Tips For The Beard Journey

While it seems like beards have been in style for a few years now, it may never be too late for men to join the beard growing journey. Some men may want to remain clean shaved, but if you’re a guy that’s curious to know how to grow your beard, I have a few tips for the beard journey such as how to keep it clean and stylish and maintain a healthy look. Before we start, I want to say as a disclaimer that growing your beard takes time. There will be an awkward phase, and that’s okay, but the end result is worth it.

via Pexels

How To Start:

Let it grow! Go without shaving for five days and then clean up your cheeks so that it doesn’t look like you’ve been hiding under a rock for a week. This is where it helps to have patience as a virtue, as you may be having to wait a few months before you get a good length to work with. As you continue to shave your cheeks, make sure you keep in mind the style you want, as this is the time you can guide your hair before it becomes too long. If you’re interested in using a quality shaver, I have been quite satisfied with Henry’s shaving razors especially with how reliable the blades are after numerous shaves.

Trimming and Shaving Guide:

If at any point you start to see your beard as uneven after 3 months, consider trimming it with a beard trimmer or going to a barber to have it trimmed so that it grows evenly around your face. You may mind that you grow a mean chinstrap better than a round, bushy beard. Also, make sure you don’t forget to style your mustache along with your beard. Again, it’s your choice to keep it to make your beard look full, or keep it shaved if you don’t prefer a mustache.

Items for Your Journey:

After five months, your beard will reach a considerable length, and now you can either make the choice to trim it back down or keep going. If you continue on your beard journey, then I strongly suggest picking a few helpful items along the way. First is a comb, beard shears, and your choice of either a beard oil or cream. Depending on if your beard has been itching, it’s good to get a cream that will help take care of the skin underneath your beard. A comb will help to train your beard, while shears will help in ‘pruning’ it, and oil to soften it. If you need a place to start looking, I found Cremo’s products to be stellar for getting started and especially enjoy their beard cream to help soothe an itchy beard

Combing and Oiling:

Similar to how you would gel and comb your hair to style it a specific way, you will need to comb and oil your beard so that you can train it to look sharp and groomed. An untamed beard, despite how woodland-ly it looks, is a bit of mess. Not only will it look messy, but you could shedding like crazy everywhere you go! To avoid leaving a beard trail for yourself, consider combing your beard in the morning to bush out loose strains and straighten out the messy look. But before you head out the door, add about four to five drops of oil on your beard to ensure it shines bright and looks softly smooth.

Shears and Length:

Now comes the hardest part: Shears. When I first took out my shears, I was terrified, as I had no idea where to start. After some contemplating and a YouTube video or two, I figured that all I needed to do was figure what I wanted. At the time, I was told my beard looked a bit uneven, and to consider trimming it with some shears. So I took to it and started by gently pulling at my beard hairs to see where the lengths weren’t lining up. It was at this point that I wholly agreed there was some uneven spots, took a leap of faith, and cut off those longer strains. Lo and behold, my beard looked even and neat, and I no longer fear those shears. While I may have oversimplified my narrative and how I trimmed my beard, the process does go like this: Wash your bread; comb it out; gently pull at each side to measure lengths; trim until the desired length, and don’t forget to add oil to afterward. For a little more in-depth process, here’s a helpful link I found on trimming.

Beyond the Journey:

At this point, you can shave it all off, start a new or keep a clean shave, regardless, if you want to continue, you’ll be taking the time to care for it by trimming it every so far, combing, and oiling it to keep it as neat as possible. I’ve thought about cutting it all off many times, but after stroking my beard and thinking about it, I figured I’d keep it for now.