The beard styling industry has changed dramatically over the years. Beard maintenance only used to involve trimming it regularly, with no styling requirements involved.
In the modern age, however, bearded men can choose to style their beards with waxes, combs, and trimmers.
However, one area that many men aren’t comfortable with is beard straightening.
You may not have tried straightening your facial hair before, let alone your head hair, but this step can make a big difference to the way your beard looks.
You can straighten your beard in two ways. The first involves using a straightening brush, while the second involves using a brush and a blow dryer.
If you are curious about straightening your beard, you’ll find a guide on the process below.
The steps in this article might require a little practice, but as long as you are consistent, the process will become a lot easier to follow later on.
How To Straighten A Beard
Before you decide on what method you’ll use to straighten your facial hair, you need to decide if you want to go through with it in the first place.
This is solely dependent on your personal preferences. If you think that your beard is too wiry, long, or unkempt, straightening the hair may give you a better result.
However, if your beard hair isn’t healthy, looks dry, or needs a nourishing treatment, avoid straightening as the process can further damage the hair.
Heated Brush Method
Beard straighteners are the easiest way of straightening your beard. These look like small brushes that heat up to style the hair. If you would like to straighten your beard regularly, we’d recommend investing in one of these devices.
Follow these steps to straighten your beard with a heated straightening brush.
- Begin by making sure that your beard hair is completely dry. If your beard strands have water on them, the heat will burn the hair cuticle, frying it from the inside out. Always ensure that your beard is dry before straightening it.
- Condition the hair. Straightening involves drying lots of moisture out of the hair. Only use oil-based products, like a beard balm or beard oil. Don’t choose water-based conditioners, as these will make your facial strands dry and wiry.
- Generate tension with the brush. Hydrogen bonds lie underneath the hair cuticles, which maintain the shape of your strands. Applying tension with the brush along with heat will reshape the hair strands so they become straight.
- Use the brush to comb down the hair. Run the tool slowly through the hair, ensuring that you have gone through every section.
- Once your beard is straight to your likening, add some beard balm or oil to style as you like.
Blow Dryer Method
If you don’t want to purchase a straightening brush, or already have a brush, comb, and blow dryer lying around, you can use these tools to style your beard.
It’s best to use a small round brush for this, but a flat comb will work if you don’t own one.
- Start by taking a section of hair that’s as wide as your tool. For example, if your comb is an inch wide, take an inch-long section of beard hair.
- Turn your hair dryer on and create tension on the hairs with the comb. Comb downwards and apply the heat to the hair, straightening the strands as you go.
- Begin from the bottom of your facial hair, then move up towards your cheeks, making sure you cover each section.
- Once you have finished blow drying your whole beard, use some beard balm or beard oil to style the beard to your preferences.
Things To Know Before Straightening Your Beard
Here are some points to consider before you start straightening your beard. Think about the texture, length, curl pattern, and style of your beard beforehand.
For instance, if you like the current length of your beard, straightening the hair will make your beard longer. You may want to trim it to compensate, but only do this after you straighten it.
Curlier beard hairs will gain more length after they are straightened, so do take your hair curl pattern into account. Beard hairs that are tightly curled can also take longer to straighten.
Bear in mind that straightening tightly curled beard hair might bear nice results, but the results can be harder to maintain.
You might find that your beard struggles to lie perfectly straight, always retaining a little natural wave.
Certain grooming and styling products, straightening brushes, and a regular routine can help you style your curlier beard hair to your liking.
This might be harder for particularly curly or longer beard strands, but perseverance is key.
Another tip is to trim your beard shorter, as this can reduce some of the waves associated with longer beard strands.
Beard straightening brushes tend to work better on curlier hair than the hair dryer method, so do consider investing in one if you haven’t already.
You should also consider using a heat shield protectant on your beard before you straighten it. These products are oil-based substances that add a protective layer over your beard hair.
This defends the fibers from breaking down and becoming damaged.
These won’t 100% protect your hair, but they will prevent a lot of heat damage from occurring. If you do straighten your beard regularly, it’s a good idea to purchase a heat shield protector.
Lastly, remember that while straightening your beard can give a polished and groomed result, it’s best to avoid straightening your beard too often.
Many people straighten their beard every day, but this can be a lot on your hair. Constant heat application can make the strands brittle, damaged, and dry.
It’s best to avoid heat styling your beard more than two or three times a week. This is generally enough to maintain straight beard hairs on the days you don’t use heat tools.
You can also purchase beard wax products that help you maintain these styling results for longer.
The Bottom Line
Beard-straightening might seem intimidating at first, but the process is simpler than you think!
If you’re unsure, try using the brush and a hairdryer method first and see if you like the results. If you do, consider purchasing a dedicated beard straightening brush to make the process a little easier.
If you’re struggling at first, keep practicing, and the process should eventually become second nature!
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good, but there is such a lack of resources out there for men!
This website is for people like past me, who would have loved some guidance when first starting out.
Please enjoy my content. Trust me, bro - we’ll find you the perfect regime within no time.
- How Long Does Cologne Last? - September 30, 2022
- What Is Beard Balm? - September 20, 2022
- Best Beard Growth Kit - September 20, 2022
