Save Face Beard

How to Style Your Mustache (6 Step Tutorial) #mustache #howto #tutorial

Zeus Beard — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 13:45:49 -0700

You NEED this beard oil! The PERFECT fragrance for Fall! #shorts

Zeus Beard — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:37:23 -0700

Is the beard staying? #beardstyle #beardcare #girlfriends #couplecomedy #mensstyle #funnyvideo

Zeus Beard — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 09:55:15 -0700

Why Does My Beard Hurt?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:44:47 -0800

No pain, no gain. Isn’t that what they say? When it comes to your beard, they are emphatically wrong!

There are 101 reasons your beard may be hurting you, but there is a solution to each of them. Before you whip out that razor, see if these fixes for common causes of bear pain can relieve your misery.

Contact Dermatitis

Contact dermatitis happens when a product or even a material that you’re allergic or sensitive to comes in contact with your skin. This causes a red, itchy rash. Especially if you scratch it often and keep reintroducing the problematic products or material to your skin, this can get really painful really fast.

To stop the pain, you need to determine exactly what, if anything, you are allergic to. A dermatologist or allergist can help you, and you can even use deductive reasoning to compare product ingredients and reactions to find the culprit. Many people are allergic to chemical compounds commonly used in skincare products. Smoky Mountain Beards products are all-natural. If you’re allergic to an unnatural ingredient, you may be able to stop the pain by shopping with us.

Dry Beard

If you’ve ever gone a few days without applying lotion, you know that dry skin becomes itchy and scaly. When you have coarse beard hair poking and prodding on top of that skin, the situation becomes even more painful.

Especially if you’re new to the wonderful world of beards, having a beard can prevent you from getting enough lotion and other hydrating moisturizing skincare products to your chin. Beard oil solves the issue. Water hydrates your beard, and beard oil seals it in. Get yourself a bottle, and don’t stop using it. You’ll feel the pain ease away.

Beard Acne

Beard acne happens when oils, dirt, bacteria, and even your own dead skin clog your pores. This build-up causes inflammation, which appears as those pesky red bumps we call beard acne. The good news is it's completely treatable.

Gentle cleansers with salicylic acid help to unclog your follicles. Wash your hands before you touch your beard and make sure to use clean towels and beard care tools. You don’t want to introduce bacteria to your skin. Wash your face regularly with a good quality beard-specific soap, like our Big Beard Soaps

Ingrown Hairs

Ingrown hairs happen when beard hair turns inward, penetrates the skin, and keeps on growing under the surface of the skin. Most ingrown hairs clear up on their own, but the ones that don’t are super painful.

If you have a problem, with ingrown hairs, avoid styles that include a lot of stubble. Never shave “against the grain” of your hair. After you shave, use a moisturizer, like our beard oil or beard balm, to make sure your beard is soft.

Normal Growth

Each stage of beard growth is a new sensation. Many of us haven’t let our beards grow before. Sometimes, growth is itchy and painful. Growing pains can be very real, but they should not be super severe or long-lasting.

Why Are Boar Bristle Brushes Good For Your Beard?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:44:29 -0800

If you’ve ever shopped for beard products, you’ve probably noticed something about beard brushes. Many of them are made of boar bristles. Are boar bristles just a style choice, or are they actually good for beards?

What Are Boar Bristles?

In case you were wondering, boar bristle is not some kind of euphemism. Boar is a general term for wild pigs, and the bristles of the brush are pig hair. The bristles are shaved off a pig, usually on the softer side of its underbelly. After being cleaned, cut, and bundled together, the hairs of the pig make for great grooming tools.

Boars have a unique type of hair. It is hard enough to have the kind of durability needed for a brush, but it is soft enough that they won’t rip out your hair. Boar bristles have been used for years. In the not-so-distant past, boar bristle toothbrushes were very common.

Benefits of Boar Bristle Beard Brushes

Conditioning Power

When it comes to hair, humans and pigs have a lot in common. Pig hairs have natural sebum, the same kind of sebum the oil glands in your skin produce for your beard, and so do boar bristle brushes. The brushes are not exactly dripping in oil, but they do have some residual sebum. This can be an added boost to other moisturizing and conditioning products you use in your beard. This little bit of sebum can also help the brush to glide through your beard rather than getting caught up in every tangle.

Detangling Power

Unless they have been intentionally cut that way, the bristles on a natural boar bristle brush are not even. Rather, they are usually jagged and tapered. These differences in the height of each bristle create a structure that detangles your beard without a lot of extra work. This structure also reaches down deep to your shortest hairs and gently drags them in the direction you want them to go. Other styling tools can leave rebellious short hairs laying every which way.

Skin Soothing

You’ve probably heard us say before that skincare is beard care. A good boar bristle brush does wonders for your skin. As you brush your beard, you can’t help but scrape those bristles across the surface of your skin. This helps to work any products you’ve already put into your beard down to your skin, giving your skin the vital moisture and nutrients it needs to stay healthy and itch-free. This is a great method of gently exfoliating your all-important chin skin. Especially if you have an itchy beard, a boar bristle brush can feel like nothing short of a spa treatment.

So, what are you waiting for? If you don’t have an all-natural boar bristle beard brush, fix that.

Can We Be Your Beard Guide?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:43:24 -0800

Smoky Mountain Beards is all about Beard Confidence. To put it simply, we want to help good guys feel great about the way they look. They say beauty is skin deep, but we know that looking good can do a man’s heart good.

That’s why we developed a beard quiz to help men at different stages of their beard journey. The quiz covers everything from daily habits to style tips. At the end of the quiz, you get personalized detailed recommendations on reaching your beard goals and overcoming your beard problems.

We’ve recently updated our quiz with even more information. Whether you’re taking it for the first time or the second time, you’ll be happy with your results. Take our quiz here.

Why Are Beard Combs Made of Wood?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:42:09 -0800

Whether you’re just past a 5 o’clock shadow or you’re well on your way to being cast in a Rip Van Winkle movie, there’s one thing you’ve certainly noticed if you have any interest in beards. People with the best beards seem to go crazy for wooden beard combs. Why is that?

Wood Resists Static

The purpose of combing a beard is to make it lay down, but a comb made of plastic or metal can have the opposite effect. While it is not a very strong conductor, plastic can conduct electricity.

Static electricity, conducted by a plastic comb, can make your beard frizzy and wild looking when you’re training to smooth your hairs down. In the same way that static hurts if your pest of a so-called friend drags his socks across the floor and shocks you, static electricity can damage your hair follicles over time.

Wood Is Durable

Especially if you don’t do it often enough, combing your beard is a feat that is not for the faint of heart. We hope you aren’t going full-WWE mode on your face each morning, but snags can get the best of us huffing and puffing and pulling and tugging. Plastic combs just don’t have the fortitude to handle a coarse tangled beard. Wooden combs can stand up to the challenge.

Wood Is Porous

Oil is the name of the game when it comes to retaining moisture in a beard. There are your natural oils, called sebum, that your body produces, and there are the oh-so luxurious beard oils that you add to the equation. Wooden beard combs have the added benefit of sucking up some of those oils in their porous surfaces.

Each time you comb your beard with a wooden comb, you are reintroducing a nourishing mixture of oils. You can even intentionally infuse oil in your wooden beard comb by soaking it in your beard oil of choice. After its thoroughly soaked, let it dry out before you use it again. A well-oiled wooden beard comb will keep your beard with just the right amount of shine.

Don’t just read about wooden beard combs. Use one for yourself! Our wooden beard combs are in stock now.

How to Set Realistic Beard Goals

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:41:45 -0800

When it comes to beard goals, a good healthy dose of realism is the key to success. If you've been to school or had a corporate job in the past twenty years, you've probably got the expression that goals should be S.M.A.R.T. emblazoned into your brain by now. As played out as that expression may be, there is quite a bit of truth to it.

