A very common problem in men who grow a beard is the itchiness caused by having dry skin under the beard and today I am going to show you how to avoid this or cure it.
To start off it’s good to understand the reason people have dry beards.
8 Reasons the skin under your beard keeps itching.
1. Long Beard
Dryness in your beard can be a result of a myriad of reasons. One of these is the length of your beard.
Why?
Two words, ‘Sebaceous Glands’, which are the body’s mechanism to produce sebum, an oil that helps keep our skin supple.
Once your beard gets considerably long, the sebaceous glands get overworked and cannot produce enough oil to keep your beard moisturized. This causes flaking otherwise known as dandruff or beardruff.
The facial hairs attract moisture up from the surface and onto the hair, where it quickly evaporates. This leaves the skin under the hair dry and flaky.
Dead skin cells that are removed daily by washing and exfoliation may get stuck around the hair shafts drawing grease. This leads to the formation of agonizing ingrown hair.
2. Weather Conditions
Dryness is a cause of severe irritation and itching, especially during the winter months or when there are periods of severe cold since our beards are more prone to dryness.
Dry weather conditions will often produce the same unwanted results.
3. Sleep Deprivation
Lack of sleep and enough rest causes a variety of health issues, but it also contributes to dry skin and consequently, a dry beard.
Get enough rest and sleep. Do not deny your body rest if it needs it. It will be reflected on your skin and beard.
Experts say that some of the reasons for the dry beard, flaking and itching can be traced to a lack of enough rest.
4. Cleansers and Other Face Cleaning Products
The use of hair grooming products and body soap can also be the basis of dry and flaky skin.
When you use strong facial products, like cleansers or astringents, these car wreak havoc to the sensitive areas of the face.
5. Smoking
Smoking fills your body with a multitude of poisonous gases. These gases hijack your red blood cells. The result is insufficient oxygen in your body.
Once your body is starved of air, many of its functions will be affected.
One of them is how blood supply is carried out in your entire body. Reduced blood supply will result in a beard deprived of health and growth.
This distresses your beard and makes it brittle, dry and flaky. It also makes it more likely to break. So may want to go easy on the tobacco, and keep a bottle of dry beard oil near while at it.
6. Hydration
You need to drink lots of water for your skin to stay hydrated and supple. This will help your beard hairs to stay moisturized.
7. Diet
Our mothers always used to tell us to eat our vegetables. Well, turns out they were not wrong at all. You do need to up your appetite for greens and fruits. That will help you to keep your skin and beard hydrated.
An unbalanced diet will lead to poor skin condition and dryness. We have been taught to eat healthily. The truth is that many folks still do not pay much attention to what they eat.
The food that we eat affects the overall body health as well as the well-being of the skin and consequentially, the beard.
8. Alcohol
It is the weekend again. You and your buddies are planning a get-together. There will be a barbeque, and of course, booze to take it all down. But, wait. Do you know alcohol plays a vital role on how your beard looks?
Yes, it does.
Keep off the booze. I know this may seem like a death sentence to many, but it is not. If you must drink, do it in moderation.
We’re not talking about the occasional drink every now and then, but regular binge drinking. So, if you decide to go on binge drinking session, you should know that the morning after hangover will not be the only unwanted result.
Alcohol dehydrates the body robbing the skin of vital moisture that helps your skin and beard hair nourished.
So after a major drinking session, you will not only be looking for a remedy for your king-size hangover but will also be reaching out for your dry beard oil once again.
How to Keep Your Beard from Excessive Dryness
Well, the quick answer is, get your hands on a dry beard oil for your beard.
The best oils are organic ones or the all-natural ones such as Jojoba beard oil and Proraso beard oil. The market is flooded with an ocean of beard oils. All promise to keep it in good condition but … choose wisely.
The reason why you need to add a dry beard oil to your daily routine is to help your sebaceous glands (which I mentioned above) moisturize your beard. This is especially true the longer your beard is. Those glands will not keep up with the natural oil production required for the length of your facial hair and therefore external assistance is required.
Before you attempt to use any dry beard oil, you need first to make sure that your beard is clean. Make sure you wash it regularly and use beard conditioner every now and again.
If you are having trouble with an excessively dry beard, you need to keep your beard away from hot water. The reason is hot water will strip away all essential oils from your beard aggravating the problem.
You must increase the number of times that you wash your beard to at least twice a day. In the morning and then in the evening.
Do not use the shampoo that you ordinarily wash your hair with to wash your beard too. Hair shampoo is a bit unforgiving on the beard as it is much stronger. Get a shampoo that is specifically designed for washing beards only.
Do not also wash your beard with soap that is designed for your body. This soap may be too harsh for your already fragile beard.
How to Use a Dry Beard Oil
Begin by taking a right amount of shampoo into your hands. Nest, wash your beard with cold water. Scrub gently with the tips of your hands.
Go through the length and breadth of your beard to make sure that every area of your beard is reached.
Rinse with abundant amounts of water while still rubbing gently with your fingertips. Continue rinsing till you are sure that all the shampoo residue has completely been washed away.
Pat dry with a towel. Be tender as you do not want to irritate your beard. Also, the beard hair is usually easier to break when wet so be careful.
To completely dry, you can employ the use of a blow-dryer. Dry on medium heat as excessive heat can also hurt your beard by stripping away more moisture.
Comb through your beard so as to dry it completely.
Now take your dry beard oil; ideally you’ve bought a natural oil. Jojoba beard oil is absorbed by the skin quickly and is light and no greasy.
Pour a bit of it in a bowl. Put it in the microwave and warm it a bit.
Now take it out and if it has gotten too hot, let it cool down a bit.
Once it is warm enough for you to handle with your hands, pour some into your hands.
Rub and then gently apply on your beard. Rub it on the sides of your beard and then onto the front. If you have a mustache, smear some on there too.
Take a comb or hair brush and go through your beard gently detangling any knots on it.
Take a pair of scissors and trim any stray hairs that stubbornly refuse to stay in their place and shape it up a bit according to your preference.
That’s it you’re done, and you should see a remarkable improvement in your facial hair and the dry skin under beard itching should go away slowly but surely.
Wearing black shirts has always filled bearded menfolk with dread. The reason being, black easily shows dandruff or rather beardfuff spots. Now that you have dealt your dry beard a permanent blow, you can wear anything that takes your fancy.
Check out our detailed guide on How to Grow a Beard.
