Growing a beard? Your facial hair needs a beard shampoo.
While you may well know about the benefits of beard oil and other common products, beard shampoo is a product that tends to slip through the net of new and seasoned beardsmen alike.
However, the benefits of beard shampoo are simply too great to ignore.
In this article, we’re going to examine the crucial benefits of beard shampoo, giving you all of the information you need to see why you need it. Read on to find out more.
What are the benefits of beard shampoo?
Strap in as we discuss the 7 key benefits of beard shampoo - as well as why your regular grocery store head shampoo just won’t do.
1. It softens beard hair
Beard hairs can take your skin for a ride - this is especially true for newer, shorter beards.
When beard hairs grow, they come out of your follicles sharp at the ends, and if left to their own devices can quickly build up to every beardsman’s biggest adversary - beard itch.
While your natural reaction might be to jump in the shower and scrub away with regular head shampoo, this will only make the problem worse. If you want to relieve that itch, you need a proper beard shampoo.
With natural ingredients including avocado oil (a powerful anti-inflammatory) and jojoba oil, beard shampoos will take the edge off your beard hairs, making them softer, straighter and less unruly.
2. It soothes irritated skin
Touch your beard too much, or skip out on a proper beard care routine, and your beard hairs can become dry and brittle. As these dry, tough hairs rub up against your skin, this can cause irritation.
If left untreated, this irritation and itchiness can become particularly uncomfortable and has seen even the most iron-willed of bearded men running for the trimmer.
This is where beard shampoo comes in. Packed full of nourishing ingredients like avocado oil and aloe vera, beard shampoo will get to work fast, soothing irritated skin and getting your beard growth back on track.
3. It locks in moisture
Regular hair shampoo is bad for your beard. Period. When it comes to skin, your scalp is pretty tough and can take a beating if it needs to. As a result, companies that make regular hair shampoo can get away with using harsher ingredients.
The skin on your face is a different story.
While these harsh ingredients are great at removing dirt and debris from your scalp, they’ll also strip away any natural oils and moisture from your skin and beard. This can result in beard hair becoming dry and brittle.
Beard shampoos are designed to lock in moisture and gently cleanse your beard without stripping away those all-important natural oils. The result? A healthy, moisturised beard that looks and feels great.
4. It strengthens hairs and prevents breakage
Spoiler alert - beard shampoos are designed for beard hairs.
While normal hair shampoo can dry out beard hairs, making them brittle and prone to breakage, beard shampoos can actually do the opposite.
The culprit for dry, brittle hair caused by normal head hair shampoo? Sodium Lauryl Sulphate. This is a detergent commonly used in regular shampoos, and it removes a big chunk of moisture and natural sebum oils from your beard hairs.
A good beard wash will be formulated without Sodium Lauryl Sulphate, using natural ingredients that are gentle on your hair and the skin beneath.
5. It removes dead skin cells and clears clogged pores
Acne. Irritation. Ingrown hairs. Dead skin cells can cause problems enough for clean-shaven men - and they have the option of exfoliation.
If you’ve got a beard, this becomes a much harder challenge, and it’s no surprise that it gets overlooked by many.
Your body gets rid of 200,000,000 skin cells every hour. When you grow a beard, those dead skin cells have nowhere to go. If left untreated, those skin cells can become trapped, clogging pores, causing unwanted and unnecessary irritation.
This is where beard shampoo comes in. By washing your beard 2-3 times per week, you’ll help to combat that skin cell build-up, giving your pores room to breathe and stopping irritation in its tracks.
6. It prevents bacterial infection
Think skin cell build-up was the end of your pore problems? Think again. Your facial hair follicles produce a natural oil called sebum, which helps to keep shorter hairs hydrated and healthy.
However, if you don’t wash the underyling skin regularly, that sebum oil starts to add up. And here’s the bad news - bacteria love it. If your follicles produce too much, or you let skin levels mount up, you create an environment where this bacteria thrives, resulting in an infection that can cause irritation and beard dandruff.
By gently removing excess oil build-up, a high-quality beard shampoo can help to prevent bacterial infection, and those containing aloe vera and tea tree can even soothe the irritation and inflammation that bacterial infections can cause.
7. It preserves beard dye
If you’re an older man or are noticing a bit of grey in your younger years, you may well have opted for beard dye to restore your natural colour. However, as the days go by, you’ll notice your new colour begin to fade back into the greys and whites you had before.
Again, regular shampoo could be the cause here. By switching from regular shampoo to a specially-formulated beard wash that’s gentler on hair and the skin beneath, you’ll help to keep your beard dye looking great for longer.
Beard shampoo is well worth your money
From softening beard hair to reducing beard itch and soothing irritation, beard washes are full of benefits that your beard needs.
So, step away from the regular shampoo and grab a bottle of high-quality beard wash today.