One of the biggest Beard Confidence detractors is unmet expectations. If you've got unrealistic beard goals, you're going to find yourself in a constant state of frustration. Even with our awesome beard oil, no one's beard is going to grow a foot in a year. And you're really barking up the wrong tree if you think that your curly beard is going to magically become straight when it reaches a certain length. Use these tips to make sure your beard goals are realistic.

Achieve Habits, Not Milestones

You cannot control how fast or how long your beard grows in a certain period of time, but you can control your habits. Rather than making goals about length, center your goals on habits that promote healthy hair and length retention.

The rate at which new hair sprouts out of your chin is heavily influenced by genetics. Plus human hair only grows about a half-inch per month at best, and hair grows in a cycle. Every six or seven years, it goes through a phase where it doesn’t grow at all.

A beard goal of growing the length of your beard by six inches at the end of the year may be completely unrealistic depending on how fast your hair naturally grows. Another guy could reach that goal easily, just because of his genetics. Rather than getting mad because you didn’t win big in the genetic lottery, set a goal that is based on the choices you make. Instead of focusing on a certain amount of length, set the goal of not shaving for a year. Anyone can achieve that goal and be able to rock a nice yeard, no matter how long (or short) it may be.

Work Towards Length Retention

There is no tip, trick, or fix that’s going to make your beard grow faster than the rate at which your hair grows naturally. If you’re a half-inch a month man, that’s what you are. If you’re a quarter-inch per month kind of guy, that's what you are. Regardless of how fast your hair grows, you’ll only see visible growth if you achieve length retention.

Beard growth is a lot like a paycheck hitting your bank account. If you only earn enough to cover your bills, you’ll feel like you’re back at square one at the end of the month, even though you did earn a paycheck. If you earn more than it takes to pay your bills, you will see your balance grow each month. You’ve got to retain more hair than you grow if you want a visible difference. Otherwise that new half inch or so is just replacing what you lost. Even if you’d like a fuller beard rather than a longer one, retaining growth is a key.

Here are some habit-based goals that promote length retention:

Regularly (frequency depends on your skin type) use Big Beard Soap to properly cleanse and moisturize your beard at the same time
Blot your beard completely dry with a soft towel
Regularly (frequency depends on your skin type) use beard oil to keep your beard conditioned and moisturized
Don’t shave for the first thirty days of beard growth
Don’t shave for a year (adjust the length of time to your liking)
Commit to treating potential length retention roadblocks like beard acne and beardruff

Who Are Your Heroes?

We all love getting a little inspiration from the beardfluencers of the Internet. Although beards of all shapes, sizes and textures are wonderful, there are certain factors about our beards and faces that are difficult to change.

If you’re confidently embracing male pattern baldness, you may find yourself disappointed if all your beard heroes could also be in a hairband. If your beard is ultra-fine and needs salt, powder, and pomade just to not look limp, your beard hero doesn’t need to be a dude with very coarse hair.

It’s only natural to be disappointed when you’re constantly measuring yourself up against an image that is unrealistic for you. Beards are as unique as people, and there are a variety of beardfluencers. Find someone who portrays looks and goals that are reasonable for you to achieve.

Even if you’re not into social media, you should make sure you’re working towards achievable styles. If you’re not sure whether a look you’re going for is really reasonable, take a visit to your friendly neighborhood barber. A good barber understands facial lines, face shape, beard texture, and all of the other unique factors about your beard.

Be Beard Confident

Has negativity and self-hatred ever got you anywhere? Probably not. This may sound like mumbo-jumbo, but a little positivity goes a long way. Every now and then, write down three things you love about your beard. If you’re really bold, say them out loud while you’re standing in the mirror.

Your beard may not be perfect. It may not be where you want it to be just yet, but it’s yours. That makes it awesome! Beard Confidence is not about perfection. It's about embracing the man you are right now and being confident enough to love him where he’s at while still pushing him to be the best version of himself.

If you have a positive view of yourself and your beard, you’ll be more likely to make adjustments when needed on the path to achieving the beard of your dreams. If you’re beating yourself up about your beard, you’re far more likely to reach for the nearest can of shaving cream.

Your beard can be everything you wish it was, but give it time.

How to Choose the Right Beard Dye Color

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:38:11 -0800

If you’re thinking of dyeing your beard, you’ve got a lot of factors to consider. First of all, congrats for being Beard Confident enough to make a big style change. Here are a few factors you need to keep in mind:

The Second Time Around

Unless you’re using temporary dye for a costume, dyeing your beard is going to be a commitment. Whether you’re dyeing your beard to cover your grays or just for a new look, you’re going to need to dye your roots again and again.

Dye is a chemical that your hair needs to absorb. From one strand to the next and one application to the next, the rate of absorption may be a little different. While you shouldn’t expect your beard to be two or three different colors, be prepared for a little bit of variation.

Should the Beard Match the Hair?

You do you! There’s no law out there that says that your beard has to be the same color as your hair. If you want your beard to appear the same color as your hair, keep something in mind.

Color is a reflection of light. Straight hair reflects a lot more light than hair with any sort of texture. If your beard has texture, remember that different areas on a single strand of textured hair may reflect light very differently.

The same color can appear to be very different on the hair of your head and the hair of your beard if your beard is a different texture. If you want your beard and your hair to match, some barbers suggest dyeing your beard just a little lighter than your hair. If your hair is jet black, dye your beard off black. If your hair is dark brown, dye your beard a lighter brown.

What Color Should You Dye Your Beard?

It kind of goes without saying, but your beard is on your face. The dyed hair is going to be right up against your skin. Be prepared for the drastic way that dyeing your beard can change the appearance of your face. Some colors are complimentary and others are contrasting. Some colors cancel each other out. One color can enhance another or make another look dull.

Think about the color of your eyes and the undertones in your skin. Whether your skin is incredibly fair or a much deeper complexion, the best colors for your face will deal more with whether your skin has warm or cool undertones.

One trick for determining what kind of undertones you have is looking at the veins on the back of your wrist. If they are blue, you’ve got cool undertones. If they are green, you’ve got warm undertones. For warm undertones, cool colors are better. For cool undertones, warm colors are better.

In addition to choosing the right color, one of the best pro tips we can offer is to use beard dye. Manufacturers make dye, especially for the beard. Beard dye is a whole lot kinder to your skin, and the end results are much better.

How to Revive Your Beard if You've Been Neglecting It

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:36:39 -0800

Beard neglect happens to the best of us. It’s easy to let life get in the way, and it doesn’t take long for your beard to go from looking like your pride and joy to looking like who did it and why.

Don’t despair! A beard can be revived. Here’s how to do it in three easy steps.

Step 1: Wipe the Slate Clean

Washing your beard will get rid of any excess sweat, sebum, dirt, and even caked up products. Use Big Beard Soap to start restoring a good moisture balance in your beard while removing anything that’s making it look bad.

Step 2: Detangle and Moisturize

Leave just a little bit of dampness in your beard after you rinse out the soap to hydrate it. Then, start working a generous amount of beard oil from your skin down. Starting at the roots, use your fingers to gently rake through your beard.

If your fingers get caught up in a snag, stop there. Start at the end of your beard underneath the tangle and use a wooden beard comb to very gently coax out the tangles. (Many guys detangle before they wash their beards, but follow these steps if there are any knots left over.) Take your time. Don’t yank your beard, and don’t force any knots out.

If necessary, apply a little more water and oil to keep your beard moist and supple. Gently work out the tangles, taking as much time as you need to. Give your beard that TLC that it’s been missing.

When your beard is tangle free, use our beard brush to give it a nice brush through. Make long strokes starting at the chin, using the bristles to scratch (aka exfoliate) your skin. You may need to rinse your beard again if there is too much oil in it at the end of this process. If you feel like your beard needs it, you may want to leave the oil in for up to 30 minutes before you rinse. If you’re comfortable with the amount of oil in your beard at the end of the process, leave it there.

Step 3: Make a Beard Care Routine (and Stick to It)

Beard care is a marathon, not a sprint. A treatment here and a good detangling session there is great, but that’s not enough to maintain a good looking beard 365 days a year. Instead, focus on developing a sustainable beard care routine.

