Black Men Beard Care Done Right: 6 Steps to Grow That Flow (Post Navigation)
(Image Credit: T Shirt Superstar)
- 1. Prepare for Success
- 2. Get Your Skin Healthy
- 3. Stimulate Your Growth
- 4. Moisturize Like You Mean It
- 5. Groom Towards Greatness
- 6. Get a Supplement Stack
#BEARDGANG! What’s good?
Let’s talk grooming for the fellas this week. For my, uh… follically-challenged fellas my bad, alright?
Black men beard care is a serious PROBLEM. A lack of awareness out there!
We’ve talked about black men beards before, let’s quickly touch on it again…your beard factors into your style if you have one.
Specifically…how to unlock that beard flow…keeping your beard moisturized, in tip-top shape and looking good.
Clean shaven fellas – don’t leave just yet lol.
Stick around… I’ve met dudes who couldn’t grow full beards till their 30’s – 40’s and not without supplements. I’ve got some tips to help you grow hair from scratch, and help solve your patchy beard if you have one.
Don’t settle for ratchetness like this…or otherwise give up on growing facial hair. You can put some work in in improving your own scruff, five-o’ clock shadows…whatever the good lord blessed you with.
If you got a patchy or nappy beard, I got you this week. Let’s talk through it.
It’s worth your time…a well-groomed and oiled beard looks great.
If you’re bald, in particular, and blessed with facial flow, then let it grow.
Trust me, I know…I’ve been rocking a bald fade for about 6 years…and when I grew my beard out (not just scruff, full-on flow) it was like night and day out here.
That masculine energy…just like having a deep voice, being tall, built, etc.
Still: some of the same struggles exist with beard care as with style.
There’s a lack of black men beard care resources on the web, man.
We deal with the fact that there aren’t many resources for properly caring for, growing, or maintaining a healthy beard…. for BLACK men. Cause our grooming is different.
Here’s a few tips on better black men beard care.
Black Men Beard Care Step 1: Prepare for Success
Embrace the uniqueness of your skin and beard. Care for it properly, and groom it properly. What do I mean by that?
If you use generic, standard beard care products (read: in the GENERIC hair care product aisle, built for men of a different demographic) it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
SMH. I really try to avoid store bought generic shampoo and soaps. They can dry out hair, and are harsh on skin.
Poorly taking care of your beard can affect your skin’s health… Throw those generic products away.
Whether with skin care or hair care – don’t use generic harsh soaps and shampoo. Please don’t get caught out here doing that.
Black men beard care is no different.
Also make sure the products you pick aren’t full of chemicals; they strip away essential oils and moisture from your beard and face.
Having the right huge deal for black men beard care. You’ve got to remember the skin that’s under your beard. This applies to everyone: both guys who’ve grown their beards out for a long time, and guys who don’t have a beard (yet).
After you toss out any junk in your bathroom cabinet, let’s proceed…
Black Men Beard Care Step 2: Get Your Skin Healthy
Is your face properly moisturized? Exfoliated?
Whether you’re rocking a beard or not, don’t let that area of your face go ignored. You need to moisturize the skin under there.
Start by checking for health signs…
You can usually tell by the amount of dandruff and flaking skin how you’re doing when it comes to keeping your cheeks and neck moisturized.
You shouldn’t have any. Dandruff is typically an indicator of a dry scalp on your head. On your face, it’s an indicator of dry skin underneath your hair follicles.
If you don’t have face dandruff, skip ahead to the next section. If you do, here are a couple of quick fixes to add to your daily routine before you proceed.
1. Moisturize After the Shower
An easy time to do this is after you get out of the shower.
Try to apply some moisturizer after the shower, when your face pores are open. This helps with absorption and moisturizing the skin.
Again, make sure you’re checking for dandruff in all this, and how your skin feels. Too dry and flaky, not good. Too oily and greasy, not good either. You want to find your sweet spot and maintain it.
One of the simplest things you can use to moisturize really dry, flaky skin is coconut or olive oil. You can also go the conditioner route and pick up some Jamaican Black Castor Oil which we’ll talk about in just a moment.
2. Exfoliate on the Regular.
Washing and exfoliating is a big deal for the health of your beard and skin. In combination with taking care of / moisturizing your skin, you need to exfoliate as well.
This is especially important if you already got a beard…
During the shower, or after you shower, gently use a washcloth to rub your face. Scrub for dandruff and dead skin cells.
Try moving the cloth in a circular motion to get rid of the trapped oils and dirt in your hair follicles.
What you are doing is removing them from your face and letting your pores “breathe” (making sure they’re unblocked).
If your hair follicles are clogged up, blocked with sebum or other oils, it can lead to baldness down the road (as the hair follicle is blocked and dies out).
Make sure your pores aren’t clogged…because you want them to produce oil normally. Again…exfoliating your skin is an essential part of black men beard care.
Black Men Beard Care Step 3: Stimulate Your Growth
For the fellas who have struggle beards (patchy, flaky, not going in) there are honestly a couple of things you can do before throwing in the towel.
This gon’ be you..
There are a couple of methods to help otherwise dormant hair follicles come alive…here are a few items that you can try adding to your skin care regimen.
Jamaican Black Castor Oil
This oil, rich in fatty acids minerals, is what the black community swears by as the top natural stimulant you can buy for your beard.
Apply half a capful into your facial skin daily to stimulate the follicles and promote the grown of beard hair. massage into your skin.
Rub this in with your fingertips, and make sure to push it down to the roots of your beard. Massage it into your skin.
Rosemary Oil
Works well as a stimulant for hair growth – not as crucial as the black castor oil, but a great tool to add to your stack at night.
