Growing a beard is one of the biggest decisions a man can make when it comes to changing their style. The growing process, however, is full of ups and downs but with some simple rules, it’s easy to make the process much smoother. Here are some of the best beard growing rules that we have tried and tested throughout our beard-growing process.
The most important beard-growing rules are: don’t give up early on, push through the awkward early stage, do not trim too often, use beard oil regularly, brush regularly, never judge your beard on its weakness, and if you need help seek advice from your barber.
1: Don’t give up early on
It is very tempting to shave your beard off in the early stages of growth. Let’s face it – it just looks rubbish! You’ll have some self-doubts and all of your efforts can be wasted if you give in to that one moment of weakness…
Do not do make any rash decisions and you need to wait for a MINIMUM of three months before you can make an informed decision about whether your beard is a good thing for your face or not.
Once you get to the three-month stage you can then make an informed choice about styles or further growth. At this point, the beard is full enough to be shaped by your barber (although you should get that done after about 6 – 8 weeks in my experience). And it’s also long enough for you to have a beard as opposed to “face fuzz”“.
There’s one simple way to grow out your beard and maintain your enthusiasm for beard growing – set a goal!
Here are the stages I went through:
2: Set a SMART goal
Setting a goal is one of the easiest ways to stay motivated during your beard growing journey.
First of all, you need to consider what you want to achieve and then you need to commit to it! Create a beard vision board and work out where you want your beard to end up. Believe me that your idea of “the perfect beard” will change over time but first, we need to start with a vision. This will be different for each person so don’t give in to what you should be aiming for. Instead, go with what YOU like!
I always recommend to new beard growers to write down SMART goals around growing your beard. To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:
- Specific (that means simple, sensible, significant).
- Measurable (so they are meaningful, motivating).
- Achievable (not crazy goals).
- Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based).
- Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).
For example, one of my goals during my time growing a beard was that I did not want to cut it for six weeks. You can see that this is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
3: Push through the ugly
Are you ready for some hard truths?
No one’s beard looks good in the early stages of growth. Even now, over 4 months into my beard growing journey, as I am approaching a shape up – my beard looks a little bit ugly!
Google beards and you pretty much only get the good looking beards! The reality of beard growing through is there are many weeks where your beard just looks rubbish!
In the early stages, you will look in the mirror and see fly away hairs, uneven growth, patchy parts, and an unsymmetrical shape. This is the lesser-known stage of growing a beard but everyone goes through it!
If you need a little bit of motivation – even the sexiest of men have to go through the ugly stage of growing a beard – check them out here!
Awkward beard phase…here was mine:
4: Don’t trim too often
This is one of the rules that I really struggle to stick to!
Growing a beard is, at its core, a really simple concept. Cut off less than you grow! I’ve written in detail about how often you should trim your beard while it is growing in this blog post – click here!
When you are staring in the mirror in the morning it is really tempting to trim off a little bit of your beard. Trimmers are by far the worst thing to take to your beard on a daily basis. They tend to remove much more hair than should be removed. If you must, use scissors most of the time for the fine details of your beard.
I do a substantial trim about once every two weeks. I take the weight out of the bottom of my beard, fade the sides and tidy up the shape. I’ve written in more detail about how I trim my beard and you can read that massive post by clicking right here!
You shouldn’t over trim your beard as a method of controlling your beard shape. There’s a better way! You should use some form of products every day (oils, conditioner, wax) to make sure that you are presenting your beard in its best possible form!
This is the section where beard growing rules get a little bit more product focused!
5: Use beard oil (and other products)
Read any beard blog (including this one) and you’ll get told that you need to use beard oil- and you do. But there are many other products that will help you keep your beard looking crisp!
Beard oil – DIY or buy it!
I use the beard oil on my beard nearly every day. It’s actually better if I use it every day – I ran an experiment and without beard oil, it is very frizzy!
A small amount goes a long way and you can make enough to last a year for only $25. I work it into my dry beard after blow-drying and make sure that it is rubbed in well enough to reach the skin underneath.
Beard conditioner
I use bluebeards beard conditioner – I got a tub of it when I was in Austin Texas for SXSW. It has lasted a year and I use it about once a week to condition my beard and give it a hydration blast. It also contains beard oils (avocado I think!) so it is a two in one option – if you’re willing to pay a little extra!
Beard wax and beard balm
Beard balm and wax are two of my least used but important products if I want to add that extra level of style to my beard!
I have created a DIY mixture that contains shea butter, jojoba oil, coconut oil, peppermint essential oils, and beeswax.
I have two versions – one has less beeswax than the other and I use the beeswax heavy version for maximum hold on the sides and mustache areas of my beard.
6: Brush regularly
This is a very important rule for beard owners. Some beards are curlier than others and brushing helps keep it from getting knotted and becoming unsymmetrical.
I have two types of brushes that I use:
- A plastic straight comb – used during blow-drying to force my beard into a certain shape
- A flat board bristle brush – used after oiling to plump out the beard while also giving it some shape. Using it lightly seems to be the trick to getting the hair to behave!
I’ve been told that a round brush will help control the beard when the hair on my face is a little longer. However, for the time being, these two implements are more than enough to control the frizz and force by beard into shape when drying with a hairdryer.
7: Don’t over-wash your beard
This was a rule that I learned the hard way – used to wash my beard everyday with head shampoo or body soap. That was a huge mistake!
You should aim to wash your beard enough so that it doesn’t smell like last night’s activities but infrequently enough that it won’t dry your skin or hair out.
How often you should wash your beard comes down to a couple of factors: your skin type, the beard type, and the environment
Skin type
| Oily skin | Wash your beard more frequently – up to daily |
| Dry Skin | Every 2 – 4 days |
| Combo skin | Every other day |
Beard type
| Thick hair | Every three days |
| Thin hair | Up to daily washing |
Environment
| Dry Climate | Every other day |
| Wet climate | Increase the amount you wash but be sure to follow up with a conditioner! |
As with all of beard growing, every persons beard is different! Use this as a guide and reduce or increase your washing schedule as necessary.
8: Buy a beard growing essentials kit
I highly recommend buying a beard growing essentials kit early on in your beard growing journey.
A good beard growing kit looks like this:
- A plastic round or straight comb
- A flat boar bristle brush
- A hairdryer
- A beard trimmer
- Beard oil
- Bearm Balm or wax
- A magnifying mirror
- A single blade safety razor
- A good pair of scissors
These items are the minimum amount of equipment and products that you need to ensure your beard will look great every day. Once you set up a routine it is relatively easy to get ready in the mornings in a small amount of time.
9: Don’t judge your beard on its weaknesses
It can be very tempting to look in the mirror and see all of the things that are ‘bad’ about your beard. It’s hard to silence the little voice inside your head but don’t listen to it…completely.
Use that little voice to guide your beard growing journey but remember that your beard is unique to you. Everyone has a different growth rate, growth density, and problem areas.
And this brings us to the most important of the beard growing rules
10: Ask for advice from your barber
Seriously, go in and speak to a professional about your beard.
Like a good doctor barbers see a huge variety of people day in and day out and will be able to give you the advice that you need to make your beard growing journey a breeze!
