Robert B. Brown
While it’s a myth that beards are full of poop, and while the debris they pick up, such as pollen, can have health benefits, it’s still important to keep your beard clean.
Beards catch food and sweat and excess oil over time, not to mention harmful bacteria that might otherwise nest on your skin or enter your mouth. This is the big reason you should always keep your beard clean. Keeping a clean beard also makes your beard easier maintain and less likely to lose hair caught in built-up gunk.
Some men fall into the common trap of washing their beard daily, as they wash the beardless part of their face. Don’t do this. Washing too often strips your beard of its protective oils, just like the hair on your head when it’s over washed. Instead, stick to washing your beard about twice a week. You can do it more often if your beard has gotten dirty, obviously, as no one wants to go around with nacho cheese in their beard, but definitely avoid everyday washing.
Regular shampoo and soap are too abrasive and oil-stripping for beard washing. Instead, you can opt for a mild shampoo, like baby shampoo. Ideally, you should choose a good beard shampoo like Spartans Den Premium Beard Shampoo in their Legend scent. It has a handy pump that makes it really easy to use while washing your beard at the sink. Not to mention, it smells great thanks to the inclusion of notable masculine scents like bergamot, spices and amber.
At first, you may feel like beard shampoos are a bit thin in viscosity; some are thicker than others, but it is normal for them, on the whole, to be thinner than shampoo for your scalp hair. Essentially, beard shampoos are used the same way regular shampoo is. You lather and rinse well.
For beards, I would avoid using very hot water while washing. It’s just bad for your skin in general and strips away protective oil. Instead, choose warm water, which feels just as good while still helping you to work the shampoo thoroughly through your beard.
After you’ve shampooed, follow up with your favorite beard conditioner. Leave-in beard conditioners, like the Ultra Conditioner for Beards from Beardsley Beard Care Products. Leave-in conditioner not only makes your beard easier to manage and softens the hair, it will also help protect it from debris as you go about your life, keeping it cleaner just a little bit longer.
Beard oil, like the woodsy-scented Beard Oil by Mountaineer Brand, goes a long way towards strengthening your beard, thereby allowing it to grow longer.
