The 2024 Guide to Making Your Beard Look Better

9 min read

• Grooming your beard will increase your attractiveness, make it easier to style, and offer more comfort. It’s also essential for beard health and can boost your confidence.

• Basic products applied during your beard care routine are all you need for most of the results! You can take it up a notch and pamper your beard with premium products too. Make a beard care routine that works for you, and stick to it. We’ll show you what needs to be done daily, weekly, and monthly.

• Despite your grooming efforts, common beard issues may arise. You’ll need to adjust your grooming routine to combat these issues. This may come in the form of washing less frequently, applying a new type of product, or going for a trim.

Beards are an icon of masculinity. They carry with them stories of every night you partied too hard with the boys. Countless bedtime stories, and endless dad moments. They form a tapestry of your experiences.

Standing in front of the mirror, you give your stubble a hard look. “Maybe this time it’ll be different”, you think to yourself.

You want to give your beard another shot. It makes other guys look awesome, but for some reason, not you.

So you start growing your beard again. A few weeks go by, and it’s the same as usual. It’s itchy and the hairs don’t fall into place perfectly.

“Maybe I’m not meant to have a beard like those guys”, you say to yourself.

We’ve heard this many times in the past, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. Maybe the only thing separating you from your dream beard is some guidance on how to make your beard look better.

We can confidently tell you that you can have an awesome beard if you get the basics right. Developing a grooming routine, living a healthy lifestyle, and knowing how to trim your beard is a great place to start.

Keep reading if you want to learn how to tame a beard that’ll make even the baddest of Vikings envious.

Why Should You Groom Your Beard?

Most guys I know love the rugged swagger that comes with having a beard. They look more masculine and have a magnetic aura to them.

But they suck at taking care of their beard.

Please don’t be that guy.

You’re probably wondering. Why should I groom? After all, I can lather up with 2-in-1 shampoo and body wash and stand under the shower until I’m clean.

Wrong. Your beard hair is androgenic. This means that its growth is triggered by hormones. It’s different from the hair on your head, so it needs extra care.

Think about it — why would you neglect something that brings so much awesomeness into your life? Still not convinced? Here are some reasons why you should groom your beard:

More comfort: Beards get itchy, especially in the first growth stage. The food, dirt, and pollution that gets trapped there can worsen this.

Easier styling: A well-conditioned beard is softer and easier to style. This is a huge time saver.

Increased attractiveness: Trimming and shaping are essential to a killer beard care routine. Proper shaping will enhance your style and bring out your best features.

Hygiene: Regular grooming prevents unpleasant odors. Your beard will smell better with the use of beard products.

Beard Health: A well-groomed beard promotes airflow. This prevents moisture buildup and discourages bacterial growth. Better ventilation means less dryness and breakage too.

Confidence: When you put effort into grooming, it can translate into your overall confidence. It shows a level of self-care and attention to detail. Compliments and positive attention can reinforce your self-esteem too.

Style: “Caveman” isn’t a style. If you’ve chosen a shape or look for your beard, grooming will maintain it.

Now that you know why you should tame your wild side, let’s take a crash course on what you’ll need.

The Ultimate List: Beard Grooming Products

Having the right tools for the job is your starting point. Here’s a comprehensive list of the tools you’ll need:

• Beard oil: Beard oil nourishes your beard using a blend of essential and carrier oils. It hydrates the skin under your beard too which improves beard growth.
• Beard balm: Much like beard oil, beard balm nourishes and hydrates your beard. But it has a higher wax content ratio. This allows for some hold to enable styling.
• Beard shampoo: A necessary replacement for your generic “head hair” shampoo. Beard hair needs a gentler product that won’t strip as much moisture as head hair shampoo. 
• Beard conditioner: Beard conditioner softens your beard, making it more manageable. It’s useful for dry and cold climates that make your beard brittle.
• Trimmer/razor/scissors: A trimmer is an excellent tool for any beard. Choose one with the highest quality steel and reliable build. This will give you better precision and control with your trim. Scissors are more precise and cause fewer split ends, but they need some practice until you’re comfortable. Lastly, use a razor to clean up your cheekline and neckline.
• Beard comb/brush: Combing your beard will remove tangles and improve airflow. A boar’s hair brush will distribute product evenly through your beard and stimulate the skin underneath promoting growth. Check out the Zilberhaar beard brush lineup here.

• Styling wax: This will unlock more intricate beard styles. Less is more when it comes to beard products. Use sparingly to avoid that greasy look. Need a recommendation? Try Beardbrand’s Mustache Wax. It’s not a high-hold wax, so you can use it for your beard too.

