5 Steps to Effectively Brush Your Beard
If you find yourself asking, should you brush your beard? The answer is it's time to get yourself a beard brush. Beard brushing should be an essential step in any beardsman’s grooming routine, and the earlier you start, the better. Go ahead - add to cart and get that beard brush on its way to your house.
Brushing your beard not only stimulates hair follicles and works with the natural oils that your beard produces, but it also tames and directs your beard to grow the way you want. It also adds extra volume and body and rids your beard of any unwanted fluffiness and build-up.
Keep reading to learn how to properly brush your beard in 5 easy steps, tips and tricks for brushing your beard, and all the FAQs you might have on using your beard brush.
How to Brush Beard in 5 Easy to Follow Steps
Step 1 - Grab Your Beard Brush
BUT WAIT - Before you grab your brush, make sure your beard is nice and dry or, at the very least, slightly damp. When hair is wet it is weaker and softer, so running a brush through it can cause strands to snap, break, or even get pulled out - Yikes.
You also want to make sure that the beard brush you are grabbing for is the best for your beard. Most beardsman prefer a wood handle for the movement, durability, and control that it offers over most plastic options. Likewise, instead of synthetic bristles, we recommend firm but flexible natural boar bristles that absorb and evenly distribute product and detangle even the toughest knots.
Step 2 - Turn up the Volume
Grab your brush and start brushing your facial hair in all different directions- outward, upward, sideways - to lengthen and straighten all strands. The goal is to break the pattern of how the hairs are growing and seperate any unruly patches. Bonus: this will also increase the volume of your beard, helping it look full and healthy.
Step 3 - Brush The Hairs Back Down
Brush those hairs back down from your ears to your chin. Continue traveling across your face brushing from your nose to your chin and back to the other side. Around the mouth area, going at a bit of an angle towards the chin can add nice thickness and fullness to your beard.
You will want to focus on applying medium pressure so that you aren’t just gliding through those hairs but also exfoliating the skin underneath as well. Too much force can lead to damage and beard split ends
Step 4 - Don’t forget the Mustache
If you happen to have a beard comb lying around, go ahead and grab that. A beard comb is a handy tool for smaller areas such as your mustache since you have more visibility and control of where you are brushing. If not, no big deal; you can use the tip of your beard brush to style your mustache. If you have a shorter stache, you will want to brush the hair straight down towards your lips. If your mustache is on the longer side, you will want to direct the hairs outward, training them to sit the way you want them to grow.beard
Step 5 - Final Brushing and Stylingbeard
Repeat steps 3 and 4, brushing your beard hairs and mustache more slowly to direct and control your beard one final time. You can also use your hand to smooth down any particularly difficult strands and give shape to your beard and mustache. You can apply beard balm to add additional hold for those extra wild hairs for stubborn strays.
Finish off your beard with some beard oil for that extra moisture, shine, and uncommon scents that will leave your beard smelling fresh all day.
Tips for Brushing Longer Beards
Tip 1 - Think about your beard in layers. You will want to fluff the bottom and t he top layers to make sure you really separate all the hairs.
Tip 2 - If you get a tangle or knot, just stop and start again. You might be getting tangles NOT because you have a knot but because your hairs grow in all different directions, and they might have just gotten crossed during combing.
Tip 3 - As your beard gets longer, it does become hard to rely only on your trusty beard brush to tame your beard. For best beard maintenance, you will also want to introduce a handy beard comb into your grooming routine.
Beard Comb vs. Brush
Beard Brushes are great for conditioning and cleaning your beard. They give your beard a fuller, thicker look as bristles easily lift hair away from the skin. Typically this tool works best for shorter beards, training your hairs from the start to grow the direction you want, but it has its place with longer beards as well.
Beard Combs are usually used for detangling beard hairs and applying products like beard oil. This tool is best for a longer, more established beard.beard
Beard Brushes can damage your beard if used while soaking wet. Beard Combs, however, do some of their best work on a wet beard.
BUT both the brush and the comb have their own unique set of benefits and if you have the budget, we recommend you get both. Starting out with a beard brush and introducing a beard comb into your beard care routine after three months of growth is most effective. In our eyes, the battle between choosing a beard brush or comb ends up being - drumroll please - a tie.
Why use a Beard Brush? - 5 Benefits of Beard Brushes
Increase Volume, Decrease Puffiness
Brushing your beard separates any beard hairs that may be tangled or crossing and pulls the hairs away from your face creating extra volume and thickness. Simultaneously, brushing distributes oils throughout your beard, decreasing puffiness leaving your beard with a natural style and shine.
Train Your Beard
Brushing your hair continually in the direction you want it to grow will train your hair to lay that way. Over time, styling and grooming will get easier, and you won’t need as much product or heat to get control of your facial hairs.
Distribute Oils and Prevent Build Up
Sebum is the natural oil that your hair follicles produce. A natural bristle brush will help distribute those oils evenly throughout your beard, keeping your beard looking healthy and shiny. Spreading the sebum throughout your beard prevents beardruff, dry patches, and potential build-up at the roots of your facial hair that can cause irritation and acne. A good brush will also pull out any dirt, grime, or dead skin cells left in your beard throughout the day.
Exfoliates Skin and Stimulates Growth
Using a beard brush stimulates blood flow to the follicles by massaging the skin below your beard. That extra blood flow allows more essential nutrients to get delivered to your beard hair and skin to keep them healthy and stimulate beard growth.
While brushing, using medium pressure allows the bristles to reach the skin below and glide efficiently through the beard hairs. Exfoliating with your beard brush removes dead skin cells that can clog your pores, irritate your skin and potentially hinder growth. Regular brushing also combats that pesky beard itch.
Straighten and Style Your Beard Hairs
Consistently brushing your hair once or twice a day will help straighten out any unruly curly hairs. Making brushing your beard a habit shortens your styling time since hairs will be trained to fall the way you want. If you have an especially bad beard day, you can always grab your heated beard brush or a blow dryer for some extra control.
FAQ - Using A Beard Brush
When should you start brushing your beard?
While this very much depends on how quickly your beard grows, a general rule of thumb is to start brushing your beard after 3-4 months of growth. Most men will be past the “stubble stage” at this point and can start gaining all the great benefits of brushing their beard. As soon as you start having “bad beard days” you’ll know it's time to start brushing.
How to clean a beard brush?
The best way to clean your beard brush is to dry clean it. That means using another small brush or a comb to pick out the hairs left behind deep in the bristles. Don’t forget to turn your brush upside down over a trash can and brush out the dead skin cells, dirt, and grime left behind with your hand.
To keep your brush working its best and prevent cycling dirt and particles back into your beard - we recommend cleaning your brush about once a week.
How often should you brush your beard?
No more than once or twice daily - brushing your hair any more than that could do more harm than good. Constant friction on your beard hairs can lead to split ends and damage.
Does my hairbrush work for a beard brush?
It sure does not. Cremo’s beard brush has much coarser and denser boar hair bristles with similar thickness and texture to your facial hair. This texture allows the beard brush to glide over tangles and easily distribute natural oils throughout your beard. A hairbrush is not going to have the same control.
Similarly, a beard brush should only be used on your beard. Do not cross over by using your beard brush on your head. You will end up with beard hair in your hair and head hair in your beard - quite the mess.
Should you brush your beard wet or dry?
You should only brush your beard when it is completely dry or at least 80% dry. When hair is very wet, your follicles swell with water which adds tension and pressure to each strand. Ultimately, this weakens hair and makes it fragile and prone to breakage. Running your brush through a wet beard can lead to split ends, damage, and even cause strands to fall out.
