Take care of your beard. Losing hair can be a shocking experience for many men, who then may even start to fear losing their beloved beards too.

But one of the biggest myths about hair loss is that losing it on your head will also make it fall off your face too. Paul Green, Trichologist and Surgical Director at Evolved Clinics, has a different view –

“Male hair loss doesn’t affect your beard. In fact, DHT (hormone causing hair loss in scalp) stimulates beard growth.” With this myth busted, let’s take a moment to talk about grooming your beard.

A well-trimmed beard can make a difference in your appearance, while an unruly beard can make you look sloppy and unprofessional.

Step 1: Clean beard means happy beard

Before you consider other men’s beard grooming tools, it’s important to take a step back and talk about cleaning your facial hair. Beard lotion is exactly what the name suggests: it is a shampoo for the beard.

Historically speaking, you may be in the habit to use any old shampoo to groom your beard. After all, a shampoo is a shampoo, right? Take a look at the most common active ingredients in shampoos. Most of them are hard to even pronounce as well as hard on your face.

While beard shampoos aren’t always natural shampoos, they do contain ingredients that are gentle on the skin while still being powerful enough to remove grime from the beard.

Step 2: It is important to hydrate the facial hair

People serious about beard care often think that beard oil is the next purchase after washing their beard. Made from a variety of essential oils, these oils help keep beards soft and shiny. Beard oil is also great for nourishing the skin under the beard.

Typically, beard oils contain essential oils such as jojoba, argan, and coconut oil. Numerous studies have proven that these oils can improve patients with conditions such as psoriasis and dermatitis.

Step 3: You need a beard cream

Beard balm is another option for men to soften their beards. These products often contain ingredients such as beeswax, shea butter, and cocoa butter. Many beard creams also contain oils, which you can find in the most popular beard oils.

But wait, when both beard cream and beard oil are designed to soften your hair and contain some of the same ingredients, do you need both?

For some, the answer is a no. But if you want to style your beard also, these beard creams are a great addition to beard oils. Shea butter and beeswax, in particular, are common ingredients in high-definition products.

Step 4: Beard softener, a key part of the kit

Again, sounds very similar to the first two? Not really.

Think of beard oil as a daily moisturizer or lotion for the beard and skin underneath.

Beard creams also have moisturizing properties but are best known as beard styling products.

On the other hand, beard softener is most similar to the conditioner you might use after shampooing. These fabric softeners should be used and rinsed off at the end of the shower. Some of the ingredients we discuss here (namely argan oil) are also found in beard grooming products, but many options also include ingredients like vitamin B5 and manuka honey.

Men tend to use beard softener on a daily basis. This will help keep your skin supple and is often the best way to treat (and prevent) itchy beards.

Step 5: It’s time to comb your beard

Beard brushes are just as important, even if you’re not going to style your beard.

Of course, beard brushes are an essential part of your beard grooming kit if you decide to go for a specific style, like a handlebar or goatee. It’s nearly impossible to exercise your hair if you don’t brush your beard regularly (in many cases daily). The ingredients in beard creams and oils are difficult to distribute evenly by hand.

Step 6: Keep it clean with a beard trimmer

A stylish beard requires more than regular grooming or brushing. Unless you have an unconstrained haircut budget at the hair salon, an electric beard trimmer is an essential part of your kit.

This is a lot of information to take in. Our suggestion is first, make sure you have something to wash, moisturize, and groom your beard. From there, jot down what worked for you — and where you needed extra help. You may find that only some of these products do the trick, but if not, use see this article for what to add to your beard grooming kit.