Craft Beard

It is unlikely that your bearded or mustachioed clients will come in weekly for trims, so make sure you give them the tools to keep their facial hair looking fresh.

Beards and mustaches take a specific kind of regular care, which often presents a problem to clients. Although some men might make salon or barbershop visits more frequently than women in order to keep short hair at a consistent length, facial hair requires even more intermittent attention.

Red 7 Salon in Chicago recently held a beard maintenance workshop and invited clients to come in and learn about the ins and outs of keeping facial hair well-groomed in between salon visits. As one client attendee aptly pointed out, it’s strange that he would never attempt to cut his own hair but has no problem taking tools to his beard—and he realized he felt rather ill-equipped to do so.

Two of the salon’s senior stylists and educators, Taylor Kane and Natalie Ruzgis, led the class and began by asking attendees what issues they have with their facial hair. Hair texture, what tools to use and what products to use were all concerns.

Just like the uptick in root camouflagers to keep color looking fresh between visits or sending your client home with a new flatiron and product knowledge, teaching clients how to keep their beards in good condition between visits is a valuable use of your time and theirs. A well-groomed client is one of the best ways to advertise your skills and services.

Kane recommends encouraging clients to invest in a few tools, such as a foil razor, edger, guarded straight razor, and trimmer with a variety of attachments. Demo each of these and explain their uses—actually show them rather than just tell them.

“For trimming, I recommend using a trimmer like theAndisSlimLine Pro Li with an attachment comb to remove bulk under the neck, depending on the length of the beard,” says Andis Educator and Master Barber Danny Amorim. “Most important is to not shampoo every day. For a healthy-looking beard, condition it five times per week with a conditioner that has natural oils in it, then shampoo it the other two days of the week.”

Another way Kane helps his bearded clients is to suggest using a blowdryer, especially if there are unruly growth patterns. Kane demonstrated how he can smooth and blowdry his hair directionally to achieve the shape he wants.

The beard-grooming category has products you can customize for at-home beard maintenance:

• Beard wash: Helps exfoliate and clean the skin under the beard, softens coarse hair and can typically be used about two times a week.

• Beard brush: A boar-bristle brush will exfoliate skin and stimulate hair follicles to promote growth, along with guiding growth patterns and stubborn waves and curls.

• Beard balm: Provides hold and shine, which can be helpful for shaping longer beards

• Beard oil: Provides shine and moisture, but not hold, so less ideal for lengthy beards

• Shave cream or oil: Especially useful when touching up neck and cheeks to prevent ingrown hairs and encourage smooth shaving

“Look into beard oils and beard balms,” Amorim says. “There are so many on the market now that the options are endless.”