How to Blow Dry Your Beard - Doing It the Right Way

Using a blow dryer for your beard when done correctly can be good for your beard, but it can have negative effects as well.

There comes a stage where no matter how much balm or oil you're applying, your beard just refuses to be tamed.

It usually happens with curly, thick beards. But it can happen with other types of beards as well.

This is where a blow dryer comes in handy!

Using a blow dryer on a regular basis will actually train your beard. It will become easier to style and it won't be so resistant. Yes, facial hair can be docile when treated correctly.

You need to dry your beard, no question about it.

Why you ask? Because wet hair is a lot more fragile. Brushing your beard when it's wet can damage it.

It takes a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, you'll find out very quickly that using a blow dryer actually shortens your grooming routine.

Don't forget that you're killing two birds with one stone, you're drying your beard and taming it at the same time. Once you finish drying your beard it'll be pretty much styled.

As long as you're using a towel gently on your beard your fine. The problem starts when you do it aggressively.

Wet hair is weaker than dry hair and it's prone to damage. Trapped water in your beard add pressure to your hair follicles.

That means that the faster you dry your beard the better.

When drying your beard with a towel, if you're doing it too aggressively you can actually weaken your beard.

Note: if you decide to do it with a towel, be gentle on your beard.

The problem with using a blow dryer is the heat - heat can hurt your beard, and your head hair as well.

The commonly used term is: 'heat damage'. 

Heat damage, occurs when your hair strands get exposed to continuous heat. Some of the symptoms are:

The biggest problem is that once the damage is done it's very hard to fix it, in most cases you'll need to trim your beard and grow it back.

You shouldn't blow dry your beard at high temperatures.

You're probably wondering why the heck would you use a blow dryer then?

A study on hair dryers, conducted by the Korean Society for Investigative Dermatology on 2011. They wanted to compare a natural drying vs blow drying.

The results were surprising, I don't want to make it scientific, the conclusion from the study is:

"Using a hair dryer at a distance of 6 inches (15 cm) with continuous motion causes less damage than drying hair naturally"

This means that as long as you're using a blow dryer at a low temperature, not too close to your hair and keep moving it around you won't damage your beard.

I hope you've been convinced that using a blow dryer can actually benefit your beard.

Now it's time to learn how to do it the right way.

As usual it all starts with a good, quality tool.

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Wash your beard thoroughly - either in the shower or under the tap. Use a shampoo if you need to.

Use a towel to dry it. Be gentle! Pat it dry. Don't rub.

Make sure you leave your beard damp you don't want it to be 100% dry.

Apply some beard oil. Make sure you apply it correctly. Don't forget to brush your beard afterwards, this will distribute your beard oil evenly throughout your beard.

This is important because you don't want your beard to be exposed while blow drying it.

Don't forget step 3.

As long as your beard hair is warm it'll be easier to style it, and keep it like that.

Now it's time for final touch ups, apply beard balm for extra hold or as a leave on conditioner.