Growing and maintaining a full, healthy beard can be a rewarding experience, but it’s not without its challenges. As with any aspect of grooming, it’s easy to make mistakes that can set you back in your quest for the perfect beard. In this article, we’ll explore five common beard mistakes and offer tips for avoiding them. From neglecting to wash and condition your beard to shaving the neckline too high, we’ll cover the key missteps to watch out for. We’ll also offer advice on using the right grooming tools and products, and we’ll discuss the importance of giving your moustache the attention it deserves. Whether you’re a seasoned beardsman or just starting out, these tips will help you achieve a fuller, healthier beard that you can be proud of.
Mistake Number 1: Not Washing Your Beard
Your beard, like your hair, needs to be washed and conditioned. This is something many of us neglect when we first growing out our stubble into a medium or longer beard. Using a good beard wash and conditioner is not only just good hygiene, but it causes the beard hair to comb easier into place, makes the hair look less straggly and makes the hair feel softer and less straw-like. All this makes your beard look neater and fuller, and is the first step in getting that put-together, well-groomed full beard look. Watch this video from our beard gurus at Beardbrand for a great step-by-step beard washing video.
Mistake Number 2: Touching and Caressing Your Beard
Despite what you might think, your beard is not indestructible! Often we develop habits of stroking, caressing or pulling at our beard hair. If this is a habit you’ve gotten into, and you have dreams of a thick full beard, this is something you definitely want to pay attention to. Not only does this mess up your beard during the day making it look messy and unkempt, you can also cause hairs to fall out. Your goal here is a thick, full beard, so treat each and every hair like an integral part of that rich luscious mane, and that’s exactly what you’ll have.
Mistake Number 3: Shaving Your Neckline Too High
Inevitably, as you grow out your full beard for the first time, the time will come when you need to trim up your neck line. However, one of the worst grooming mistakes, and one that we have all made at some point is shaving too high at the neckline. This is something to be really careful of, because you can really mess up the fullness of the beard if you do this wrong. The key is to imagine a curved line between both of your ears that passed underneath your chin. Use this as a guide, and once you have found the right curve that looks great on you, it’s easy to just clean up the neckline every day or two, to keep that beard looking neat and tidy.
Mistake Number 4: Using the Wrong Tools and Products
It’s important to remember that the hair of your beard is different than the hair on the top of your head. Likewise, the skin on your face is different than the skin on your head, or the rest of your body for that matter. So with this in mind, when washing and conditioning as mentioned at the start of this list, make sure to use specifically a beard shampoo as well as a beard conditioner or softener. We highly suggest the products from Beardbrand, although there are many great options out there.
Also, be careful of the type of brush and comb you use. A brush should be a boar hair brush, as this is soft on the hair and also helps keep the beard neat and tidy. The comb you use is very important as well. Cheap combs are cut from stencils and have very small slivers of plastic that will pull out your beard hairs. Kent Combs are a great option, or a good wooden comb will work wonders to keep your mane looking sharp.
- Kent Comb, Amazon
- Utility Balm, Beardbrand
- Boar Bristle Brush, Parker Safety Razer
Mistake Number 5: Neglecting the Moustache
Many a man has found himself guilty of focusing too much on the beard, and completely neglecting the mustache. This critical beard mistake can take form in one of a few different ways. One is letting it get completely out control and neglecting to trim at all, resulting in a scraggly and completely unkempt look. Another is trimming is too short, which like the neckline, takes away from the fully bearded look, and just generally on most guys, looks really bad. Lastly, when it comes to the mustache, many men neglect to consider that style they are going for. There are plenty of styles to choose from, from big and bold, to neat and trimmed, all the way to highly styled and curled up at the ends. The mustache can be a great way to experiment with different looks and change up the look of your beard every so often.
