How to prevent dryness and itching of the beard?
Of course, growing a beard is a realization that all men must perform—at least once—in their life. However, growing a beard comes with his share of challenges, and unfortunately; many people give up too quickly. Everyone who has a beard may have already suffered, one day or another from a dry and itchy beard, redness, or irritation.
This is almost inevitable. When shaven, the tips of your hairs are forced to emerge stronger—that's why the first two weeks of growth itches so much.
Nevertheless, there are still some tricks to reduce those beard itchings—that can make you give up and shave everything.
Before we continue, make sure to grab your copy of our brand new Free ebook: The ultimate Beard in 10 easy steps!
Wash your Beard
Washing a beard requires specific products. Naturally, many men use the same products to wash their beards as the ones they use to wash their hair—this practice is the absolute worst thing that one can do. Hair shampoo and conditioner don't have the same nutrients and functions than beard shampoo. Under your beard, your skin naturally produces an oil (sebum) that moisturizes your facial hair—the same oil is also found on your scalp, and is responsible for oily hair. Hair shampoos are therefore intended to strip away this oil from your hair. In order to maintain a well-moistened beard, you must opt for proper shampoo, specially designed for beards, and which contain no sulfate or parabens. Finally, your beard should not be washed more than one to two times per week—washing your beard too regularly will dry it up—rinsing your beard under cold or warm water can meanwhile be done every day without any problem.
Revitalize and Condition your Beard
To be used only on beard's washing day, once your beard is clean—you want to soften and revitalize it. To do so, you want to use a beard conditioner. Beard conditioners moisturize and nourish facial hair, and promote a healthy beard growth. They also help the skin of our face to stay moisturized and hydrated—thus protecting against irritation caused by beard's growth—beard balms may act as styling products as well, but nevertheless, they are also very good conditioners for your beard and skin.
Moisturize your Beard
After cleaning and conditioning, comes hydration—moisturizing your beard must be done with a good beard oil. Beard oil in combination with a good cleaning of your beard—will greatly help to reduce and soothe itchy beard, and in addition, they leave your face fresh, with a pleasant perfume. Generally speaking, beard oils contain many essential oils that all have beneficial properties for your beard and your skin. We suggest that you start using beard oil after the first week of growth—before the first itchy feelings.
Train and Repair your Beard
Despite the use of appropriate products, and a good combing and brushing of your beard, if ever ingrown hairs begin to appear—you must try to remove them with tweezers as soon as they appear—to avoid any infections or additional irritations. If ever they are too many, we suggest that you consult a doctor or a dermatologist who will be able to help you to solve your ingrown hair problem—before growing a beard. Training your beard is very important—because, even tho your beard has a specific growth direction (grain)— some whiskers may go against or have different grains (direction of hair growth). Combing and brushing your beard daily will greatly help to modify this grain, and train your whiskers to grow in the desired direction.
Brush and Comb your Beard
Brushing and combing their beard is probably one of the favorite activity of every bearded men. First, as mentioned above, combing and brushing your beard's bristles can lead them to grow in a new direction. This, therefore, helps to reduce ingrown hairs—and itchiness. Furthermore, combing and brushing your beard on a daily basis will give it a neat, clean look, and will also allow a better and healthier growth of the beard. This will also promote a better blood circulation.
So to shortly resume, always keep your beard well-moisturized, put those itching feelings away, and use good natural beard care products—that don't contain any sulfate.
