7 Best Beard Combs & Brushes - Your Beard's Best Friends

Is your beard longer than an inch?

Then it's time to introduce a beard comb into your beard grooming kit.

That’s because this is about the time that the beard strands start to misbehave and go mad.

Combing restores order and helps you to control those crazy beard strands into a direction.

It makes them seem uniform. It also helps keeping your beard clean, if you don’t comb, then chances are that your beard reeks of yesterday’s dinner.

Combing will train your beard to grow around your lips and prevent your dinner, your breakfast, mayonnaise and everything else from ending up in your beard instead.

Most importantly, combing prevents in-growth. Hate those painful bumps and marks that have started to show up on your face? It's time to get a comb!

If you have beard that’s grown beyond two inches, then you need a good quality beard brush.

A beard brush will ensure that your beard oil or beard balm you're using is evenly distributed over the beard strands.

That’s not all.

A beard brush will also be able to absorb excessive oil that you applied on your beard and prevent it from blocking your natural oil production and clogging your pores.

There's even more, it will untangle your beard and prevent it from getting all frizzy and dry.

If your beard's length is smaller than an inch, then you don't need to worry about combing or brushing your beard.

Brushing such a short beard is just too early, it can scrub or even bruise the skin underneath.

At this stage, your fingers are your beard’s best friend.

Grab that beard oil and apply it on the beard while massaging the skin underneath to stimulate the blood flow which can help a lot with growth.

You might ask yourself why not use a drugstore comb or your girlfriend's hair brush.

These questions are valid and they keep coming up, especially from newbies.

Let’s start with the beard brush.

There are many types of beard brushes in the market.

The most popular and the most effective ones use animal hair bristles, like boar hair or horse hair.

The bristles on these brushes are purposefully cut at different lengths to ensure that you are able to reach every single hair strand on your beard. That includes the ones that are shorter and a lot closer to your skin surface.

When you apply beard oil or balm, a beard brush will evenly coat every beard strand with the oil.

If you take a hair brush that is intended for use on the scalp you'll see that every bristle has the same length. These bristles will not be able to reach the shorter hair strands on your beard.

This also applies when you are brushing to clean the beard of any food particles, dust or debris. You need a brush that can reach the entire hair follicle, start to top in every stroke.

My pick: Boar's hair.

Note: If you have an ethical problem using animal hair, there are great alternatives. Go for high quality synthetic fiber in your beard brush. Do not opt for cheap synthetic fibers. Their poor quality construction often results in split ends on your beard which in turn translates into tangles.

A drugstore comb is the worst thing that you or anybody can possibly use on their beard.

I know what you're thinking. How different can one comb be from another apart from the distance between the teeth maybe?

Well, it can be very different.

Your drugstore comb is most likely made by plastic injection molding using a petrochemical based polymer.

The manufacturing process makes these combs very likely to have tiny jagged edges and other microscopic imperfections along their surface which will prick into the hair follicle on the sensitive facial skin gradually splitting them apart into different directions.

That’s not all. Every jagged edge will snag and pull your beard strands causing more damage than what’s visible on the surface. 

Think of every stroke you make with a cheap comb as one step closer to a messy and tangled looking beard.

It doesn’t end there either. Petrochemical based plastic combs will most likely cause static.

My pick: Handmade wooden combs.

If you're on a tight budget, go for a static-free plastic comb that will most likely be made from cellulose acetate.

Most people don’t realize the damage that they are doing to their beard with cheap beard combs and they keep applying beard oil hoping to tame the beast. But in reality, all that they need is a better quality comb.

There's a way of combing and brushing your beard.

Believe it or not, there is a technique to it.

Comb too fast and you’ll most likely damage the beard hair follicles. Comb too slow and you will not be able to direct the hair in a uniform direction.

But before we talk about technique, let’s talk about the right time to comb.

The ideal combing time is just after applying your beard oil no matter when you do it. Some people apply oil after their morning shower (after drying the beard) while others use it as a leave-in conditioner before sleep. 

Either way, after you have applied your moisturizer, comb through the beard. This will reduce the chances of breakage and you will enjoy the combing process as the comb glides through the beard.

Never comb a wet beard because it will trigger hair loss and your beard will start to appear sparse. The same applies after using a blow dryer on your beard. Not the ideal time to comb. After your shower, wait for the beard to dry naturally, apply the beard oil and comb through it.

Your combing technique will vary according to the length of your beard. But the most basic technique of them all is to comb with the grain. This prevents you from interfering with the natural growing direction of the beard and at the same time, gives your beard the direction that you want it to grow in.

Hold the beard comb in such a way that the teeth of the comb are facing upwards, position it at the lowest point on your neckline where the beard is growing and comb upwards towards the chin. This will separate any tangles and ensure that the hair is parted and layered. If the hair gets snagged, do not attempt to pull it out. Remove the comb and go again.

Once you have covered the neckline, it’s time to comb upwards towards the jaw line. Use the same technique. You are less likely to encounter snags here. But you never know. Once you are done and covered the entire length of the beard, it is time for the brush to make an appearance.

Combing will make the brushing process a lot easier because you won't have to work your way upwards again.

The purpose of brushing after combing is to style your beard and give it some shape. To make this process easier, you can use a beard balm or even a beard wax for the really stubborn beards.

If you skipped combing, then use a similar technique and work your way upwards from the neckline. 

Go slow with each stroke and ensure that you are covering every beard strand with the beard oil or balm. Do not skip the sideburns and cheeks as many people often do.

Brushing takes on a very different purpose if you have not combed the hair. You are stimulating blood flow on the skin surface which results in a fuller looking beard and it also helps to remove any trapped dead skin, dirt or food particles from the beard.

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After covering the grooming part, it’s almost time to get down to business.

How do you pick the right beard comb?

It is not as easy a purchase as it may seem. There are handmade combs, metallic ones, wooden combs, combs made of horn and stamp cut ones. They come in different shapes, sizes and teeth widths.

Here’s the definitive guide that will help you make the right decisions.

Handmade combs are less likely to have the imperfections that I wrote about before. On top of that handmade combs are usually made of materials that are static-free, like wood or metal or horn.

Each comb is saw cut and the teeth are then polished by hand resulting in a smooth surface that is free of any imperfections or jagged edges.

A handmade comb is also sturdier and less likely to break even if you carry it in your pocket or a corner of your overstuffed bag.

Take a look at any handmade beard comb and you’ll notice that the teeth are generally wide and spaced apart. 

This allows the comb to glide through coarse, curly and tangled hair.

If your beard is a lot softer and straight, then you can always opt for a beard comb with smaller teeth width.

Beard combs are made from different materials, each has its advantages.

Wooden combs can be made of a variety of wood types, popular choices are: 

Horn combs are as durable as wooden combs and the natural keratin in the comb is said to make your beard look shinier and make it softer. It is waterproof too.

Cellulose acetate is the only synthetic material that you’d ever want to use with your beard.
It doesn't produce static, it's long lasting, easy to clean and very durable.

Ok, it's review time. Here’s our pick of the best 5 beard combs on the market currently.