A great beard care routine needs to do the following:

Address the weekly needs of your beard and skin
Fit within the amount of time that you can consistently devote to beard maintenance each day
Involve products that you can afford to keep a supply of

Don’t set yourself up for failure. Trying to tackle a 30 minute beard care routine each morning if you don’t even have time to wash your face some days is just not reasonable. If the latest-greatest $100 beard serum works great for your beard, but it just doesn’t fit in your monthly budget, do your beard and wallet a favor by finding a more affordable product that meets your needs.

You can come up with a great routine, but it needs to address the specific needs of your beard if you want to see any benefits from it. Having a dry beard, an oily beard, a patch beard, an itchy beard, or a length goal are all personal factors that you should take into consideration as you build out your beard care routine.

If you have really dry skin, you may need to use beard oil every other day. If you have naturally oily skin, you may only need beard oil once a week. Beard balm may be a lifesaver for someone with a very bushy beard, but it could make a patchy beard look even patchier.

If you’re not sure what you beard needs are, or you don’t know how to tailor your beard care routine to your needs, take our beard quiz. Nursing your beard back to health is as easy as 1,2,3! Just get it clean and moisturized and find a sustainable routine to keep it that way.

To The Smoky Mountain Beard Family

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:36:11 -0800

Big things are happening with Smoky Mountain Beards, and we want to keep you in the loop. First of all, we’ve got a little update about products. We know Smoky Mountain Beard scents are amazing, but you guys are really showing how much you love them! If you get a message that your favorite scent is out of stock, it’s because we are rushing to keep up with demand. Before you go sending us hate mail, we want to assure you that we have no plans to remove any of our beloved fragrances from the store. All scents will be back in stock soon, and we appreciate your patronage and patience. In the meantime, this is an excellent opportunity to try a new scent. This is one of the few times in life when cheating is ok.

Speaking of fragrances, we’re calling it now. This is going to be the Summer of Scents. Stay tuned for more on what that means.

On the subject of future plans, we’ve got some very exciting things in the pipeline for Memorial Day and Father’s Day. Keep watching this space to stay up to date.

Armed Forces Day

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:35:42 -0800

Armed Forces Day is Saturday, May 21st, 2022. Support for our troops is something that has been ingrained in Smoky Mountain Beards since the very beginning. Our founder, Nate, is passionate about the men and women who help to make this country so great. Awareness, outreach, and treatment around the subject of mental health is another matter that is close to his heart.

Armed Forces Day started in 1950. The original purpose of the holiday was to promote unity among all the armed forces, honor those who are serving and have served, and educate the community about the various branches of the military.

This year, Smoky Mountain Beards will take a brief break from our usual content to participate in education about mental health and the armed forces.

Millions of past and present members of the armed forces suffer from PTSD, depression, and a host of other mental health issues. Often viewed as some of the strongest people in our society, men suffer in silence as their mental health needs are overlooked and unaddressed.

This Armed Forces Day Smoky Mountain Beards would like to take the opportunity to shine a light on resources.

The Military Crisis Line is a free mental health resource for active-duty military personnel and their closest friends and family. Trained counselors are on the other end of the line. Anything your say to them is completely confidential. You can reach them by a phone call at 800-273-8255. You can also connect with a counselor by texting 838255 or pressing the chat button on veterancrisisline.net

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has special resources specifically for veterans and active duty service members. NAMI representatives also help to staff the Military Crisis Line. NAMI can help you find a doctor, support group, or other local resources.

Mental Health America is a national non-profit that offers mental health treatment based on a sliding scale. Their services are free for many. For those who pay, fees are based on your income. The organization accepts TRICARE insurance, and its website has resources for all members of a military family. Some of those resources help children cope with missing parents and guide couples through reconnecting after a deployment.

Smoky Mountain Beards would like to wish a happy Armed Forces Day and a sincere thank you to all current and former members of the Armed Forces. We also want to honor their family members who sacrifice so much as well.

Since beard care is our love language, we’d like to take this opportunity to give a little something back to those who have sacrificed so much. In honor of Armed Forces Day, we are running a sale. When you buy one cologne, you’ll get a free beard oil.

Does Beard Texture Matter?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:34:59 -0800

By definition, the texture of hair describes the diameter of each shaft of hair. If your hair is very wide in diameter, it is considered coarse. If your hair is very thin in diameter, it is considered fine. Hair that falls somewhere in between the two is considered medium.

Despite the textbook definition of the term, most people who talk about beard texture are talking about the way a beard looks. A big part of Beard Confidence is setting goals and reaching them. Understanding all of the unique characteristics of your beard can help you in two ways. First, you’ll be able to build a beard care routine that is perfectly suited to every aspect of your hair. Second, you’ll be able to set realistic beard goals and surpass them.

These are the characteristics of hair that help determine the way your beard looks, fields, and needs to be cared for.

Understanding Beard Curl Patterns

Beards can be curly, coily, wavy, straight, or a mixture of all of those. Staighter textures often appear longer than curlier textures. Curlier textures often appear to be a little fuller than straighter textures.

If your beard is straight, you will notice increases in lenght much quicker. The curls and coils of a curly beard reduce visible length. Depending on the density and color of your hair, your straight beard may appear to be a little thinner than it is. Different lengths at different sections of your beard may be more noticeable, contributing to a more wiry look.

Beards with more texture need oil more often than beards that fall on the straighter end of the spectrum. Sebum from the roots of the hair is nature’s answer to a great conditioner. Gravity helps the sebum glide down close to the tips of the shafts of straight hair. Curly and coily hair has more surface area, and gravity doesn’t take the sebum down as far.

Beard Curl Pattern Styling Tips

Applying products and combing your hair can stretch out a curly beard. When you put water on a curly or coily beard, it is perfectly natural for it to shrink up a little as the water causes the hair to curl up truest to its natural pattern.

When it comes to detangling, a good wooden beard comb is the best choice for a straight beard. The thinner spacing of the teeth of a comb helps to untangle all the fine knots. For a curlier beard, a good boar bristle brush ofen works better. This can due a much better job of getting in between all of the curls.

Beard Density

When it comes to hair and density, think of it like trees on an acre of land. Two identical acres may have 100 trees. If the trees on one acre are all close together, it may look more densely wooded than the other acre where those same 100 trees are spaced apart.

You may have as much beard hair as the next guy, but your beard will look different if your hair is not as dense. Beard density is completely genetic. It just has to do with the pattern in which your hair grows out of your chin. It’s not something you can change, and it has nothing to do with your beard maintenance routine.

The way your beard looks depends, not just on whether it is curly or straight, but on all of the characteristics that make up each hair follicle. Some portions of your beard may be dense while others are sparse. Your sideburn might be coarse, and your mustache may be fine. Beards are super unique.

So, does beard texture matter? Not nearly as much as you’d think it would. Texture, curl pattern, and density are all just facts about the way your hair grows naturally. None of the possibilities for theses characteristics of beards are better or worse than others. When you understand the characteristics of your beard, you can car for it better.

Summer of Scents Series: White Lightning Trail

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:34:34 -0800

This is the Summer of Scents! All summer long we’ll highlight the elements of the Smoky Mountains that make our signature fragrances so special. Keep an eye out for more parts to this series.

What is White Lightning?

Have you ever wondered where the name white lightning came from? You don’t have to be from the Smokies to know about White Lightning. This beverage has had such a rise in popularity in recent years that you may even be able to buy it (legally!) from your local grocery store or distillery.

Moonshine is homemade alcohol. It’s a very, very high proof whiskey made from corn. Historically speaking, the making of moonshine has been an underground affair. Moonshiners would make their whiskey in stills that they would have to hide from the authorities.

The clandestine nature of moonshine production is a big part of the reason it is called moonshine. You can’t exactly set up super strong illegal alcohol production on your front lawn. Instead, moonshine has been made in bathtubs, basements, and other hideouts traditionally by the light of the moon to avoid detection.

