A very common question that I get all the time is how to make your beard soft and straight. And for a good reason.
When you first start growing a beard this isn’t something that you had in mind. Don’t you worry though. I prepared this article for you to guide you step by step and understand how to soften your beard easily and with not too much effort.
Fellow manly gentlemen,
I am sure you have noticed, orange is no longer the new black. Beard is!
Since 2011 on, haute couture fashion brands, such as Jean Paul Gautier, Giorgio Armani and all the others we so much want to wear but most of the times can’t afford, have started this trend. It is seems to be here to stay.
I am sure that your partner have informed you already that even George Clooney and Ben Affleck joined the bearded community.
Now, as you must be aware, growing a beard doesn’t mean simply giving up shaving. Just like with all beautiful things in life, it comes with hard work, determination, passion and care.
But if you have just embarked the journey, you might have some questions or you might deal with some confusion. You might have already encountered some problems.
- Is your beard rough as a wire?
- Does your partner complain about taking a layer of skin off her face every time you kiss her? (just a mild exaggeration)
- Does your skin itch like crazy?
- You wonder why all this is happening to you?
Worry no longer! Problems, solutions and tips and tricks will be spelled out for you, to make your life easier and to make you want to grow a beard FOREVER!
We will share with you some of our beard wisdom in order to help you make your beard as soft as a bunny’s tail and to actually make you enjoy the experience of growing a beard!
First, we will explain the potential reasons for which your beard is hard and rough.
We will also present you some of the steps to follow in order to make your beard softer.
Then we will share with you some of the finest products to use in the softening process and we will finish with some of our best kept secrets related to our own beard care routine.
Buckle your seatbelts, we’re starting the journey.
Why is my beard rough?
So you’ve finally started following your heart’s desire and stopped shaving. While looking around at all those manly bearded men, you thought this was going to be easy, didn’t you? You though that just giving your razor a break will do the trick for you, right?
But now that you have three months since you started, you realize that it’s not such a piece of cake after all. Your beard has a decent length, but the quality is not the best? It’s a bit wiry and difficult to manage?
Well, the only thing we can say is, don’t worry, we’ve all been there.
But WHY? Why is this happening? you might be wondering. Well, there are a couple of reasons.
1. Non-proper cleaning
You have to get used to it. Your beard now is part of you. Just like the hair on your head. But unlike the hair on your head, the beard gets in contact with the food you eat. And it’s more prone to be touched during the day.
Unless you wash your hands super often, then all the germs from your keyboard, the money or the tube might end up in your beard.
Not to mention that it is probably the most exposed part of your body. That means it is the first one to get the dust waves or the rain.
And, unlike the rest of your body, your beard does not have an immune system. It cannot fight debris, food or dust.
In such case, a dirty beard means an unhealthy beard.
An unhealthy beard means a rough beard.
A rough beard means an ugly beard.
And an ugly beard, since it’s on your face, could mean an ugly you.
That’s the last thing a gentleman wants!
2. Low temperatures
Unfortunately, although we are currently living the second industrial revolution, as far as we are aware, nobody invented a protection mechanism for our beards yet.
So if you live in a state with perpetual winter or you just happen to experience the cold season, your face and your beard, implicitly, are probably the only parts of your body which are not covered.
You didn’t think cold temperatures affect the health of your beard? Well, think again. Just like your skin gets dry, your beard gets dry as well. After all, it is a living organisms as long as it is attached to your face. Low temperatures can have a devastating effect for the quality of your beard! Why? Because the effect of dryness is, guess what? A rough hard beard!
3. Dehydration
We also used to think that dry and non-hydrated is the same thing. But it is not. While dryness is the effect of external causes, dehydration is the effect of internal causes. Dehydration is what happens to your body when you lose more liquids than you gain.
Dehydration, has, unfortunately, an ugly effect, for our skin, but also for everything that is attached to it. As a general rule, not drinking enough water for a longer period of time can have some ugly consequences. Like a very tired complexion, full of spots or a very dull and wiry bear, lacking shine and health.
4. Hard water
And speaking of water, not all water is good for you. We learned this the hard way.
Washing with hard water can have negative effects on the quality of your beard as well. What do we mean by hard water?
