How To Prevent Beard Split Ends: 8 Simple Yet Effective Hacks

For months, you’ve cultivated your lustrous beard—it’s thick, shaped, and well on its way toward Gandalf proportions. But one day, as you groom your mane, you see it—a split end that looks more like the White Tree of Gondor than Gandalf’s silky mane.

For beard styles everywhere, beard split ends can be an absolute disaster—both for your style and your overall beard health. Luckily, we’re here to help.

Know Thy Enemy: What Are Split Ends? 

Before we get into the best ways to prevent beard split ends, we should probably explain what split ends are and why they happen. 

Split ends occur when the tips of your hair become so dry that they start to fray. ¹ Picture the end of the rope in your high school gym class. You know how the end of the rope looks wild and undone? That’s basically what a split end looks like. 

If you’ve ever plucked a beard hair and noticed the beard follicle is shaped like the letter “F,” then you’ve got split ends in your beard. That “F” is your beard crying out, “Fix me!”

What Causes Split Ends? 

There are many factors that can contribute to split ends, but the root causes all stem from two things:

• Hair becoming too long
• Hair becoming too dry

That’s true for the hair on your head, and it’s doubly true for your facial hair, too. As you probably know, beard hair is made of different stuff than the hair on our heads—it’s much thicker and wirier. And, unfortunately, it’s way more prone to drying out.

That means you have to be extra vigilant when it comes to nourishing and grooming your hair to avoid split ends in your beard styles.

When your beard reaches a certain length, split ends pretty much become inevitable. (The bearded dude from Harry Potter? Hagrid? Pretty much all split ends.) But don’t despair—we have plenty of ways to manage bigger beards to keep them silky and soft.

How Do I Fix Split Ends?

Unfortunately, you don’t. Once an end has split, there’s no way to put that hair back together. In fact, if not looked after, a beard hair that has split will divide all the way back to your cheek.

And those hairs will end up looking a lot like trees that have been struck by lightning.

To get rid of split ends, you simply have to chop them off. Given the chance, your beard hairs will grow back longer, stronger, and healthier.

Because there’s nothing to be done for beard hair that’s split, we have to take steps to prevent split ends from happening in the first place.

How To Hack Away Those Split Ends

Split ends can cause your beard to have a scruffier appearance than you might want. Their presence can also indicate that your beard is dry, damaged, and overall unhealthy.

Now that we understand split ends and how they’re caused, here are some hacks to help prevent them.

Hack 1: Trim Your Split Ends

As we discussed above, no matter what you do, your beard is eventually going to get some split ends. This holds especially true for guys with longer beards.

Your first line of defense is always going to be a pair of scissors.

Trimming off your split ends will give your beard hair a chance to continue growing longer and stronger. Depending on the length of your beard, you probably want to trim it once every week or two.

For these little clean-up snips, it’s best to use scissors instead of your beard trimmer. Scissors will give you a cleaner edge on your whiskers rather than chewing them up the way trimmers sometimes will. Less stress on your beard means fewer split ends in the long run.

Sidenote: How to Trim With Scissors

We know that it can be intimidating to trim with scissors. At first, try focusing just on clipping split ends, then worry about shaping and styling once you’ve had a bit more practice.

If you’re feeling social, you could also visit a barber to get that beard properly clipped by a professional. Plus, we love the hot towels.

Hack 2: Use Beard Oil

Our facial skin naturally produces oil (sebum oil, if you want to get scientific) through our sebaceous glands that keeps our beards moisturized. But, once your beard reaches a certain length, your natural oil production might not be able to keep up. That’s going to result in brittle hair that’s prone to split.

Incorporating beard growth oil into your daily routine will help keep your beard hair strong, healthy, and, most importantly, moisturized. Plus, the oil will nurture the skin beneath your beard, fighting ingrown hairs and beard dandruff, while reducing beard itch that might otherwise cause you to scratch and tug on your beard.