During the Prohibition Era, alcohol was outlawed in America. Before, during, and after that time moonshine (at least the kind people make at home) has never been exactly legal. Its high alcohol content and the unregulated nature of DIY alcohol make it a substance that was always considered dangerous. If the alcohol level is too high, people can die from drinking moonshine, and there have been quite a few mishaps over time where people have died from bad moonshine.

Moonshine is white whiskey, and some of it is actually white in color. Whiskey is already strong, and moonshine is really, really strong. Some people compare that kick of taking a swig of moonshine to a bolt of lightning. That’s where the nickname white (for the color) lightning (for the effect) comes from.

History of the White Lightning Trail

Back in the Prohibition Era, the Smoky Mountains were a hotspot for bootleggers. Gangsters from the bigger cities hired bootleggers in the Smokies to produce and conceal alcohol, which was illegal at the time.

Long before Prohibition became law, there was a rich history of making moonshine in the Smoky Mountains. Corn was a big crop from the area, and the people of the Smoky Mountains have passed down moonshine recipes, to use up all of that excess corn, from generation to generation. Some say that the tradition of making alcohol from corn even has ties back to Ireland, where many people in the Appalachian region can trace their ancestry.

Between the big city bootleggers and the mountaineer moonshiners, there was plenty of illegal alcohol being made in the Smoky Mountains during Prohibition. Alcohol drinkers knew it, and the authorities did too. That’s why getting alcohol from the hidden stills to households and speakeasies around the country was quite the covert affair.

There is a 200 mile stretch of what is today a tourist’s paradise that became known as the White Lightning Trail. During Prohibition, moonshine runners would use the trail to get their goods to market. Back then, it was perfect for hiding.

Today, moonshine is legal and there are plenty of historical tourists attractions and distilleries. If you visit the region, you can taste moonshine for yourself, and learn about all of the things that make the Smoky Mountains so special. The White Lightning Trail ends at Cumberland National Park, which is full of breathtaking natural scenery.

Inspiration for the White Lightnin’ Scent

In its heyday, the White Lightning Trail was all about getting strong spirits from one place to another. That’s why we used Old Bay Rum, a well-know old-timey liquor to represent the alcohol-related history of the iconic Smoky Mountains landmark.

The trail might have a g on the end, but we named our scent White Lightnin’ to give a nod to the Appalachian vernacular. If you’d like to get a little White Lightnin’ in your life, you can find the scent in our beard oil, beard balm, and solid cologne. Enjoy!

Smoky Mountain Beards Memorial Day Observance

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:34:06 -0800

It’s almost Memorial Day, and Smoky Mountain Beards would like to take the opportunity to remember all of the men and women who have lost their lives serving in the armed forces.

Why Memorial Day Matters

Memorial Day is a national day of remembrance for fallen soldiers. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. At the time, the Civil War was one of the deadliest wars in America’s history.

In response, communities across the nation started grassroots efforts that involved various ways of remembering the fallen. Many of these local observances involved putting flowers and other decorations on the graves of soldiers.

These traditions continued on into the modern era, and Memorial Day was officially recognized as a federal holiday back in 1971. Today, we continue to take time on Memorial Day to remember those who lost their lives in war.

Our Memorial Day Sale

In honor of Memorial Day, we are running a sale. From now until May 30th, you can use Promo code MEMORIAL20 at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.

Since our store is online, you will still be able to shop on Memorial Day. We ask that you please keep this federal observance in mind when it comes to shipping times since most major shippers take Memorial Day off. Also, please be patient with our support staff as they take time off to remember the fallen.

P.S. We know that Memorial Day can evoke painful memories. Please see our list of mental health resources for service members and their loved ones.

5 Reasons You Need a Signature Scent This Summer

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:33:43 -0800

A signature scent is your go-to fragrance. You choose it because you like it, and it fits perfectly with your personal style. You wear it so often that people remember you for it.

If you don’t have a signature scent already, this summer is the perfect time to find one. Here are the benefits of choosing your own signature scent:

1. Aromatherapy

Your signature scent has many purposes, and one of those purposes should be your own enjoyment. Certain scents, like lavender, are known stress-relievers. You don’t have to transform into Lavender Man to get the calming benefits of aromatherapy though. If the scent is pleasant to you, you’ll have a more pleasant mood when you smell it often.

2. Be more memorable

Scents evoke emotion. Having a really good signature scnet is a great way to sway a whole room in your favor. If people associate you with a really good smell, they’ll remember you favorably. Although it takes more than a good smell to get anywhere good in life, your signature scent can certainly give you a competitive edge whether you’re trying to get the job, get the girl, or just make a good first impression.

3. Fight BO

No one wants to admit it, but we all know that it’s true. Summer is a season when a lot of us don’t smell that great. The more you sweat, the more opportunity the bacteria on your skin has to break wind. That’s a sorta-kinda scientific way of saying that high temperatures, outdoor activities, and plenty of sweat are a recipe for increased body odor. You can’t exactly mask raging BO with good cologne, but you can make that subtle staleness of your own sweat a lot less noticeable if you’re wearing a good fragrance.

4. Beard Confidence

It’s not rocket science! When you smell good, you feel good. Your signature scent of the summer can give you that extra boost you need to go out and attack the day with your best foot forward. Your signature scent will become familiar and comforting to you. It’s the adult equivalent of your favorite blanket or toy from when you were a kid. It can make you feel more secure. If you’ve got on nice clothes, your beard is perfectly groomed, and you smell good too, you’ll feel way more Beard Confident!

Would you like to explore the signature scents of Smoky Mountain Beards? You can get beard oil, beard balm, and solid cologne all in the same scent you love.

6 Ways You and Your Beard Can Thrive This Summer

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:33:21 -0800

It’s summer time! That means great fun, great food, and maybe even a vacation or two. It also means that you and your beard will experience some challenges unique to this season known for heat, humidity, and more outdoor activities.

There’s nothing a man with a beard can’t do, but there are a few best practices that can help you have more fun doing it. Here are our tips for navigating the summer with your beard and your sanity intact:

1. Keep your sunscreen handy.

Your beard may block bad vibes, but its not an impenetrable force when it comes to blocking UV rays. Don't be the guy who has crazy tan lines underneath his beard. It's hot outside y'all, and you need to protect yourself. Wear sunscreen. Just like you apply oil, lotion, and soap to your chin skin, find sunscreen that you can rub right into your beard. Don’t just use the same brand you use for the rest of your body. Read the label to make sure the sunscreen is safe for hair and the face.

2. Don’t ditch your beard oil.

A healthy moisture balance is a year long need. The cold, dry temperatures may be done, but your need for sealing life-giving moisture into your skin and giving your beard some luster never stops. Maybe you use a little less beard oil in the summer, but you still need beard oil.

3. Embrace water…

Heat brings sweat, and sweat can be a little tacky, making it easier for dirt, bacteria, and who knows what else to stick to your beard. No matter how hygienic you are, the stale mixture of sweat and sebum is unavoidable during a hot, bearded summer. It can lead to a host of things that don't look good, feel good, or smell good. Beard acne, beardfuff, ingrown hairs, folliculitis, and more can really rain on your beach day.

To prevent all of those issues, make sure you’re conscious of the amount of sweat in your beard. If your skin can stand more frequent washing or even just rinsing and thoroughly drying your beard, do it!

4. …And Exfoliation.

If your skin the tendency to get dry when you wash it more often, a little exfoliation can give your beard the extra cleaning boost it needs. Exfoliation doesn't have to be a chemical peel, and it doesn't have to be rough or painful.

Being very thorough about reaching the bristles of a boar bristle brush down to your chin is exfoliation. Very gently agitating your skin with a soft cloth is exfoliation. You can also buy an exfoliating beard wash or facial cleanser.

5. Prepare for pool days.

Swimming and summer go hand and hand. Chlorine and who knows what is in natural bodies of water aren't going to your beard any favors if they linger in it for too long. If you're going for a pool day, beach, day lake day, or anything similar, be sure to pack some beard wash to get all the chemical and crud out of your skin ASAP.

If you notice that a particular type of water is especially drying or damaging to your beard, treat yourself to some good ol’l beard oil and beard balm when you’re back indoors.

