Whether you’re growing a beard for the first time or you’ve been totally crushing it in the beard growth game for years, there are times where you may run into having issues with beard hair breaking.
If this is happening to you, stick around – we’ll be going over some of the top causes of beard hair breaking as well as how to stop beard breakage.
Looking for general beard care guidance on the whole? Check out The Beard Playbook. It’s The Gentleman’s Playbook‘s ever-growing master resource for all things beard related. From growth to maintenance to making sure you’re using the right products and implementing great beard hygiene routines, The Beard Playbook has it all.
Causes of Beard Hair Breaking
Before we dive into exactly how to fix beard hair breakage, we want to go over some of the primary causes of beard hair breaking complaints.
Cause 1 – Dry Beard Hair
One of the greatest root causes of beard hair breaking on a regular basis is having a dry beard. Whenever your facial hair is very dry, it can become brittle and break.
A dry beard can be caused by many different factors, such as nutritional deficiencies, improper hygiene, skin conditions, and more. We have a great breakdown that explains all the different factors that can inhibit beard growth or cause dry beards – check out our resource, How to Grow a Beard to learn more! We’ll also provide solutions on this page that will help you combat overly dry facial hair.
Cause 2 – Dying Beard with Color
Another cause of bread hair breaking is dying your beard.
A lot of men who sometimes struggle with beard growth or have lighter colored beards resort to dying their beard a darker color in an attempt to make it look thicker or fuller. More times than not, this process does not yield attractive results aesthetically or chemically.
By dying your beard, you fry the facial hair that is already there, causing it to dry out and become brittle. Your facial hair exists in a delicate balance of healthy oils your skin naturally produces and by dying the hair, you penetrate the strands and destroy the integrity of your beard, causing it to not absorb and retain those natural oils as well.
If you’re considering dying your beard to help make it look fuller or thicker, we want to ask you to stop before it’s too late! Please check out The Beard Playbook – it’s our free resource that teaches you all the basics needed to grow a truly healthy and badass beard.
Beard growth is about the long term, not the short term. Grow healthy, grow happy.
Cause 3 – Overheating Beard (Blow Drying, Straightening)
Another common cause of beard hair breaking is from overheating your beard. Excessive heat applied to the beard is usually caused by blow drying or attempting to straighten facial hair.
Some men (maybe even you) begin attempting to straighten their beards as an attempt to add the appearance of length or to get rid of curls in the beard.
When this is done, it causes your facial hair to basically fry. We’ve all seen someone who’s over straightened their hair to the point of damage – your beard is even more delicate than the hair on your head.
On top of this, some may blow dry their beard as a way to quickly get rid of moisture (especially if you have a very long or thick beard). The heat from blow drying can have the same impact that using a straightener on your beard can. Try drying your beard by squeezing it with a microfiber towel used strictly for drying your facial hair! This will help it dry safely.
Cause 4 – Over-washing Facial Hair
Lastly, when it comes to the top causes of brittle facial hair, one of the most common problems we see at The Gentleman’s Playbook is men over washing their beards.
It’s easy to think that the solution to your beard woes may be to be overly hygienic, however this can cause issues. We’ve talked about it plenty in The Beard Playbook, but your beard is a seriously delicate ecosystem of natural oils and bacteria (good bacteria)!
When you over wash, you strip your beard’s natural oils down. Some men decide to wash their beard daily, which constantly removes those oils from the beard. When this happens, your beard may begin to dry out and as a result you’ll experience beard hair breaking problems.
How to Stop Beard Breakage
Now that you understand some of the top causes of beard breakage, it’s time to start implementing some solutions that will help repair and keep your beard healthy.
You can implement all of these solutions at the same time to great results. Many of them are covered in-depth on The Gentleman’s Playbook, so feel free to use the search bar on our site or visit the “Beard” category of our blog to see all of our beard care resources!
Solution 1 – Replenish Natural Oils
The first step to almost any beard repair attempt is to make sure you’re replenishing your beard’s natural oils. There are a few ways to do this…
Remember how we mentioned over-washing your beard can lead to it becoming brittle and dry? To combat that – or even beard breakage as a result of overheat or other harsh exposures – all you have to do is stop washing your beard.
This doesn’t sound ideal, but try just rinsing your beard in the shower under warm (not hot or scalding) water for 3 weeks without using soap or conditioner of any kind.
By letting your beard build up its natural levels of sebum and that juicy, healthy bacteria that likes to reside in your facial hair, you’ll help promote softness, growth, and repair breakage and brittleness.
After you’ve stopped experiencing as much breaking, go ahead and implement a beard oil into your daily care routine. After your shower, just use an all-natural beard oil to help soften, cleanse, and maintain your beard’s health and integrity. We also have a fantastic crash course in Beard Hygiene for Beginners!
Solution 2 – Take a Biotin Supplement
Next, you can help your beard’s general health by taking a biotin supplement.
Biotin is known to enhance the health of your hair and nails, which also applies to your beard! By taking biotin, you’re giving your body the nutrients it needs to deliver protection and nutrients to your hair follicles.
You may notice you’re trimming your nails more often than usual, but it’s a small price to pay to fix your beard hair breaking!
Solution 3 – Use a Better Pillowcase
Often overlooked, the type of pillowcase you use can affect your beard!
We recently answered some questions on what to do when your beard hurts while sleeping. One of the solutions there is to switch to a higher quality pillowcase, specifically silk or satin.
Silk doesn’t catch on your facial hair or soak up the natural oils as much as a traditional or cheap pillowcase would. By switching over to an authentic silk or satin pillowcase, you will keep your beard from experiencing the abrasiveness of cotton, which will help with the brittleness you’re going through.
Solution 4 – Basic Health
On top of replenishing your beard’s natural oils, taking the right supplements, and using a better pillowcase, a great way to resolve beard hair breaking is to make sure you have the fundamentals of your diet in place.
Make sure you’re eating healthy and getting the right amount of both macro and micronutrients. We recommend reading Bigger Leaner Stronger by Mike Matthews for a friendly crash course on men’s dietary health and fitness.
Some things that can impact the health of your facial hair specifically are:
- Hydration Levels
- Omega-3 Intake
- Exercise
- Nicotine Usage (using nicotine detriments facial hair growth and quality)
To learn more about all of these different health aspects of beard growth, check out our article: How to Grow a Beard Effectively and Easily.
Solution 5 – Follow The Beard Playbook
Lastly, another great solution to just about any beard issue you may face (including beard hair breaking) is to read the entirety of The Beard Playbook. It is 100% free and available on our website for anybody to take advantage of – we don’t even need your email address.
Click here to read the overview of The Beard Playbook. You’ll find information on care, hygiene, growth tips and strategy, and much more! Our goal is to equip you with the knowledge you need to grow a phenomenal beard.
Enjoy these 5 Easy Fixes for Breaking Beard Hair
Thanks for reading all of this – we hope that you’ve learned what could be causing beard hair breaking and we encourage you to try some of the solutions we’ve outlined.
Even if one of the solutions doesn’t help immediately, keep at it. A lot of having a great, healthy beard boils down to taking a holistic approach to your beard care and maintaining a great routine for hygiene, maintenance, and care.
Check out The Beard Playbook and read it in its entirety to learn all you need to know about growing a mind blowing beard!