Do you want to know how to a comb beard straight?
Beardsmen that own good looking beards do two things very well:
First, they are supplying their beard with the right ‘beard care products’.
Second, they are regularly taming their beard (the right way).
It’s the second part of the equation that many good aspiring beardsman down, yet it is just as (if not more) important to rocking a darn good mane of facial hair than the first part. They either just flat out don’t do it or they aren’t doing right.
A quick way to solve that taming aspect (and a beard that chicks dig), is simply combing your beard on the daily. And although it might seem rather intuitive - I mean there’s not much to combing a beard is there?
Well, there’s certainly a ‘right way of doing it’ and a whole load of wrong ways to go about it.
Today I’m going to show you the right way whether you’ve got a full on curly, long one or just a short patchy beard, in a neat little step by step format.
Step By Step
Combing your beard in the simplest format and for those in a rush can be broken down as follows:
Pick up an actually decent beard comb (built for purpose). Such as this one.
Getting the timing right, just after you’ve applied some beard oil is perfect.
Hold the comb so the teeth are pointing away from you.
From the neckline and under your chin comb the beard outwards, in short strides.
Work your way up along the sideburns and back into the bulk of the beard.
As your beard starts to get fluffier (since the goal is to separate the hairs), start to comb inwards, and giving the beard back some shape.
Why you should be combing your beard?
Pretty much the same reason you would comb your head hair, to basically stop it from looking scruffy. However, there’s a few good other reasons too:
- Makes your beard look neater, the hairs are more in line, gives a more organized and well groomed look to your beard - as well as training your beard to grow in a less ordeal fashion. You could top this off further, by following it up with a more bristle brush.
- Helps the beard appear thicker by loosening up clumped together strands. Again, you could aid the look of an even thicker beard by playing to some ‘advantages’.
- Spreads sebum and other oils throughout the beard, helping to keep it looking and actually being healthier. It also leads it to being more manageable (less irritable) and easier to style and shape too.
Now for the more detailed breakdown:
Pick a Good Beard Comb
Before you take to combing your beard any further, choosing the best beard comb for your beard, is worth mentioning to start (and as you might know already, we have a mighty fine collection in stock). If you get to work with a sub par, plastic pvc one you picked up at your local garage it’s going to cause you more issues than it is solving (beard split ends and the like).
A few things to think about when choosing a comb:
- Material: metal, wooden, ox horn, cellulose acetate
- Portability of comb: folding or not?
- Maintenance and upkeep
- Size of your beard and size of the comb
Get the Timing Right
The ideal time is just after you’ve come out the shower, you might have used some good beard conditioner, then giving it a towel dry over, you might even have applied some beard oil on as well and your beard is super smooth.
That said, you can even comb a dry beard without too much hassle, just they tend to snag a little more which can be quite damaging on the beard.
Word of caution: with regards to timing, make sure you aren’t over combing your beard. Some guys think, the more they comb their beard the better, which actually ends up being worse for their beard as it can potentially cause damage. Once or twice a day is spot on.
Comb Up & Outwards
The general objective here is to fluff out your beard.
Break up the strands right throughout the beard. You want the teeth of your comb pointing away from you and the general stroke direction you want to be going in is inwards to outwards.
Keep the strokes short.
his will minimize any potential snags that you will encounter as you comb out the beard.
If you do hit any, and trust me the larger your beard gets, the more you will encounter, simply release the comb and start combing again. You want to be performing this motion right across the beard.
Perform it across the beard neckline to begin with, upwards along the side burns and finally into the bulk of the beard. There’s no exact science here to be fair, just make sure you have some sort of system in place to remember where you’ve just combed (again this gets trickier the bigger your beard).
Comb Down & Inwards
At this point, your beard should be looking pretty wild.
We’re talking hairs flying all over the place.
Now, it’s time to rope it back into place. Start performing the opposite direction from the one you were doing, instead of up, start to comb down.
Tame down the flyaways (as least as best you can, use some wax to help tame them if need be) and bring back structure to the beard. It should start to be looking pretty refined now, giving it a brush over to help give some additional body if needed.
Tidy Up the Beard
Combing your beard isn’t just about the maintenance of preventing knots from occurring, helping to distribute the natural oils produced by your face (combatting the onset of dandruff) and to ensure all-round healthier beard growth.
It’s also about making your beard look well-groomed. Keeping the beard hairs in line, giving off a better aesthetic. So spend this time and be a little vain, give your beard the once over and make sure it looks on point.
You might even want to touch it up with some beard and moustache wax to get it in place.
If you are struggling with how to comb a beard straight, then get in touch to see how we can help.