6. Fight the Funk

Let be honest. We're all a little more odoriferous when it's hot outside. Beat the stink by upping your scent game. The summer heat is makes solid cologne even more fragrant. If you need help finding a signature scent this summer, we’ve got you covered [LINK TO SIGNATURE SCENT BLOG.)

A big part of Beard Confidence is living a full-life with your beard and not letting anything hold you back. If you’re prepared for the unique beard hazards of summer, you and your beard will have an excellent time.

What to Do About a Sweaty Beard

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:32:38 -0800

We’re in the midst of a long, hot summer. Everybody’s sweat glands are really putting in some work, but having a beard makes the whole experience a little less than comfortable. If you’ve been bummed out over having a sweaty beard, we’ve got some news for you.

Respect the Sweat

First of all, it’s important to realize that sweat is a good thing. There would be something seriously wrong with your health if you did not sweat, at least a little on a hot day.

Sweat is a part of homeostasis, the body’s mechanism for keeping your body temperature just right. Sweat is an electrolyte-rich cool liquid that evaporates off the skin. It helps to keep the body temperature at a safe level when the outdoor temperature would otherwise make it rise.

Sweating is the same concept as running through sprinklers or swimming in the pool on a hot day. It also has a lot to do with the reason athletes pour water and sports drinks on their heads rather than just in their mouths. Sweat helps you feel cooler and helps the body maintain a safe and stable internal temperature. When it comes to dealing with a sweaty beard, you’re not getting rid of the sweat. Instead, you’re learning to live with it.

Does a Beard Make Your Hotter In the Summer?

The prospect of living with a sweaty beard may seem incredibly stifling, but it may not be nearly as bad as you think. If this is your first summer with a beard, congratulations! You might be wondering about what you’re going to do about being so hot, but trust us, there’s no need to be concerned.

While a beard is certain to make you hotter in the sense of being better looking, it will actually make you cooler in the sense of temperature (and looks too!) Although it's not always the best feeling in the world, your beard keeps that internal-temperature-regulating salty goodness called sweat closer to your skin for longer. If anything, your beard keeps your face cooler than the average person's during the summer.

How to Handle a Sweaty Beard

With that being said, you’re totally understood if you don’t like feeling (or smelling) like you’ve got a sopping wet sweat rag on your skin every time you start to sweat. There’s not exactly anything you can do to stop yourself from sweating, but there are a few things that will help you.

1.Instead of being the sweat rag, carry one.

Although each person is different, nine times out of ten your chin is not a major source of sweat. Rather, the bulk of the sweat (most likely) trickles down from your forehead where there are way more sweat glands. Wipe it off before it rolls down to your beard.

2. Try facial antiperspirants

For some people, this may be an extreme step. For others, it’s a life saver. There is a medical condition called hyperhidrosis that makes people sweat excessively. While you don’t necessarily need to use clinical products if you don’t have a medical problem, there are also OTC antiperspirants to treat the issue of too much sweat on the face.

These OTC solutions come as lotions, gels, and even facial wipes. While they are supposed to be sensitive enough for the face, a spot test is highly recommended. There would be nothing worse than having a bad case of contact dermatitis on top of a hot sweaty beard.

3. Keep Cool

This may sound simple, but it works. You don’t have to stay inside all day just because you’ve got a beard, but you can definitely reduce the amount of sweat in your beard by reducing your body’s need to sweat.

If you’re outside, sit underneath a shade. Stay hydrated. If possible, plan outdoor activities so that you’re not outside during the hottest parts of the day. Dress appropriately for the weather, so that you don’t needlessly make yourself hotter. If you’re going to spend hours outside, carry a personal fan with you.

4. Stay Clean

Sweat makes your beard get dirtier quicker. You’ll need to up the ante on washing your beard. Big Beard Soap is perfect for that because it cleans the skin without stripping it.

Your beard doesn’t have to be a victim to the latest heatwave. With a little planning and know-how, you and your beard can have the summer of your life.

Story Behind Another One Of Our Scents

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:32:16 -0800

We hope you’re enjoying this incredibly hot summer! Thanks to our trusty old farmer’s almanac, we knew this would be a perfect time for our Summer of Scents series. We’ve loved hearing your stories of how our scented beard and body products are helping you to beat the heat (and the BO!)

Cumberland is our scent that has notes of cedar and leather. It’s a very bold fragrance that so many of you love. As you may know, all of our scents (and our name) take inspiration from the iconic Smoky Mountains and the people and places that make the Appalachian region so special.

The Cumberland scent is inspired by the Cumberland Gap. We thought we’d take a brief interruption from our usual beard focused activity to tell you about this can’t miss aspect of the Smokies.

Here are 5 facts about the Cumberland Gap:

Native Americans used to call it Warrior’s Path. Until modern roads came along, what we now call the Cumberland Gap was one of the safest and easiest places to pass through the treacherous Smoky Mountains.
In colonial times, the Cumberland Gap served as an important passageway for settlers leaving the East for a new life out West.
Today, the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Association helps to tell its history and keep sites open for visitors.
The Cumberland Gap stretches across three states.
The Cumberland Gap includes Gap Cave. Just like it sounds, that’s a real cave you can tour. If you’ve always wanted to get your Tom Sawyer on, this is a perfect place to explore. Just don’t get lost like he did.

If you’re more of a visual learner, go explore the many facets of the Cumberland Gap for yourself this summer. If you’re more of a nasal learner, purchase a tin of solid cologne so that you can experience Cumberland without leaving your home.

Best Summer Beard Styles

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:31:52 -0800

Does your grooming routine need a shakeup this summer? Recreating your beard is just a buzz, snip, or shave away.

Summer is a great time to try something new. We've curated three looks that are up to date with the latest trends. The first is perfect for people who want a longer, fuller beard. The last is great if you're looking to go a lot thinner with your look. The second is perfect for the guys who fall somewhere in between.

Long and Strong

Why go for it: Who says you need to cut your beard this summer? A long beard blocks the sun from your skin, and it looks pretty dang good too. Contrary to popular belief, beards keep you cooler (link to last week's blog). If you've been working all year to grow a nice beard, why start hacking away at it right in the middle of party season?

How to rock it: This is easy! Just keep your beard moisturized, detangled, and clean. The length will come.

Goatee

Why go for it: Goatees give you that full bearded look with a good bit of flair. It also takes a lot of the hair off, which is a good to give you face a brand new look.

How to rock it: Don't make it complicated. First, create the shape of the goatee and then reduce the bulk of your beard down to the level you want. Trim a mustache that leans on the thinner side, or you can get rid of your mustache all together. Let the hair just past the corners of your million dollar smile be the eastern and western borders. In our humble opinion, the most stylish goatees are thickest at the dead center of the chin and thin out towards the edges.

All About the Edges

Why go for it: This is a great care free style for the summer. Your beard will be thin and not long enough to get but so tangled. With this kind of style, you can get away with making beard care and skin care one and the same. When executed correctly, this is a very debonair look.

How to rock it: Get rid of every part of your beard that does not rest on your jawline. Make the style your own. It can be as thick or as thin as you want.

If you have a beard style you love to whip out every summer, we'd love to hear about it

Is Summer Better For Growing Your Beard Out of Trimming It?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:31:26 -0800

There are a lot of polarizing opinions about what to do with your beard during the summertime. We’re all about Beard Confidence. Many times, Beard Confidence means doing what you want, rather than forcing your beard to fit into some mold. So, we’re not going to stand on a soap box and preach that you have to do one thing or the other.

However, we're all about keeping the Smoky Mountain Beards Family informed.

Why men grow out their beards during the summer:

Increased Sun Protection

Make no mistake about it. Your beard, no matter how glorious it is, is no substitute for sunscreen. However, hair is a physical barrier that filters out some of the UV rays your face is exposed to from reaching down to your skin. This is one reason that makes keeping your beard long and strong during the summer an excellent choice. Do you need a little help with length? Try our brand new beard growth spray.

