properties of the balm are worth their weight in gold. You won’t necessarily need it for shorter lengths.

Beard oil: For Growth & Softening

Beard oil is probably the most essential beard care product on the market. Why? It moisturizes and cares for your skin and beard hair, works against beard dandruff, gives your beard a beautiful shine, and gives it a masculine scent.

What is inside?

With a blend of carrier oils and essential oils, beard oil contains two all-natural ingredients. Carrier oils (also called base oils) such as coconut oil, jojoba oil or argan oil have, as already described, special properties that have a positive effect on skin and beard.

The base oils mainly ensure that your beard becomes softer and your skin more supple. Annoying problems such as itching, dry skin, and flaky skin can be alleviated primarily by caring for these oils.

As a second component, the blend of essential oils gives your beard a tart, masculine scent.

Who should use it?

Beard oil is part of the must-have arsenal of daily beard care for every prospective beard wearer. It saved me mainly through the phase of extreme itching (approx. 2-3 weeks “young” beard) and has since become a permanent fixture in my routine.

Click here for the complete beard oil guide

Beard wax: Is wax good for the beard?

Also called beard wax or mustache wax, it is mainly used to style mustaches. This can be used, for example, to twirl the ends or conjure up other beard styles. Beard wax ensures that your beard gets maximum hold.

The best-known forms of beard wax are the Hungarian and Bavarian. These differ somewhat in consistency and composition: Bavarian beard wax hardens quite quickly and gives your beard maximum hold. The beard can also be shaped as you like with Hungarian beard wax but leaves a little more leeway when styling.

What is inside?

Beard wax and beard balm are not dissimilar. The big difference between the two products is the ratio in which the ingredients are composed.

The proportion of beeswax is a lot higher than in the balm, which results in a much better hold. Other popular ingredients include lanolin (wool wax), gum arabic (in Bavarian beard wax), Vaseline, base oils, and essential oils that can complement the wax mix.

Who should use it?

Beard wax is great for twirling your mustache or emulating the annual Beard World Championship contestants.

Beard shampoo: Are the Secret to a Great Beard

No big explanation is needed here. Beard shampoos are extremely mild and natural shampoos for beard washing, specially developed for the needs of your beard hair.

Now you will surely ask yourself why you should use beard shampoo when there is a completely normal one for the main hair. So the beard wash should also work, shouldn’t it?

The answer is: yes. The problem with many “normal” shampoos is that they dry out your whiskers because they are more degreasing. And as you know, dryness is the enemy of our beloved beard.

Our recommendation is therefore to wash your facial mane using either a beard shampoo made from natural ingredients, Aleppo soap or handmade natural soaps and only use a very mild hair shampoo (e.g. baby shampoo) in an emergency.

Who should use it?

Is your beard already past the few days mark and more like a few weeks? Well, then your beard won’t be spared from dirt, food scraps and other contaminants. In that case, you should definitely wash your beard regularly.

Do you only have a 3-day beard? Then the normal facial cleansing is enough.

How often?

Daily beard washing with shampoo or beard soap is often advocated. In my opinion, this generalization is not very appropriate. As a rule, it is sufficient if you soap your beard thoroughly every 2-3 days.

In the case of heavy soiling and intensive use of beard care products, however, daily use is recommended. Lukewarm water is simply not enough for thorough cleaning.

Conditioner for beard

Conditioners are mainly used to soften the beard hair. The same applies here as with the shampoo: make sure that the ingredients are as mild and natural as possible. There aren’t many beard conditioners out there, but it’s worth doing some research before you smear your girlfriend’s silicone-contaminated stuff into your beard.

Beard brush: Does using a beard brush help beard growth?

If you’ve read the Beard Grooming Tips section carefully, you may have noticed that brushing your beard is one of my all-purpose hot tips. Even at the risk of repeating myself at this point, brushing offers you the following advantages:

• Helps smooth the beard
• Detangling of smaller hair knots
• Stimulates blood circulation
• Ensures a pleasant facial massage
• Helps remove beard dandruff

The brushes usually consist of a handle made of wood or plastic and are covered with natural or synthetic bristles.

What should you pay attention to?

