It seems that people are never quite happy with what they have, and that includes me as well.
I’ve always had really curly beard, but that’s not what I prefer, and I would much rather have straight facial hair like many men out there.
I like the look of a straight beard so much more, plus straight facial hair is much easier to maintain, and style than curly hair, plus a straight beard is much smoother than a curly and coarse beard.
So, how do I straighten my beard and how do I keep it that way? Rest assured that it isn’t too hard to get the hang of so that’s always a good thing.
Before we get right to it, let me just say that straightening beard hair may seem a little odd at first thought, but it’s actually something that more and more men are doing nowadays. One of the reasons for it is because a straight beard is much longer than a curly one and you get a lot more out of it.
On average beards grow anywhere from half an inch to a full inch every month, but a curly beard will look about 4 times shorter than a straight one.
Therefore if you want it to be longer, you can always straighten it out using a number of different methods. Let’s go over the process of straightening your facial hair so you can do by yourself at home.
What You Need To Straighten Your Beard
There are a few different ways that you can straighten your beard with, and none of them are overly hard to accomplish.
Of course, you can’t get the job done without a certain number of tools that you will need at your disposal. Depending on the method of straightening that you want to use you will need a different set of tools, methods which I will discuss in more detail below.
If you choose to do so, you can straighten your hair through more natural means, which is the way that I like to do it. To straighten your hair naturally here are the things that you will need.
A beard comb
Kent Handmade Combs for Men - 81T, FOT and R7T - For Hair, Beard, and Mustache Care Kit, Best For Men's Daily Care, Pocket, and Travel
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Amazon.com
The first thing that you will need to straighten your beard is a good beard brush as well as a beard comb.
You will need these tools in order to get rid of knots that will stand in the way of straightening your hair.
A comb is also good for stretching out your hair and making it smoother too. Remember that you will need a comb that suits your beard style.
If you have thinner hair, a fine toothed comb will be needed, and if you have thicker hair you may want to stick with a standard comb.
Beard Oil
Grave Before Shave Beard Oil 4 Pack
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The next thing that you will need to be successful at straightening your facial hair is some good beard oil.
Beard oil helps to hydrate and condition your hair which will make it much easier to straighten out due to the increased smoothness it provides.
Dry and brittle hair breaks, but with some beard oil, it will become more malleable and easier to manipulate. Beard oil will also help insulate your beard from heat damage that may occur during blow drying or straightening.
Beard oil is a great thing to use even if you aren’t straightening your hair because it helps to improve the overall health of your facial hair.
Blow Dryer
To really straighten your beard as straight as can be you will need a blow dryer.
Using heat to dry your beard after it has been wet is essential for getting straight and keeping it that way.
Beard Wax
Smooth Viking Beard Conditioner for Men, Leave-in Wax Conditioner That Softens and Soothes Itching, 2 Ounces
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The final tool you will need to straighten your beard naturally, is either beard wax or texture paste.
This will serve much like hair spray when women make a fancy hair do.
The wax will give your beard some hold and will cause it to stay straighter for longer and will also let you shape it to your will.
A more intense way to straighten your beard
The other method of straightening your beard hair is not quite as natural and may damage your hair more, but on the other hand it will most likely last a lot longer and be more effective.
This process mainly involves using a hair straightener.
Here are the tools that you will need to straighten your beard using this method.
Hair Straightener
MHU Professional Travel Size 0.5 inch Mini Flat Iron Tourmaline Ceramic Hair Straightener Black
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You will also need a proper hair straightener. Try not to get a really cheap one because they are prone to burning hair and breaking down.
Also, you will want to use a miniature version of a straightening iron because they are smaller and easier to maneuver, which in the end means that there is a smaller chance of burning your face.
Beard Wax
Badass Beard Care Beard Wax for Men - The Ladies Man Scent, 2 oz - Softens Beard Hair, Leaves Your Beard Looking and Feeling More Dense
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After your facial hair has been straightened, you will need something to give it some hold and keep it in place, something like beard wax or texture paste because as soon as the beard gets moist it will begin to curl up again.
