Hello fellow bearded brethren.

Does your facial hair curl out of control? Do your friends and family liken your appearance to notorious bearded crazies such as Charles Manson?  

If you were tempted to shave the beard off, probably you would have already done so, but you have kept it. 

We applaud you, and you should not have to compromise by trimming it short. To hell with that front-of-house manager trying to passive-aggressively bully you into shaving. 

Here is your comprehensive guide to dealing with the infamous curly beard.

We’re going to highlight two broad approaches: The first is taming the curly beard, and the second is embracing the curly beard.

Whether you choose to tame or to embrace depends largely on what kind of curls you have. Whatever your beard’s appearance, you should be able to attain a flattering style that you can be proud of.

Let us tell you how.

TAMING THE CURLY BEARD

All beards grow differently.

The decision to straighten or tame the beard results from a beard whose curls are in some way unsightly. Left unmanaged, such beards can leave you looking like Happy Gilmore’s homeless caddy, Otto. 

Usually, it’s the sideburns that offend the most, growing into wild curls while the middle of the beard might be growing relatively straight.

     1. BEARD WASH

Washing is one part of a simple solution.

Whenever you wash hair with a saponified product, you take a little of the curl out. Use a beard wash, towel dry after washing, and then brush straight. 

This step probably won’t work on its own, but it’s where you start.

     2. BEARD BALM AND COMB

The method is simple: once your beard is washed, as we said above, towel-dry your beard. 

Use a little more than a pea-sized daub of beard balm and rub it between your fingertips. Work it into your beard until it’s sure to be well-distributed. At this point you can use your comb to brush the beard down from the front. 

Comb gently at first to remove tangles with minimal beard damage. With a damp beard and some balm, the comb should glide through easily.

For many beards these steps are enough, but maybe you’ve tried this and it hasn’t worked out perfectly and your curls are still flying everywhere.

Don’t worry bearded brother, we’ve got you covered.

     3. USING A HAIR DRYER

When you add heat to your grooming regimen, you invariably end up with less curl, and less volume. 

Simply adding a hair dryer to the above balm and comb method will create even straighter hair, and the balm will give more weight and structure to the hairs encouraging them to stay straight.

     4. DRYER BRUSHES

The dryer brush and heated brush are two of the most convenient beard accessories you can have, especially if you’re trying for a straighter, neater look. 

Heat can cause hair damage though, and some beards are more fragile than others, so stick to a low heat setting while you get to know your brush. 

Conair’s paddle brush styler is a popular model. 

Start with a bit of beard balm to provide some volume and hold to your beard hair. If your beard is super-curly, try just using beard oil. 

Once you’ve worked the beard product into your damp beard curls right down to the skin, brush forward from underneath the beard, then brush down.  

You’ll be surprised by how much this device and technique work for straightening a beard and making it more manageable. 

Don’t expect arrow-straight results, but do expect to be relieved that, yes, you can get control of your beard curls, no problem.

     5. HEATED BRUSHES

Heated brushes work more like straightening irons and transfer more heat to your beard, so caution is advised. One particular advantage of heated brushes is that they don’t make a racket. 

One heated brush specifically designed for beards is the aberlite compact beard straightener. 

It’s compact, masculine, and – according to Aberlite – designed to prevent damage, but again, we recommend starting with a low heat until you get to know the brush.

     6. TAPERING

Trimming is essential to getting the right beard shape. Curls create volume. You’ve probably heard of the yeard: a beard of one full year’s completely untrimmed growth. 

If that idea makes you shudder, probably it’s because you don’t relish the thought of having a giant hairy Swedish-clog-shaped monstrosity protruding horizontally from your chin. 

That’s where trimming and tapering come in. 

Not that we’re dissing; grow a yeard if you like, but if you’re like most men, you probably want a look that’s a little more refined. 

So in addition to the grooming suggestions we’ve covered so far, tapering the length of the hair underneath and behind the beard will bring your beard shape under control. 

This requires using clippers with a guard, and clipping up from the bottom toward the neck, tapering the length of the cut by switching to smaller guards the closer you get to the neckline.

We could explain this in absolute detail, but our best suggestion to you is to see a barber and ask him to show you, during your trim, how to taper underneath your beard using clippers.

It’s not hard, but a practical demonstration beats all descriptions. 

EMBRACING THE CURLY BEARD

A curly beard can look incredible if managed daily and properly trimmed, and there are a few essential tricks to getting a beard to curl just right.

     7. LET THE BEARD DRY NATURALLY

This is probably the most important rule for curly hair.

Above, we recommended toweling the beard dry.

If you want your curls to stay and define, skip the towel dry and let the beard dry on its own. 

     8. JUST THE BEARD BALM

A beard balm or a touch of styling wax can define curls. 

After you shower, while your beard is still wet, take a pea-sized daub of beard balm and work it into the beard down to the skin. 

Then let your beard dry naturally. 

     9. BEARD CONDITIONER

There’s another trick in the excellent-beard-curl toolkit. 

Using a beard conditioner near the end of your shower, rinsing completely, and following the previous two steps by letting your beard dry naturally. 

If you’re not seeing results with a balm, a conditioner might be the missing piece for your beard curls. 

     10. BEARD TRIMMERS

We would be remiss not including this final grooming tip.

All beards, curly ones included, send off stray hairs, so it bears mentioning here that you should have a set of trimmers to prune the hairs that want to grow their own way.

All of these tips are going to require a little experimentation. 

But that is just part of the great odyssey of having a beard. 

We encourage you to try both general approaches to managing your beard, and let us know in the comment section below how you do. 

There’s nothing more impressive than a beard of well-maintained curls, but there’s also nothing more frustrating than a huge swath of unmanageable tangles hanging off your face. 

Also, if you have any grooming tips to add to this list, please let us know in the comments below or on instagram (@educatedbeards).

STAY EDUCATED!