Staying Cool

Beards work with your body's natural defenses against extreme heat to keep you cooler. When you sweat on the non-hairy parts of your body, that sweat evaporates away. This is the entire reason for sweat, and it helps regulate your body temperature when the external temperature is high.

Your beard gives the cooling-down power of sweat a bit of a boost. The beard helps to keep some of the sweat around your face for longer. Sweat grows cool rather quickly, and it has the same effect as pouring cold water on your body.

Here are some reasons why guys trim their beards for the summer:

Sweat

Beards are not inherently sweaty, but your beard can really weigh you down if you are a very sweaty person. We’re not talking about people who just happen to sweat a lot. Rather, we’re talking about people who have a medical condition like hyperhidrosis. If you’re in a situation where you really can’t control the amount of sweat on your face and it keeps running into your beard, you could be susceptible to skin problems.

A build-up of sweat in your beard can cause dirt, dead skin cells, and other debris to get trapped there. That puts you at an increased risk for beard acne, skin infections, irritation, and breakouts in general. That’s no bueno for your skin or your beard. If a collection of beard sweat is an irritant for you during the summer, trimming things down for the hot months may be just what the doctor ordered.

Style

Even if you’re camera shy, summer is the season of weddings, cookouts, pool parties, and other events that increase your likelihood of being pictured. Fads come and go. Depending on what year it is, having a short and tidy beard may be more "in" than having one that’s big and bushy.

Especially if you're used to having a shorter beard, it may be a thing of comfort. It's much easier to style your beard at the length you're used too, and there's no shame in keeping things easier for yourself, especially during party season.

Keep your beard long. Trim it down. Do whatever floats your boat. Summer, winter, spring, or fall just make sure to keep your beard healthy. Maybe you use a little less beard oil in the summer, but you still need beard oil. Being very thorough about reaching the bristles of a boar bristle brush down to your chin is exfoliation. Very gently agitating your skin with a soft cloth is exfoliation.

8 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Grew My Beard

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:31:04 -0800

If you’re trying to grow your beard, you’re among good company! Hundred of thousands of men have charted this path before you. That’s why we scoured the Internet and included tips from our Smoky Mountain Beards experts to develop a list of helpful tips for anyone who is just starting his beard growth journey or needs a little help to keep going.

Length takes time

There are a lot of lotions and potions out there, but there really aren’t any magic pills when it comes to length. You can hope, pray, poke, and rub, but there’s not much that’s going to change the reality of the way beards (and all hair for that matter) grows.

In good conditions, hair grows at a rate of about a half inch per month. For perspective, that means it takes four months for the average guy to get one inch or growth. Even if you’re a beard care expert, expecting a foot of growth in a year is unrealistic. Instead, focus on retaining the length that you’re naturally given by sticking to a quality beard care routine.

There’s a difference between oil and moisture

Make no mistake about it, oil is essential for your beard. However, it’s really important to understand the essential need that it provides. Beard oil conditions, softens, and seals in moisture. Oil does not provide moisture. Moisture is wetness, and water is the only thing that can make something wet.

If you apply nothing but oil to a dry beard, you’re sealing in dryness, making your beard even drier. Water, and not necessarily a lot of it, always comes first, and then you add oil to seal in the moisture.

Starting over won’t make it better

There’s a fallacy out there that cutting off your beard is the solution to major beard problems. Cutting off your beard only means that your growth journey will start back over. There’s nothing wrong with starting with a clean slate if that’s what you want, but don’t go into it believing that shaving is going to solve your beard problems.

These are the things that will NOT happen just because you shave your beard off:

It will grow back faster
It will become healthier
Split ends won’t come back

We’re not trying to point fingers here, but problems with your beard are often the result of problems with your beard care routine. It’s not rocket science, but you do need to test things out and make adjustments for your unique skin care needs.

Your beard needs to be clean, and you shouldn’t use harsh body cleansers or shampoo that strip it of its moisture. Instead, use our Big Beard Soap that’s tough on dirt but gentle on the sensitive skin of your face. It needs moisture from water, and you need to seal it in with the right amount of oil. Not too much. Not too little.

Genetics make a difference

Genetics play a role in how your beard grows. That’s why you probably have a lot of chest hair if your dad does. That’s why you and your grandpa have a similar hairline, even if he’s balding and you’re not. Patchiness in your beard can be a result of genetics. Don’t beat up on yourself if all your efforts fail to reduce one spot of patchiness.

Beard care is skincare

Point blank: You’re not going to have a great beard if you don’t take care of your skin. Acne, ingrown hairs, and breakouts will absolutely hold you back in your beard growth journey. If you’ve got the habit of not washing your face at all or using whatever old harsh soap you use on the rest of your body for your face, it’s time to start a new habit.

Even if you have been good at taking care of your face, you’re going to have to up the ante, especially as your beard starts to grow. The hair underneath your beard (We affectionately call it chin skin.) is subject to neglect if you’re not careful. Especially if you have a luscious full beard, you’re going to have to be intentional at reaching your fingers underneath and in between all of your beard hair to make sure your precious chin skin doesn’t miss out on any of the TLC it needs.

You need to exfoliate

Exfoliation is not just for women at the spa. Your beard and chin skin needs exfoliation from time to time. Product build-up, sweat, and all kinds of debris can get trapped in your beard and clog up your pores, leading to skin problems. A routine of exfoliation takes care of that problem.

Exfoliation can happen with a cleanser or cream that has exfoliants. It can also be as simple as gently agitating your skin with a washcloth, or, even better, using a boar bristle brush to scratch your beard down to the roots. Take it from us, that boar bristle brush is a really satisfying feeling.

Be gentle

We often think of beards as being tough, manly, and rugged. That’s how they look, but beards are still just hair, millimeters thin strands of proteins and dead skin cells. If your rake your nails through your beard with reckless abandon, you can cause split ends. If you brush or comb your beard like a madman, you can rip your hair out. Respect the beard. Be gentle with it.

Be Beard Confident

Your beard is your beard. It doesn’t have to be a certain length, have a certain texture, or look a certain way. Take care of your beard, and remain confident in what you’re doing and how you look. This is a journey. Enjoy every moment of it, and don’t try to rush it. Stay Beard Confident!

Take it from an old pro. Keep these beard care tips in mind, and you’ll enjoy your beard growth journey.

How Often You Should Wash Your Beard and How to Do It

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:30:33 -0800

August 1st to 7th is National Cleanse Your Skin Week. Especially with heat waves across the country, this is the perfect time to talk about the what fors and how-tos of cleansing your beard. We’ve said it before, and it’s the hill we’re willing to die on. Beard care is skin care.

If your skin is dirty, too dry, too oily, or in a constant battle against breakouts, your beard will suffer. What better time than National Cleanse Your Skin Week to focus on building your beard-friendly skincare regimen? If you’ve got a beard and you’re interested in cleansing your skin, that means paying attention to both your beard and your face, and they each have different needs.

What’s the Difference Between Washing Your Beard and Your Face?

Washing your beard and washing your face are very closely related, but they are not the same process. When you wash your face, you should not neglect your chin skin. It also wouldn’t make much sense to neglect your face when you wash your beard.

Washing your face means that you’re using a facial cleanser on your entire face (including your chin skin) primarily for the purpose of clearing away dead skin, excess oils, and any germs you’ve picked up over the course of your day.

Washing your beard means that you’re using a beard cleanser exclusively on the hair of your beard and your chin skin for the purpose of cleansing your beard and caring for the unique needs of the skin beneath your beard. Ideally, you’d follow up a beard wash with some extra TLC for your beard that will help it look and feel nice until your next beard wash.

How Often Should You Wash Your Beard?

There’s a stigma out there that beards are inherently dirty, nasty, and unhygienic. That’s simply not true. A beard is no more prone to smell or collect germs than the hair on top of your head. As long as you don’t have Robert Barone’s eating habits, there’s no reason that food should be falling into your beard all the time.

The average guy can be perfectly healthy and hygienic washing his beard once or twice a week. A lot of men do really well following a beard care routine that includes a good beard wash about once every three days.

