By Josephine Agbonkhese

In recent years, beards have surpassed trend status to become a regular fixture. But do you know growing your beard is one thing and maintaining it is another entirely? 

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Growing a great beard is something to be proud of. But the journey doesn’t end once the desired length or style has been achieved. You need to know how to keep your beard healthy, fresh, smart and stylish. Here are six tips to help you.  

1. Wash Regularly

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Your beard can get pretty gross if you don’t make a concerted effort to keep it clean. Crumbs and other leftovers of the day can get stuck in there, especially if you’ve got a long, thick beard. Beards are great, but if you don’t wash yours regularly, you’re not doing yourself any favour. You’ll find beard-specific cleansing products from some brands, but the truth is your shampoo will do just fine.

2. Hydrate and Condition

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To keep your beard soft and shiny, condition it regularly with beard oil. Beard oils quickly absorb into each hair and deliver vitamins and nutrients that soften and hydrate the entire mane. In turn, this makes the beard softer, less itchy, and more cooperative. Oils are also effective at reaching the skin beneath the beard which is otherwise difficult to target and moisturize when it’s covered up.

3. Trim 

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Trimming is essential to keeping your beard looking well-kept and healthy. You can use scissors for a more precise trim that is less likely to damage your facial hair. Beard trimmers are easy to use and make the process quick with their measured length guards, but they can also cause split ends and may damage your hair. Using beard oil will help reduce split ends. To avoid ending up with uneven beard length, brush your beard with a small comb as you trim.

4. Clean Up Your Neckline

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Your trimmer is an essential tool for cleaning up your neck line. For most guys, doing this every two weeks is hardwork. Here’s how to do it: Stack your index and middle fingers just above your Adam’s apple; trim your beard to where your top finger is; trim a U-shape from your side burns down to meet this point; and do not just follow your jaw line as it will result in an awkwardly shaped beard. Your mirror is your friend when learning to trim your neckline. 

5. Get a Good Comb and Brush 

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A beard comb is the easiest way to distribute oils evenly throughout the beard, or even to shape and style the beard after a warm shower and beard-cream application. It’s the tool you need for good presentation.

A beard brush, on the other hand, is an effective way to exfoliate the skin underneath the beard, and to remove dead skin cells. It also helps pull the natural oils produced by your skin and deliver them to the rest of the beard— which is an effort to nourish the full hair strand instead of just the roots.