Beard grooming kit basics: What should be inside yours?

Do you spend too much time worrying about what other men are packing?

What if theirs is a bit bulkier with more to offer? And what if your wife discovers that yours pales in comparison to others'?

What if she already knows and has been discussing it with the girls? 

Don’t worry, we’re here to let you know exactly what should be inside your beard grooming kit so you can relax knowing no other man can compete with your beard grooming capabilities.

If you’re serious about your beard and making it look good - or at least just not looking messy - there are certain beard care items that are necessary to make sure your facial hair is in tip-top shape.

Some of these beard grooming set items will even have knock-on effects that result in better looking and feeling skin and a better looking and feeling you.

Better feeling both inside and out.

In all honesty, different beards require different “essentials”. For example, if you’re just sporting the stubbly look, you’re not going to need a beard brush. We still recommend you use one as there are still benefits to be had, but it won’t necessarily be “essential”.

If you have a longer beard, a comb, for example, will be essential. Otherwise, the longer you leave it, the quicker it’s going to tangle, knot and become damaged.

Let’s build a beard kit.

Envy no more, as you’re about to construct the greatest beard care kit ever built, worthy of making the wife blush when she sees you whip it out*.

If this beard grooming set isn’t actually for you, you’re going to be providing somebody with the perfect gift, comprising some of the greatest beard products in the world.

*results may vary.

The beard brush will be the heart of your beard grooming kit. It is the most important tool when it comes to making sure your beard is looking neat and tidy.

However, the beard brush has further benefits. Much deeper benefits.

In addition to taming stray hairs, straightening and untangling your beard, a boar bristle beard brush will also exfoliate your pores and remove dead skin cells that cause nothing but mischief.

Wait, there’s more. 

If you suffer from a patchy facial... rug? Listen up.

Using a beard brush on portions of your beard that aren't growing can increase blood flow to those patches, enabling more growth-inducing nutrients to reach those places and potentially stimulating new growth.

A beard comb is kind of like what Robin is to Batman, but is a little more useful on its own as well.

While a beard comb can certainly be used on its own, it is usually used after a beard brush, as a kind of post-production process, fine tuning the results and adding some polishing touches to your facial fleece. That was the word we were looking for earlier.

Your beard comb, which should always be made from quality, smooth wood and never plastic (snagging), will perform the final details and remove the toughest tangles.

Your beard kit won’t be the right kit without at least one of these two beauties.

Beard oils and beard balms do some very similar jobs, yet offer have completely distinct results.

In only a few days, premium-quality oils rich in natural ingredients may enhance the appearance, texture, and condition of your facial hair, alleviating beard itch via hydration when your facial hairs would otherwise take moisture from the sebum in the skin beneath.

Your beard craves the likes of Argan oil, Inca Inchi oil, Almond oil and Jojaba oil, which can be found in each of Mission Beard’s remarkable beard oils. Always be wary of cheaper beard care products from brands you don't trust, as these can come with some nasty unwanted effects.

There is more viscosity in beard balms than there is in beard oil, which is why they are more dense. Most of the time, beard balm is made with a mix of butter, like shea butter, or hard waxes, as well as other oils, like those found in beard oils. If your beard could benefit from a little extra styling and hold, grabbing a tin of beard balm (like the ones in our buyer's guide here)

Nobody really likes being told what to do, but when it comes to beard wash, we feel we need to tell many of you what to do.

Beard shampoo and beard conditioner aren’t just for bearded men with disposable income. If you want to truly look after the health of your beard, you should be using these beard products instead of head hair products. Just make sure you're using them properly.

There’s a good reason for this. 

Hair products strip the natural oils from your hair and provide their own. Beard shampoo and beard conditioner work with your facial hair’s natural oils to provide a much less detrimental clean.

Whether you use beard shampoo, beard conditioner, or both, your beard will love you much more than if you’re attacking it with TRESemmé.

Beard trimmers are essential for your overall look and keeping your beard length under control.

A top-quality beard trimmer will come with a variety of settings to cater to different preferences, as well as a variety of attachments for additional tasks like trimming nose hairs, treating stubble appropriately and more.

