Dandruff in your beard?

For most men with a beard, dryness and flaky skin particles are a familiar problem – but it can be solved! With regular brushing, cleansing and beard oil, you can go a long way in the fight against dead skin cells and irritating itchiness. Here are 3 tips on what you can do if you have dandruff in your beard. And it is less demanding than you might think.

Summary

Beard dandruff is often caused by dry skin, improper cleansing or irritation beneath beard growth.
Regular cleansing with beard shampoo and exfoliation helps reduce flakes and itchy skin.
Moisturising with beard oil or beard balm is one of the most important ways to keep both beard and skin balanced.

The dark side of beard growth

There are two common reasons why the skin beneath your stylish beard may develop dandruff, and they often work together. The first is dry skin, and the reason the skin beneath your beard can become especially dry is the beard itself. Facial hair helps transport moisture away from the skin and also causes it to evaporate more quickly. In addition, a layer of dead skin cells forms beneath the beard that you would otherwise shave away. These dead cells remain and block the skin, preventing proper moisture production.

The second factor is a very common yeast fungus called Malassezia globosa. This fungus, which can thrive beneath facial hair, feeds on the oils produced by your skin, and the by-product becomes an oleic acid that irritates and breaks down the skin barrier.

There is, of course, also a third general factor: the speed at which your skin generates new cells. Some people’s skin simply renews itself faster than others, and on a surface protected from friction by facial hair, this too may contribute to dandruff formation.

Here are the 3 things you should consider when dealing with beard dandruff:

#1 Exfoliate

Exfoliation is usually step two – after cleansing – but if you have a long beard, it is simply easier to first use a beard brush on the dry beard before stepping into the shower. Beard brushes offer many benefits: they help keep beard hairs in place, distribute beard oil and assist in removing dead skin from its final resting place beneath the beard.

And that final point also explains why it is a good idea to exfoliate first before washing the beard in the shower. With a brush and exfoliation, you effectively peel away dead skin cells and create a solid foundation for moisturising beard oil to penetrate the skin.

#2 Cleansing beard and skin

But it is not all about exfoliation and microbes. Ordinary cleansing is equally important, and a good beard shampoo works perfectly for cleaning and showing your beard a little extra care. If you happen to find one containing lactic acid, that is ideal for naturally dissolving dead skin cells, meaning you get a gentle natural peel while calming the skin and leaving the beard thoroughly clean.

Once or twice a month, if truly necessary, you can wash the beard with an anti-dandruff shampoo. However, since anti-dandruff shampoos tend to be drying, it becomes especially important to properly moisturise the skin afterwards.

#3 Add moisture with beard oil

You may have thought beard oil was only intended for the beard itself? But much like a beard brush is equally important for helping the skin beneath the beard, the primary purpose of beard oil is also to moisturise and nourish the skin underneath. It is simply hopeless to use ordinary face moisturiser beneath a long beard, but with beard oil and a good brush, it becomes no problem at all.

How to do it:
Warm the oil slightly in your hands before applying it to the beard by stroking upward from the neck toward the opposite cheek with one hand and then the other. Continue alternating hands until all the oil has been transferred into the beard, then finish by brushing downward through the beard from above using your beard brush so the oil can penetrate the skin more effectively.

― Bonus tip ―

There is also a fourth cause of flaky and inflamed beard growth that may be useful to know about and which the tips above are unlikely to solve. Seborrheic dermatitis, or seborrhoea, is a skin condition affecting approximately 5% of the population. So if the advice above does not help and the problem does not disappear on its own, you may be suffering from seborrheic dermatitis. In that case, we recommend trying a treatment such as Cortimyk, which is available over the counter at pharmacies in Sweden.

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