Cultivate Your Own Beard Style by The Mod Cabin

The leaves are turning colors, birds are migrating and there is a certain crispness to the morning air: its beard season. In this post The Mod Cabin will teach you how to create your own personal beard style.

Personal beard styles are just that; personal. While there are rules of thumb, nothing is written in stone. Never let a so-called rule of style interfere with you being you. Being yourself regardless of what other people think is the best fashion statement you can possibly make. In most cases you want your facial hair and chin to create a symmetrical, angular jaw line. That being said, the best styles are unique. If you find yourself liking something non-traditional, go for it!

STEP 1: LET IT GROW

The first step toward creating your own personal beard style is to determine your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to facial hair and face shape. You may think you want to grow a balbo, but after a few weeks of letting it grow you may decide you want to go full beard instead. Regardless of desired style, letting your facial hair grow for 4-6 weeks without shaving will give you the best idea of what style of beard will best fit your face and personal preference.

STEP 2: WASH THAT THING

You want to get off on the right foot, so begin washing your face and neck with an all-natural hot processed beard soap from day one. Once you're lathered up, use your fingertips to gently scrub the skin under your beard. This will moisturize your neck and face, remove dead skin cells and create the conditions for healthy beard growth by stimulating blood circulation in the skin. Avoid store bought soaps and liquid beard washes and shampoos as they tend to strip your facial hair of necessary oils.

STEP 3: KEEP IT MOISTURIZED

You may notice the skin underneath your facial hair begin to itch after a week or two. If you have been properly exfoliating and hydrating the skin underneath your scruff, this may not happen. If it does don't worry. It is perfectly normal (albeit uncomfortable) for the skin underneath your new scruff to itch. The best way to prevent itching and to soften your early fuzz is to use a jojoba and argan based beard oil. Quality beard oils use a base of unrefined jojoba and pure argan oil. Avoid beard oils containing grapeseed and coconut oils as the former can easily go rancid and some people have a chemical reaction to the latter causing their beard to smell musty. A firm boar bristle brush will also help keep your skin exfoliated, and help keep natural oils, as well as beard oil evenly distributed through your beard.

STEP 4: ASSESS THE SITUATION

Once you have a few weeks growth behind you, look for areas that are patchy and thicker than the rest. Take these into consideration when choosing your personal style. If you have a round face, growing the whiskers on your chin a bit longer than the sides can make your face appear longer. Likewise, if you have a long face you may want to grow out your sides and and keep your chin neatly trimmed.

STEP 5: DOING IT WITH STYLE

Whether you're choosing a well sculpted handlebar moustache, or keeping it natural, you'll need some items to keep things above the lip neat and tidy. Moustache wax, a small, fine tooth moustache comb, and some beard/moustache trimming scissors will be helpful. In addition, an all natural beard balm containing shea and beeswax for hold, and jojoba and argan for moisture, will help you tame stray hairs and keep your new beard style on point. Remember, a good beard balm will moisturize and help seal in moisture, but won't dry out your beard. Beware of balms that are very stiff and waxy, since they may make your beard brittle and cause hairs to break easily.

STEP 6: IF THERE BE CURL

After reaching a certain length you may notice that your beard begins to curl. It may even curl to one side or the other. We're often asked, "How do I stop my beard from curling?" There are a few ways to deal with the curly beard. 1) Let it curl! Sometimes fighting the curl is not the answer. There are a lot of great examples of dashing curly beards out there. The photo of our friend Carl Battee below is one of them. 2) Get a proper beard trim. A barber skilled in beard trims will help give you just the cut you need to make your curly beard a glorious one. 3) Blow dry your beard straight. This isn't high on our list. Just like blow drying the hair on your head, blow drying your beard can be damaging to hair follicles and cause thinning and breakage. If that's an issue you're concerned about we'd recommend only doing this occasionally if you must do it at all.

STEP 7: THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

Regardless of how long of a beard you grow, make sure to wash it at least 3 times a week to keep it clean, healthy and moisturized. You will either want to use beard balm, beard oil or both, depending on length and personal preference. Most people with medium length beards use beard oil and top with beard balm for added hold, while people with very long beards sometimes opt for beard oil only. Though again, this is entirely up to your personal preferences. If you do grow a long beard make sure to get a good quality beard comb to help gently detangle unruly curls.

This information should help get you started creating your own beard style. For more info check out these other helpful posts by The Mod Cabin.

http://themodcabin.com/beard-balm-or-beard-oil/

http://themodcabin.com/category/beard-guide-2/