How to Maintain a Hassle Free Beard

Once you’ve grown your beard, you need proper beard care to keep your beard looking healthy and manageable. It is not enough to just grow a beard but it is most important to maintain it otherwise it is associated with poor hygiene or an uncivilized, dangerous demeanor. Dr. Mohan Thomas Senior Cosmetic Surgeon, Cosmetic Surgery Institute shares some tips with us.

There are different shapes and sizes of beards and not all beard shapes look good on a particular face. The following steps should be considered to maintain a well-groomed beard

1.  Washing of the beard- Beard should be washed and shampooed at least thrice a week. This is important to keep the beard soft and remove the grime and excess oil so that there is no itching and formation of boils due to infection. Any good quality shampoo used for head wash can be used to wash the beard which is free of sulphates and contains natural ingredients. No need of buying a beard wash, there is nothing special about them.

2. Hydration and Conditioning of the Beard- After washing the beard it is important to oil it so as to condition the beard and keep it soft and shiny. Use oil that has essential oils and extracts with natural ingredients. This oil seeps into the skin and moisturizes it preventing itchiness, flakes, and maintains hair follicle health. 

Beard oil application should be done just after a bath and can be used as follows:

a.       Pour a few drops of oil into your hands.

b.      Massage the oil into the skin at the base of the beard.

c.       Work the oil gradually towards the hair tips making sure to evenly spread the oil over your beard and the underlying skin.

d.      Apply beard oil once per day in more dry climates and 2-3 times a week in more humid climates.

3. Waxing the beard- This is done to keep the beard in a particular shape and stiff and should ideally be done when the beard is soft and supple.

4.  Trimming and shaping the Beard- a well-kept beard looks shapely and goes well with a particular face. It is better to use scissors as they allow more fine-tuning and prevent split ends. Choose a simple style and shave the non hairy area which has to be ideally done every 3 days. Every few weeks, snipping off uneven patches and split or loose ends so as to maintain the natural contour of your face. Regular brushing of the beard using a small comb or a wide bristled brush will keep it in shape.

5.  Trimming at the Neckline- This is the only place where a trimmer can be used and should be done at least twice a week. Take two fingers and put them on Adam’s apple and trim the beard at the upper finger. DO NOT follow your natural jawline. If you do this, it will make your neckline look weak and your beard awkward.

6.  Designer Beard- The shape of the beard which looks good on your face can be permanently etched by removing the unnecessary hair permanently. At The Cosmetic Surgery Institute, this is done using a painless US FDA approved hair removing LASER. Multiple sessions are required for the best results. Please note that this can only be carried out if you have a dark beard as the LASER does not recognize a gray beard.