You want a full, lush beard—but you may be sabotaging yourself if you are doing any of these eight HUGE beard mistakes! Matty Conrad, beard guru and men’s grooming expert, is here to help you learn how to grow a beard, how to maintain your beard and beard care tips.  

1. Don’t trim your beard when it’s wet.

“I know this seems like the most convenient time to do it, but when the beard is wet, the hair acts different,” Matty said. “When it dries, it shrinks up.”

2. Beard oil is more for the skin than the beard.

“I know that doesn’t seem to make sense, because it’s called ‘beard oil,’ but it’s meant to replace the moisture in the skin that gets lost,” he said. That’s because as your beard grows, the skin underneath has a more difficult time to produce enough oil to keep the beard smooth and manageable.

Here’s how to apply beard oil:

• Work a few drops of Victory Barber & Brand Beard Oil between your fingers.
• Massage the oil into the skin underneath your beard.
• Say goodbye to itchy or flaky skin!

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3. Be careful with the outline.

Where you outline the beard is really important to maintaining its density, especially the baseline. The baseline is the low point of the beard where it interacts with the neck. “A lot of guys like to take this really high, which is okay when your beard is very short. But as your beard gets longer, make sure you don’t take your baseline too high. You want to keep it as low as possible.

Here's Matty’s rule of thumb: Leave your head at a natural resting position and look to see if you can see any hairs on your neck behind the lowest line of the beard. If you can’t, leave it—you’re just fine. But if you can see hair growing in the neck area, just clean it up to the point where you can’t see it anymore. This allows the max area of growth for a thicker, fuller beard.

4. Don’t set the topline too low.

The topline is where the beard interacts with the face. You want this line to be as high as possible to keep the max amount of growth area on your cheeks. The line should descend from the corner of your sideburn to the corner of your mouth and should be relatively straight or slightly curved. But don’t take it too low!

5. Stop overtrimming.

“I know that every time we see a little flyaway hair, the easiest thing to do is simply to cut it off,” Matty said. “But the more we do that, the more we start to remove the bulk from the beard.” You should really only give your beard a full trim every 4 weeks.

So how do you get pesky flyaways to lay down in between trims? Use a blow dryer, brush and a balm. Apply the balm to the beard, then use the blow dryer and brush to direct the beard hair in the direction you want it to lay. Try Super-Dry from Victory Barber & Brand—it’s matte, so it won’t make your beard look shiny.

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6. Stop using plastic combs.

They are NOT good for beards. Plastic combs have very fine teeth, and pulling one through a tangly beard can remove more hair than you want. Matty suggests a pick or brush to polish, detangle and smooth the beard without removing extra hair. Plus, brushing your beard helps circulate natural oils from the skin to make your beard softer, and stimulates blood flow for better growth.

Say NO to plastic combs and try a brush or pick to groom your beard instead.

7. Stop using soap and body wash on your beard.

Please, put DOWN the bar of soap you are using on your face and beard. It can make the skin under your beard itchy, because soaps leave residue behind that will irritate your skin.

Instead, use a dedicated beard and hair wash that not only works as a 2-in-1 product, but leaves behind NO residue, meaning your skin won’t feel itchy. Wash by Victory Barber & Brand is designed for the needs of skin and hair and keeps your beard moisturized and soft (plus, it smells REALLY good).

8. Stop comparing your beard!

Everyone’s beard is unique to them. If trimmed and maintained properly, it will suit your face shape and style!

Watch Matty explain it all in the video below: