Your Beard Care Routine Might Be Causing Breakouts: Here’s What to Check

Written By Shaylynn Marks

Breakouts under your beard are annoying enough as it is. You replay in the back of your mind your diet and water intake from the past week. You’re washing your beard and maybe even brushing it now more than ever, and you’re at a loss as to why this acne popped up out of nowhere. Everything from how you wash your beard to what (and how much) you’re putting on afterward can make a huge impact on your skin and beard health. So before we point the blame, let’s zoom in and take a closer look at your beard care routine. 

Beard Acne Acting Up? Here’s What to Check in Your Routine

You’re Not Washing Under Your Beard

If you run a little beard shampoo over the top of your beard and call it a day, nice try! Both facial washes and beard shampoos need to reach the skin underneath your beard. Oil, dead skin cells, and other buildup tend to live at the surface of the skin. Dermatologists recommend gently cleansing both your beard and the skin beneath using your fingertips in a circular motion.

You’re Too Heavy Handed With Products

Yes, beard oil is great for locking in moisture, but that doesn’t mean the more drops the better. Skin and hair projects can contribute to breakouts by clogging your pores. Now, beard oil isn’t automatically Public Enemy No. 1. Just use enough product (a few drops, averagely) to condition your beard and skin without leaving everything coated in grease. If you’re someone who tends to have sensitive skin or be more prone to beard acne, a clarifying beard oil should be replaced with the beard oil you’re using at home. 

Your Beard Oil and Your Skin Are Beefing

The main ingredients in a grooming product’s formula can make or break your beard. The right beard oil should keep your beard hair healthy and your face blemish-free. So, pay attention to those patterns. If any type of irritation or bumps and redness consistently show up after you add a new beard product, take it out of your routine for a few weeks. See what happens. 

Our beard oil pairs lightweight conditioning oils with ingredients chosen specifically for combating acne, including tea tree oil, blue tansy, cumin seed oil, and tamanu oil.

Tea tree oil itself has been studied for acne. A randomized trial showed an improvement in mild-to-moderate acne when using tea tree oil when compared with a placebo group.

You Touch Your Beard Constantly

Reading this with your hand on your beard right now? Totally just caught you. The American Academy of Dermatology says to keep your hands off your face, especially when dealing with acne. When you touch your beard, you’re actively transferring dirt and germs from your hands directly to your skin.

The tools in your dopp kit deserve the same attention. Your brushes, combs, towels, and pillowcases all spend a good bit of quality time with your face. Keeping everything regularly clean is an easy routine upgrade. While no one would expect you to live like you’re prepping for surgery, just try your best to avoid stroking your beard after touching your phone, keyboard, steering wheel, and approximately half the known universe.

Those “Pimples” Might Really Be Razor Bumps

Not every angry red bump under your beard is acne. Shaving can also damage hair follicles which can lead to folliculitis, where the follicle itself becomes inflamed. It can also lead to where the hairs curve back into the skin, causing razor bumps.

The right shaving technique is key. Dermatologists highly recommend wetting the skin and beard hair first. Apply a shaving cream or gel, and then shave in the direction your hair grows. And don’t forget to swap out dull blades regularly!

You’re Trying to Scrub the Breakouts Off

When you wake up with a random breakout it’s hard to resist the urge to grab every exfoliant in your bathroom like they’re getting drafted for active duty. Totally understandable, but it’s actually not the best strategy.

Aggressively scrubbing the beard breakout will only irritate the skin further. The irritation causes the acne to flare up even more. Dermatologists say the best way to handle washing beard acne (or any breakout) is by gently washing—not physically scouring bumps away. Applying a couple drops of clarifying beard oil for sensitive skin afterwards will help give the skin a thin protective layer while the acne slowly heals over time.

Now You Know What to Check, Fix Your Routine

If your beard care routine might be causing breakouts, don’t immediately torch the whole thing and start over. Start by paying closer attention to how well you’re cleansing underneath your beard, including how much product you’re using. Take a deeper dive and look at what’s actually in them—understand the ingredients, and slowly replace those products with the right ones. In short, clean up the habits that have been working against you, and build your routine around what your skin really needs.