Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, you'll learn about seven of
our best beard grooming tips to make sure your beard is always looking its best.
♪ Gentleman's Gazette Theme Song ♪
Beards have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity as of late and are being worn by gentlemen who
favor all varieties of dressing styles, including our beloved classic style. But, we recognize that
beards were not common hallmark of classic style during the Golden Age of Menswear,
as most gentlemen of style from that era were clean-shaven or wore mustaches. Some
men wore beards at this time, and they made their beards work within the realm of classic style;
using the same grooming tips that we'll be sharing with you today. Our grooming
tips will help you emphasize a neat appearance, sleek lines, clean texture, and timeless style
to ensure your beard looks at home with the rest of your classic ensemble. But,
maybe we've gotten a little ahead of ourselves, and you first need to grow a beard before you
can groom it. If that's the case for you, I'll walk you through how to grow facial
hair and beards in this video, and we can meet back here in four to six weeks.
Spongebob Narrator: "Four to six weeks later."
[Raphael gradually grows a Photoshopped beard]
Great! You're back. Love the beard. Let's get grooming. Number one:
wash well. As is the case with most grooming regimens,
a clean and hygienic approach is the best place to start. Regular washing of your beard offers
numerous benefits that will improve its look and feel at every stage.
Trust us, just wetting your beard while you shower won't achieve very much. If you're just
starting to grow a beard, regular washing can help exfoliate the skin; reducing irritation in
that area as your beard develops. Good exfoliation while washing is also key if you have a shorter
beard to keep your skin looking healthy, clean, and firm. For medium and long beards, regular
washing is essential to maintain cleanliness. No matter how smooth your beard hairs might be,
just running water through it won't remove contaminants like excess oils, grease,
dust, and other detritus - such as two owls, a hen,
four larks, and a wren if you're like the unfortunate fellow in this rhyme.
Remember that facial hair is uniquely structured compared to your head hair,
so a cleanser designed for the hair on the top of your head might make the hair on your face
flaky, brittle, and generally dried out. As
for how often to wash your beard,
like shampooing your head hair, it varies based on your body chemistry, climate,
and personal habits. We recommend initially washing your beard every two or three days.
If your beard starts to dry out, you should wash it less, but if it feels or looks greasy,
you should wash them more often. And suffice it to say, if your beard starts to resemble an aviary,
you definitely should wash them more often. Come on, man.
One lark I can forgive, but four... Number two:
comb and brush your beard. Just like combing your hair keeps it looking great, combing your beard
will do the same. But, combing your beard might not come as naturally as combing your hair.
If you have a short beard, quickly running a comb through will help your hairs lay flat
and will help encourage it to grow in the desired direction. For longer beards, combs
will help with detangling and smoothing. So, move more slowly, carefully loosening any snags. With
full or thick beards, you'll need to both fluff your beard by combing up and away from your face,
and then shape it according to your desires. Divide your beard into sections and layers.
This will help you ensure that you comb everything.
You will likely need to comb your beard daily -
usually when you get up in the morning like your hair - and possibly multiple times a day based on
habits, hair texture, and styling. But, especially with longer beards, take your time and come slowly
and carefully to avoid excessive pulling or this experience can get very painful, very quickly.
[scene from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"]
Gimli: "Not the beard!"
Whether you need to regularly brush your hair depends on your hair texture. But,
basically, every type of beard here will benefit from brushing,
provided that it is long enough. Brushing redistributes natural oils evenly,
reduces the formation of tangles; it softens and volumizes your beard,
and trains your beard by encouraging desired growth patterns. Note that short beards may
require only a cursory brushing or no brushing at all. And excessive brushing
could irritate your skin. It's even possible to over brush long beards. A
telltale sign is split ends. If your beard requires brushing, expect to do it at least daily,
usually in the morning and possibly at night before you go to bed.
Experiment to find a schedule that suits you and your beard. As with most things in life,
the right tools make the job easier. So, invest in a designated beard comb with two teeth sizes
and a natural hair beard brush. Horse hair is a favor because the stiff bristles exfoliate your
skin while taming your beard. You can also make your combing and brushing go further by applying
additional grooming items directly onto your brush or comb, like oils or lotions, which brings us to
our next tip. Number three: perfect your products. Because of its unique makeup and texture,
your beard here benefits from specialty cleansers and tools as well as additional grooming products
like oils, creams, butters, and balms. It can feel very overwhelming when grooming your beard because
it seems as though you'll need to invest in an entire salon worth of products to care for it.
But, you don't need an exhausting grooming regimen that rivals Patrick Bateman's to keep
your beard looking great. A few basic items geared to the particular vital needs of your facial hair
will be sufficient and, of course, you can add more products if desired. Now, what do you need?
Everyone will benefit from a beard shampoo and conditioner, a quality trimmer, and a beard brush.
And most of you, especially if you have longer and drier beards, should also consider beard oil,
beard balm, and a beard comb. For specific brand recommendations to get you started, take a look at
our "12 Best Beard Grooming Products" video. You can find even more product recommendations and the
product and tools section of our beard care and grooming guide. It's an extensive resource packed
with dozens of suggestions that includes all the above-mentioned items plus additional products and
tools like waxes, scissors, and hair dryers. Keep those trimmers and clippers handy because you'll
need them for our next tip. Number four: timely trimming and conscientious cutting. Even if you
want to grow beer that could rival Merlin's, allowing it to grow totally wild and free won't
produce a very classic look. Carefully curating your beard with regular trimming and attentive
cutting will ensure that your beard looks full and healthy. This will also help your beard grow
evenly during its initial stages, so it appears neat and well kept once it reaches your desired
length, however long that might be. Growing accustomed to trimming your beard early on will
help to ensure that you avoid the appearance of looking patchy or uneven, and to train your beard
by setting boundaries and cultivating growth in the desired areas. Trimming and cutting will also
remove any split frazzled and dried-out hairs. You'll also develop a knack for proper edge
care and maintenance, specifically attending to the border lines of your beard like the
transition edges between your cheeks and neck or the horizontal vertical edge of your beard itself.
