For Your Bearded Pleasure

It’s been requested that I write a blog post on the tales of the beard. I thought it would be best to write on beard etiquette. 

It’s not so much if you can grow a beard (though that is half the battle), but how much time and effort you are willing to dedicate to maintain a well-balanced beard. Grooming takes dedication, a steady hand, and patience (strong emphasis on the last part. If you aren’t in it to go the distance, it’s probably best to disregard this post and save yourself some time).

There are helpful websites that have provided good information in the past on the ways of the beard. Art of Manliness has posted some interesting articles in the past. This one is interesting to read on how having a beard could possibly save your life. Beardoholic is also a great website on most things beard with photos of famous bearded people. Bearded Gospel Men has provided some funny musings in the past.

With that said, here are a few points on what I would recommend for being in the beard game.

1.) Know Your Beard

Facial hair is quite tricky. If you’ve ever gone without shaving for a while and let your beard start to grow, you may have noticed it coming in fully in some spots and nothing in other spots. If this be the case, this will affect how you groom and style your beard. 

Why are you laughing, Keanu? You should weep instead

There are some theories out there on things you can do to stimulate the growth of your beard. I’ve personally never tried them and have never met a guy that has tried them. They either stuck with the facial hair or didn’t.

2.) Patience, grasshopper

Oh, Kung Fu. I watched you as a kid.

I don’t know if I can stress this enough. A lot of guys that I’ve known to have the potential to grow some nice beards give up in the “itchy” stage of growing their beard. Barely past a stubble and the battle for beard glory has gotten the best of them.

One of the only ways this can be conquered is by…patience. Telling yourself that you’ve come to the trials of bearded glory and that you are determined to cross them will help you vanquish impatience. Time will be your friend if you let it.

3.) Attend to Your Beard

To aid you in bearded glory and to help the itchy phase move by more pleasantly, try using skin moisturizer. Underneath the beard that has now taken up residence on your face is, in fact, your skin. It’s best not to let it get dry and irritated as the beard continues it’s march to glory.

You’ll also want to shampoo and condition your beard.

What? Yes, you read that correctly.

This will help not only with the itchiness of growing a beard, but will also begin to make your beard softer and more manageable. It makes a world of difference!

4.) Treat Yo’ Beard!

Once you’ve gotten some length to your beard, it’s time to make it shine and maintain it’s healthiness.

One of the greatest things I’ve come across in my time in the land of beard is beard oil. I first discovered such a thing from John Mark McMillan when he endorsed DreamBeard. (DreamBeard, by the way, is fantastic. They make a lot of good oils!) So, I bought a bottle and started using it on my beard. The oil is composed of carrier oils (for skin health and such) and essential oils (oils that give fragrance). You’ve probably heard more about the essential oils which are on a high trend these days.

DreamBeard has a great starter pack that you can try as samples for your beard if you’re unsure which scent is the best. I’m a fan of The Mechanic myself.

If you want to step up the beard game, try using beard balm. It’s for those with longer beards to provide more of a “hold” to your beard. It shouldn’t be as strong as a wax; wax should only be used if you’re feeling artsy or getting ready to enter a beard competition.

5.) Manage the Beast

Finally, and this is probably the most important, don’t let your beard get too out of control (especially if you have a lady in your life). You will probably notice that parts of your beard grow faster than the other parts. To manage this, I recommend using scissors instead of a beard trimmer. You have more precision this way when cutting down a fraction of the beard, decreasing the risk of error one might occur if using a trimmer.

I recommend using a trimmer if you are wanting to cut down more of your beard (for those hot summer days). Always, always start with the highest guard first and then work your way down as you see fit. I’ve suffered a beard fatality in the past by misjudging a guard size.

It wouldn’t hurt to get a good brush for your beard as well. This helps spread the oil out also gets any kinks out that you may not have noticed.

You, too, can be epic in bearded wonder! Prevail!

Summary

Pay attention to how your beard grows.
Have patience!
Provide relief from the itchy 
Supplement that beard!
Tame that beard!

What would you add about beard growth/maintenance?