With the growing popularity of beard care, including special beard combs and creams, it can be easy to forget about taking care of the skin underneath the beard. But, if the proper skin care isn’t followed too, it can potentially trigger breakouts beneath the beard.
Beard acne occurs as the hair can trap oil, dead skin, and bacteria on the skin. When the oil, dead skin, and bacteria mix and clog up pores, breakouts spring up under the beard.
But, managing beard acne doesn’t have to be all that complicated. While you may have separate beard and hair products, you won’t necessarily need separate skin care products to help manage beard acne. For the most part, you can keep using your normal skincare routine just be sure to use the products on the skin under your beard.
You just have to be diligent about following a good daily routine to keep the skin underneath the beard clean and moisturized to manage breakouts.
Follow the routine:
Cleanser
Now that we know what causes beard acne (oil, dead skin, and bacteria), a cleanser is the best place to start to help reduce the pore-clogging elements that can lead to breakouts.
A good cleanser helps lift all the gunk on the skin that leads to breakouts without dehydrating the skin. Drying out the skin can lead to a whole other host of skin issues, including a compromised skin barrier.
The Hanhoo Men’s Blemish Cleanser is made with Bamboo, Sea Salt, Tea Tree Oil, and Hyaluronic Acid to help thoroughly cleanse the skin without over-stripping it. Sea Salt and Tea Tree Oil help reduce the appearance of breakouts while Bamboo and Hyaluronic Acid supports the barrier and hydrates the skin.
Just massage the cleanser in circles along the beard (and don’t forget the rest of your face and neck too) to help clear away the excess sebum and dead skin.
Exfoliant
If you have pretty persistent beard acne, then an exfoliant may be a good addition to your skincare routine.
Exfoliants typically have ingredients like Salicylic Acid and/or fruit enzymes that help clean out pores to get rid of the pore-clogging elements that lead to breakouts. So, as a preventative measure, exfoliants can help stop beard acne from popping up while treating existing blemishes.
Moisturizer
Lastly, you want to keep the skin hydrated. But, you don’t want to apply anything too heavy to the skin especially if you have oily, acne-prone skin. Heavier moisturizers may further clog up pores and lead to even more breakouts.
Stick to a lightweight, water-based moisturizer to keep the skin hydrated without being too heavy on the skin.
The Hanhoo Men’s Blemish Moisturizer is made with Bamboo, Green Tea, Tea Tree Oil, and Hyaluronic Acid to help balance oil and hydrate the skin. Green Tea and Tea Tree Oil help reduce the appearance of breakouts while Bamboo and Hyaluronic Acid keep the skin hydrated.
What to avoid
Keeping up a good skincare routine is important to help keep away beard acne, but you should also be just as mindful of things to avoid.
Some beard creams and oils may be too heavy for the skin especially if they contain pore-clogging ingredients (including some oils and butters). The heavier the product the more likely it can be to clog up pores and trigger breakouts. So just be sure to use skin-friendly beard care products.
And, while it may be hard to keep your hands off your beard, touching your beard too much can help spread bacteria and dirt from your hands to the skin further irritating existing acne.
Lastly…
If you are pretty diligent about your skin and beard care routine but find that nothing seems to be working to curb beard acne or if it’s already pretty bad (and painful) then it’s best to seek a dermatologist’s help. And, avoid overdoing treatments like exfoliation to prevent the issue from worsening.