Remember that beard care is skincare and vice versa. Your skin and your beard may have completely different needs from the next guy’s. The frequency at which you wash your beard should depend on two factors, namely your skin’s needs and how dirty your beard is.

It goes without saying that you may need to wash your beard and extra time or two if something made it especially dirty. If your skin runs on the drier side or you’re prone to beard dandruff, you may need to wash your beard a little less often than your oily-skinned counterparts. No one is pointing fingers here. Wash your beard as often, or as infrequently, as works for your skin and your lifestyle.

How Often Should You Wash Your Face?

At a minimum, you should wash your face once per day. Although it may excessive for some, many people could stand to wash their face twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. In addition to taking care of the unique needs of your skin based on whether it's oily, dry, or normal, washing your face also serves the hygienic purpose of removing germs.

It’s important to find the perfect balance for your body. If you don’t wash your face enough, oils may clog up your pores causing breakouts. If you wash your face too often, you could throw off the production of sebum, causing your skin to produce way too much oil to make up for what you’re stripping away too often, which also leads to breakouts.

Just like our personalities, our faces are unique. One face may need salicylic acid. Another may need hyaluronic acid, and the next face may need both. (Pro tip: Salicylic acid is great if you have acne, and hyaluronic acid helps to thoroughly moisturize your face.)

Some days, your face may not be as dirty as others, and that’s where a mixture of products comes in. One day, you may only need a no-suds moisturizing gentle facial cleanser. Every now and then, you might need something with either a chemical or mechanical exfoliant. On those in-between days, you may do just fine with a gentle facial soap that’s somewhere in between.

How to Wash Your Beard

Washing your beard is not an intimidating process. Just follow these simple steps.

1. WET

Thoroughly wet your beard with a generous amount of water. It doesn’t have to be sopping wet, but no part of your beard should be left bone dry. Be sure to neglect neither your chin skin nor the longer strands of your beard.

2. LATHER

Rub your wet hands on your bar of Big Beard Soap. Once you get a nice lather going on your hands, start working that into your chin skin. If you run out of suds, wet your hands and rub the soap again. Be sure to use your finger pads to scratch down to the roots of your beard, agitating the skin and really working in the suds. Once the chin skin is nice and soapy, start moving down your beard until your reach the tips.

3. RINSE

Once your beard is thoroughly lathered with our moisturizing, cleansing beard soap, rinse it out. You can do this in the shower or at the sink. Be thorough. Remember that beard soap isn’t supposed to sit in your beard for a long time.

4. DRY

Next use the softest towel you can find to gently blot and squeeze your beard dry. Your wet hairs are in a fragile state, so you don’t want to wipe, scrape, or rub with the towel. You’re not looking to make your beard bone dry. You want to leave it just a hair or two above damp.

5. OIL

Seal in the moisture that’s left over from the water with a healthy helping of beard oil. Work the beard oil from roots to end, allowing some (not too much) to get on your chin skin.

6. STYLE

Finally, style your beard to your taste. You may want to blow dry it or smooth it down with beard balm and a beard brush.

At some point, you also need to detangle your beard. Detangle is just a fancy way of saying comb out the kinks. Depending on the texture of your beard, it may be best to detangle at steps one, two, or five. Detangle at the time when you’re able to work out the most knots without being too forceful. A wooden beard comb or a beard brush make perfect detangling tools.

Finding the right beard and skin care regimen for you involves a good bit of trial and error. Rest assured that all of the errors you could possibly commit will not be fatal flaws. Simply be willing to adjust your routine if you see that something is not working.

Big Beard Soap Is Back!

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:30:20 -0800

Do you need a five ounce bar of beard soap? If so, you'll be happy to hear that all scents of our Big Beard Soaps are back in stock. Our Big Beard Soaps are all natural and handmade.

They clean your beard well without stripping it of moisture. We include a healthy balance of condition ingredients in our product to help your beard hold onto some of the moisture from rinsing it out.

Meanwhile, activated charcoal binds to grime on the molecular level to get your beard nice and clean. Stearic acid give our beard soap the luxurious lather you love. It also helps to close (not completely closed) your pores, which is a great way to retain moisture.

Big Beard Soap is the perfect foundation to any beard care routine. Once you've got a clean and moisturized beard, you are ready to reach any of your beard goals. You could die your grey's, throw on some beard growth spray, use some beard balm for a style, or add some beard oil. Whatever you do, stay beard confident!

Our Favorite Bearded Singers

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:29:48 -0800

Patrick Grant is a musician who started International Strange Music Day, which is celebrated on August 24th. He created the day to inspire people to listen to music that they consider to be strange. As a musician, he had an appreciation for a variety of sounds, instruments, and genres, and he wanted to encourage the masses to listen outside of their usual comfort zones.

What does all this have to do with beards, you may ask? Some people think wearing a beard is strange. Clearly, we don’t agree with them, but we love the idea of trying something new and expanding our horizons, musical or otherwise.

Musicians, whether you consider their music to be very strange or not, are often trendsetters. Quite a few musical acts played no small part in the men’s grooming trends that have catapulted beards in and out of the fashion spotlight over the years.

Let’s have a little fun. Here are our favorite bearded musicians.

Dusty Hill

Dusty Hill is the late bassist and vocalist of ZZ Top. He made one-third of the group that seamlessly blended rock and blues into a unique new style. Hill was known to sport a long beard.

Isaac Hayes

This late soul singer proved that a beard doesn’t have to be long to make a big impact. The signature beard that he kept for most of his career, coupled with shades, added to his aesthetic as an untouchable cool dude.

Jim James

Jim James is a singer with My Morning Jacket. He often keeps a beard that ends in distinct a triangular point and blends seamlessly with his long locks of hair.

Chris Stapelton

Christ Stapelton is a country crooner who can often be spotted with a stylish cowboy hat, long hair, and a long beard. His voice is rich like molasses. Although he signs solo as well, he’s also a member of the Zac Brown Band. Stapelton has been known to cross genres. For example, his band has a song with Pitbull called Can’t Stop Us Now.

Bob Marley

The late great Bob Marley was a musical pioneer because he brought reggae to the mainstream. Along with his band, The Wailers, Marley made reggae household music for people thousands of miles away from his home country of Jamaica. Throughout his career, Bob Marley often sported a beard. At times, it was a medium-length goatee, and he wore it shaved down closer to his face sometimes too. His sons, Damian and Ziggy Marley, are carrying the torch as bearded musicians.

Dave Grohl

To the world, Dave Grohl is the frontman of the Foo Fighters. To us, he’s a Beard Confidence hero. Dave Grohl has long hair, so there’s no question about his ability to grow hair. He also has a beard that some would describe as patchy, which is not an insult in this neck of the woods. Grohl proves that healthy beards can be patchy and just as awesome as a fuller one.

Wonder if any of these musicians use Smoky Mountain Beards beard oil? Great music comes from all genres, and beards come in all shapes and sizes. In honor of Strange Music Day, why don’t you give some of these artists a listen? Let us know who your favorite bearded musicians are!

Smoky Mountain Beards Celebrates American Adventures Month

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:29:22 -0800

August is American Adventures Month. The month honors all the special adventures that you can find right here in the United States, as well as the natural wonders found in other parts of North and South America.

What's in a Smoky Mountains Adventure?

What better time of year to celebrate our namesake, the wonderful Smoky Mountains! The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an excellent place to see all the natural beauty the region has to offer.

This scenic mountain range stretches across North Carolina and Tennessee. Although things have changed a lot, the region still pays homage to its rich Prohibition Era history, the inspiration for our scents like Bootlegger and White Lightnin', with distilleries, historical tours, and much more.

Beard Care Travel Essentials

On your next great adventure, be sure to remember to pack a few things for your beard along for the ride. If you're short on space in your luggage, try these tips:

Our beard oil always comes in convenient 2 oz bottles that you can take on planes. Our Big Beard Soap is a perfect option to keep your beard moisturized and clean when you can't bring liquid soap on a plane.