Hard water is water that has high amounts of minerals in its structure. You can understand that the water is hard when it leaves this type of chalk on the surfaces it gets in contact with.
With hard water, it’s like you get in a vicious circle.
It makes your beard rough and tangled. As such, it becomes more difficult to wash off the product when you try to rinse. Leaving too much product in your beard can make it even rougher. Not to mention that the cleaning agents in the shampoo or soap do not work as effectively as usual, when in contact with hard water, due to the excess of minerals.
5. Trimming and split ends
Perhaps you think you are following all the right steps: cleaning, protection, hydration, conditioning, trimming. But your beard is still rough. There might be something wrong with that last step right there. We know everybody speaks about the importance of trimming when growing a beard. But what most people don’t say is that it is also important to give your beard a good quality trimming.
Using the wrong scissors or trimmer can have negative effects on the quality of your beard. Once you get your trimming game on, make sure that your trimming gadget is properly cleaned and properly sharpened. Otherwise, this can lead to actually breaking the hair, instead of cutting it. And beard will be more prone to split ends which will lead to... ? You guessed it right! A rough beard.
How do I soften a rough beard?
Now that we have provided you with the causes of a rough beard, we are also going to share with you some of the tricks we keep in our sleeves, to help you tame the rough beast that is taking over your face.
It might seem too much in the beginning, but once you manage to make a routine out of this, you will get to understand the benefits of a properly maintained beard.
And the solutions are:
1. Shampooing and conditioning
First of all, in order to maintain a healthy, good-looking beard, you need to wash away all the dirt of the day.
So, give your beard a proper shampooing and conditioning. Our motto in terms of hygiene is that there is no such thing as too clean. So don’t worry about washing your beard too often. Three times per week would be a fair number of times, if you ask us.
Besides, just to whisper you a secret, shampooing comes with a by default massage.
The more you massage your skin, the more you improve circulation and speed up the hair growth process.
Just rub your beard the same way you do with your hair and apply the beard conditioner.
That being said, there is one thing you have to be careful with: rinsing. After each step, make sure you got all the extra product off your beard, because otherwise, this will have the opposite effect: instead of getting softer, your beard will get dry and, thus, rougher.
2. Keep a healthy diet
You know what they say: you are what you eat.
The healthier your diet, the handsomer you will look. This is a general rule.
But there are some particular foods that will help with your healthy beard growth.
For example, foods rich in biotin (vitamin H) will do wonders for the quality of your beard. It is a crucial nutrient helping with growth and cell regeneration.
Try to eat eggs, nuts, avocado, salmon and low-fat cheese, all very rich in biotin.
In order to balance the oil glands around your hair follicles, try oysters, crabs or clams once in awhile. I would suggest it when you have a date and you want to move to the next base. I heard they send the right messages (wink wink).
For extra shine, eat foods rich in vitamin A, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, asparagus or pumpkin seeds.
And the most important, drink water! At least 2 liters per day is what you need in order to bring all the shine inside, on the outside. A hydrated body means a soft beard!
All these, will keep your body healthy and your hair and beard nourished, making it less prone to split ends, dryness and roughness.
3. Protect and hydrate
Unfortunately, there is no way to escape the low temperatures or the hard water. Unless you want to move to the south and wash you face only with spring water. But that would be a bit of an extreme gesture to do just for the sake of growing a beard.
But the good news is that there are ways to keep your beard protected, hydrated and nourished. Some of our bearded men have sacrificed themselves for our bearded future. They have come up with the proper cosmetic solutions to our problems.
If you are not a complete debutant at this bearded situation, you might already be aware of the great range of beard grooming products.
From beard oils to waxes and balms, from soaps to shampoos, from beard brushes to beard combs, there is an exceptional range of products out there just waiting to be tested.
They will all help you compensate for what nature cannot solve.
We strongly advise you to give these products some consideration.
4. Good quality products
Speaking of beard grooming products, there is a short note we want to make. As stated above, the range is huge.
But the bigger the range of products, the higher the chances to make the wrong choice and instead of caressing your beard, end up causing more damage.
It is for this reason that we strongly advise you to do a proper research before investing. Look up the ingredients, their effects, the brand. You don’t want to end up with a product containing too many chemicals, but neither with one that was prepared in a bathtub. Handmade means most of the times socially responsible. But there are also times when it conveniently covers for something else.
