Everyone’s beard is different. And some of the bearded men aren’t happy with the beard what they have. You might be one of them if you are an African American and want a soft beard.
But, don’t think you won’t get the soft beard. It will be hard but not impossible. If you are serious about getting a soft beard, go through this post.
Here you will know what you should do and what not to do to get a soft African American beard. It takes a little time, but finally, you will happy with the result. Let’s dig deeper.
Why You Need Soft Beard
African American beard is quite hard and frizzy by its nature than the beard of other ethnicities. That’s why it is hard to manage and style. Besides, African American beard is prone to breakage and damage because of its texture.
As you are in this post, I think you have your own reason for the soft beard. And it is true for other people as well. Let me tell you some benefits of soft African American beard. You might find your one in this or not.
First of all, a soft beard gives you a nice feeling compared to the heavy feel of hard beard. It is easy to manage and takes less effort to comb and style.
A soft beard gives you a nice look which makes you attractive to other people including your partner. Moreover, your partner is also pleased with the soft beard when you kiss or hug her.
I think the look and feel should get the highest priority for owning a soft beard.
Read Also: Tips for African American Beard Straightening
Know the Causes of Rough Beard
It is very important to know the actual causes of a rough beard before going to take a step to make it soft. Only then you can minimize the factors responsible for a rough and hard beard. Otherwise, whatever you do, won’t get the optimum result. If you know the causes, skip this section.
Lack in Regular and Proper Care
I hope you agree with me that the beard is more prone to touching than the hair of your head. And chances are the food residue gets stuck into it while eating.
Besides, the regular street dust and environmental pollution will hamper the health of your beard either you are African American or from another ethnicity, a racism-free world. As a result, your beard will get a rough, hard, and weak appearance.
The only solution to this problem is the cleaning and care of your beard regularly. And you should do every task properly. It includes washing and conditioning beard, moisturization, trimming & styling, and more.
You should use a good quality product for caring your beard. And for proper beard care, you should use products that are made for beard, especially for African Americans.
Hot and Hard Water
You know washing body with hot water isn’t a good practice. But don’t think it is good for the beard as it doesn’t have a sense of hot and cold.
Like skin hot water also hampers the natural condition of your beard. It strips away the natural oil and makes your beard dry. You may use lukewarm water, but I think normal water is perfect.
On the other hand, hard water is more dangerous than hot water. Hard water means the water in which the pH level is a bit higher than normal water. It happens due to the presence of some extra minerals.
First of all, if you continuously use hard water to wash your beard, it will slowly destroy the natural barrier of the beard. It makes your beard harsh and dry by decreasing the level of natural oil and moisture.
Moreover, hard water reduces the effectivity of your beard wash and shampoo. You won’t get a better lather and cleaning from those products if you use them with hard water.
Cold Temperature
In winter, cold and dry weather sucks moisture from the outer surface of our body. And the beard is not excluded from that. We have lots of tools and clothing to protect our skin from the cold temperatures. But there is no mentionable protecting gear for our beard.
As a result, it sucks away the moisture from your beard without any barrier. finally, you get a dry and hard beard. And African American beard is more prone to drying out because it is already dry by its nature. So as an African American man be careful about dry and cold weather if you want to make your beard soft and smooth.
Use of Low-Quality Products
I don’t tell you to buy a high priced beard care products. There are lots of renowned brands available in the market that serve beard grooming products at an affordable price. You can buy your required beard grooming kit from them.
I just tell you not to buy really low-quality cheap products to save some bucks. It will damage your beard in the long run. And don’t use other washing products like hair shampoo to wash your beard.
Styling
A good look is always appreciable. And here comes the word ‘Styling’. It includes trimming and the use of various products such as straightener, dye, etc. But aggressive styling will damage your beard health.
You can use some styling tools and products occasionally but not regularly if you want to make your African American beard soft. Again, I tell you not to use cheap products.
For trimming, make sure your scissor or trimmer is cleaned and sharp enough. Otherwise, your beard results in a split edge with a rough appearance. And if you are not good at trimming, take help from a professional hair and beard stylist.