A good quality beard trimmer can be used all over the body, so if your chest, back and your imagination need taming, a full manscaping session may be in order.

It doesn’t have to be dreaded - we’re not about to tell you to shave. Why would you listen to us if we did anyway? Don’t listen to anyone that tells you to shave.

Razors are a great tool for tidying up your neckline, shaping clean, tidy lines along the cheeks and achieving a specific style. They don’t strictly have to be used to shaving off the glory that resides upon your face.

Electric razors, straight edge razors, double edged razors… whatever you prefer to use, make sure there’s one sitting in your beardy storage bag.

While this may not be the most essential of beard grooming tools, nobody has ever regretted adding one to any of their beard grooming kits.

Beard bibs make the entire process much more enjoyable, reducing mess and eliminating the need for your partner to complain about loose hairs around the sink.

Go on - treat yourself.

Finally, you’ll need something to store all of your beard grooming products in.

Many “pre-built” beard grooming kits are frequently bought packed inside a wash bag already, so if that’s the route you take to get your hands on all the essentials, your kit will already be complete.

Otherwise, there are plenty out there that you can choose from, whether you prefer small or large, leather or canvas, black, brown, beige or white. It’s exciting stuff.

While it would be very easy for us just to recommend our own products and beard grooming kits, this wouldn’t be fair, as the “best” beard grooming kit for you really depends on your preferences and requirements.

There is no “best” beard kit for everyone - you’ll simply have to shop around and find the one that has all the contents that you need, or head out (physically or virtually) and buy all the specific products you need.

Most men, when shopping is involved, head straight to Amazon when they need new beard care products, but we, as a small business, have some valuable advice.

If a company is on Amazon, they usually exist outside of Amazon, too, and guess what? It’s all a lot cheaper because there are no third parties taking a cut.

Amazon can be an easy option when making the purchases you need to build your beard care kit, but always check a business’ website first to see if you can get the beard grooming items you need at a much greater value.

If you don’t suffer from sensitive skin or you don’t really have any preferences in terms of beard oil scents or the specific wood type your brush and comb are made of, you’ll probably be fine purchasing a ready-made beard grooming kit.

However, if you want very specific beard products to match your requirements, you might prefer to shop around and buy the items separately.

Alternatively, you can look around for sites that allow you to build your own beard care kit to give you full control of what you buy whilst keeping the flexibility of the one-stop shop.

When it comes to beard grooming kits and beard care products in general, you get what you pay for.

For example, cheaper beard oils are going to lack high-quality ingredients, meaning your beard will not be getting those oils and fats that it craves.

Like with most things, spending less can also mean having to buy things again after they break, resulting in further unexpected expenditures.

At the same time, you obviously shouldn’t spend more than you can afford, and there are many great value options out there.

If you’re a top geezer like us and use your beard brush and comb as often as you should, you’ll eventually get some wear and tear.

This certainly doesn’t mean you should be replacing your products every few months. If you are, you’re getting ripped off.

A good quality beard brush that is used once or twice a day will probably need to be replaced once ever 12 to 18 months.

However, if you care for your beard brush effectively and keep it clean, it could last much, much longer.

Like other natural products, beard oils and balms generally expire after a certain amount of time. Whilst this can be harmless, certain ingredients like Tea Tree Oil actually take on carcinogenic, cancer-causing properties when they go past their use-by date, so it’s definitely worth keeping tabs on.

For a guide on how long your beard care product should last once the container is opened, check the back of the bottle. You should see a number wrapped in a circular arrow - this details how many months it’s good for.

For example, a 12M like the ones you see on our bottles mean they’re good for 12 months after opening if stored in proper conditions - more than enough time for even the smallest of beards to get through a bottle.

If you leave your beard oil container open, it will be exposed to air flow, which will reduce its lifespan.

Additionally, if you leave it in direct sunlight, the ingredients in your oil will break down much faster. So, be sure to keep your oil out of the sun’s glare and in an area that doesn’t exceed room temperature.

It's also a good idea to study the directions and recommendations thoroughly to find out when something will expire and how to utilise it.

Before you pop a beard oil into your basket, just check your beard oil will at least last for as long as you need it for.