Since these products go on your face and through absorption, in your body, pay attention to what you’re buying!
Now that we have presented you the potential causes for beard roughness and the ways to make your beard softer, it also gives us great pleasure to share with you our very best Seven Potions products.
Created with manly love for grooming, respect for nature and care for customers’ well being and handsomeness, our products might be just what you need to help your beard reach its full potential.
What products should I use to soften my beard?
At Seven Potions we are all men grooming enthusiasts and we spend our time trying to find the best ingredients, in order to create the best products and answer all your needs. We are also all going through a beard phase, to our partner’s despair. So we definitely understand what you’re going through. That’s why we would like to propose to you some of the solutions we developed, tried ourselves and did the trick for us.
1. Beard Shampoo
As previously stated, beard shampooing should play a major role in your beard care routine and it can surely make your beard soft from day one. A clean beard is a good looking beard!
That’s why the first product we recommend is the Woodland Harmony Beard Shampoo. If you don’t want to spend your time researching all sorts of ingredients, this shampoo is as natural as it can get and among the best beard shampoos you can wash your beard with. You will understand everything written on the label.
As a parenthesis, don’t ever believe when they tell you a shampoo is all natural. In fact, you need at least one foaming ingredient, which can only be artificial in most cases.
The Woodland Harmony contains Cedarwood, Sandalwood, together with a mix of 4 secret essential oils. This combination makes it, on the one hand, nourishing and softening and on the other hand, it gives it that woody, manly fragrance.
Due to this high percentage of oils, with this shampoo, you won’t have to worry about conditioning anymore. It’s basically two in one!
Another great thing about it is that it comes in a 250 ml (8.45 fl oz ) bottle. As it only takes a very small amount of shampoo per every wash, it will last a very long time. Unless the smell and the after wash sensation will lead you to dependency and you won’t be able to stop washing your beard. We cannot guarantee against that!
2. Beard Oil
Your beard is dry due to hard water or cold climate? We have the solution: beard oil.
It is that magic potion that compensates for all nature’s wrong doings. It is the secret to nourishing, hydrating and making your beard soft as fur.
Once you start applying the oil regularly, you can say goodbye to wiry beard, dandruff and itch.
In practice, beard oil is actually a powerful combination of carrier oils and essential oils. While the carrier oils are the ones that actually have the greatest positive impact on your beard, nourishing and triggering growth, the essential oils are the ones that give a top beard oil its fragrance and the extra vitamins.
Some of the most common carriers used in beard oils are: argan oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, jojoba oil, apricot kernel or sweet almond.
The range of essential oils is literally endless. You can extract essential oil out of every plant and each extraction will have a different scent.
At Seven Potions, we have worked tirelessly to find the perfect combination and ratio of carrier and essential oils in order to create the perfectly balanced product to make your beard smooth and soft and to help you get rid of the split ends. It’s absorption properties will make your beard look it’s best without giving you a greasy sensation.
In terms of carrier oils, the Seven Potion beard oils contain apricot kernel, jojoba and sweet almond oil.
Rich in fatty acids, apricot kernel oil is full of vitamin A. While easily absorbed, it fixes damaged hair, leaving it soft and shiny. So in case of split ends, this will be your solution.
As the closest to sebum, jojoba oil is the super star natural cosmetic product. It can hydrate the skin, saving you from dandruff. Due to its moisturising properties, it protects the hair from dryness and frizziness.
Also rich in fatty acids, potassium and zinc, sweet almond oil it is well known for helping fight hair loss. It also help restoring the protective oil layer of the hair, thus leaving your beard soft and shiny.
As you can see, these oils do a great job separately. Can you imagine what kind of power they must have when combined?
The Seven Potion Beard Oil comes in 3 options:
Pure Equilibrium Beard Oil, a scentless oil for the gentlemen who do not want to spread any other scent apart from that of their own manly bodies.
Woodland Harmony Beard Oil, a musky beard oil making men stand out in the crowd.
And Citrus Tonic Beard Oil, with a fresh summery smell triggering the thought of holiday.
No need to mention, these oils are 100% natural and organic. As such, they respect your body, your well preserved and carefully grown beard and they respect nature.
