It’s a problem that plagues many bearded men– the dreaded beard acne. You could have the nicest, most well-groomed bearded possible, but it might be concealing uncomfortable or even painful acne beneath it. Now that we’re well into the hot, sweaty summer season, this issue is rearing its ugly head for a lot of men. Regular acne elsewhere on your face can be challenging to keep at bay, so how are you supposed to deal with it when it’s underneath your beard? Here are a few potential solutions from the expert team at Fresh Beards!
Wash Your Beard
When it comes to acne, cleanliness is your first line of defense. Bacteria, dirt, oil, and other contaminating or pore-clogging substances can build up in your beard over the course of a day and wreak havoc on your skin. Washing your beard is like washing your hair or your face– it’s important for your hygiene and the health of your skin and hair overall.
Use a good quality beard wash (like these ones from Fresh Beards) once a day. Whether you do it in the morning or evening is up to you. Unless you work a really dirty, sweaty job or you have an extremely oily beard, don’t wash your beard more than once per day. This could strip away the good oils and leave you with a dryness or flaking problem on top of your acne.
Use High-Quality Products
Acne, unfortunately, is not a simple problem to get to the bottom of, as it has many potential causes beyond just oil or dirt. One thing that might be the cause of your irritation and zits is the products you use on your beard. You might have a sensitivity to a particular ingredient, which is common with products that use a lot of synthetic ingredients, or you might be using a product that’s comedogenic– a fancy word that just means it’s prone to clogging pores.
The solution to this is to upgrade your beard care game with higher quality products! Beard washes, moisturizers, and styling products that contain natural ingredients like butters and oils and avoid synthetic ingredients or high levels of preservatives will ultimately be kinder to your skin and hair, helping you to avoid acne.
Moisturize Properly
Proper moisture levels are a delicate balance to maintain with your beard, especially if you’re dealing with an acne problem. Too much moisture and your beard is greasy, making your acne worse. Too little and you end up with dry, tight, itchy, flaky skin. You want to achieve the Goldilocks level of moisture– not too much, not too little, but just right.
Washing your beard strips away a lot of its natural oils, so it’s crucial to moisturize your beard after washing it. However, if you’re fighting a case of beard acne, beard oil is probably a bit too oily of a product for you. Instead, go with a beard butter or balm. Butter is better for extra dry beards and men who wash their beards in the evening, since it’ll have all night to soak in. Balm is better for beards that don’t need quite as much moisture, and for men who wash their beards in the morning, since the light hold of a balm makes it a good styling product.
Use Combs and Brushes
When it comes to dealing with acne and beard oiliness, washing the oil away regularly is not your only solution. After all, that oil your skin naturally produces has a purpose– to moisturize your skin and hair and keep it healthy and flexible. Stripping it all off is not going to do you much good if you don’t have additional moisture to replace it. In fact, over washing oily skin or facial hair can sometimes worsen the problem, since your skin will ramp up its oil production even more to compensate.
Regularly combing or brushing your beard can be very effective in dealing with oiliness and acne. Essentially, instead of stripping all that oil away, you want to brush it away from your skin and down the hairs, helping it do its job and encouraging your skin to produce less oil because there’s less dryness. This will help condition your beard hair and should help your skin to calm down some as well. Try brushing or combing your beard once per day, and make sure to clean your tools regularly to avoid tracking dirt or gunk back into the hair!
Whether you deal with it just in the summer or all year round, beard acne is a pain. However, you have ways of fighting back! The products from Fresh Beards can make a huge difference in helping you battle an acne problem. Check out our inventory here for some inspiration!
