How to Groom Your Beard inSummer
Beard grooming becomes even more important in the warm summer months.
By Jules Romero | July 17, 2020
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Since you have made the effort to grow out a hefty beard, you most likely maintain to keep it looking healthy and well-groomed throughout the year.
Sadly, your facial hair is far coarser than the hair on your head. Therefore, your facial hair is more susceptible to a wide range of issues and irritations if you do not provide it with sufficient care and attention.
The need for proper grooming becomes of utmost importance, especially in the warm summer months. These are the months when your face and beard are subjected to unforgiving pollution and unrelenting heat.
With that said, we are going to start by discussing why you should keep your beard even during the warmer months and what you can do to maintain your beard even as temperatures begin to soar.
Why Wear a Beard in the Summer?
Regardless of the season, beards look great when worn correctly. Beards can provide you with just the amount of scruff you need to elevate your entire look with minimal effort. With Memorial Day celebrations over and summer parties starting to pick up, you'll likely find yourself reaching out for your razor. That is understandable. After all, with the summer months come humidity, heat, and higher chances of exposed skin.
This may give you the idea that having a beard between June and September would be quite uncomfortable. However, that simply is not the case. In reality, keeping your beard can make your summer better. Let us talk about why.
Firstly, let us tackle the whole heat issue. Most people would assume that the added layer in the form of your beard would significantly increase the temperature of your face. This is not true.
Although beards can protect from elements such as rain and strong winds, they do not do much in terms of insulation. Also, many people prefer keeping beards during the summer because their beards cool down their jawline. This keeps moisture and sweat close to the face, providing you with a chill every time your beard catches a breeze. Give it a shot.
Next, let’s tackle the issue of appearances. Many men opt to shave their beards by the time June comes around. Perhaps they do this because a newly shaved beard is believed to give an impression of order. Some people might think clean skin looks tidier than wearing a scruffy beard.
However, any man who has been taking care of his beard knows that even the messiest of beards can look clean and tidy with a little bit of grooming. Now, you don’t need to shave everything off. You just need to do a little bit of trimming and pay some extra attention to the jawline.
Lastly, you’ll want to keep a beard during the summer to serve as sun protection. In reality, beards can protect your skin from fifty up to ninety-five percent of UV radiation. This, of course, depends on the thickness of your hair and the angle compared to the sun.
We’re not telling you to stop wearing sunblock. We’re just saying your beard helps protect you from getting burned.
Summer Grooming Tips
We've spent enough time talking about why you should keep your beard in the summer. Now that you're convinced let's walk through the steps that you need to take to keep your beard looking sharp even during the warm and dry months.
1. Wash Your Beard
As days get warmer and you start to sweat more, the surface of your skin gets covered in more salt, oil, and minerals, that escape through your pores. When these get mixed up with the dust, dirt, and pollution that you’ll most likely encounter every day, your skin is likely to get irritated.
The dust that we mentioned earlier can easily get trapped in your beard and irritate the skin underneath. This is why it's essential to keep your beard as clean as the rest of your body.
Unfortunately, some people believe that allowing the shampoo that drips down their head and their face is more than enough to clean their beards. It isn't. Consider using shampoo, like our beard wash and conditioner sold here, specially made to wash your beard. These do an excellent job of unclogging the hair follicles on your face, while also nourishing the roots of your hair and locking in the moisture in each strand.
2. Oil Your Beard
No, shampooing your beard is not enough. Quality beard oil like the ones we have here should be an essential product in your beard grooming kit. Aside from being a skin and hair care product, it also doubles as a styling agent.
Beard oil acts as a conditioning and moisturizing agent for your beard as well as the skin underneath. It works to soften and tame the bristles while keeping the skin hydrated.
Also, it is incredibly easy to use. All you have to do is rub a small amount onto your hands and massage it into your beard. It’s best to do this right after taking a shower when your pores and hair follicles are open and can easily absorb the oil.
3. Style Your Beard
Now, you’ve taken the necessary steps to nourish your skin and your beard. It’s finally time to make your facial beard look clean and sleek.
First, you’ll need a good beard balm like Renaissance Man. This will add volume and shape to your beard. At the same time, it functions to hydrate your skin and hair. Also, it does wonders to keep stray hairs in place.
Next, take some time to run through your beard with a quality beard brush. This not only keeps your beard untangled but also exfoliates the skin underneath. At this point, your beard should be looking quite neat.
4. Trim Your Beard
As mentioned earlier, there is no need to shave off your beard entirely. However, there’s no shame in just trimming off a couple of inches. Aside from making your beard look cleaner and tidier, losing a couple of inches of hair could also help you avoid annoying skin irritation.
Aside from giving your skin more access to airflow, trimming your beard also makes it easier to clean. The smart thing to do would be to invest in a high-quality grooming tool that lets you easily trim off a couple of inches. Don’t worry, you can quickly grow the beard back to its original length after summer.
5. Keep Hydrated
Our last tip to help keep your beard looking great in the summer is to stay hydrated. Proper hydration is excellent advice for the summer in general. Surprisingly, adequate hydration is exceptional for healthy facial hair as well.
The summer heat causes your body to lose fluids at a rapid rate. Your new lack of moisture can cause your beard to grow brittle, making it more prone to breakage. Luckily, you can easily prevent this by drinking lots of water throughout the day.
References
Club, T. (2018, October 26). 5 Beard Grooming Tips for the Summer. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://blog.thebeardclub.com/2018/07/02/5-beard-grooming-tips-for-the-summer/
Joshi, V. (2019, June 06). 5 Ways To Take Care Of Your Beard This Summer. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.mensxp.com/grooming/beards-and-shaving/53272-5-ways-to-take-care-of-your-beard-this-summer.html
Praetorius, S. (2017, August 09). The Case for Growing Out Your Beard This Summer. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.gq.com/story/how-to-grow-a-beard-in-the-summer