• Beard shaping tools: Going to the barber every time you need a trim can get costly. Invest in tools such as our ClearShaper or FlexShaper to DIY your trim sessions.
• Travel essentials: Having your beard essentials within arm's reach is vital when on the go. Our Aberlite Traveler is the perfect companion for your day-to-day adventures. Enjoy a spacious, portable, organized solution for your grooming needs.

• Unscented products: Sometimes you’ll want to pair your beard products with cologne. Plus, your beard is right under your nose — and some days you don’t want to assault your senses. Having unscented options for common products such as beard oil or beard mist is handy.
• Beard dye (optional): If you want to turn back the clock or switch up your style without a shave, consider trying beard dye. Need an option to cover up hints of gray? Stick to a tried and true brand like Just For Men. They’ve been in the game for over three decades.

• Exfoliating Scrubber: Exfoliating removes dead skin cells and unclogs your pores. This means fewer ingrown hairs. It also promotes blood flow which means healthier growth. Your skin is the foundation for beard growth. And starting with a healthy foundation is essential for a rockin' beard. Here’s a great scrubber that can get the job done: the Tooletries Ultimate Scrubber Set. It’s a soft silicone-based brush set designed for optimal exfoliation.

We recommend starting with beard oil, shampoo, a comb or brush, and a trimmer. Add more to your routine when you’re comfortable with the basics.

Make a Beard Care Routine

Now that you have your tools, you can start building your routine. You’ll need to perform certain care habits more often, and others sparingly. For your convenience, we’ve divided this guide into three sections. Daily, weekly, and monthly.

 

Daily

Cleanse: Rinse your beard with water and use beard shampoo 2-3 times per week. Pat dry gently with a towel.

Condition: Apply some beard conditioner to make your hair softer and manageable.

Moisturize: Apply 3-7 drops of beard oil depending on how long your beard is. Be sure to get the skin under your beard too!

Comb or Brush: Combing your beard throughout the day prevents tangles and distributes added and natural oils. For longer beards, use a wide-tooth comb, for shorter beards use a boar bristle brush.

Weekly

•    Trim: Clip the stragglers and maintain shape. This promotes beard health. We’ll cover this in more detail later since it's the trickiest part.

Deep condition: Your skin’s barrier keeps foreign material out, it’s why we use moisturizing products after a shower. Once a week try this deep-conditioning routine to amp up the moisture. Apply a leave-in conditioner, or use beard oil and butter before bed. Then, use a neck gaiter over your beard to seal in moisture.

Exfoliate: To maximize beard and skin health, remove dead skin cells beneath your beard. Use a gentle scrub or a brush designed for beard exfoliation.

Monthly

• Visit your barber: Even if you trim and shape yourself. Consider visiting a barber for a professional trim or a consultation for advice.
• Inspect your beard: You’re mainly looking for split ends here. Trim them to prevent more damage. Also, take note of your general beard health. Does it look the way you want it to? Soft, shiny and voluminous?
• Adjustments: If your beard isn’t the majestic mane you desire, adjust your routine. This depends on what you’re missing. For example, if your beard isn’t soft enough maybe you want to switch up your conditioner or apply conditioner more often. Experiment and see what works best.

These steps will give you a solid foundation for your beard care routine. Note they’re not all mandatory. Every beard is different.

Cultivate Healthy Habits

Wash, check. Moisture and condition, check. Trim, nailed it.

We’re looking fresh boys. Our beard care routine is complete… in theory.

However, in essence, it isn’t. Beard care goes beyond your actual beard. You need to take care of yourself too. Because what good is a beard if you’re not feeling and doing your best?

More importantly, these habits directly influence the growth of healthy beard hair:

Balanced diet: Include foods rich in vitamins and minerals such as iron and zinc. Foods such as chicken and salmon contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are essential for beard growth.

Stay hydrated: Proper hydration helps maintain better skin elasticity. This means your beard hair will grow without irritation or flakiness. Water also transports nutrients to the follicle and this promotes beard health.

Adequate sleep: Getting plenty of sleep every night helps your body release testosterone. Inadequate sleep can negatively affect this process.

Exercise: Resistance training is known to increase testosterone which promotes beard growth. Additionally, exercise improves your blood flow. This helps stimulate beard hair growth.

Protect your beard: Exposure to harsh weather, or even a swim in the pool can do a number on your beard. Use a scarf if you’re in the cold, or some beard balm if it's hot.