Malnutrition and Dehydration
Like the body, your beard and hair need some nutrition from inside to function properly. If your body lacking in nutrition, your beard will suffer in the same way. It leads to beard breakage, split edge, rough texture, etc.
So, if you are facing various beard problem, check first whether your beard is suffering from lack of nutrition or not. It happens if you take an improper diet. And remember oily and junk foods also cause beard and hair damage.
Like nutrients water also plays a vital role in our body as well as hair and beard. It helps to maintain the proper flow of blood and nutrient to the beard and hair follicles. Thus, water ensures the better condition of your beard.
If you have a habit of drinking less water, you should not expect a healthy and soft beard. An adult should drink eight glasses of water every day to remain healthy in all situations. So, maintain it at any cost.
In this section, you will know the procedure of making your beard soft. I divided it into two parts- the first one is Regular Beard Care in a Proper Way and the second one is Using Beard Softening Pack.
In the regular beard care part, I will try to give you a short brief so that you get an idea without any boredom. If you want detailed African American beard caring tips, see my aother post of Daily Beard Care Routine of African American beard.
And in the beard softening part, I will try to cover all aspects of the pack to achieve a soft African American beard. Hope you will enjoy the journey.
Regular Beard Care
01. Take Some Preventive Measures
Prevention is always better than cure. When you decided to make your beard soft, you should obey some preventive measures to speed up the softening process.
One of the main enemies of soft and healthy beard is dust and pollution. It is really impossible to get complete protection from them. So, it is better to avoid or limit visiting those places that are prone to pollution.
If you badly need to go there, then wash your beard properly just after coming back home. If you go polluted area daily, you should wash the beard daily.
Besides, a bad habit we do often should be stopped. It is touching beard with hands. We use our hands to touch and hold lots of things and from which germs are piled up on the hand palms.
If you touch a beard without washing hands, the germs will spread to the beard and cause various problems. So, if you want to touch, hold, or comb the beard with fingers, make sure your hands are clean and dry properly.
In winter you should use a face mask to protect the beard from the cold bite. This type of mask protects your beard, face, and nose from cold air and snow. It does not let your beard drying out by losing moisture in the dry winter.
02. Wash and Condition Beard Properly
Washing beard is the first rule of any beard care tips. For softening your beard you should wash beard regularly. It keeps your beard clean from dust and impurities.
It is ok to wash your beard twice a week. And never use hair washing products to wash it. Because the formation and texture of the beard are quite different than hair. Pick a beard washing shampoo from a renowned brand and make a habit of using them regularly.
After washing the next step is conditioning your beard. Without conditioning, your beard won’t get the expected look. It will make African American beard soft and manageable.
Proper conditioning gives you relief from tangling and a frizzy beard. It also helps to moisture retention and recover beard from damage caused by styling and environmental pollution.
Always condition your beard just after you wash it.
03. Moisturize Properly
In my point of view, moisture is the fuel of beard and hair. Without moisture, your beard looks damaged and dull. You can provide moisture to your beard in two ways- from inside and outside. Here you will know the ways to moisturize beard from outside.
Don’t think washing is OK as it hydrates the beard. But, hydration isn’t enough. You have to provide moisture to your beard and locked them inside to prevent moisture loss.
The best way to moisturize your beard is using beard oil and balm. They will provide proper moisture and nutrition from outside. You can use beard oil on a regular basis and beard balm for occasional purposes.
Besides moisturization you will get some other benefits from beard oil and balm.
04. Trim When Needed
Trimming has no direct correlation with the beard softening process. If your beard looks dull and damaged, you should trim it timely. Let me clarify.
It is easy to make the damage-free beard soft than the damaged one. Your beard grows continuously even when you start using the softening method. Here it is better to focus on the newly grown beard than the existing.
So, start trimming the damaged beard at the ends and focus on rest of the beard to make it soft by proper protection and care.
05. Care Facial Skin
Your facial skin is the base of your beards from which they are hanging down. It is not possible to get a strong and healthy beard from the weak base. That’s why caring facial skin should be a part of the beard softening process. But, how can you care about it as the skin covered by the beard?
It is not that complicated. Just make sure your facial skin is free of any sort of skin problems like dandruff, itching, irritation, etc. If there any problem, treat it first, then focus on the beard.
