This is a guest post courtesy of Paul Agelidis, the Founder and Owner at Revolucion, a cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in beautiful Vancouver, BC.
If you want to grow out a beard but are inexperienced at handling all of the side effects, you probably don’t realize how dry and flaky your skin can get with a longer beard. Beard dandruff is a real thing, and it can take a lot of the pride and joy out of growing a great-looking beard when you’re constantly scratching and having to deal with dry skin. Thankfully, treating this problem can be pretty easy with a simple maintenance plan that works as long as you follow it.
Table of Contents
Beard Shampoo & Conditioner
The first step is to wash your beard at least once a week with special shampoos and conditioners that are made just for beards. The hair and skin on your face are different from the hair and skin on your head, so you can’t just use the same soap to wash your face as you used to — nor can you use the same shampoo and conditioner as you use on your head — and expect the best results. Your facial hair tends to be more thick and coarse, and grows more tangled if left alone. It makes washing it and getting moisture to your skin underneath it more difficult.
Beard wash and conditioner helps soften the facial hair and infuse both your hair and the skin underneath with moisturizing nutrients to prevent it from getting dry. You will need to firmly massage the shampoo and conditioner into your beard to make sure it gets spread over all of your hair and skin to have the most effect.
Hair Dryer
Another of the subtle differences between facial hair and the hair on your head is how well your facial hair retains water. Because it is so thick and coarse, it means you have to be a lot more thorough when you dry your beard after washing it or taking a shower. If you don’t, the particles in the water get trapped in your beard and dry out both the hair and your skin.
So after washing, dry your beard as much as you can with a towel. If it is still damp, use a hair dryer so the heat will dry the moisture properly from underneath your beard. The added advantage of the heat from a hair dryer is it helps you shape and train your beard hair to hold the shape you want.
Beard Oil
One of the best ways to keep your facial hair and the skin underneath hydrated is with a good quality beard oil. There is a variety of types of beard oils you can get, including specifically to help treat dry skin, but in general applying oil helps make your beard softer and shinier, and your skin stronger and better moisturized.
For beard oil that works best with dry skin, look for products that contain ingredients such as avocado oil, almond oil, argan seed oil, or pumpkin oil. These are the best natural ingredients for moisturizing skin and giving an extra boost to coarse beard hair. Avoid any beard oils that list sulfates or petroleum jelly in their ingredients, as they are artificial ingredients that are very harsh, and won’t help either your beard or your skin.
Beard Brush
A fact of life — and human biology — is that skin cells eventually die, and your body will replace them with new skin cells. If you stay on top of this by washing and exfoliating your skin regularly to scrub away the dead skin cells, you can avoid a build-up of larger chunks of dead skin flakes. That’s where a good quality beard brush comes in.
Every time you wash your beard or your face, and after you apply beard oil, take a few minutes to brush your beard. It helps straighten and soften your hair, as well as spreading your natural oils and beard oil evenly through your hair and skin. When your beard is softer and not tangled, you get better airflow to your skin too. This helps maintain your skin’s hydration and health, so it doesn’t get dried out and flaky. It also helps exfoliate your skin to remove any build-up of dead skin cells.
About the Author:
Paul Agelidis has been the founder and owner of Revolucion, a Canadian cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in Vancouver, since 2005. For the last decade Paul has worked very hard to become an expert in tobacco products, men’s care, travel & accessories, body & bath, and gifts & home. Prior to 2005, from 1997 – 2005 Paul worked in the wholesale cigar industry and travelled to the annual cigar trade show (Habanos Festival every February). He loves to share his tips with others who are looking to achieve a complete lifestyle with the finer things in life.