Boar bristle brushes should be your go-to products. If you want to completely avoid animal products, you can also use a vegan alternative with agave fibers. For the handle, we prefer the wood variant made of pear, ash or walnut.

Who should use it?

As I wrote earlier in this article, I recommend using it especially for beard lengths between 1-4 months

Beard comb: What is special about a beard comb?

You already know the comb for your head hair. There is also a beard grooming tool for the beard, which has several prongs that are more or less far apart.

The teeth of the beard comb are a bit thicker and more robust than you are used to from its hair counterpart. With the beard comb you can

• untangle larger knots
• in combination with the hair dryer straighten and shape your beard hair
• shorten your whiskers in conjunction with trimmers or scissors

What should you pay attention to?

The last thing you want is your whiskers standing on end. We therefore recommend an anti-static wooden or horn comb. Also pay attention to a rather coarse toothing, this way you prevent annoying and painful snagging of your whiskers between the teeth.

Who should use it?

After around 3 months, your beard hair should be long enough (depending on your individual beard growth, of course) to make it worth buying a beard comb. If you want to use the comb as an aid for trimming, you can access it earlier with peace of mind.

Beard scissor: Is scissors good for beard?

Since we are talking about trimming, the right trimming tool should not be missing. All beards should definitely be kept in shape. If regular trimming is neglected, your beard will quickly look very unkempt.

This is where the beard scissors come into play. It can be used to shorten protruding and unevenly growing beard hair, full beard and mustache.

What should you pay attention to?

A very good pair of beard scissors is handmade, sharpened, big enough for men’s hands and also grasps several beard hairs at once without slipping.

Beard trimmer for styling your facial hair

Also an important tool for beard care and an indispensable part of many men’s households. Regardless of whether you want to keep your beard 3-days long or your full beard in shape at home, the beard trimmer does the uniform trimming work reliably.

Important when choosing a good beard trimmer:

The most important feature of any trimmer is obviously its cutting capacity. The trimmer should do its job and pluck, pluck or tug and of course deliver an even result. The quality and sharpness of the blades play a particularly important role here.

The trimmer attachment(s) determine the length adjustment and evenness of the cut. I prefer beard trimmers that allow me to adjust the length very granularly. This way it can be shortened exactly according to my needs.

Many modern beard trimmers are battery-operated, ie they can be charged from the mains and then used without a cable. The fewer charges you need, the better.

We men are lazy. Especially when it comes to cleaning. But beard trimmers also need to be cleaned and maintained accordingly. How good that there are convenient ways to get the trimmer clean again after use. Waterproof devices can be easily cleaned under running water. But even cleaning stations are no exception for high-end devices. Normally, however, grooming with a brush is quick and easy: remove the comb, clean the blades, remove the shaving head and remove the accumulated whiskers. Not that difficult, is it?

Bartpflege set

They are particularly suitable as a good gift idea for women who do not know what to give their husbands for their birthday or Christmas. Everything that a beard care heart desires is usually included here: beard oil and balm, a product for washing the beard, as well as a brush and comb are the norm here.

DIY-Bartpflege

I know from my own experience that beard grooming can be expensive. For the beard man who likes to experiment, it may be worthwhile simply making the products yourself.

The ingredients are easy to obtain and mixing the ingredients together is just a matter of creativity. The advantage of DIY beard care: You determine the smell and the composition, you know exactly what’s in it, you can produce in larger quantities and it’s definitely cheaper.

The in-house production of beard oil and beard balm is particularly popular. You can find out how you can easily make them yourself here:

Make your own beard oil

What you need: Base oils, essential oils and brown dropper bottles

So geht´s:

1. Sterilize bottles: Briefly boil the bottles in a hot water bath.

2. Mix essential oils: Mix different essential oils according to your personal taste (maximum 10 drops per 30ml) and shake the bottle so that the oils can mix well. Let the mixture sit with the bottle closed for a few hours to allow the final scent to develop.

3. Mix base oils: Fill the container with the base oils of your choice and shake the bottle well again. Your own beard oil is ready!

