Can I Use Shampoo on My Beard? (The Great Debate)
Can you use regular shampoo on your beard?
That’s the question.
What’s the difference between the hair on your head and your public hair? Is it the same?
In this article, we’ll answer all of these questions and I’ll provide you tips and solutions that will take your beard care to new levels.
So with that said, let’s get into it.
Can you use regular shampoo on beards?
Using shampoo on your beard won’t exactly make it fall off, but it’s not ideal.
This is because there are quite significant differences between the hair on your head and the hair on your face.
Facial hair tends to be thicker, more porous, and rough. Also, your facial skin is very different than your scalp, which is usually oilier so it better handles shampoo.
On the other hand, when shampoo you put shampoo on your face, it leaves the skin dry, itchy, and flaky.
Follicles on the face and pubic area are much more exposed to testosterone; a hormone that makes follicles twist and their resultant hairs become kinked and very rough.
Just feel your head hair and bead hair and you’ll quickly feel the difference.
And for that very reason, both hairs need to be cared for differently.
Ideally, beards need products that soften the hair without drying it out (We’ll get to these later).
So it’s not great to use shampoo but if you need something to quickly wash your beard with, there’s no immediate harm, still:
Make sure that the shampoo you’re using isn’t harmful.
Make sure it’s rich in natural ingredients that regulate sebum production and does not contain any harsh chemicals that can damage your sensitive facial skin, such as alcohol, parabens, and definitely sulfates. (Baby shampoo wouldn’t be a bad option, to be honest.)
But if you do use regular adult shampoo, do so sparingly, and use beard oil and/or butter after to get moisture back into your skin and beard.
Even your regular hair conditioner would be better suited for your beard.
It works particularly well on dry and normal skin but if you have greasy or acne-prone skin, avoid applying too much conditioner at the roots of your beard hairs to prevent it from getting in contact with the skin.
Using beard conditioner on your beard every day or most days, however, will keep it soft in a way that products designed for scalp hair won’t, as they’re meant to be used on hair.
Wash beard with shampoo?
Even if you use beard shampoo, you shouldn’t be shampooing your hair every day.
In fact, the best approach would be to use shampoo your beard once a week on the weekend maybe, then during the week to condition your beard instead
So, slather in a healthy dose of conditioner. Leave it in, scrub it into your beard then rinse it out thoroughly.
Then if you want your beard to stay nourished throughout the day, you can use a leave-in conditioner. (don’t use too much as you’ll then follow this up with…beard oil/ beard balms.
Then after doing this for 6 days, you then shampoo your beard to just wash it clean of everything.
(Btw this process isn’t some kind of ritual if you miss a day or two in a week you’ll be more than fine, it’s more of a guide)
But if you like routines, try it out and see what it does for you.
But even take your beard cleansing to a new level, you can do apple cider vinegar soak/rinse.
This helps keep the buildup of oil to a minimum and doesn’t leave any lingering smell. You don’t have to swap this out for shampoo but if you want a more natural alternative to shampoo, you could try it out.
Here are some of the benefits.
You can do an apple cider weekly, monthly, or quarterly, it’s up to you be it’s just another good way to cleanse your beard of products.
Conclusion
In this article, we asked ourselves, Can we use shampoo on our beards?
The answer is yes, but only once a week.
And when using shampoo, make sure it doesn’t contain:
Parabens and sulpahtes
Condition your beard on most days and always apply beard oil and beard balm before brushing it all in.
Then quarterly, you could do an apple cider vinegar wash.
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