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3 Common Beard Problems & Their Solutions For All You bearded Folk

Today we have an awesome guest post from Julien Chbib, the owner of a Swiss beard company called of L’Élixir Cosmétiques! He will be discussing common beard problems which exist, and how we can all solve these quite easily.

Enjoy!


3 Beard Problems And Their Solutions

There are plenty of reasons why your beard doesn’t grow the way you want it to.

It could be due to your genetics and hormones.

Your lifestyle also plays a major role.

But whatever the reason, it is important not to stress yourself out. 

Here I present you with the 3 most common beard issues, and how they can be remedied.

1. Swirls In The Beard

Having swirls in your beard is frustrating.

Those areas of twisted hair screw up the symmetry making your beard look messy.

When a small section of hair grows in the opposite direction to the rest of the beard, it leaves areas exposed and causes a visual imbalance in the beard but…. What can be done?

Is there a solution for a swirling beard?

What is a whirlpool? How is it formed?

The swirl is a natural twist of the hair that forms in a specific part of the beard and that offers resistance to combing or straightening.

These natural blemishes are formed when some follicles (the holes from which each beard hair grows) point in the opposite direction from the rest.

The result is usually a specific part of the beard that grows horizontally (while the rest of the hair grows vertically) or in a tornado-like spiral.

How to remove beard swirls

You can’t get rid of the whirlpool by shaving and starting over.

And you can’t eliminate your whirlpool completely either, but there are several techniques you can try to keep it under control.

Show off a very short beard. The solution that the bearded man least likes is to remove the beard, but at ultra-short measures (or 100% shaved) you will not notice that you have swirls.

Each time your beard grows, the swirl will be visible again, but with a little practice, you can find that “magic measure” where you can wear a short beard and not show the spirals.

Wear a much longer beard. The swirls become very visible when the hair grows BUT once they accumulate a certain length, the same weight of the hair (and the gravity effect) stretches and fixes them.

What is this magic measure?

It depends on the type of beard you have, but generally, after 5-6 cm (6 months + of growth) the swirls disappear or become much less noticeable.

The swirls will continue to twist your hair at the root but their own weight stretches them in the middle/ends making them almost imperceptible.

Train the beard with a boar brush. Boar bristle brushes are wonderful for men who have beards. They distribute natural fat protecting the hair and making your beard shine with force.

In the case of swirls, the boar brush cannot “fix” the damage forever, but by redirecting the hair downwards or in the opposite direction from which it is born, you can conceal it visually and teach the hair to behave better.

After a few days of brushing several times a day, many bearded men say they notice an improvement in the behavior of their eddies.

Use balm after brushing. I am not a big fan of this solution because waxes and balms are products that accumulate on facial hair and are difficult to remove well.

But if you are suffering from your swirls and need to leave the house, good coverage of balm or wax on the swirl and combing it hard in the opposite direction to the one it is born can be a solution that lasts several hours.

Enough to go to “that event” without wearing a beard by making donuts.

Dry and/or straighten facial hair. For this solution, you need to accumulate a certain length but it is my favorite resolution.

You can straighten a curly beard with the help of tools to stretch your swirl temporarily.

The wave/curve/bulge of the hair will return after each wash but once your hair is straightened or straightened, you can forget about swirling until the next wash.

Common Beard Problems

2. Itchy Beard

If your beard itches, you’re doing something wrong.

It is not normal to have unbearable itching on the skin and it is not normal to have dandruff or pimples under the beard.

Having itching, flaking, dandruff, or itching on the skin of the face, takes away the desire to wear a beard.

I’m going to show you what to do but first I want to explain why your beard itches like this.

Why does your beard itch?

You’re beard itches because you have dehydrated skin. When the skin is thirsty, the hairs of the new beard dig into your skin, you can get all kinds of problems. Itching, dandruff, ingrown hairs …

Itching, flaking, or itching are your skin’s way of asking for help…. But why has this happened to you now?

Your skin misses shaving. When you were shaving your face, you were exfoliating remains of dead skin with the blade.

Now that you have a beard?

There is a lot more dead skin that accumulates, which in turn brings itching and flaking skin.

Your beard is too hard. Your facial hair is not like your hair. When the ends of that hard/thick hair dig into your dry skin, they make tiny scratches that in turn lead to itching, skin problems, and in the worst-case injuries because you do not stop scratching.

You have unbalanced the PH of your skin. There are head and body products that have too high a PH to use on facial skin.

There are men who can use hand soap or body wash on their beards without problems, but if your face itches it may be the fault of the products you use.

How to fix an itchy beard

Depending on the level of intensity of your itching, you will have to follow one (or more) of these tips to solve your facial drama.

Use specific products. The soap and oil for the beard are totally necessary in a case like yours because they are specifically designed to treat these types of problems. 

Add tea tree to your shampoo or oil. Tea tree essential oil is known to have fabulous properties that regulate the condition of the skin.

By adding 2-3 drops of this to your usual products and washing your beard well, you will have neutralized itching in the blink of an eye.

Massage your oil on the skin. Natural beard oils are loaded with vitamin E that helps rehydrate and regain elasticity in very dry skin.

Try to apply your oil on a damp beard and massage the skin VERY well with your fingertips.

Remember: The skin likes to be hydrated and elastic. It does not like the brush of the hair and it does not like you to play with his PH using your mother’s shampoo to wash your beard.

There are many decent solutions for when your beard itches.

Generally, with a good shampoo and beard oil, you will solve your itching in 2-3 days and avoid more drama in the future.

3. Beard Hair Fall Out

Do you lose a lot of hair from your beard?

I hear whispers of concern among those with long beards and I come to say the following: To some extent, it is normal to lose a few hairs from time to time.

Your beard has a staggered regeneration cycle. It is normal to lose 6-7 hairs a day due to this cycle.

There is nothing you can do to avoid it and it is not a problem that needs a solution:

1. During the anagen phase, hair is born and grows. There is a lot of discussion on this topic but we will say that for the beard, this phase lasts a year + with a high percentage of the hairs growing at an average of 1cm per month.

2. At the same time other beard hairs are in the anagen phase. When a hair finishes its growth phase, it goes into “rest” mode for a few weeks. Hair growth is paralyzed but remains intact.

3. A small percentage of your hairs fall out because they are in telogen. At this point, that hair has finished its life cycle and falls out (whether you like it or not) making room for a new one that follows.

It should be noted this does NOT happen in a synchronized way in your beard.

While some hairs on your beard are in the anagen phase, others will be in the telogen or catagen phase.

That’s why when you wear a long beard you have unruly hairs that stand out more than others, you sense that your mustache grows at a different speed and you find some hairs on the pillow or brush.

Each individual hair has its own rhythm. Your beard is constantly renewing itself in a staggered way.

How to reinforce your beard when you think you are losing a lot of hair

Use good products and utensils.

From a poor finish on the bristles to a design inappropriate for your type of beard, there are many styling tools that can break or uproot your facial hair. 

Strengthens the anchorage of facial hair.

Poor nutrition can also cause beard hairs to fall out prematurely.

Strengthen the anchor that holds the facial hair by taking vitamins and supplements for the beard.


Thanks Julien!

For those of you who are thinking of growing a beard to match your bald head, check out these awesome beard styles for bald men!

Cheers,
Richard