Step By Step Guide To Straightening Your Beard: The Natural Way
Straightening your beard the natural way using a comb, a blow dryer, some beard oil, and beard wax will take a fair amount of work, but with a few simple steps anybody can do it without a problem.
Follow this step by step guide and you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.
- Step 1
The first thing that you need to do is to liberally apply the beard oil to your whole beard.
For a small beard a few drops will do, but for a larger beard anywhere from 6 to 8 drops will be needed.
Use your fingers to massage the beard oil into your facial hair and make sure to get every single last hair. It is especially important to oil up the underside of the beard, otherwise known as your neck beard.
This will help to soften up your beard, condition it, and make it much easier to straighten.
- Step 2
This step involves using a blow dryer to apply heat in order to straighten your hair.
If you can, you should use a blow dryer with a comb attachment and a heat guard. That being said your blow dryer should only be set to a medium heat setting because if it’s too hot, it may damage your hair.
If your blow dryer doesn’t have a comb attachment, you will need that beard comb that we talked about before.
Simply use the blow dryer and the comb at the same time, holding your beard hair close to the comb attachment (or using the comb to keep your hair close to the blow dryer), and start with the underside of your beard.
Using the comb and the blow dryer work through your beard moving upwards and outwards at the same time. This will straighten your hair pretty quickly.
Use this technique to straighten out your whole beard and if necessary you can work on individual areas or even individual hairs if they prove to be particularly stubborn.
This process will remove any big curls, will straighten your facial hair, and will also make it look pretty puffy, but the next step will solve that.
- Step 3
For this step, you will remove the comb attachment from the blow dryer so your hair can get nice and close to the heat.
Use the blow dryer and your beard comb to blow dry your beard in a downward motion using the comb to guide it along.
Do this for the sides and the front of your beard and really run the comb through your beard while doing this to get it as straight as can be.
- Step 4
The final step in the process is to use either beard wax, texturing paste, or even some kind of hairspray to give your beard some hold and keep it straight for longer.
These products will hold your straightened beard in place and will also protect against moisture.
Of course, moisture is one of the main causes of straightened hair returning to its natural curly look.
Plus a good tin of beard wax will make your face smell great too.
Step By Step Guide To Straightening Your Beard: The Not So Natural Way
If the above method doesn’t really do the trick for you, as may be the case because you have really coarse and curly hair, you can always use this method which involves a hair straightener.
It’s a little more extreme, slightly more labor intensive, and a little harder to do, but on the other hand it has a greater effect on curly hair, and the results will last longer too.
Also, this method works well for thicker beards that don’t straighten well using the natural method and will make them look a little thinner.
Follow the steps below to successfully straighten your beard using a classic hair straightener.
One a side note you want to be very careful to not leave the hot straightener on any one place for very long because you could easily burn a hole right through your beard.
- Step 1
The first step involves using the beard clips to separate your beard into different sections in order to make it easier to work on.
You want to clip up the top half of your beard so you can work on the bottom half or the inside of your beard, the part that grows out of your neck and under the chin.
- Step 2
Use the mini straightening iron to make quick passes along the bottom sections of your beard.
Only make one pass that lasts from 2 to 3 seconds.
Don’t spend any longer than that, on one spot or else you will burn your beard. Also, try not to make several passes because that is extremely bad for your facial hair and will end up making it dry and brittle.
- Step 3
Now it’s time to remove the hair clips and take the top half of your beard down so you can work on it.
Use the mini straightening iron to work on the remaining top half of your beard. Once again make sure to make one solid pass and no more.
- Step 4
Use some kind of beard wax or texturing paste in order to give it increased hold, protect it from moisture and frizz, and keep it straight for longer.
Try to use all natural products with organic ingredients instead of chemicals because it will be healthier for your beard.
This youtube video demonstrates exactly how to straighten your beard.
Conclusion
Straightening your beard hair is definitely a personal choice and some people like it curly while some like it straight.
If you are like me, and you’re one of those men that would rather have straight facial hair you can follow either of the methods listed above to get it looking just the way you want it to look.
All it takes is a few tools, a couple of simple steps, and just a little bit of patience.
I hope that this tutorial on straightening your beard proved useful to you and if you have any comments to make or questions to ask feel free to do so below.
