Winter is Coming! Get Your Beard Ready

Autumn is in full swing, and you know what that means: Piles of colorful leaves to crunch through. Shorter days. Longer nights. No escape from “pumpkin spice” everything. And, of course, crisp air and cooler temperatures. It feels great to take a long walk on a brisk autumn day... but don’t get too used to perfect sweater weather. Things are about to get a lot, lot colder. Winter, as they say, is coming.

Your beard will help bring you warmth and comfort as the mercury plummets, and it’s only fair that you take care of your beard if you expect it to take care of you. You need to get to work now if want your beard to be in prime shape for winter. You don’t necessarily need to go full Game of Thrones with it (though we’re big fans of the look!)—but winter is coming, and it’s high time you prepared for it.

(Don’t) Bring The Heat

The change of seasons brings a change in the natural elements our beards need protection from. Harsh cold winds can dry your beard out, not to mention ruin a perfect grooming day. The frigid air outside understandably makes the prospect of jumping into a hot shower at the end of the day sound incredibly appealing, but that can actually do more harm than good.

Hot water at the end of a cold day can actually dry out the beard and the skin beneath it, leaving it without the hydration it needs to thrive and stay healthy. Yeah, it sounds like nonsense. It’s water, right? How can it make things drier? The answer is simple: Hot water strips away the natural oils that you need to keep your hair and the skin moisturized. And no natural moisture means dry, flaky skin… and that means a rough, brittle beard. 

Cool or cold showers will help counter this, but the prospect of a cold shower in the dead of winter isn’t really at the top of everyone’s to-do list. We get it—and we can help. If you just can’t seem to quit the bathroom heat, our Beard Oils, Beard Balm, and Beard Cream will help replace those oils stripped away by the scalding shower. 

Whether you wash in warm or cold water, always be sure to dry your beard slowly and by hand with a towel. Sorry, no blow-drying or even air-drying allowed! If you think hot water can do some harsh damage to your beard, imagine what a blasting hot, dry air at your whiskers point-blank will do. 

No, trust in the towel. It’ll get the job done properly. 

Time to Switch Things up

Everybody has a morning routine, and once you get settled into it, it can be tough to change things up. We get it. It’s called a routine for a reason. By definition, it’s a bit of mindless maintenance you undertake while you wake yourself up. You only have so much time and mental stamina when you first roll out of bed, and there’s something comforting about sliding into a steady tempo and sticking with it until it’s iron-clad. 

But winter brings shorter days and colder mornings… not to mention bitter, dry weather. Maintaining an awesome beard during the gloomy winter months requires a different approach than your fun and freewheeling summer habits, but trust us: It’s not too bad. And once you get used to the change in routine, you’ll agree the results are worth the effort.

Know Your Tools

First, you’ll want to brace yourself for the change in weather by cutting back on the standard shampoos. Instead, stick to conditioners or shampoo/conditioner combos. Conditioners do a much better job of keeping your beard hydrated, where shampoo alone has a tendency to dry out your facial hair. The Beard Club’s own Beard Shampoo is a perfect tool for your winter beard arsenal: It contains all-natural ingredients, and it functions as both conditioner and shampoo. Make our Beard Shampoo a habit and your whiskers will be feeling fine no matter how parched the air gets.

Grooming also plays a huge part of your wintertime beard maintenance schedule. Getting rid of split ends, brushing and combing away dead skin and hair, and shaping the beard with the proper blade: These considerations are more important than ever in the winter months. You have plenty working against your beard’s health when things get chilly, so it’s essential to take the necessary steps to keep everything looking exactly the way you want it. That means you’ll want to arm yourself with the right tools for the job—namely, some stainless steel Beard Scissors to snip those weather-frazzled split ends, and a Boar Bristle Beard Brush to keep everything looking smooth.

Finally, consider adding a scarf to your winter gear on particularly cold days. Scarves protect the face and beard from the harshest weather conditions while simultaneously using your beard as extra padding to trap your body heat and keep your whiskers from exposure to direct cold. If you’ve never worn a scarf before, or don’t even own one, you’ll be surprised at how effectively they help keep your beard protected in the cold. Winter chills are inevitable. Cold air makes its presence known every single year. Don’t go into the coldest time of the year unprepared; use these tips to protect your beard and maintain its natural softness. If you want to check out a few products to help in your wintery beard adventure, check out The Beard Club for our line of all-natural products and grooming tools. We’re here to help, all you have to do is Join The Club.