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Since I started growing my own beard, and founded a company of bearding products,

I’ve noticed how facial hair has shot up in popularity. It’s truly become the realm of

the stylish. From models and movie stars to what I call “the urban beardsman”—your

average style-conscious beard-wearer—fuller beards especially are sweeping the nation.

Google Trends, which tracks “hot searches” to see what’s popular on the Internet,

reports that searches for beards reached an all-time high in March 2013, after

skyrocketing in 2012. This spike isn’t restricted to trendy cities, either: the searches at

least are nation-wide, and beards are sure to follow.

We can look to a couple of sources to see where this upswing is coming from. Film

director Ben Affleck sported his beard while accepting the Best Film Oscar for Argo,

and George Clooney attended the same event with his famous salt-and-pepper scruff.

What’s more, major men’s magazines like GQ and Esquire have run articles about beard

grooming and styles, making the look a recognized part of a stylish man’s repertoire.

Beards have gone corporate, too. Gillette has engineered the Gillette Fusion ProGlide

Beard Trimmer and Styler, specifically for those who want tailored and sophisticated

facial hair. Although those seeking truly full beards will discard trimmers altogether, this

major release specifically for facial hair goes to show how it’s risen in the world.

And in America’s trendiest neighborhoods, beards already reign supreme. A recent

section front-page article the New York Times about Williamsburg, currently the most

famous and trendy neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY featured its author trying to integrate

into the particular world of the borough. When he walks down Bedford Avenue, its

central street, he describes the population as “a veritable ocean of beard.”

Of course, these are just some facts and figures about one bearding trend. Really the

possibilities are endless. To get in on the trend or start your own, let me share some of

my best beard grooming tips.

Beard Growing Tips

Hair is little dead pieces of you slowly coming out of your body. If they lived a good life,

then they will exist as a good hair — otherwise your beard will look like shit. So to have

the best beard you will start with a healthy diet and foods high in protein.

The higher protein diet will help boost your testosterone, which is a key factor in

beard epicness. You’ll want to make sure to get your veggies: peas, broccoli, chickpeas,

and spinach are especially high protein vegetables. Another way to increase your

testosterone is to exercise regularly—lifting weights in particular.

http://www.beardbrand.com

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If you eat a perfectly balanced diet, you won’t need to take any vitamins or

supplements. However, if you suspect your diet is less than ideal you may want to

consider adding these beard-assisting supplements: biotin, fish oil, and a multivitamin.

Or you could simplify your life and take the Vitabeard vitamin.

Keep stress and smoking to a minimum and you will be living up to your full beard

growth potential.

Beard Maintenance Tips

Once you’ve got your beard growing at its best, you’ll have to take care of it to keep it

that way. This starts in the shower: you have to resist the urge to shampoo your beard

everyday. Shampooing beards puts a lot of strain on beards because it strips out the

natural oils that keep your beard healthy and moisturized. I try to shampoo only once or

twice a week and always use conditioner after a wash. Bluebeards makes a beard wash

specifically formulated for your beard.

Immediately after the shower, while your pores are still open, is the best time to add

some beard oil to your face and beard. Beard oil is a leave-in conditioner that will help

keep your beard soft, shiny, and prevent against beard dandruff. Personally I use Spiced

Citrus Beard Oil (shameless plug — it’s my line of beard oils), but I have also heard good

things about Frank’s Beard Elixir.

From there, you’ll need to minimize the damage to your beard. Excessive brushing, blow

drying, or just stroking can lead to split ends and bald patches. I know, I’ve got a fiddling

OCD habit myself. If you are the type to play with your beard, try to keep objects near

by to keep your hands occupied — a stress ball won’t bring you near as much heartache.

Trimming regularly will help remove split ends and even out fast growing hairs.

For your combing needs, try to get a saw-cut and handmade comb like a Kent comb.

These combs will glide through your beard like a hot knife through butter and create

little to no static. If you are a brush person, avoid the nylon brushes and go for a boar’s

hairbrush. The hairs help redistribute your natural oils rather than stripping them away.