Make your own beard balm

What you need: beeswax, shea butter, base oils, essential oils, aluminum container

That’s how it’s done:

1. Liquify beeswax in a candle container or bowl over a hot water bath. Important: Do not heat too much, low heat is enough here. The more beeswax you use in relation to the maintenance butter, the firmer the end product will be.

2. Add shea butter and let it liquefy

3. Add base oils of your choice and stir

4. Add essential oils of your choice and mix well again

Remove from the stove and pour into the aluminum can while it is still liquid. Finished!

You can find the complete article with further tips here: Make your own beard balm in 5 minutes

Beard oil Vs. beard balm: What is the difference between oil and balm?

The only difference between the two is that the balm, in a solid format, will also provide a light fixing/styling effect, which will help tame stubborn hairs!

Beard balm and oil have practically the same composition: a base and a fragrance.

The base is a mixture of several vegetable oils such as argan oil, hemp seed oil or coconut oil for example. These oils provide everything the face needs to be hydrated, and the essentials to nourish and shine the hair. The base of the balm also has a solid part, such as beeswax or shea butter, which provides the fixing/styling effect.

The fragrance of the beard oil and balm is made up of essential oils that will bring an atmosphere. Sweet, woody, spicy or even floral… it is the essential oils that will set the tone and character of the oil and the balm.

By the way: prefer oils and balms developed from natural and quality ingredients. Since we apply this on the face, it is better to favor higher quality products?

Why is it important to maintain your beard?

All bearded men encounter, one day or another, skin problems that are itchy, itchy, or even peeling, revealing small, unsexy dandruff… This is a hydration problem, which can be treated very quickly. easily?

Indeed, the facial skin below the beard hair suffers and dries out. It is no longer hydrated enough and causes tightness, itching, and other unpleasant dry sensations. And it feels very quickly! A few days without shaving is enough… so imagine the state of the face of someone who lets their beard grow for a few months or years if they don’t take care of it!

In addition to tugging and itching, the other inconvenience of a poorly or unkept beard is rough and dull hair.

“Wow you sting! “, “But you’re a real Swiss cheese grater! »… Does this kind of reflection speak to you? Well, it’s because your hair is not in great shape! Indeed, the more it grows, the more it needs to be nourished to keep it soft and supple. It’s primordial!

Feeding your hair will also give it a healthier and more elegant appearance. What to make the difference between the beard of Robinson and that of a gentleman!?

In addition to avoiding the small inconveniences seen previously, the fact of maintaining your beard on a daily basis allows a healthy and robust regrowth of the hair. Needless to say, healthy beard hair will be stronger and grow more intensely. If your goal is to grow your beard or to maintain it at its current level, will you quickly understand that it is essential to have a fertile and quality “ground”?

And yes, you will have understood: a beard provides a presence, an additional charm… enough to express your character!

Well-groomed and lustrous hair, clean and symmetrical cheek contours… the beard reflects your personality. Just like a piece of clothing or an accessory, it turns out to be one of the first things the people you meet will see. An “external sign” that will directly provide information to others. So it’s up to you to see the image you want to send back!

Rather well-trimmed beard? 3-day beard? Or more bushy and wild? You can also choose to let your creativity speak with beard dyes: if you have a red beard and you don’t like it more than that, you can easily correct it by making it a little darker with coloring.

Your best ally to take care of your beard: the barber!

And yes, dear bearded man, if a beard is simply and quickly maintained on a daily basis as we have just seen,  only a barber can create a quality work base for you! He will advise you on the type and shape of beard best suited to your face.

For this, you have to choose THE right beard professional. The one who will make you travel in his universe while understanding your needs and desires. It’s also what will make concrete and visual the character and style you have in mind. Like an artist, it is the barber who will enhance your beard and give it all its presence. In other words, you have an ally of choice!

His knowledge and know-how allow him to:

• Visualize the beard shape that best suits your face  (hairiness, shape, etc.)
• Trim and enhance your beard down to the smallest detail

How to choose the right barber?

As you can imagine, choosing a quality professional is therefore an essential step. A choice that is above all a question of man and personality. He must of course master his profession on the end “of the hairs”, but also correspond to your universe, your image, and your values.

