How to make your beard soft is one of the first questions most men ask after they start letting their beard grow. Is there some magical beard softener you didn’t know about? What are those soap-looking balms people put on their faces?
Don’t worry, there’s no grand mystery when it comes to learning how to soften your beard and then how to keep your beard soft. All it takes is a couple of minutes of dedicated care every morning. So, to shine some light on the whole thing here’s a complete step-by-step guide on how to make your beard soft:
Wash your beard regularly
This sounds like a no brainer but there is a vast number of men out there that don’t purposefully wash their beards. Yes, they bathe every day and let the shampoo water run down their face, and yes – they splash their faces with water every once in a while. But a lot of men don’t take any special time during their showers or just in the morning to wash their beards in particular.
However, a man’s beard needs some dedicated time as well. Just like our hair, our beards need to be carefully washed with a shampoo or a face soap 3 to 5 times per week. In fact, beards need even more attention than our scalp hair as they can take in much more food and other debris during the day which further ruins their quality and softness. To avoid that, you don’t necessarily have to wash your bead while showering – you can also do it on its own, in the morning. Just don’t forget that you need to wash your beard at least several times per week.
Use only mild shampoo and other products on your beard
If you’re wondering what kind of shampoo or soap you should be using, that answer can depend a lot from person to person. However, the general rule of thumb is that any regular shampoo can also work on your beard as long as it’s not too strong – the skin on our face is typically softer and more sensitive than that on our scalp so you need to be careful with it. Standard facial soaps can work as well if they are of good enough quality.
Don’t ignore the conditioner, especially on longer beards
Using a conditioner on your beard is also a good idea after washing it, especially if it’s longer than an inch. Just as with your scalp’s hair, a good conditioner can do wonders for the softness of your facial hair. Remember to apply it carefully, however – only on your beard hair itself and not on your skin, only on towel-dried beads, and let it stay on for a minute or two before you wash it off.
Combs and brushes are your friends
There’s a lot to be said about the difference in using a beard comb or a beard brush. However, using at least one of them after every shower and after every beard-wash is pretty much a must if you want to have a nice, soft beard. What beard combs and brushes do for your beard most of all is that they detangle your hairs and make sure your beard keeps growing in an uninterrupted and healthy manner.
Additionally, a good bristle brush will also stimulate the blood flow to the follicles on your face and make sure that your beard is always well-nourished and hydrated.
Trim your beard regularly
Even if you want to grow your beard longer than it currently is, trimming it regularly is still a good idea. No, not because it stimulates hair growth – that’s a myth. Instead, regularly trimming is important because it makes sure there are no entangled hairs in your beard, as well as that your beard looks great even as it’s growing.
However, make sure that you’re trimming your beard only when it’s clean and dry. This means that you should both wash your beard and tower-dry it before trimming it. Otherwise, you risk the trim not being even enough and you might end up with a patchy and uneven beard.
Don’t use clippers on your beard, especially if it’s longer
A lot of men use clippers to trim their beard. While that can be OK on shorter beards, on medium or longer beards clippers can actually crate an uneven beard cut, especially if you haven’t combed your beard beforehand. Instead, using a comb and trimming scissors guarantees that you’ll be able to give your beard the perfect cut.
Now, does it matter how you trim your beard when it comes to its softness? Most of the time, no, not so much, but if you are going to trim your beard regularly, as you should, you might as well make sure that you do it right.
Use beard oil or beard balm every day
Last but probably most importantly, make sure that you use a high-quality beard balm or beard oil on a daily basis. We’ve covered both balms and oils in other articles but the short of it is that both types of product work wonders at softening, nourishing, and hydrating your hair while also giving it a beautiful shine. The drier your skin is and the drier the weather in your area, the more frequently you might want to apply your balm or oil, but in most cases, one application per day should be enough.
In conclusion
Even though we covered quite a few points you can see that even doing all of them will take no more than several minutes per day. Applying the beard balm or beard oil takes literal seconds while washing your beard, either in the shower or on its own, takes a couple of minutes. Those two things, plus a daily combing and a weekly trimming will easily guarantee that you have a gorgeous, soft, and shiny beard that everyone will admire.