Beard Styling Tips

Now that your beard is healthy and strong, you’ve got some style options. Besides your

natural full beard, your Garibaldi and Verdi are the most common full beard styles. The

Verdi is a shorter beard with larger mustache, and the Garibaldi is a full round big bushy

beard.

http://www.beardbrand.com

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If you can’t grow a full beard, I like to say, “grow whatch you got.” You can go for the

mustache only, partial beard (chops), or goatee. If you’ve got a nice ‘stache then you

may want to play around with some mustache wax. There are a lot of options on the

market and you’ll have to decide which is the best.

A high hold natural beeswax mustache wax will give you a lot of flexibility, but is slightly

challenging to apply for newbies. Bruce Roe, a world mustache champion, recommends

using Brother’s Love. It’s a crème-based product that goes on easier and stiffens to a

hold. It’ll leave a chalky residue whereas the wax leaves a waxy residue, so pick your

poison.

To help tame your beard you’ll want to go with a beard balm or a standard hair styling

product like American Crew Fiber. Once these elements are in place, you’ll have a

kickass beard that’s manly, stylish, and just plain awesome.

Product Wrap up

Gillette Fusion ProGlide Beard Trimmer and Styler

Vitabeard

Bluebeards Beard Wash

Spiced Citrus Beard Oil

Frank’s Beard Elixir

Kent comb and Boar’s hairbrush

Beeswax mustache wax

Brother’s Love mustache wax

ManFaceStuff Beard Balm

American Crew Fiber

http://www.beardbrand.com

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The ultimate guide to growing and styling a beard

To grow an awesome beard, simply put away your razor and trimmer and wait. That’s

all there is to it. That being said, there is actually a lot to learn about growing a beard;

if you are into style – which I know you are. I’ve created this guide for the first time

beardsman who doesn’t know what to expect. I’ll help you overcome common pitfalls

and issues that arise with having a beard. After reading this article; you should have all

the tools you need to sport an awesome beard.

Since this will be the most epic, comprehensive article on bearding on the Internet,

I’ve broken it up into three sections – Building a Beard Foundation, The Psychology of

Growing a Beard, and styling and maintaining a beard. The reasons why you should

grow a beard are totally up to you as an individual. I personally have found incredible

friends through beard clubs, gotten tons of compliments from random strangers, and

have had my career skyrocket. You’re results will vary – but I promise that when you

grow a beard it won’t be the same ole status quo.

Building a Beard Foundation

Your genetics determine pretty much everything when it comes to what your beard

will look like. That being said; things like stress, bad diet, and physical damage can

lower your full beard potential. These tips will help maximize your own beard growing

potential to give you the best beard possible.

First off, shaving your beard will NEVER make your beard grow faster – that’s just an

urban legend and anyone who says it makes your beard grow faster is just trolling you.

If you have a perfect diet, perfect work out regiment, and perfect stress levels, than this

section won’t help you – but if you aren’t living the ideal life; they will help your beard

grow better.

First, you can take supplements to make up for any deficiencies in your diet. My

regiment usually consists of a multi-vitamin, biotin, and fish oil. Biotin will help your hair

and nails grow faster and in other countries it’s called vitamin H for hair. In addition to

these basics, you can add zinc, vitamin B (specifically B6), and magnesium. Again, all

these supplements can be found through a healthy diet and aren’t necessarily required.

One of the most important attributes to growing a better beard is to boost testosterone.

To do this you’ll need to eat more red meats, avoid soy-based products, and lift weights.

Other good foods are: spinach, nuts, avocados, olives, broccoli, and olive oil. Brett wrote

an excellent article over on Art of Manliness about naturally boosting your testosterone.

http://www.beardbrand.com

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Once you have the internal stuff taken care of, you need to focus on the external tips

to grow a better beard. That will mean that when growing your beard you’ll need to

focus on stroking the beard rather than picking at the beard. Picking split ends, or simply

focusing on single beard hairs can lead to patches, more split ends, or other damaging

effects.

