The Right Way To Grow and Maintain a Beard

The Right Way To Grow and Maintain a Beard

Every man reaches a point in his life when he asks himself, “Should I grow a beard?” Many try, but then become disheartened and lose interest after the first month. Reasons often cited for quitting are; the lack of noticeable progressive beard growth, ridicule by friends or loved ones, and one’s own lack of self-confidence. However, for those willing to persevere, this guide will help you on your way.

Growing a beard and maintaining it may seem to be a daunting task. However, be rest assured! It is not as complicated as it sounds. Although a bit daunting, this endeavor will require you to have a bit of patience and to take extra care of your face.

What to expect

Start your beard growing by being clean-shaven. Yes, there will be some skin irritation and potential outbreaks of pimples. However, do not be alarmed, this is a normal response. This skin problem is due to the jaggedness of facial hair. This discomfort will eventually pass, as your facial hair grows longer.

Keep in mind, the growth of your facial hair will be gradual. The notable benchmark of time to monitor the filling out of a beard is after the first, third, and twelfth month mark. Also, realize there is a limit to the thickness of a whisker, which will affect the overall look of your beard.

One’s genetics affects greatly hair growth. DNA controls the speed of facial hair growth. This varies from person to person, so there is no real way to gauge how fast your beard will grow.

A good way to determine your personal speed of beard growth is to take a photo of yourself in a mirror and to create a photo journal. You would ideally take a picture of yourself once a week. This will allow for a comparison between weekly pictures of yourself, thus allowing you to recognize noticeable progression of your hair growth.

 The Items you need to start

An absolute necessity is a shaver. An electric shaver is preferred. It tends to be less irritating to facial skin. You will need this for trimming your neckline and shaping your beard.

Another important item to have on hand is a skin cleanser. Routinely using a skin cleanser prevents or eliminates ingrown hairs. Skin cleansers also provide moisturizer to the skin surface to keep your hair follicles from drying out. Not having your skin moist could adversely affect your hair follicles, and stop all growth altogether.

An item also worthwhile to have is a beard comb. This, as the name suggests, will allow for you to style and maintain your newly established beard. However, in the early stages, a beard comb may not be necessary but after a month or so, having a beard comb will be almost indispensable.

Health Connections

There is a correlation between eating healthily (in addition to taking essential vitamins) and facial hair growth. The better you take care of yourself, the quicker your hair will grow and thicken. For instance, you want to maintain a well-balanced diet.  Plus, sometimes it is necessary to have supplements on hand to assure you are getting all the needed nutrients to help you reach your desired goal.

The vitamins and minerals suggested are; Vitamins A, B, B1, B6, B12, C, E, and H. These vitamins will help immensely to maintain a constant growth and more importantly healthy facial hair.

Keep in mind that one of the most important chemicals that helps with general hair growth is testosterone. For most of us, our bodies naturally produce the levels that enable us to sustain normal physical and mental growth throughout our lives. Testosterone also plays a key role in growing and keeping a healthy and luscious beard.  

As we age, our level of testosterone begins to decline. For those suffering greatly with this problem, solutions exist that can help to increase the testosterone level. In addition to daily physical workouts, and eating extra protein, one can take over the counter supplements to augment testosterone production. Nevertheless, in extreme cases, testosterone treatments from a medical professional might be necessary.

If you smoke, this might be the time to quit. Nicotine causes hair follicles to die or to close off completely. This usually stops beards from reaching their full potential.

If you are taking medications, be sure to look over their possible side effects. Some medications have chemicals that could potentially stop hair growth.

Stress is also a huge factor in facial hair development. A condition that is triggered by stress is called alopecia. This condition stops hair from growing in specific areas of the face to neck areas, usually in circle-like formations.

Maintaining the Beard

After reaching your ideal beard length, brushing your beard hair is not mandatory but recommended. It will definitely help against knotting. Make daily washing and moisturizing of your face and beard routine. This will greatly minimize the chance of ingrown hair and facial skin irritations.

Overall, growing a beard is a journey. Once you follow the simple beard growth techniques, you will be able to sport your ideal beard.