How often should I wash my beard?
We’re so, so sorry. We needed a header image, and Shopkeep Joey was around. Making that face.
This is one of the most common questions we get on beard care, and as with most of the answers to other beard-related questions, the answer is a rousing, “it depends.”
Like the hair on your head, your skin and the oils it produces are designed by your body to be the main method of both cleansing and conditioning your follicles. Beard hair tend to be heftier than the hair on your head, and as such it usually needs more moisture and less washing than head hair. But how often heavily depends on your specific situation.
Read on.
Beard Thickness & Density
As with hair, the finer (individual hair thickness) and lighter density (amount of hair per square inch) beards will need more washing than the thicker, denser stuff, because your face’s natural oils can more easily make their way around the beard.
Lighter beards can get washed every two or three days, thicker ones can go a week or more.
Activity Level
Washing frequency is going to be a vastly different if you work in an office as opposed to, say, in a bog doing wetland restoration.
If you get actual stuff in your beard, whether dirt, sweat or assorted goo, you’re going to want to be washing that out when it occurs (and if it has to more than twice a week, bump up your conditioning routine, paired with an extra gentle shampoo).
Conditioning
We know what you’re asking – doesn’t a week or more unwashed beard get gross? Well, you may not be washing it super often, but if you’re conditioning it, that doesn’t mean you’re not cleaning it.
Because what dissolves dirt and oil at least as well as soap? The emollient properties of oils, or in this case, conditioner. You could also split the difference with a cleansing conditioner.
So long as you’re using a silicone-free conditioner, you can use that in your beard, which will pull out and wash away any potential grossness in nearly the same way shampoo would, leaving it soft, healthy, and well-conditioned.
It all boils down to sudsing your beard as infrequently as your beard type and lifestyle will allow.
Managersaurus on the Loose {Video}
Leave a Reply