Have you found yourself looking in the mirror at 3-days’ worth of stubble and wondering how to grow a beard faster? From hipster-chic to angular goatees, a facial hair look can work wonders for men. But of course, beard growth and its speed can vary wildly, so what can you do to encourage the style you want? While there’s no single fix to grow a thick beard overnight, following some health and lifestyle tips can set you up for the smoothest route through beard growth stages.
Maintain a good skincare regimen & conditioning your beard
Your skin’s surface collects all kind of oil, dirt and grime so it makes sense that hair trying to grow out of there would stand the best chances when it’s not clogged. One of the fundamentals for beard growth is looking after your face with a daily routine that will encourage healthy hair growth.
Combining a skin care routine with beard maintenance is the best way to encourage facial hair to grow out comfortably. To try exfoliating for beard growth, use a gentle scrub twice a week alongside a daily cleansing and moisturising routine. Using a face scrub for beard growth is an ideal way to reduce your chances of ingrowing hairs and skin irritation that clogged pores can cause.
Have a healthy, balanced diet and stay hydrated
Food and water are your body’s building blocks so getting the nutrition you need is essential to repair and growth. In terms of how to encourage beard growth, there are certain nutrients to be aware of and make sure you are consuming these as part of a balanced diet.
Proteins, vegetables, dairy and whole grains are all staples of a healthy diet. While protein is the main force encouraging thick beard hair, foods containing A, B, C and E vitamins all promote hair growth. Some ingredients rich in the right vitamins are spinach, sweet peppers, nuts, avocados, sweet potatoes and berries.
Supplement with B vitamins
When looking for tips on how to grow facial hair faster, a commonly mentioned vitamin is vitamin B7, known as biotin. This ingredient works with enzymes in your body that process fats and carbohydrates and a deficiency can slow your hair growth.
As foods such as eggs, milk and bananas only contain insignificant amounts of biotin, supplements with a daily dose can strengthen the proteins responsible for hair, skin and nail repair. Thiamin, riboflavin and niacin are referred to as B1, B2 and B3 and make up the other B-complex vitamins that assist keratins, which are your body’s beard growth vitamins.
Exercise and reduce stress
If you’ve recently started a new workout plan you may have wondered does exercise help beard growth? As it happens, exercise and weight training is linked to increased production of testosterone which can encourage hair growth. The boost to your metabolism and circulation that regular exercise provides also stimulates hair growth so can accelerate your journey through early beard growth stages.
While exercise is linked to the production of hormones that encourage beard growth, stress has the opposite effect on your body. Stress produces greater levels of cortisol in your body, a hormone that decreases testosterone levels.
Get your sleep
Along with nutrition and exercise, another essential way your body repairs and grows is through rest. Experts suggest you should always be getting seven to eight hours of rest. The link between sleep and beard growth is an intimate tie as your cellular repair process increases while you are asleep.
Just like exercise boosts your circulation and beard growth, a lack of rest means your blood flow is negatively affected. Avoiding artificial light and screens before you go to bed can help to encourage a natural sleep cycle if you find this has been disrupted.
Commitment to the routine and beard growth stages
Finding your facial hair look and pulling off the thick beard you may be dreaming of isn’t something that happens overnight. Following our health led tips will help your progress through beard growth stages and knowing how long you can expect to wait will also help you on your journey.
Start with a clean shave (0 weeks)
Before starting any beard growth, an even trim will help to avoid uneven areas in your beard as it fills out.
Stylish Stubble (0-2 weeks)
Astubble beardis something you can often expect to see with a few days of beard growth. With a Braunelectric shaver,you can trim this stage with ease as theBraun Series 9can shave hairs as short as 0.05mm.
Patchy Beard (2-8 weeks)
Once you’ve made it past the first facial fuzz, a patchy beard is a common stage for men, this isn’t down to any mistake on your part. The cause is normally down to either genetic factors, diet, hormone levels or stress.
Baby Beard (8 – 16 weeks)
At the two month mark, any patchy areas of your beard should have filled in and you should consider products like beard conditioner to look after your growth.
Adolescent Beard (16-30 weeks)
After styling with beard oil and regular trimming, you should have the growth necessary to try out a range of beard styles for men at this point of your facial hair journey.
The Beard (30 weeks +)
Past the six month mark of growing out your facial hair you can expect to see a thick beard that will allow you to try a whole range of rugged long beard styles like a Viking look.
What's next?
Once you’ve reached your beard growth goals, the next step is styling. As we mention for the final steps of a growth plan, with a thick beard, a whole range of long styles are possible. Of course many among you will prefer more groomed beard styles for men – this guide to grooming looks and face shapes can help you to decide what might work best for you.
Of course, you will also need to know how to trim your beard, our range of attachments makes maintaining the length for you a simple matter of grabbing the right head and shaping up your stylish new appearance.
Along with regular trimming, knowing how to look after a beard is also a matter of applying oil to avoid skin irritation and brushing this through it gently to keep the hair soft and comfortable.
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