Morning Beard Grooming Routine
What’s your first order of business when you wake up in the morning? Sit down with your legs hanging off the bed for 15 minutes. Snooze the alarm three times before finally getting busy or sitting on the “throne” scrolling through Instagram? Your daily morning routine often sets the tone for the rest of your day. So, what tone is your morning beard grooming routine setting? How are you grooming your beard? Is it some quick water and Vaseline?
These simple decisions can be the difference between dryness, breakage and possibly shaving your beard prematurely. Beards require maintenance and even though it’s not rocket science, a few minutes daily make a huge difference in the health of your beard.
When it comes to beard care, it’s always best to customize your routine based on your skin, hair type/ texture, and the length of your beard. Customizing your routine prevents you from buying unnecessary products, allows you to be more consistent, and saves you a shitload of valuable time. Let’s start with beard length.
Beard Length
Fuller beards are the rebellious teenagers of beard care, who sometimes are more trouble than you ever envisioned. The challenge with longer, fuller beards is that natural skin oils are not sufficient to moisturize the entire beard. Thus it tends to get dry quickly, persons with long beards often struggle with tangling, split ends, beard dandruff, and intense itching.
These beards usually require more products, eg. beard wash, moisturizer, oil, balm, brush, and comb. thus they can be quite expensive to maintain, in comparison to shorter beards.
With longer beards, wash the beard every 2-3 days or as needed depending on the amount of dust, product build-up, etc. While the beard is damp, apply beard butter, or beard oil, this is where the routine becomes custom. it all depends on you.
when applying beard oil, apply 3-5 pumps into the palm, rub together and work throughout the beard. Ensure it gets under the chin which is prone to dryness and dandruff. Follow the oil with beard balm, and brush thoroughly with a medium boar bristle brush. The final step would be to detangle your beard with a Comb or Pick, ideally something made from wood or acetate.
Detangling your beard is very important, the more it tangles, the more it gets split ends and breakage and patchy. so take your time, detangle your beard, and then, you’re good to go.
Skin Type
Your skin type determines the types of products you use, it’s as simple as that. For men with dry skin, you can use a lot of oils and moisturizers without worrying about breakouts. But your beard will dry out fast, so you need beard products with heavier oils and butters that will hold up throughout the day. Your morning routine can consist of a leave-in conditioner, oil, and balm.
For men with acne-prone skin, that can be a little more tricky. Men with sensitive skin need to be constantly vigilant about ingredients before choosing and using products. Light oils such as Jojoba, Sweet almond, and Babassau, are always a great option, they don’t block pores and are generally hypoallergenic.
Hair Type
When creating your morning routine, choosing the right products for your hair type are essential. Men with fine hair can get by with beard oil only. No need for heavy waxes and balms which can weigh down hair.
However, if you have thick, curly hair, you need to pull out all the stops. Thick beards are often plagued with dryness, dandruff, split ends, and breakage. So a heavy dose of a water-based moisturizer or leave-in conditioner, a nice heavy beard oil, and balm will be the best way to maintain that type of beard.
Although these steps may seem excessive, less than 10 minutes a day can be the difference between an itchy, dry, beard that breaks constantly and bearded greatness (or whatever other corny super macho lines I could come up with). Give your beard the love it deserves, remember it’s “ Not Your Father’s Beard”.
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