Beard Care & Grooming Knowledge 101

“Most men can grow a beard. But growing a healthy beard takes a little bit of effort. Beards can be dry, itchy, and feel like a Brillo pad (Smelly) without proper beard care. Take some pride in your beard, take care of your beard!”

You’ve probably seen a lot of information about beard care products, but… what do you do with them?  How can they help you?  What exactly do you need for your beard?  It can seem overwhelming…

Don’t worry. Bearded Crew’s quick and easy product guide will answer all your questions. You are now on the road to better beard grooming for a happier, healthier beard that you can be confident about.

Today we are covering

• Beard Oil | The Optimal Environment For Beard Growth
• Beard Shampoo | “Can I use a facial cleanser or regular shampoo for my beard?”
• Beard Balm | Underrated Tool Of Importance
• Beard Comb | Are you splitting your beard?
• Mustache Wax | Taming and Hydrating a Wild Mustache

1. Beard Oil | The Optimal Environment For Beard Growth

Why do I need to use beard oil?

Long story short, beard oil is the most invaluable beard care product that any Beardsmen will have in their beard care arsenal. It is typically the product that every man hears about first, and eventually finds one worth using.

Beard oil hydrates your beard with natural oils giving it an attractive smell, look, and keeps it healthy.

To understand the benefits of beard oil, it’s important to first understand the cause of the most common beard ailments.

Your skin naturally produces a substance called sebum. Sebum is secreted from your sebaceous glands through your hair follicles and sits on the surface of your skin to maintain optimal skin health. It does this by:

• Preventing your skin from losing too much water
• Keeping too much water from entering your skin
• Protecting against bacterial and fungal infections
• Maintaining the skin’s optimal pH balance

This oily barrier is essential to keeping your skin supple and free from infection. It protects your skin from premature aging and is vital to the skin’s appearance and health.

Ideally, you would have the perfect amount of sebum on your face to keep it just moisturized enough to prevent dry skin, but not so moisturized that you end up with breakouts.

But this isn’t always the case. This oily barrier is compromised by a number of daily occurrences:

• Washing the skin with soap
• Dry weather
• Poor diet and/or water consumption
• The wicking away of sebum by the hair

One of two things occurs as a result:

• Your skin dries out from a lack of sebum. Flakiness, itchiness, and irritated skin result from the unprotected skin.
• Your skin compensates for the lack of sebum by creating more sebum. The skin becomes excessively oily, leading to clogged pores and acne.

So how does beard oil help? In essence, beard oil mimics your skin’s sebum to maintain optimal skin health.

Effective beard oil contains a mixture of natural oils that replenish and protect the skin underneath your beard to stave off common beard ailments like dryness, flakiness, itchiness, and acne.

Beard oil also conditions hair, making your beard softer, shinier, and more manageable. Just a few drops applied daily will revitalize and rehydrate your beard for softer, more manageable hair.

Regular use will soothe the skin beneath the beard and hydrate your hair without any oily residue. We have taken into account what the average man’s beard needs when developing a uniquely effective product.

What makes Bearded Crew Beard Oil better than any other beard oil?

We make our beard oil in small batches right here in Mocksville, North Carolina.

Bearded Crew sources all ingredients and raw materials from ethical manufacturers.

Each one of our exclusive oils is tailored from the ground up to solve a common problem found within the bearded lifestyle. The purpose can be found within the title: First Date, Sweet Dreamz, Good Morning, Fathers Day, Equilibrium or Tea Tree.

Bearded Crew’s beard oils not only soften and smooth the beard but also moisturize the skin. The non-greasy, lightweight formula is great for all beard lengths and skin types.

 

2. Beard Shampoo | Can I use a facial cleanser or regular shampoo for my beard?

Some men think that allowing the shampoo that runs off of their head and down their faces while showering is a good enough cleaning regimen for their beard. Even worse, some men think that using a regular, store-bought shampoo is a great way to clean their beards, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

I know, it seems logical. You think, “Hey, this stuff cleans my head hair, so it has to be good enough to clean the hair on my face”. The hair on your head and the hair on your face are two completely different things. Your beard is much more susceptible to becoming brittle and breaking. So what’s the difference between the two shampoos?

Shampoo from the store is designed to strip sebum oil from your skin so that it does not make your hair look greasy and stuck together. We all know how unappealing an oily head of hair can be, so it’s pretty much necessary to rid your scalp of those oils if this is a look you want to prevent. Your beard, however, needs these oils to thrive, and that’s where beard shampoo comes in.

Beard shampoo does not contain harsh chemicals, because any good manufacturer of such a product knows that these natural oils are vital for a healthy beard. Mountaineer Brand is 100 percent natural, so our wash contains no chemicals whatsoever. This will successfully give your beard the cleaning that it needs without drying it out and making you look like an untamed beast.

Now you may want to know how often you should wash your beard. Well, this is debatable. Some sources say you should wash every day, some every other day, and others say once a week. Our beard expert, Eric, owner of the Mountaineer Brand company says that twice a week should suffice. “You don’t need to add a bunch of extra steps to your grooming routine”, says Eric. “Keep it in the shower and wash it a couple times a week and follow with an oil, balm or both”.