Minoxidil / Rogaine
This is a bit different; you already know of these drugs, but they’re typically used for your head hair, not beard hair.
If you’re going to try Rogaine or Minoxidil on your face, you don’t need a prescription, but I recommend you spend a bit of time reading up on it. It has worked – I haven’t had to go that route, but it can help with beard growth too.
Black Men Beard Care Step 4: Moisturize Like You Mean It
Once your beard is coming in smoothly, moisturizing it isn’t hard.
If your facial hair is dry, your skin is too – as we talked about. Nourishing the skin underneath is going to prevent razor bumps which we’ll talk about a bit later.
The first step is for you to embrace beard oil, beard balm, and beard butter. These three items are essential to help black men grow smoother, healthier, and more flowing beards.
I have both balm and oil (you don’t need everything, but getting balm and one of the other two works for me).
Aside from emergency-level moisturizing for dandruff and flakes, which we talk about in step 2, you’ll need beard balm or oil / butter. All of these are easy to find and relatively cheap.
Picking up what you want is really a matter of preference. Want your beard to look shiny or prefer a matte finish?
Beard Balm
Helps condition hairs and make them softer. Better for fellas with medium to big beards; also, a good pickup for dry skin. Balm is thicker in texture and takes a little longer to absorb.
Beard Butter
Typically, less expensive than balm; shea-butter based with carrier oils for really good beard hydration. Think of butter as a deep conditioner. Great for promoting better growth and softening your beard; not as good for shaping your beard as balm.
Beard Oil
Beard oil is a light moisturizer that can be applied throughout your beard pretty quick, and absorbs more quickly than balm. Helps tread dandruff for flaking. Any beard oil you pick up should have jojoba oil in it. It’s proven to give you healthier skin and hair. Better for shorter or more trimmed beards.
Black Men Beard Care Step 5: Groom Towards Greatness
Shaving & Lining Up Your Beard
It’s essential to black men beard care.
Avoid looking sloppy and un-even when it comes to your beard appearance. Make sure that you’re grooming and trimming, keeping your stubble or beard as even as it can be.
Be gentle on your face. One of the main ways to do this is to make sure you’re moving your razor / shaver in the direction your hair points or grows in.
In other words, shaving with the grain.
Otherwise, you can damage your skin and hair – and you don’t want that.
Beards are no different than any other type of hair on your body. The hairs on your beard all can grow at different speeds, some faster than others.
This can create a patchy look of an uneven beard. If you’re committed to lining up your beard and making sure it’s symmetrical, your beard stubble and extra hairs can grow a little wildly.
Commit to grooming and trimming your beard on a regular basis.
I’d also add that you should be lining up your beard a couple times a week – it’s easy to have stray random hairs pop up everywhere.
Brush & Comb the Right Way
Brush and comb your beard; all the time. Do this frequently.
Wood combs & bristle brushes; that’s how we roll.
Again, brush and comb with the flow – don’t go against the grain, that will only irritate your skin.
Just like your scalp, brushing your beard hair follicles is important. When you brush your hair, you’re ensuring blood is flowing freely through your skin on your face. That’s a good thing…
Blood flowing to the hair follicles is what keeps hair strong and healthy, instead of becoming brittle and breaking.
So, do this for at least a few minutes a day, taking time to massage the roots of your beard hair with your fingers as well. It doesn’t matter how long your short your beard is – make sure to brush and massage with your fingers (even if you just have stubble).
Comb for tangles and knots if your beard is longer.
Also – the reason wood combs are so important – plastic and metal often have jagged edges at the microscopic level and you don’t want tht.at Too much stress on the follicle and potential to damage / break your beard hair.
Razor Bumps
Razor bumps is a large red flag that something is wrong. This usually only happens if you’re shaving your beard low, but your skin could just be sensitive.
So, what do you do?
Check out Tendskin. This is a highly recommended product I’m making sure to put you on game with.
Wash your face + neck area and then apply Tenskin. You can try picking up a spray bottle and spraying it on, or massaging it on with your fingertips. It dries fast, so you can do this 1x-2 a day.
Moisturize after.
Black Men Beard Care Step 6: Get a Supplement Stack
Short little section at the end here…once you’re doing all the above, you should be on your way to rowing the flow.
But…
What goes into your body counts too. Hair comes from vitamins and nutrients.
Vitamins and minerals are essential for growing hair, just like watering and sun is for the plants in a garden.
The best supplements for black men beard care:
Multivitamins
I take a multi daily…it’s the easiest way to ensure you’re getting the nutrients you need for your health. Make sure you’re taking a multivitamin, consuming protein in your daily diet, and eating as healthy as you can.
Biotin
If you haven’t used biotin before you might want to think about doing so. Biotin more than anything else is the secret ingredient to healthy and sustained hair growth.
Black Seed Oil
Unlike the oil in previous sections, this is for you to eat. Take a teaspoon daily with meals – this stuff works from the inside.
While it has a strong smell, it’s great for your hair and helps raise your energy levels. This stuff takes about 2-3 weeks to kick in and has a multitude of benefits besides beard growth.
I recommend picking up this one if you haven’t already done so.
Water
Of course.
All the above leads to healthier hair, skin and nails.
And of course, if you’re eating fried and unhealthy foods, you might want to reconsider that. It’s not good for your health in the long term, nor is it good for your hair care.
There you go!
If you follow the steps above…the rest will take care of itself.
It might look like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. Just make sure you’re building all of this into your daily routine…
It’s only when you make changes a part of your daily lifestyle that better black men beard care starts to really happen.
P.S. Want to find out my style and beard recommendations for you? Check out the Black Men’s Style Quiz and let me put you on game.
