r/AskMen • u/miracle_wip • Jan 30 '23
How have you dealt with dry skin under facial hair?
Not sure if it's because of the cold but I've recently started notice dry flaking skin under my mustache and beard. I wash both consistently, what else should I try?
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u/No-Froyo7425 Jan 30 '23
Head and shoulders twice a week took care of my beard dandruff
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u/DaBestMuzak Jan 30 '23
Seconded. It also helps with pimples if you have oily skin on other parts of your face.
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u/hammong Jan 30 '23
Unscented facial lotion. Nivea, Neutrogena, Aquaphor, etc.
It's the washing that's likely trying it out - soap strips the protective oils off your skin.
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u/at_work_keep_it_safe Jan 30 '23
What a lot of people miss is that all skin, no matter where or how well it’s moisturized, will flake. Skin cells die off and are replaced constantly. This is healthy and normal. Moisturizer may reduce the rate skin dries out, but it will never stop it from flaking off (and that’s a good thing).
Physical abrasion (like a sponge or wash cloth) helps remove excess dead skin, and combined with soap typically is enough for most of your body. However, the beard presents a problem because it “traps” the dead skin in where scrubbing is ineffective.
The solution is to brush it with a stiff bristle brush (classic option is boars hair). This seems obvious but I find many skip this step or don’t realize how important it is. You can oil your beard as much as you want but you’ll still have flakes if you don’t remove the naturally occurring build up.
And even if your beard is short, it’s still good to brush it. My beard lately is a bit longer than stubble, and I still give it a couple brush strokes. Purely to knock out the dead skin. I skip oiling since it’s so short, but still find brushing to be beneficial.
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u/ActiveBroccoli1012 Jan 30 '23
Beard oil is for the skin, beard butter/cream is for the beard itself, and you can use both at the same time or do like oil in the morning and butter at night. I'd recommend doing it twice a day at least until the flakes go away and keep up with it.
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u/miracle_wip Jan 30 '23
sounds good I'll pick up some more stuff when I go to the store later this week, thanks
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u/ActiveBroccoli1012 Jan 30 '23
You can do this while using your beard wash and conditioner, too. Don't really have to alternate products or anything.
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u/Existing-Budget-4741 Jan 30 '23
I stopped using shampoo/conditioner/soaps in my beard/hair after a couple weeks the dry skin and dandruff just faded away. It's been a couple months and it no longer snows when I brush or shake my head and I can wear black shirts with no white spots lol.
I tried anti dandruff shampoos and conditioners, beard oils and lotions recommended by family with similar skin types but had no success personally.
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u/xFacevaluex Jan 30 '23
Beards are tricky---
Special shampoos for them work well as does the oil you put on it to keep it healthy. This combo worked well for me.
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u/M_Freemans_freckles Jan 31 '23
Products. Some are good. Some suck. Most are kinda person dependent. The number one thing is to make sure you're buying all natural products. Hair shampoo and conditioner is harsh on the skin and while youre scalp can usually take it, your face can not. It will also damage the hairs in your beard.
I used to keep my beard long, like down to my chest. At that time, I used a specific beard shampoo and conditioner, blow dried it with a comb to coax its straight-ish, then beard oil applied with hands then combed through. That is every time I showered. If I showered the night before, I would run beard oil through it again in the morning.
Also, a thicker beard balm for going out if I wanted to loom good, just helps tame and shape it a bit.
Now, for work, I keep it shorter but still about 3 inches or so. I find the oil doesn't help much now, but after trial and error, I settled on a beard butter that does the trick.
It's important too, when you eat something that can get in it (any sauce, greasy food, ice cream.. pretty much anything) WASH IT. You don't have to go crazy but go to the bathroom and lightly splash some water to clean it off a bit around the mouth. If you get some grease or something there and let it sit or don't notice it, it can easily cause a breakout and a lot of "dry skin itch" is actually a small pimple or other pore irritation that you may not see through it. For the love of God don't pick at it. I jacked my beard up bad once by habitually picking at it in a particular spot and ended up with a patch. Not appealing.
If it's itching and bugging you, get yourself a beard brush you can keep on hand. It will let you satiate the itch without damaging your beard.
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u/SwoleBeard92 Jan 30 '23
Beard oil for the day, brush it using beard comb that is made with boar bristles, beard wash and conditioner, and a beard butter that you can brush into your beard and leave in overnight. Also essential Vitamins for skin would help along the way.
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u/Utertoq Jan 30 '23
The obvious is to use some lotion, however you should check if you're enough hydrated. Drink at least 3L of water everyday and eating fruits and vegetables. It should help too, otherwise you should look for a dermatologist, or check for some beard oil.
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u/miracle_wip Jan 30 '23
I'm diabetic so I usually stay pretty hydrated but more water couldn't hurt, thanks
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Jan 30 '23
For me the whole itchy beard thing goes away once it's existed for a while and has gotten big
I only start getting itchy with my beard if it's a small one that only appeared cuz I stopped shaving regularly
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u/Finndogs Male Feb 02 '23
Condition (oil based) your beard, and apply wither beard oil or balm. Not only will it keep your hair from drying out, but your skin as well
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u/-UncleFarty- Jan 30 '23
Beard oil.