Keeping a clean beard is important, but making sure you’re using the right kind of product to do so is crucial. If you’re looking for a good wash, you’ve come to the right place. Our washes come in various scents and cost much less than our competitors. While you’re here, check them out!

3. Beard Balm | Underrated Tool Of Importance

I get asked all the time, what’s the difference between beard oil and beard balm. Since the oil and the balm both moisturize your beard, which product works best for you?

Although the answer to this question weighs heavily on personal preference, there are some aspects of both you and the products that need to be considered. For example, what kind of beard you’re rocking (is it a long beard that requires lots of product, or is it a short groomed beard for work?). Another variable to take into consideration is skin type. Is your skin dryer than typical, or is it excessively oily? Do you like your beard to have a shiny appearance, or do you prefer a matte finish? Do you work in food and hospitality, at an office, or outdoors?

All of these questions apply when choosing to purchase balm or oil. If you finish reading this article and still can’t make up your mind, we recommend purchasing both (you can never have too many options when it comes to caring for your beard).

Utility balm is a great product for men rockin’ a medium or longer sized beard, but also a solid choice if your skin is drier than most. The utility balm was designed to have a higher viscosity than the oil – meaning it’s thicker in texture and takes longer to absorb. Where beard oil comes in a bottle of liquid, utility balm is closer in texture to pomade or solid cologne.

The balm actually sits on your beard and skin longer than the oil does before absorbing, which gives you more nourishing and longer-lasting moisture. This is also what gives your beard some extra shine while keeping it healthy.

The thickness of utility balm is also functional – it has just enough hold to comb down stubborn beard hairs and fly-aways that go against your beard’s shape and grooming goals. It can also be used as a low-hold styling agent for your mustache and sideburns for a bit more finish around the edges.

One more thing sets utility balm apart from its oil-based cousin: versatility. Beard oil is fantastic for keeping the skin under your beard and your beard healthy, but utility balm was designed to use as a skin moisturizer, too. You can use it as a daily moisturizer, something to keep your tattoos bright, or you can save it for dryer months that require some extra TLC.

If you’re wondering whether you can apply both the oil and the balm to your beard at the same time, the answer is yes, but with a caveat:

Be conservative when you’re using both products. While using both in appropriate amounts can really level up your beard game, it’s also easy to overdo it. Start with just a little bit of product, and slowly work your way up to what you need.

Pro Tip: If you want a glossier finish while using both products, apply beard oil first, then utility balm.

4. Beard Comb | Are you splitting your beard?

There are all sorts of beard combs on the market, from wooden to synthetic, and even ox horn!
Within the materials made up of combs, there are stark differences between each one of them, but for the most part, the best beard comb you will find will be made up of synthetic material and is sawcut.

The saw cut part is key when selecting a beard comb.

If you go to your typical big-box retailer or local drug store, you will likely see a ton of combs that are likely stamped out of a huge mold at the factory and are ultimately packaged up and delivered.

When these combs are stamped out of the giant mold, micro-fissures are formed along each one of the teeth of the comb.

These micro fissures wreak havoc on your beard – here’s why:

Each one of the micro edges along the teeth will tear at your beard follicles with each stroke of the comb.

More often than not, this is going to cause irreparable damage that no amount of beard oil will ever be able to fix.

Therefore, if you are looking to grow a lengthy beard, the damage that you do to your beard will be permanent.

Not only will the cheap plastic comb damage the entire shaft of the beard follicle, but you will be also much more susceptible to split ends as well, thus forcing you to trim your beard more frequently.

Therefore, it’s key to find a beard comb that is saw cut. Sawcut combs have each and every tooth on the comb polished by hand, effectively removing all the micro-fissures that will ultimately tear apart your beard.

When using a saw cut comb, you will not have long-term damage to your beard.

Another huge benefit of using a comb over a brush is that it will give you a lot of control. This is great if you are training your beard follicles to grow in the desired direction.

When comparing a synthetic saw cut comb to say a wooden comb, the biggest difference will be the splintering and cracking that may occur with the latter of the two.

 

5. Mustache Wax | Taming and Hydrating a Wild Mustache

waxing your mustache makes your mustache actually cool. If you’re going to go for a mustache at all, you just have to wax it. Otherwise, you just end up looking like Tom Selleck – while that may be an appealing prospect to some, I promise it’s just far too safe to be cool anymore. Trying to look like your dad is a bit too gauche and predictable. But trying to look like your grandpa? Now that’s innovation.

The Mistakes

1. Oiling Your Moustache Before Applying Wax: Wax is not water soluble. However, wax is soluble in oils, and having a freshly oiled moustache can break down the wax as you are applying it.
2. Not Being Gentle: This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have accidentally pulled out several moustache hairs trying to get them to into shape. So be gentle, err on the side of caution.
3. Not Giving Yourself Time: Styling a moustache will take time, longer than you would think. Give yourself a good cushion of time for styling your moustache to not feel rushed or pressured during the process.
4. Not Knowing Your Wax: If it’s your first time using moustache wax, become familiar with it. There are several different consistencies that moustache wax can come in, it is helpful to know how malleable the wax becomes, how much you will need, and if it is heat activated.
5. Not Practicing: Too obvious? Regardless, it was one that had to get driven home to me. Like anything else, to get better at something you should practice it.