You can also improve skin health with regular combing by a width teeth comb. It improves blood circulation and strengthens the beard follicles.
06. Eat Healthy Diet and Drink Plenty of Water
To make your beard soft you need a nourished and healthy beard. Because beard with a lack of nutrients suffers from various problems. It looks dull, feels harsh, and prone to breakage and split edge.
You can nourish the beard both externally and internally. But, without internal care, nothing will work. You don’t have to do anything but taking a balanced and healthy diet.
Make sure some foods of your diet are rich in vitamins A and E, which are good for skin and hair. Limit or if possible avoid eating oily and junk foods. Drinking alcohol isn’t good for your health as well as the beard.
With a balanced diet, you should drink plenty of water every day. Water helps your body to function well and delivers nutrients to the beard follicles for nourishing the beard.
07. Do Exercise
Exercise is the key to a healthy body. It has no direct correlation with beard health. Exercise improves body strength and increases the blood circulation to the entire body including the hair and beard follicles. Thus exercise improves the condition of the beard to make it suitable for the softening process.
Beard Softening Packs
Here I will tell you two homemade beard softening packs. You can make them with easily available ingredients. They will help you to get a soft and nourished African American beard. Let’s see.
01. Banana Beard Pack
Key Ingredients
- 1 piece ripe banana
- 1 tablespoon yogurt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- ½ teaspoon vitamin E oil
Benefits
Banana is a good source of potassium, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. It is great for health as well as hair and beard. It helps to moisturize your beard and control damage caused by the sun and pollution.
This banana pack is great for the frizzy beard. It nourishes your beard well and makes it super soft. It also works well on some beard problems like breakage and split edge.
The added yogurt is rich in protein that gives the beard a healthy look. Yogurt is also familiar with its hair softening and smoothing properties.
Honey is for nourishment and natural moisturization. And the vitamin E oil strengthens the beard and helps to improve its length.
Making Procedure
The making procedure is very easy. Take a bowl and put the pilled banana into it. Now use a fork to mash the banana to give it a thick consistency. I don’t recommend you to use a blender because it will make the banana pulp too watery. And cleaning the blender is another mess.
Now put the yogurt, honey, and vitamin E oil into it and mix them well. Now the pack is ready to apply on the beard.
How to Apply
Always wash your beard with a beard shampoo before applying this banana beard pack. Dry the beard with a blow drier. Now your beard is ready to apply the beard pack.
Apply the pack on your entire beard from bottom to tip. Keep it for 15-20 minutes then wash it off with plain water. Make sure all the residue of the pack is removed completely.
Use this pack once a week. You will get a soft and shiny African American beard within 4 weeks of use.
02. Coconut Oil and Egg Pack
Key Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (for oily beard)
Benefits
Coconut oil is well known for its hair care properties. So you can use it for the beard as well. It keeps your beard moisturizes with its super moisture retaining capacity. It also makes your beard soft and flexible.
Coconut oil easily penetrates into the hair shaft and works well on some conditions like split edge and breakage. Just make sure your coconut oil is organic. Regular use of this pack gives you a soft, shiny, and easily manageable beard.
Egg is another softening element of this pack. It also provides beneficial nutrients to your beard. If your beard is oily, put the lemon juice into the pack, otherwise, you can skip this ingredient.
Making Procedure
It is very simple to prepare. First, break the eggshell and put the egg into a glass bowl. Use a beater to beat the egg. Now put the coconut oil and lemon juice (for oily beard) into it and mix them well. You can use 1-2 drops of essential oil to remove the stink of the egg.
How to Apply
Wash and dry your beard first. Apply this coconut oil and egg beard pack with the help of a brush. If you don’t have an applicating brush, use your hand instead. Keep it for 10 minutes then wash it off with beard shampoo. Like previous beard pack, uses this one once a week.
N.B: You can use both these beard packs together. Just use them every alternative week.
The Last Words
Hope you enjoyed this post. Here I tried to explain the easiest way to soften your African American beard. But, everything depends on your activity. If you follow all the tips accordingly, you will get a better result.
Thanks.