Hack 3: Stop Using That Head Shampoo

As we mentioned above, the hair on your head is way different than the hair on your face. If you’re using the same shampoo (or all-purpose body wash for the true optimizers) on your beard hair as you use on your head hair, you might be inadvertently drying out your beard and causing split ends.

That’s because hair shampoo tends to strip away oils that your beard needs.

Consider trying a beard shampoo, specially formulated for your beard. Look for ultra-nourishing ingredients in a beard wash that will help moisturize your beard:

• Essential oils like coconut, olive, or sunflower seed
• Shea butter
• Aloe

Hack 4: Step Away From the Blow Dryer

We don’t care if you’re running three hours late for work—don’t ever use a blow dryer on your beard. The heat is going to dry out your whiskers, leaving them ready to snap like branches during a drought. In fact, you should imagine your beard like a delicate garden of bonsai trees that brings you great inner peace.

A dry beard is not a healthy beard—don’t set your bonsai garden on fire, dude. 

If you have a long beard, it’s best to use a beard comb like our Folding Beard Comb to detangle when you’re out of the shower. Then, once your beard has had a chance to dry, use a beard brush to shape it up and care for the hair. Just be sure you brush up on how to brush beard hair properly. Always try to pat your beard dry instead of roughly scrubbing it.

Hack 5: Give Your Beard a Rest

We love it when people approach us on the street and compliment our rakish good looks. (Uh, yeah, we swear this happens all the time.) But there’s such a thing as giving your beard too much attention.

We know that it makes you look wise, but try to limit how much you’re stroking and pulling on your beard during the day. That kind of stress can wear on your beard, not to mention spread unhealthy substances from your sometimes grubby hands to your healthy whiskers.

If you’ve got a beard that requires a lot of styling, we understand the desire to comb it at the slightest droop. But try to limit yourself to combing only a couple of times per day. 

Hack 6: Use the Best Tools

Speaking of beard combs and brushes, you’ll want to make sure that you’re utilizing the right beard products to keep your beard in shape. Using a plastic comb, a coarse brush, or greasy fingertips can all detract from your beard’s health and lead to split ends.

We recommend:

• A wide-toothed beard comb
• A boar’s hair brush

Skip plastic combs and anything where the teeth are too close together.

Hack 7: Better Diet, Better Beard

Your diet can have a major effect on how your beard grows. This can be especially true when you’re first starting your beard journey. But, maintaining those healthy eating habits is still key to a strong beard hair that won’t break or split.

To prevent split ends, get your beard the nutrients it needs. Make sure you’re maxing your daily allotment of:

• Iron (red meat, beans, dried fruit)
• Zinc (whole grains, chickpeas, dairy)
• Vitamin B (red meat, whole grains, citrus fruits)

Hack 8: Dying for that Dye

Exposing your beard and face to harmful chemicals is a good way to eradicate your beard’s natural oils. We hate to be the ones to tell you this, but if you’re dyeing your beard, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

If you aren’t ready to become a silver fox just yet, know that you’re going to have to work extra hard to keep your beard moisturized. We recommend using beard oil daily and maybe working in a beard balm as well.

The Split Ends Justify The Means At The Beard Club

When preventing beard split ends, it’s essential to equip your grooming arsenal with scissors, beard oil, specialized shampoo, combs, and brushes that fend off weathering and damage.

Now that you know our favorite hacks, rest assured that The Beard Club has got all the tools you need to stay on top of split ends.

If you’re drying out your face with men’s grooming products that aren’t meant for a beard, you should check out our Beard Shampoo and Beard Oil. While you’re there, get equipped with our beard combs and brushes to groom your beard with care.

At The Beard Club, we believe that every beard should look amazing and feel healthy—and look healthy and feel amazing. And once you’ve mastered our hacks and gotten into the groove of a proper beard care routine, that’s exactly how you’ll feel. 

Sources: 

1. Healthline. How to Conceal or Get Rid of Split Ends. https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-get-rid-of-split-ends
2. Harvard Health Publishing. Obesity: Unhealthy and Unmanly. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/obesity-unhealthy-and-unmanly