A good quality beard straightener can give you great control over smoothing and styling your beard in the desired way. It can help you achieve that incredible facial hair you have always wanted.
Now that you know that beard straighteners are excellent grooming tools, you might wonder if you can use your beard straightener on short beards?
Yes, beard straighteners can be used for a short beard, and you will achieve great results just as you would when using it on a longer beard.
If you wonder how this awesome beard grooming tool can work for your short beard, this post is for you. Trust me, you need to read this post all the way to the end.
What Is A Beard Straightener?
Just as the name suggests, a beard straightener is a heated brush/comb meant to straighten and flatten the beard for a smoother, sleeker, and cleaner beard look.
Beard straighteners, also known as a heated beard brush, are easy to use. It can even be the most effective way to overcome the issue of a frizzy, unruly, curly beard, or to tame generally wild facial hair.
As we advance in technology, hair products and tools are also making advancements, and recent beard straightening products are leveraging these technological breakthroughs. We will be looking at how to apply a beard straightener to your beard grooming routine, get the best results while stretching your beard, the pros and cons of using heat, and tips for both short and long beard straightening. Just stay with me!
How Can Beard Straightener Work On My Short Beard?
The right electric beard straightening tool can work on almost any beard, from straightening to styling your short beard or for deep penetration into your full beard. A heated beard brush can make all the difference to your facial appearance.
Featuring the latest technology, a heated beard brush comes with different temperature settings that allows you to regulate the heat of these brushes, and some are so convenient that they come with an LCD display, which shows the current temperature you are working with.
With this feature you don’t need to be worried about having a short beard and getting your skin burned because of the heat. You will get a clean beard that looks naturally smooth, no matter the thickness of your beard.
Types of Beard Straighteners
There are different types of beard straighteners, but there are two main variations that you should take note of, which are the hair drying brush and the heated thermal brush. There are others like the flat iron, but I won’t advise using that close to your facial skin since we are focusing on a short beard.
- Hair drying brush: The hair drying brush generates hot air just like a hair dryer would, and this air blows through its bristles and is delivered out to the hair. This brush’s design is commonly round in shape, but there are other brush designs with flat paddles as well.
- Heated brush: The heated thermal brushes are imbued with an internal heating element, which heats up the brush and bristles.
Choosing A Beard Straightener
When choosing a beard straightener, the first thing you should consider is your beard’s length. You would want to get a beard straightener that can work for your short beard and not only work on long thick beards. If you are looking for a heated beard brush look no further than this one. Just turn it on, let it get warmed up, and start brushing.
Another important feature you should also consider is if the product has an “anti-scald” feature. This feature is designed to reduce the risk of burning yourself, especially if you have a short beard. The anti-scald feature is engineered in a way that the heated teeth come before other longer normal teeth.
This way, the longer sturdy plastic bristle helps protect your skin by maintaining the distance of the heated teeth from your skin. This way the tool does not come into contact with your face, yet the heated shorter bristles work to straighten your beard.
Is Heat Bad For Your Beard Hair?
While adding a beard straightener to your beard grooming routine is a great idea, it is also good for you to know what heat does to your hair and the damages it could cause if used improperly or excessively.
Heat can damage your hair or cause you great discomfort, especially if it is applied in excess. The same goes for your beard. So, you don’t want to go overboard here and use it for longer periods of time. A little goes a long way. Using heat a couple of minutes a few times a week would not only keep your beard straight, but it won’t damage your beard or cause it to break.
From research and self-experimentation I have done, I found that a heat range of 385 degrees Fahrenheit or 185 degrees Celsius is a safe amount of heat that can be used for your hair without causing any damage. However, heat above that range can begin to impact your hair negatively over time and cause damage. If you require more heat for your hair, make sure to reduce the length of time and number of times you apply heat to your hair.
The main point that you should keep in mind is that even though heat from a beard straightener can damage your beard, this will only happen if you misuse it or use some really high temperatures.
Why Are Some Beards Curly?
There are a few reasons why hair grows or gets curly.