These lines make a big difference, especially on full beards. Note the difference between
the trimmed vertical line on the left and an untrimmed vertical line on the right. And here,
you see the effect of a well-trimmed horizontal line. In general, one of the main distinguishing
features of a classically-styled beard will be the precise attention to neat lines. Just look at the
difference clean lines make in Leonardo DiCaprio's beard in "Django Unchained" and "The Revenant."
[scene from "Django Unchained"]
Candie: "Gentlemen, you had my curiosity. But, now, you have my attention."
Of course, too much artifice can be just as distracting as an overly unnatural look.
Razor-sharp, artificial edges can be distracting and off-putting
and make you look like you're about to declare war on the pathetic Earth people
or plan the next installment of the Hunger Games. Finding the right balance between clean and
natural edge will depend largely on your personal style and taste. To help you achieve a timeless
and classic look, take advantage of our guide to beard trimming. But, here's a tip for beard
trimming that we found extremely helpful: don't get caught up in trying to make every single edge
around your cheeks or lips match perfectly. Not only is it largely a waste of time; it probably
won't even look right. Just like a perfectly symmetrical face looks strange and unnerving --
[photo of Brad Pitt]
[photo of symmetrical Brad Pitt]
so too does a symmetrically styled beard. So, just do the best that you reasonably can. I know that
any little imperfections will only make your beard look more natural. Speaking of looking natural,
our next step concerns a very particular and very easy to get wrong line on your beard. Number five:
fantastically fade your neat neckline. The neckline has become notorious in the beard world.
That is because so many men are terrified of looking like the infamous neckbeard;
reviled for his unkempt and scraggly neck hairs. Unfortunately,
fear of looking like a neckbeard has driven some men to cut their beards under their chin
too high. Producing an unnatural line that may look acceptable from the front,
but appears odd at every other angle. Fortunately, this issue is relatively easy to fix.
Just let your beard hair grow back in and opt for a more natural line. How to achieve this? Ideally,
if you have a full beard, your neckline will curve down from your ear to just above your Adam's apple
and then back up to the other ear. To find your neckline, stick out your index and middle fingers
and place them under your neck so that your middle finger is touching your Adam's apple. Now,
imagine a curving line that runs from where your index finger rests under your chin until
it intersects with the lines vertically running down from your sideburns. Shave anything below
this imaginary curving line. However you shave it, don't make your natural neckline look unnatural by
shaving in a hard and sharp edge. This look might be sporty and youthful, but it isn't very classic.
Instead, fade your neckline to ensure smooth, organic transition from skin to beard. To fade
your neckline, you'll need a trimmer with length guards. Start with one guard down from the guard
for your overall beard length. Trim the hair about an inch above your neckline, then go down one more
guide and trim a half inch above your neckline. While trimming, scoop your trimmer upwards to
create a more natural line that is easier to blend. This process takes practice. But,
eventually, you'll learn how to craft a fade that will never fade into oblivion. To get the
job done right, make sure you're using the right tools for general trimming and fading your lines.
You'll definitely need a beard brush or comb and a quality electric clipper. For medium and long
beards, you also want a pair of beard-trimming scissors. This will help snap away any stray
hairs. Now, don't worry, it may feel like it, but the techniques we've suggested won't require
going to barber college to master and learning these skills will allow you to take your beard
to the next level. Number six: start a styling sensation. Once you've mastered the basics of
beard maintenance, you can experiment with beard styling to really add personality to your look.
There are dozens of facial hair styles you can adopt and limitless ways to style them.
Taking advantage of the quality products, perfect tools, and careful know-how that we've
already covered in this video, you'll be able to transform your basic beard into a majestic mane.
Of course, how you style your beard is entirely up to you and could be as simple as regular brushing
to ensure a gently pointed end or as complex as a perfectly quaffed and forked beard that makes Rex
Ingram jealous. Of course, as with hairstyles, not all beards will necessarily suit all face shapes.
So, we'll close with one final tip. Number seven: investigate expert opinions. As
Raphael likes to say, "You don't know what you don't know." So, seek out people that do know.
Your local barber is a trained professional who can guide you at every step of your beard journey.
Whether you've just started growing a beard or need to determine particular qualities of
different varieties of waterproof waxes, your barber will be able to build upon the tips that
we've shared with you today and help apply our advice to your particular situation. Of course,
not all barbers are well-versed in the minutia of beard care,
so don't be afraid to seek out a second opinion from barbers who
have more experience with beards. Your haircutting barber won't be jealous.
Probably. While they may not have been common during the Golden Age of Menswear,
we hope that today's video will help inspire you to try out beards in your classic style journey.
We know that your beard will look great;
whether it resembles the beard worn by Orson Welles when he narrated "War of the Worlds"
or when he appeared in the 1967 version of "Casino Royale" or when he starred in the
"Chimes at Midnight". So, whatever stage of beard bearing or beard building you're at,
we hope you enjoy today's video. Which grooming tips are essential to you? Let us know in the
comments below. How have I employed my classically styled beard with my outfit? Well, let's find out.
So, as I typically do, I keep my beard pretty short. Lines are not too sharp or angled, but I'm
pairing that with my outfit of dark denim, brown dress shoes, Fort Belvedere socks, a green vest,
and my casual button-down shirt. Check out the Fort Belvedere shop here for socks like these.
♪ Gentleman's Gazette Theme Song ♪