Culver City, CA– It’s no small feat growing a long and luscious beard; after all, this endeavor takes plenty of time, effort, and patience. Along the way, beard growers may discover that the process isn’t as simple as they’d imagined, and problems start creeping up. A commonly experienced concern is that of split ends. While some may think of split ends as being a female-only challenge, it can affect beards as well, especially the longer they’re grown. Basically, there are two main causes of this affliction: lifestyle and product usage (or lack thereof).
Some Lifestyle Causes of Split Ends
These are some common actions that can lead to beard split ends:-
Diet choices: Healthy hair is, in large part, a byproduct of good eating habits. For optimal beard health, it’s important that men eat well. The following vitamins can help maintain excellent hair growth:
- Vitamin A, found in carrots, broccoli, dark and leafy greens, and eggs.
- B vitamins, particularly B3, B5, B7 (biotin), and B9 (folic acid). In addition to supplements, these are found in nuts, beans, oils, dark and leafy greens, and some lean meat products.
- Vitamin C, found in oranges, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, and dark, leafy greens.
- Vitamin E, which is in nuts, beans, oils, and dark greens.
- Lack of maintenance: It’s important to regularly trim beards, allowing the body’s oils to reach from the root of the hair all the way to the ends. Generally, the two options are to keep beards shorter or to trim them every 1-2 weeks.
- Over-combing: While it’s good to keep a beard tamed, too much combing can cause hair to break or for cuticles to get damaged. Beards should generally only be combed 3-4 times a day for optimal oil and sebum distribution.
- Blow-drying: This action, though necessary at times, quickly makes hair dry and brittle, causing it to be more prone to breakage. If possible, it’s always better to pat-dry a beard using a towel.
Some Product-Related Causes of Split Ends
SourceFor some beard growers, it might boil down to what products they’re using:
- The wrong comb: Cheap plastic combs are great in a pinch, but they’re not optimal for longer beards. Wood combs offer a great alternative that won’t tear hair the way plastic does.
- The wrong shampoo: Using shampoo designed for heads will work, but it’s far better to use cleansers specifically for beards. After shampooing with an appropriate product, beard oil can be smoothed on to help hair and skin alike.
- Dyeing beard hair: Though dyeing might help cover up those pesky gray hairs, it’ll also dry out a beard very quickly. If dyeing is a must, then it should be followed up with beard oil or pomade to keep hair in excellent condition.