Beard Week 2012 - Expert Tips on Growing & Caring for the Perfect Beard

This week marks Beard Week 2012 and with a growing popularity amongst celebrities such as David Beckham, George Clooney and Robert Pattinson, who wouldn’t want a beard?

Ken Picton’s Senior Stylist and Prynhawn Da presenter Daffyd Rhys gives his top tips for the perfect beard.

Dafydd says ‘It is a man’s duty to attempt to grow a beard at some point in his life. One might say, that to most young men it is the sign of becoming a man. To middle aged men it is a sign that he is in control of his appearance (and not the wife), or perhaps sometimes, a beard is born out of plain laziness."

Growing Your Beard
If you’ve made a decision to grow a beard, the most important thing is to be confident in your decision to grow a beard. Don’t let other people’s personal opinions change your decision. The best time to start growing a beard is on holiday or the week before. This will give your beard the chance to develop enough growth so that when you return to work it will look substantial. It will take approximately four weeks for your beard to start to take shape. Please refrain from attempting to shape your beard before 4 weeks, even if you are only going for a goatee or handlebars as this may result in you shaving off a little too much.

Shaping Your Beard
Once you have grown your beard to a reasonable thickness and length, it is time to start the exciting part of finally shaping your beard. The best place to start is the neckline; using any good neck trimmer from the high-street, start shaping the neckline at your desired perimeter. Do not shape the beard at the cheekbones as this will create an unwanted almost cartoon-like effect. Most good beard trimmers will have a grade setting. This will be your best friend when trimming your beard. Start short at the beard line and work your way up to thicker/longer areas.

Care
Although the skin is covered with hair, you must take care and remember to look after this area with your chosen cleansing and moisturizing products. Remember to shampoo your beard. Some shampoos will include exfoliating beards, such as Aveda Men Exfoliating Shampoo and this will aid in getting rid of dead skin cells that are stuck around the root of your hair and that may cause irritation. Why not also try the Redken Men Mint Shampoo, which will invigorate your skin and give a great tingling sensation in the morning. If you do not normally use a conditioner on your hair it may be worth applying a small amount on a twice weekly-daily basis as the texture of your beard may be coarser than that of your hair.

Last but not least, try to set yourself a 6-8 week target. This should stop you getting tempted to shave it off and will give your beard a chance to develop to its full potential.’

Good luck and happy bearding!

Dafydd Rhys is at Ken Picton: 8 Mermaid Quay, Cardiff, CF10 5BZ.
Appts: 029 2066 2080 www.kenpicton.com