During winter, the air is dry and cold. It’s never fun to have that combination, and even less enjoyable when you’ve got a beard. Sure, your beard is going to provide you with an added layer of warmth when you’re out in the elements. However, your beard needs some help to do its job and look its best. Low humidity stemming from cold winter air is a recipe for disaster when it comes to maintaining a great-looking beard.
Winter conditions notoriously dry out beards and the skin underneath them. This, in turn, leads to weaker beard hairs that turn your beard into something that looks and feels more like sand paper than anything. Given this, we have a few essential winter beard care tips for you that will keep your beard looking and feeling soft, moisturized, and healthy.
WINTER BEARD CARE TIPS
Here are some of the best winter beard care tips you can start applying to your beard if you want to keep it in the best shape possible during the winter months.
HEAD TO A BARBER
No, we're not suggesting you shave off your beard; that would be sacrilege! Instead, we recommend heading to a barber who understands what beard care is and does it well. They will be professionals who know how to properly take care of your beard. If you want to avoid getting split ends and suffering other beard-related damage, heading to an expert barber will help your beard out during winter.
Even if you already see some split ends occurring, you can quickly run over to a barber and have them take care of the problem. If you ignore your split ends, you are going to have more problems on your hands than you will want to deal with. The worst-case scenario is that the split beard hairs will split all the way down to the hair follicle, resulting in the hair falling out. If you get them professionally trimmed, then your prized beard hairs will be saved.
DROP THE HOT WATER
Everyone likes to get warmed up in a nice, hot shower when it's cold out. However, if you are letting hot water directly come into contact with your beard, you are going to probably damage it. The reason for this is because hot water can strip your beard, along with the skin underneath it, of the natural oils secreted by your skin. That means you will have more dry and flaky skin.
This doesn’t mean you have to avoid hot showers entirely. However, it would be best if you stuck to a warm or cold shower. If you simply can't brave that every time you shower, change it up. Take hot showers but avoid getting the hot water onto your beard. You can also sometimes take a hot shower and other times take a warm or cold one. Cold showers actually improve your skin overall, as well as the condition of your beard.
Another tip involves not allowing water to stick around on your beard. Instead of letting it dry naturally, dry it off with a towel. Otherwise, you’re going to have minerals deposit onto your beard, which is common in most tap water. After you dry it off with a towel, apply a few drops of a quality beard oil.
AVOID USING SHAMPOO ON YOUR BEARD TOO MUCH
Avoid overdoing it with shampoo when it comes to your beard. Yes, you will want to make sure it’s clean. However, shampooing it every time you take a shower is a recipe for disaster. It will strip all of the natural oils from it, leading to a dry beard and itchy and flaking skin underneath it. As a rule of thumb, you can shampoo it once every three times you shower. For the days you don’t shampoo your beard, apply a conditioner instead. A good quality beard conditioner will clean it while maintaining oils on the beard hairs. One more tip is to avoid using both a shampoo and conditioner during the same shower session, at least on your beard.
APPLY A HEALTHY DOSE OF BEARD OIL
Using beard oil is, by far, the best winter beard care tip. This is a specially-formulated oil that will be your ticket to enjoying a healthy beard during those harsh winter months. All you need to do is apply a couple of drops onto your beard after you dry it off completely. You can also apply a few drops onto it when you wake up in the morning before you start your day.
By applying beard oil regularly, you will prevent the cold, dry air, and other harsh elements in winter turn your beard into something brittle and unhealthy. Also, as a general rule, the longer and thicker your beard is, the more beard oil you are going to need for it. You will figure out what the sweet spot is, however. View our full range of beard oils here.
CONCLUSION
Now that you know some of the most essential beard care tips to follow, you can protect your beard and keep it in its best shape. All it takes is a few minor adjustments and you’re off to have a healthy and great-looking beard, no matter what time of the year it is.