-
Hair Follicles
Having a curly beard or growing a straight beard is mostly dependent on your follicles, and here is why. Your hair follicles are either symmetrical or asymmetrical.
If you have symmetrical hair follicles, it will grow straight flat hairs. On the other hand, if your hair follicles are asymmetrical, your hair will grow an oval-shaped hair shaft, and it will keep getting curlier the longer it grows. Sometimes, even if you have symmetrical hair follicles, you can still grow curly hair. This happens when your hair shaft is not evenly distributing a particular kind of keratin.
-
Dryness
Another common cause of having a curly and stubborn beard is due to dryness. Weird right? Leaving your beard dry can cause it to get damaged. This will make it stiffen and soon begin to twirl and get curly.
One of the main causes of dryness is washing your beard with regular shampoo. This type of shampoo is too strong for your facial skin. Thus the shampoo strips your facial hair of its natural oil, leaving your beard totally dry.
Men who are new to growing and grooming beards are likely to make the mistake of thinking the more they wash the beard with shampoo, the happier it will be. Excessive washing of the beard can lead to its damage, especially when you use shampoo for washing.
You should wash your beard no more than three times a week unless necessary, and endeavor to use a beard shampoo instead of your regular head hair shampoo. Instead of using shampoo daily, beard oil is what you should use almost every day. I recommend that you read my post about how often should you use beard oil.
-
Poor Hygiene And Dehydration
Men with little or poor hygiene are also likely to experience dryness of the facial hair which can cause it to be overly curly or wiry. It is a common habit among bearded men to touch and stroke their beards. When this beard-stroking is done with dirty hands, it can dirty your beard, especially if you don’t notice it.
Also, food and drinks are known to easily get stuck on the beard, if you don’t practice proper hygiene. As your beard keeps accumulating more dirt, it can become unhealthy, dry, harder to comb, and as a result, you will begin to experience curly, rough, and rugged beard growth.
Dehydration can cause your skin to become dry. As such, your facial skin will even suffer more and dry up. To avoid these issues, maintain proper hygiene, and drink enough water to stay hydrated.
How To Straighten Your Beard With A Beard Straightener
This method should work for all types of beards with a little self-modification. You should achieve success with ease using either the hot air brushes or the heated thermal brushes by following the simple steps below.
- First, you should remove or dry out any remnant water from your beard if you have just showered.
- Apply your favorite beard oil or balm like you usually do.
- Detangle and fluff your beard with your beard comb.
- At this point, you will need to apply a heat protectant to the facial hair you intend to straighten. This is to prevent your beard hair from damages that could be caused by heat.
- Power on your brush and select the desired heat temperature (remember the 385oF/185 oC we talked about? You can remain with that range). Then wait until the brush heats up to the selected temperature.
- Start brushing by placing the brush near the cheek and moving it downward in slow, smooth motions. You should make sure you don’t keep the brush resting on one particular spot for too long. Always keep it moving. Two to three passes at a spot should be enough, but you should always adjust to what works best for you.
- Work the brush through your chin and then down your neck using the same motion and downward movements.
- If you have a long beard, you may need to dive deep underneath the beard and brush outwards.
- Once you achieve the desired straightness, you can use your beard comb and brush to shape and further style your beard. You can also add styling balm if you use one for firmer holds.
Remember that the goal of using heat for your beard is to easily tame your beard and achieve a great result while using the least heat as possible.
Conclusion
Straightening and styling your beard presents you with a clean, smooth beard and makes you look incredible. It is an essential skill to have at your disposal, and adding a great beard straightener to your grooming kit will make the process of maintaining your facial hair even more fun and easy.
When selecting a beard straightener, consider the one that will work best on your beard and has the features you like. You should also consider the size, weight, and price.
No matter what type of beard you have, be it a short beard or a long full beard, there is a straightener for you out there. Keep in mind that no beard straightening method works exactly the same for the different types of beards. You need to find a good balance of the right equipment and the right amount of skill, and of course, get to know what works best for your beard.