Don’t overwash: Overwashing strips your beard of natural oils. Adjust the frequency of your wash based on your environment and hair type among other factors.

Having a beard care routine is a solid foundation. But sometimes, you’ll run into common issues that keep you from your dream beard. Let’s talk about some of those issues.

Troubleshooting Common Beard Issues

You’ve followed our advice to a tee, but you still don’t have an epic beard. Don’t fret, it's natural to have some issues along the way. Here are a few potential hiccups and what you can do about them.

Beard Dandruff and Itchiness

Dandruff and itchiness arise for a few different reasons:

Solution: Clean and exfoliate the skin under your beard. This will remove excess skin and oil.

Dry skin: If your skin gets dry, it can become itchy and flaky. This can happen if you’re not moisturizing the skin under your beard, or if you’re using a harsh shampoo for your beard. Washing too often is also a culprit.

Solution: Moisturize the skin under your beard with products such as beard oil or butter. Use a gentler shampoo designed for beards. Also, consider washing less frequently.

Poor hygiene: Washing too little is a flagrant offense in the bearded community. This can cause “beardruff”.

Solution: Wash more often using a beard wash. Additionally, exfoliate and clean your beard.

 

Uneven Growth

Uneven beard growth is more common than you may think. There are several reasons for it including hormones, genetics, and lifestyle. Here’s how to manage your beard if you notice uneven growth:

Patience: Allow your beard to grow so you can identify the uneven areas. This lets you tailor your grooming to the situation.

Trimming: Consider using a beard comb and beard scissors. This allows you to target uneven spots without affecting the rest of your beard.

Consult a professional: An expert trim is an excellent way to achieve a balanced look. Depending on your growth pattern, a barber can blend your beard or directly address the unevenness.

Every man's beard is different, embrace your natural growth — and stay patient and persistent with healthy grooming habits. You’ll find uneven spots less noticeable as you do this.

Patchiness

Patchy beards can be tricky, but here’s a crash course on how to manage them.

Nutrition: Maintain a well-balanced diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals. Foods rich in biotin, omega-6, and omega-3 fatty acids such as eggs, fish, and nuts promote beard growth.

Skincare: Healthy skin encourages beard growth. Exfoliate and moisturize your skin regularly.

Shaping: This sounds counterintuitive, but it creates the appearance of a fuller beard when done correctly. Hair of even length reduces spots that look patchy.

Choose the right style: First, pick a beard style that’s right for your face shape. Second, make sure that the style complements your growth pattern.

These factors touch on the basics of managing a patchy beard. For a detailed explanation of how to fix a patchy beard, see this post.

A healthy dude with a healthy beard is a great start. But he isn’t any fun unless he's styled for success. Let’s cover trimming and shaping next.

Trim & Shape

Letting your beard hair run wild is never a good idea. At best, your family will pester you to get rid of it. At worst, you’ll be mistaken for a caveman.

Jokes aside, we recommend using a trimmer over scissors if you’re a beginner in the beard game. This is because they’re easy to use and minimize room for error. The different guards make the trimming process quick.

Trimming your beard is simple. Examine your beard every couple of weeks. Look for uneven spots and split ends. Clear out any unevenness and clip off damaged hair with scissors.

To simplify things, if you want to sport a shorter beard you can use a preset guard and run the trimmer through your entire beard.

Remember, less is more with trimming. Follow the natural contour of your face and aim for a uniform length.

Pro tip: Comb your hair as you trim. This lets you know which hairs are loose and which are uniform. It’ll help you prevent an uneven trim. Continue to comb through after each trim so you don’t overdo it.

Here at Aberlite, we’re asking the real questions. With that said:

Should you pluck your grays?

We think you should embrace the salt-and-pepper look. Grey hair has been known to make guys look more attractive and distinguished.

Last but not least, clean up your neckline. Our crash course version: make a line about one inch above your Adam’s apple and shave everything below it. For a detailed guide, click here.

A Final Word

If you’ve gotten this far, it should be clear that you should get started if you don’t have a beard care routine.

It’s a surefire way to make your beard look its best in 2024 and beyond.

And if you already have a beard care routine, nail it down. Think about why you’re grooming and put some intention behind it.

Experiment with new products, and beard styles. Want the bad boy look? Try using sharp angles if your face supports them. Or you may have a long beard that needs a styling agent with a stronger hold.

You’ll want to cultivate positive habits such as a healthy diet, adequate sleep, and regular exercise.

Stay consistent with your beard care routine — you (and your beard) will be turning heads in no time.