How to Keep Your Winter Beard Itch Free and Clean
With the winter chill setting in, you may have decided to bring back your old friend, the beard. Beards are great aren’t they? They’re like wool overcoats for our chins. Let’s just hope they don’t feel as itchy as one.
To prevent that from happening, and to keep the skin beneath breakout free, there are a few, quick maintenance techniques you can incorporate into your daily regimen.
Preventing the itch
Those first few days of beard growth can cause quite the ruckus – irritating the skin, causing itch and possibly some initial breakouts. To keep the disruption to a minimum during those initial days you might use a granular scrub to get rid of dead skin and help prevent ingrown hairs along with a skin balancing toner to keep skin hydrated and free of the buildup that can also cause ingrown hairs.
Beard dandruff
That’s always pleasant isn’t it? If you are prone to dry skin or dandruff north of the forehead, chances are you’ve experienced dead skin flakes in the beard too. The cold season can also contribute to this, as humidity in the air tends to decrease in chilly temperatures.
To combat or improve the flaky conditions start with a more gentle cleanser with moisturizing ingredients like shea butter and cleansing agents, like sodium chloride, that don’t strip away natural oils. Follow with a skin strengthening toner to keep skin nourished and hydrated.
Also be sure you are not under cleansing and over moisturizing. Yes, you read that correctly. If you don’t properly cleanse, the moisturizer sits on the surface unable to penetrate the skin.
Breakouts beyond the ruff
While acne hiding behind the beard may not be visible to others, just knowing it’s there can be annoyance enough. Keep breakouts at bay with a good cleanser (are you starting to notice a theme here with the cleansing?), followed by a non-greasy antioxidant and moisturizing serum to fight free radicals and hydrate. Look for ingredients like D2O (heavy water), soybean protein (glycine soja), and superoxide dismutase, which is a powerful antioxidant.
Alternatively, you can also use a skin corrective serum with ingredients like retinol, tocopherols and mineral extracts like malachite.
For more see Zeo Cleanse, Blue Agave, Radical Redux, Complex VI.