Well, you’ve got a beard. Congratulations! You think that you will need at least one shelf filled with fancy shampoos, conditioners, oils and creams in order to look good. You couldn’t be more wrong. Grooming corporations are happy to make you believe that you need to buy at least ten balms. But you don’t need to spend a lot of money – you need a strategy.
First of all, you are going to have itching. Yes, it is quite inevitable. Your face isn’t used to the hair on it. Try not to scratch your face as if you were an animal. What you need is a basic moisturizer. CeraVe and Cetaphil, for example, are perfectly fine. Apply it to the skin under the hair. It stops flaking and prevents you from looking like the person suffering from the terrible case of dandruff in his beard.
As for the hair itself, there’s no need to spend your forty dollars on that fancy “Viking Elixir”. Buy a basic jojoba oil instead. Put three drops of it onto your beard after a shower and that’s it. You don’t need to pour a bunch of greasy oil on your face; you want to look healthy, not fried. Use boar bristle brush to distribute the oil evenly and teach your beard to lie flat. Otherwise, you will look like a stray poodle.
Most guys mess up while trimming their beards. They buy cheap razors and start to trim their beard haphazardly. Try not to be one of them. Spend some money on a decent trimmer – for instance, Philips Norelco Series 7000. Put a guard that has a little bit larger length setting than you need – you can always cut more, but you won’t be able to glue the hair back. Define your neck line – imagine the “U” shape from your ears to your Adam’s apple. Shave everything that is below it. Cheek line should remain natural unless you want to look ridiculous with your chin-strap beard from 2005.
Washing is a trap. You don’t need to shampoo your beard every single day. It washes away the natural oils and as a result, your beard becomes dry and wiry. Wash it twice a week with a gentle cleanser. On the other days, use only warm water. Conditioner is your friend. Use it every time you take a shower. It softens the wires. It makes it touchable. Nobody wants to kiss a cactus.
Unfortunately, sometimes you can’t change your genetics. You may have some patches or a peculiar difference in colors. Accept it. Patchy beard looks much better than no beard if it is kept neat. Confidence sells your look better than any product in the world. If your beard grows sparsely, keep it short. If it grows thickly, let it grow long. It is pointless to try to be someone else.
Just relax and take it easy. Eat well, get enough sleep and drink water. Remember that hair grows from the inside. Nothing can help you in case of improper diet. Keep it simple and clean. And for Christ’s sake, don’t touch your beard every five seconds. It looks as if you were afraid of something.
Thanks for reading this post! – MyPlugin