Short version of the following post: I'm treating my beard like scalp hair now and loving it.

Important: The following is being said about someone (me) who has straight beard hair. Apples and oranges when compared to bushy and curly hair. Our beards are far more susceptible to product build up, chemical or natural.

I've been doing my current routine long enough to give some feedback. I've officially stopped using leave in oils (argan, jojoba, etc), and have adopted a routine more similar to a traditional woman's head hair routine. Frequent washing, conditioning, occasional overnight leave in pre-wash before the next morning's shower (usually coconut oil)...things of that nature. But, first...

When I grew the beard out months ago to a length around 1", infrequent washing and oils seemed to work just fine. But, then, it was very short by our standards here. The shorter hair is, the less you can mess it up. Since this was the routine I'd read about many times, I continued it. As time and length grew, I noticed I was liking the texture and behavior of my beard less and less. It felt heavy, greasy, and basically dead....which hair is, of course, but that's beside the point.

I didn't think I was going overboard with the oil applications, nor was I taking the infrequent washing to the extreme. I still washed it with a "harsh" shampoo a couple times a week. But, per the usual recommendations, I would still oil up after a shower on most occasions (even just a tiny amount). It was getting to the point I was ready to just shave the whole damn thing off. So, I figured I had nothing to lose by radically changing things up. The first step was stop using oil. After that didn't work, I went a big step further and used a clarifying shampoo.

In short, I was quite pleased with how soft my beard was after the clarifying shampoo. And that was not even using a conditioner afterwards. If you're to believe everything you read about putting such a product in a beard, you'd think every whisker I had would have been spiraling down the shower drain. Instead, after I let it dry (after a fairly rough towel drying...another sin), I was in love with my beard again.

Now we're back to what I was saying at the beginning, which is frequent shampooing and conditioning with regular 'ol head hair products and no leave in oils. Yes, the same products with the devil's juices in them: Sodium lauryl sulfate, sodium laureth sulfate, alcohols (which aren't what you probably think when it comes to the ones in shampoo and conditioners), and anything else that's been labeled evil by proponents of the natural way of letting the hair take care of itself.

So, what's the deal? According to conventional beard wisdom, having adopted this routine, I should have a dried up, brittle, breaking, ugly ass beard due to all the horrible chemicals in the shampoo and conditioners. Well, I don't. It's soft, it's growing, and I love it now. Previously, it was both greasy and dry. Yes, research it. That can happen. The hairs that shed get pulled on by me as a routine strength test. After wiggling them around and trying to snap them every way I can, they hold fast and don't break. Now, if, after more time has passed, I start running into problems, I'll come back and say as much. As for now, I'll continue on with what I'm doing. I'm not trying to convert fans of conventional beard care to adopt the chemical lifestyle. No agenda. I have nothing to gain. Just spreading information and the urge for others to keep experimenting if things aren't working.

Currently trying to break the trimming habit.
Last Edited By: BourbonNcigars Sep 13 14 3:10 PM. Edited 1 times.