Humidity and facial hair don’t mix. Your beard looks frizzy during muggy months because hair strands and follicles absorb moisture from the wet air, causing them to appear bloated. Here are 11 tips to sport a smooth beard no matter how humid the weather gets.
1. Wash Your Face Gently
Gentle cleaning prevents frizz like no other. Washing your face to remove excess oils, dirt, debris, germs and dead skin cells from your beard goes without saying. However, overwashing does more harm than good. It strips away your facial hair’s natural oils, making you more prone to frizziness.
What you use to wash is just as important as how you wash. Use a cleanser that suits your skin type. If you have normal skin, use a noncomedogenic product.
For dry skin, wash using a fragrance-free, hydrating product. If you’re oily or acne-prone, use a noncomedogenic cleanser containing glycolic acid or salicylic acid. For sensitive skin, make sure the label says “fragrance-free” or “soap-free.”
Massage the cleanser into your face in a circular motion. Wash it off, and then gently pat your face dry with a microfiber towel.
2. Use a Beard Conditioner
Applying a beard conditioner should be part of your shower routine. This product deeply hydrates, nourishes and softens your facial hair. Leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing it off.
If you have an extremely dry, coarse beard, use a leave-in conditioner for more lasting hydration. Be wary of the amount you use because it can create a greasy appearance. Use sparingly, and add more when necessary.
3. Manage Split Ends
Split ends make your beard look frizzy on a low-humidity day. Imagine how they would look when the air is clammy.
Facial hair trimming is beard grooming 101. It’s essential during humid months to keep your split ends from sticking out when your hair swells from absorbing water from the air.
The longer your beard, the more prone you are to split ends. That’s because the sebum your skin produces can’t moisturize your entire hair once it reaches a certain length.
Untangle your beard with a comb or brush to make your split ends easier to see. Trim every pair you find with scissors, but keep as much of the intact portion from the hair shaft untouched as possible to prevent damage.
4. Shave Random Hair Strands
The parts of your face you want to be bare should remain bare regardless of the season. However, skipping a shaving session during the warmer months makes your facial hair conspicuously unkempt once the patchy strands begin to curl.
Use a traditional razor for a close shave. Use a shaving soap or cream if you prefer a thicker lather, but go with a gel for something more lubricating.
5. Seal in Moisture
Beard oils, balms and butters are leave-in products you can use to keep your facial hair and the skin underneath moisturized as you go on with your day.
Use beard oil when you only have a short stubble. Switch to beard balm after growing a full beard to hold it in place while keeping it moist and nourished. Move up to butter when your beard is long enough to only require light to medium hold for a tamed but rugged look.
6. Practice Wet Brushing
Combing or brushing helps distribute your skin’s natural oils and beard care products through your hair evenly. However, doing it when your facial hair is dry contributes to frizziness. This action can damage the cuticle — your hair’s protective outermost layer.
Style your beard while it’s still wet. Dampness lessens the friction between a comb’s teeth or brush’s bristles and your beard.
7. Steer Clear of Heat Styling
Excessive heat dries out your skin and hair. Your goal is to keep your beard moist for as long as possible, so avoid hot styling tools, such as beard straighteners and blow-dyers.
Let the air dry your facial hair naturally. If you must dry your beard more quickly, use a microfiber towel to absorb excess moisture and use a blow-dryer’s cool setting to prevent heat damage. Drying your beard without exposing it to high temperatures helps keep it strong, elastic and lustrous.
8. Hydrate More Frequently
Less moist hair tends to grab more water from the air. Moisturizing your beard more often during the humid season is necessary to reduce frizz.
If you normally use beard oil, balm or butter once a day, double your moisturizer’s application. Doing so helps make up for the faster beard dryness rate occurring in the hotter months.
9. Take Cool Showers
Taking a bath or shower with hot water can be therapeutic but disastrous for the beard. Hot water dries out the skin and damages the keratin cells on the epidermis, preventing them from locking in moisture.
Hot environments make you sweat, causing dehydration. Being dehydrated is detrimental to beard health.
Moreover, hot showering adds moisture to the air because indoor humidity levels rise as water steams up. Failing to ventilate the wetter indoor air to the outside efficiently after showering increases your risk of frizziness at night when it’s generally less humid.
The only exception is your face when washing it. Lukewarm water presents a healthy middle ground to cleanse your skin and beard.
10. Watch What You Eat
Your diet provides your body with essential nutrients to keep your beard moist and healthy.
Prioritize optimal hydration. Adults should drink anywhere between 2.7 and 3.7 liters to meet the daily water intake that medical experts recommend. Drinking water during meals and whenever you feel thirsty should suffice.
However, you may have to drink more when you enjoy dehydrating beverages like alcohol. Snack on cucumber, zucchini and watermelon — foods that are 92%-95% water — to hydrate your body significantly without drinking too many glasses a day.
11. Mind Sun Exposure
Exposure to direct sunlight for too long accelerates beard dryness, jeopardizing everything you do to keep it moist all day. Stay in the shade as much as you can.
Keep Your Beard Frizz-Free
Taming a frizzy beard involves considerable work. With these tips, you can be more mindful of anything that dries out your facial skin and increases moisture in the surrounding air to keep your mane impressive and healthy.