But again, you can be reassured, bearded friend. In recent years, barbers have resurfaced in France, to our delight. A new generation of barbers is even emerging. A generation of craftsmen who have perfectly acquired and integrated the technical and authentic know-how of the traditional barber, while adding their own personal touch. The result is a real updating of know-how, by personalizing it to their vision, their experience, their desire …  each one thus creating a genre that sets them apart.

Like artists, they leave a  style so unique and original that some are now assimilated to rock stars! This is particularly the case of Leen & Bertus, the two famous barbers from  Schorem in Rotterdam, considered by experts as one of the best barbershops on the whole planet.

A little cultural history of the beard

Even if a travesty artist like Conchita Wurst has recently appeared as a woman with a three-day beard, nothing will change that the beard remains an attribute of masculinity.

That was already the case in the oldest times: among our ancestors, the beard was considered a special adornment of the man, as an expression of his strength and potency – and it often had a cultic and religious significance. The manner of wearing it naturally varied considerably over time and between peoples and cultures, and in general, beard styles that deviated from the norm were considered a sign of unkemptness or foreignness. Today the beard is above all an individual and masculine statement.

Ancient Egypt 

In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs (even if they were women) wore a ceremonial beards as a sign of their divine power. The ceremonial beard, however, was an artificial dummy; the natural growth of the beard was shaved.

Ancient Greeks

The ancient Greeks, until the conquest of their country by Alexander the Great, had stately beards that were only shaved as punishment or as a sign of mourning. However, warriors kept their beards quite short so that the opponent could not “claw” into them in battle. It became common to shave since the rule of the Macedonians – however, upper-class men and especially philosophers often still wore their beards long in the Hellenistic period of Late Classical Greece.

Romans

Even the Romans did not shave in earlier times and only adopted this custom from the Greeks. Scipio Africanus the Younger is said to have been the first clean-shaven Roman – although fashions changed during the long epoch of the Roman Empire, and emperors who, like Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, were particularly fond of classical Greek culture, wore the “philosopher’s beard”. Caligula, of course, who has gone down in history less because of his wisdom than because of his cruel tyranny, wore gold threads through his beard in the manner of the Persian god-kings.

The important late Roman emperor Julian Apostate, the last pagan on the imperial throne, wrote ironic writing against the “beard haters”.

While one often imagines the Gauls as having mustaches, not only because of Asterix and Obelix but also because of sculptures such as the “Dying Gaul” (around 230 BC), when it comes to the Germanic peoples, one usually thinks of long-bearded wild fellows. Tacitus reports in his “Germania” (after 98 AD) of the custom of young Germans to let their hair and beard grow until they have killed the first enemy. 

Apparently, the beard was associated with martial initiation rites and was primarily a sign of youthful masculinity – some warriors who had dedicated their lives to a god of war and, as “consecrated warriors”, scorned a family existence, wore hair and beard until the end of their lives; just as well also individual tribes like the Chatti. Prisoners and serfs, on the other hand, were mostly shorn, which lasted until the Middle Ages and far beyond, not least in the monasteries of Christianity.

The Old Testament contains two commandments about the beard. In Leviticus 19:27 it says (in Luther’s translation): “You shall not cut off your hair all around, nor trim your beard.” This is aimed at all Israelites and is primarily a rejection of pagan hair and beard styles that had religious meanings. Leviticus 21:5 only addresses the priests: “They shall not shave their heads, nor trim their beards, nor cut a mark on their bodies.” Here, too, the background is the modification of the body in the cult of the pagans of the time.

Based on these verses, various interpretations have emerged in Judaism as to the extent to which a devout Jew is allowed to shave. Orthodox Jews in particular wear long full beards and sidelocks.

Despite these Old Testament regulations, Christianity does not know a clear beard style, but this changed over time. Burchardus wrote in the 12th century, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Bellevaux in Fanche-Comte, wrote a lengthy treatise on beards, addressed to the Cistercian lay brothers. In the author’s view, beards were appropriate for the illiterate lay brothers working in agriculture, but not for the priest-monks. While the Catholic clergy is still largely clean-shaven today, Protestant believers tend to wear beards, such as the Amish, for whom a so-called fisherman’s ruff is common among married men: a full beard in which the beard is shaved above the upper lip and in the upper cheek area.