The final thing you need is patience. Beards take time and they will get longer – you just

need to wait. Hell, the best things in life take time, right?

The Psychology of Growing a Beard

If you are new to the beard growing process you’ll find the most challenging part being

how to handle other people’s reactions. If you were left on a desert island by yourself

you wouldn’t have this issue; but going for a different look with without doubt get

comments from others.

The first and most difficult challenge will be communicating with those who are closest

to you. I’ve found that if you ask for support from them, you’ll usually find success –

especially if they are understanding and considerate of you as an individual. (If they

aren’t perhaps it’s time to find someone who is more supportive – but that’s another

article). I like to say something along these lines, “[Loved one] I’ve decided to grow a

beard and I know it’s going to be a little bit different. It’s something that I’ve wanted to

do for a long time, but never had the confidence to do. I’m hoping to grow it for [length

of time] months and can really use your support. Please help me through my thoughts

of doubt and help me reach my goal.”

If they give a little bit of push or aren’t 100% supportive, then I like to put it into

perspective for them: “[Loved one], I’m [Age] years old and am looking to spend another

50 years with you. Please give me [length of time] months of these next 50 years where

I can try something that is very important to me.”

If that doesn’t work, the whole “Fuck it anyways, I’m growing a beard – it’s my body.”

should do the trick – although, an argument may ensue.

Once you get beyond your close loved ones, you’ll have to get past the peanut gallery at

work, or with your buddies. You can go with the sappy, “I need your support” strategy,

but I think with them I’d start busting out the confidence card. When ever they make

a comment about your beard you should follow up with a “hell ya I’m growing a beard

and it’s going to be badass.” People feed off your confidence and will quickly accept

that’s your choice. One thing I always like keeping in the back of my mind is the phrase –

“Haters gonna hate.”

http://www.beardbrand.com

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You can’t please everyone; nor can you control their actions and emotions. What you

can control is your own actions and emotions and you need to do things that make

you happy. After a while of growing your beard, you’ll find that as you meet more and

more people they will only know you as the guy with a beard. The hurdles of dealing

with comments from the peanut gallery will decrease and you’ll just be who you are – an

awesome man.

There are a lot of groups on the internet that will provide support if you are having a

bad beard day. My favorite places to hang out are:

http://www.reddit.com/beards

http://www.beardboard.com

http://www.beardedgents.com

Upload photos of your beard growth progress and bask in the positive and constructive

comments from other beardsmen.

In addition to that, I like to go Beardbrand’s tumblr page on how to be stylish and wear

a beard. With great style comes confidence, and that confidence is required to keep an

awesome beard.

Styling and Maintaining (the physical)

Like I mentioned above, the best thing to do when growing a beard is to put away the

razor and build your patience. In fact; one of the most impressive traits you’ll gain as a

beardsman is patience. A beard is not measured in length, but it’s measured in months.

You’ll have a 1 month beard, 3 month beard, yeard (year long beard), or the holy grail of

beards – the terminal beard (maximum length you genetically can grow).

Each length presents slightly different challenges. From beardless to about 2 weeks

you may notice that your beard gets pretty itchy, may appear patchy, and is generally

shaggy. The reason your beard is itchy is because when you shave, you are essentially

creating little spears on the tips of each hair. They finally get long enough to bend

around and poke at your skin. Your neck is very suspect to this because of the angle

where the neck meets the head.

There are three tips for overcoming this stage of growth – 1) “man it up” and just wait.

It’s only temporary and will pass shortly. 2) apply ample amounts of moisturizer like

a beard oil, or other product. Try to avoid moisturizers with alcohol in there as they

actually dry out your skin. 3) In the early stubble phase (day 1 or 2) use Soft Goat scruff

softener. This product is designed to help make stubble softer and more touchable.

http://www.beardbrand.com