3. Beard Balm
Now, if you want all the properties of a beard oil and something extra, we’ve got you covered for that too.
Let’s say that your beard is not only rough, but it’s also a bit crazy. As in difficult to tame.
In this case, what you need is a beard oil with holding properties, so that you can also do some styling. And for that, beard balm was created.
Here at Seven Potions, we say that beard balm is the result of the love between beard oil and beard wax.
We have created the perfect balance between the two products with our Woodland Harmony Beard Balm. It has all the nourishing properties of beard oil given by the powerful carrier oils (coconut oil, peach kernel oil, palm oil) and the natural butters (cocoa butter and avocado butter).
In the same time, it also has this extra hold, given by the small amount of beeswax and jojoba wax.
Once you start using this miracle product, you will wonder how you managed to live so long without it!
You will immediately see the results. It will give you a healthy, well groomed look. It will soften your beard. In the same time, it will style it, without any oily or greasy sensation.
Part of the Woodland Harmony series, it comes with this manly, musky smell, which from our own experiences, will definitely create dependency!
How do you make your beard soft with beard balm?
As for the “how to” part, in order to get the most out of this product, just scrape a bit of balm with you nail and rub it between your fingers. It doesn’t have to be more than a pea size. And that only if you have quite a mature beard already. Once melted, start massaging your beard from tips to roots. Now you’re ready to break some hearts!
4. Beard Brush
To make it all easier to apply these products, we recommend using a beard brush. It is one of the oldest and most natural ways of making hair soft. They carry the sebum oil and with every stroke you distribute it across the hair. This makes the beard softer and silkier.
Also, it is a great tool to clean your beard. Especially if you choose not to wash your beard every day, a great beard brush like the one from our range can help remove impurities and product from your hair.
We recommend using it daily for a softer, cleaner and healthier beard, either while applying beard oil or beard balm, or without any product, just for cleaning purposes.
Routine for the softest beard
Now that you have all the answers to your problems, we would also like to share our own beard care routine for a softer healthier beard.
- Wash your beard with beard shampoo. Give it a proper massage while you’re at it. It will not only clean it properly, but it will also improve the quality of your skin. Experience with lots of beard shampoos tells us that Seven Potions is a healthy, wise choice. But we won’t hold it against you if you chose differently!
- Towel dry it when you finish. Use a blow dryer if needed. But no matter your choice, be gentle. As previously said, your beard, while attached to your face, is alive. You don’t want to upset it! It has many ways to get its revenge!
- Apply beard oil or balm on dry (not wet) beard. Apply a few drops in your hands and massage your beard working your way towards the roots. Massage the roots as well. Here again, our trial and error experience tells us that a safe choice in terms of ingredients and results would be the Seven Potions products. But if you find something better, tell us about it!
- Use beard brush to distribute oil or balm evenly across beard and face. As previously mentioned, it will help you tremendously to obtain a soft, healthy beard!
Tips and Tricks
Since we already gave you all the aces in our sleeves, we also have some tips for you to consider for your beard grooming routine. Since we discovered them, they worked wonders for us!
So there you go:
- Stop using products containing alcohol. Alcohol dries skin and hair, leading to split ends, savage beard and, scarily, wrinkles!
- Pay attention to the ingredients that your face soap contains. Use products that contain natural ingredients and, should time allow you, try to do some research beforehand.
- Don’t apply beard oil or balm on wet beard. Using this practice will not allow your beard to absorb the product effectively, because the water will dilute the oils or will prevent them from being spread evenly across your beard.
- Going to bed with wet beard means a crazy beard in the morning. Take the time to dry it with a towel or with the blow dryer.
- Use beard oil before you go to sleep rather than beard balm. Balm will give some weird shapes during sleep because of the beeswax.
- Don’t use beard oil or balm on a dirty beard. Always apply on clean beard. You don’t want to mix product with dust and debris. It will only clog your pores leading to other problems.
- Prefer sawcut combs and not cheap plastic. Cheap plastic combs aren’t smooth enough and can damage your beard. They can cause split ends and make your beard frizzy, messing your well groomed look.
- Trim your beard or use scissors to reduce split ends. This will give you a softer beard and a healthier look.
That being said, gentlemen, let’s get to business and make the most out of those beards!