There are no instructions in the Koran on how to wear a beard – but many Muslims follow some hadiths, i.e. extra-Koranic traditions of the prophets and the Sahaba, which prescribe a beard that should be fist-length below the chin, while the mustache should be trimmed. It is well known that devout Muslims today like to express their faith with a long beard.

After the end of the Middle Ages, in Europe, the beard increasingly became a fashionable aesthetic entity; However, fashion was not yet a purely commercial matter, but emanated from the ruling court. The French “Sun King” Louis XIV established the clean shave as the standard, which was also followed by the Prussian king Frederick the Great, while Henry IV popularized the beard (around the mouth but with shaved cheeks) named after him.

The beard experienced a peak in the 19th century. During the time of the revolutions from 1789 to 1848, it had become a sign of closeness to the people, but also of radicalism. Intellectuals wore it as a sign of their socio-critical and revolutionary sentiment – classic examples are of course Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but also Friedrich Nietzsche, whose monumental mustache completely covered his mouth. At the end of the 19th century, settled middle-class and noble gentlemen often wore voluminous whiskers like the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, while younger, “modern”-minded men increasingly sported the twisted mustache of Emperor Wilhelm II. preferred. The beard was always a political statement and expressed rejection of the ruling order or loyalty to the monarchy. In Heinrich Mann’s novel “Der Untertan” the protagonist therefore wears the Wilhelmine “It has been reached” mustache.

The First World War brought about a radical turn towards beardlessness. Ever since poison gas could be used, a clean shave was prescribed so as not to impair the effectiveness of the gas masks. Around the same time, shaving became easier and cheaper with the invention of the safety razor by King Camp Gilette in 1901. Since it was mostly younger men who were drafted into the war (and World War II soon followed), shaving continued – until in the recent past – a prevailing view that beards were an older man’s thing. Beardlessness was considered youthful, practical, and athletic.

This changed with the rise of hippie and beatnik countercultures since the 1960s, which made the beard a sign of nonconformity and lateral thinking. Their interest in non-Christian religions – especially those originating from the Indian culture – has contributed to the anti-bourgeois beard fashion. Long before the Green Party was founded (in which older women tend to be beardless today), ecologists have also expressed their closeness to nature by wearing a beard, since the life reform movement of the 1920s.

At the beginning of the 1980s, longer beards became rarer again among young men, but the three-day beard, which was initially worn primarily by actors and singers, emerged as a new fashion accessory. Since then, it has been considered manly and sexy, especially when properly trimmed.

We owe the pop culture of the 90s the invention of numerous new beard costumes, such as the goatee (“goatie”) in various widths and lengths, a temporary revival of the sideburns, as was popular in the 70s, the soul patch ( a mini beard below the lower lip) and the so-called “beard tattoo”, in which – assuming a dense and rather dark beard growth – all kinds of patterns are shaved into the short beard. And since the turn of the millennium – intensified in recent years – a new trend towards full beards – often as stately as possible – can be observed among young men, regardless of a possible religious attitude.

This new trend is certainly also subject to fashion and follows the example of well-known film stars such as George Clooney or Brad Pitt, but you can also see in it a return to the ideal of “untamed masculinity”. The more politics, mass media and some lobby groups propagate the image of a gender-neutral or “metrosexual” man, the more clearly many people want to make their right to nature and natural appearance clear – and for many men this includes the beard.

Caring for your beard: summary of the fundamental steps!

So you see bearded friend, maintaining your beard is accessible with the right method, the right products and advice from the pros! It even turns out to be a moment of pure well-being: you will enjoy practicing the right gestures daily. An experience of the character that quickly becomes addictive once you have tasted it…

If we summarize the fundamental steps  to having a beautiful beard:

1. You should first visit your favorite barber, in order to have a structured base.
2. Afterward, all you have to do is clean your beard with a suitable shampoo and put beard oil or balm on it every morning so that it is in full health.
3. Finally, a little razor stroke on the cheeks and neck to keep the beautiful contour line created by your favorite barber.

So, isn’t the bearded man’s life beautiful? ??