If you want to save time, try this:

Beard Growth Spray is a great catchall product to care for a variety of your beard care needs, such as strengthening, giving nutrients, and conditioning, even if you've got way too much on your itinerary to spend a long time on your beard.

National Men's Grooming Day Sale

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:29:03 -0800

August 19, 2022, is National Men’s Grooming Day. As far as Smoky Mountain Beards is concerned, every day is National Men’s Grooming Day.

We’re all about giving men the tools they need to appear to be as good-looking of a guy on the outside as the amazing individuals they are on the inside. We understand that looking good and feeling good go hand in hand.

That’s why we’re so passionate about Beard Confidence. Whether you’ve got a patchy bit of stubble or a bushy yeard, we want you to have the confidence to face every day with a healthy measure of pride in your appearance.

To some, beards are just a style, but for others, they are a much more poignant symbol of personal expression. The beard does not make the man, but boy can a beard make a man feel good!

In honor of looking good and feeling great, we’re running an extra special sale for National Men’s Grooming Day. This is the perfect time to stock up on all of your Smoky Mountain Beards favorites. We’re running a buy three, get one free sale, and this sale is interchangeable. Use promo code [CODE] until [DATE] to take advantage of this sale.

If you need beard oil, beard balm, and solid cologne, now’s your time to get all three for the price of two. If you’re ready to get a head start on the gift-giving season, you can even use this special offer on bundles!

If you’d like to join in the festivities even further, send us pictures or videos of your personal grooming routine. We’d love to share your submissions with the Smoky Mountain Beards Family!

World Beard Day

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:28:49 -0800

World. Beard. Day.

Whatta day to be alive. In honor of all things beard, we’ve compiled the best of the best, the craziest of the craziest, the most beardtastic beards of them all and we are sharing them with you to inspire and bring hope.

Beard on my friends and enjoy this freebie e-book to bring hope that the patches will be gone and the length will be strong.

Grab your e-book here and don’t forget to grab a beard oil and balm to celebrate.

Bearded & Bald?

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:28:30 -0800

Happy World Bald Day!

Fun Fact:

The genes responsible for head hair loss are different than the genes responsible for beard hair loss!

Bald or not, beard on and beard confident.

Simple & Efficient

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:27:51 -0800

A minimalist beard. We are here for it. I know, you’re thinking, yeah right, you sell BEARD PRODUCTS :)

But this is why we started. Smoky Mountain Beards is here because we wanted minimal products in our beards and on our skin. We wanted natural oils we can feel good about. We wanted more quality, less CRAP.

If you’re a minimalist growing your beard, we got you.

That’s really all you need!

So, to honor the minimalist beard guy, we are running a fun promo. Buy a Big Beard Soap, Beard Oil, and Beard Comb to receive 15% off your order today.

Beard on my friends!

Happy National Lumberjack Day

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:27:17 -0800

The fearless woods-man with super-human strength, a lumberjack is a man to be celebrated.

From Paul Bunyon and all the loggers who came after, we appreciate you!

Ready to test your skills? Gather the little ones and some buddies and host your own Lumberjack Games! Don't forget your flannel!

Log Rolling

While you most likely won’t have logs handy, you can make do with anything log shaped! We used pool noodles and it was a sight to see!

Axe Throwing

Making do at home? A dart board is a great way to replicate axe throwing!

Tree Chopping

The competition finale! Instead of chopping down a back yard tree (unless it’s needed, perhaps?), break a pinata! End the day with sweet treats!

Partaking in the challenge? Send us your best Lumberjack Day Photos to be featured on our socials!

Beard on & beard confident, friends!

Corn Beards & Your Beard

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:26:52 -0800

Happy Sweet Corn Week!

The National Sweet Corn Festival has been happening since 1938, celebrating the end of summer. Since then, beards from Illinois to Iowa have been decorated with these sweet kernels, and we here at Smoky Mountain Beards are here for it.

Kernels in your beards not your thing? How about beards in your tea?

That’s right, corn beards (or silks) are not only high in potassium and great for kidneys, they also make a delicious tea. Check out our favorite recipe below:

Corn Beard Tea:

Preheat a teapot with hot water.

In a small saucepan, heat the water to 200°F over medium-high heat (just below a boil). Add the silks and remove from the heat. Cover and let steep for 6 minutes. Stir in the honey and salt.

Remove the corn silks from the saucepan, strain the tea into a teapot and serve.

In any case, if corn in your beard happens - wash it out with Big Beard Soap and you’re good to go!

Check your cheekbones

Smoky Mountain Beards Co. — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 19:24:39 -0800

Now, we know most of you like to keep it au natural (we’ve seen the pics and WE LOVE EM’! Keep them comin!) but we thought we would drop a line or two on shaving. That beard cheek line could use a clean up now and again and we have some tips and tricks that might help you out.

Choose Your Line

Decide between your natural cheekbone line or a defined cheek line. While the natural cheekbone line isn’t for everyone (it makes your face look bigger), it doesn’t require much upkeep.

That clean edged beard line is the defined cheekbone look. Choose a straight angle if your face is round or round the dip if your face is on the longer side.

Prep & Aftercare

Once you decide on your line, prep your beard. We use our Smoky Mountain Beard brush to really detangle and lay those hairs flat.

After your shave, use our beard oil to soothe your newly shaved skin, it’s a game changer for sure!

OK Smoky Fam, now we wanna hear from you… are you a natural cheekbone guy or defined cheekbone line?

Reply back and let us know!

HALLOWEEN COSTUME INSPO: SNIPER MASK #snipermask #halloweencostume #halloween2022 #snipermaskedit

Zeus Beard — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 17:18:37 -0700

HALLOWEEN COSTUME LOID FORGER #halloween2022 #loidforger #spyxfamily #loidforgeredit

Zeus Beard — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:27:55 -0700

Be the GOD OF THUNDER this HALLOWEEN 2022 #thorloveandthunder #thorragnarok #halloween2022 #marvel

Zeus Beard — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 14:33:40 -0700

HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEA RICHIE TENENBAUM #richietenenbaum #wesanderson #halloween2022 #halloweenlook

Zeus Beard — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 11:14:58 -0700

The EASIEST Halloween Costume for guys! #thebear #halloween2022 #halloweencostume #halloweenlook

Zeus Beard — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 14:56:32 -0700

THE BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUME IF YOU HAVE A MUSTACHE #tedlasso #halloween2022 #halloweencostume

Zeus Beard — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 13:32:42 -0700

LET ME DO MY SELF CARE ROUTINE IN PEACE! #rodgercleye #panicatthedisco #rodgerecleyeedit #selfcare

Zeus Beard — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 09:45:17 -0700

THE EASIEST WAY TO STYLE YOUR HAIR! YOU HAVE TO TRY

Zeus Beard — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 14:31:41 -0700

HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEA #patrickbateman #americanpsycho #halloween2022 #halloweencostume #early2000s

Zeus Beard — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 13:01:46 -0700

HOW WE FEEL ABOUT FACIAL HAIR #menwithbeards #mustache #facialhair #mensstyle #mensgroomingtips

Zeus Beard — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 15:06:13 -0700

HALLOWEEN 2022 COSTUME IDEA #topgunmaverick #milesteller #rooster #halloweencostume #halloween2022

Zeus Beard — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 14:07:59 -0700

Can I give you a big hug? No thanks

Zeus Beard — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:23:07 -0700

Saving Face Beard Co.: How to Make Your Beard Grow Faster

Wed, 04 Jul 2018 18:05:44 -0700

Making your beard grow faster can be a challenging task for some men but knowing these helpful tips that are being talked about in this post will make this task possible.

Tags: grow beard faster beard growing beard tips

How To Make Beard Black Naturally

Fri, 27 Apr 2018 03:17:45 -0700

Did you know that there are a lot of men who are wondering how to make beard black naturally? Did you know that there are a lot of natural ways on how you can make it black? Get to know some of the most effective tips by reading the information below.

Beards are becoming more and more popular all over the world. It creates a personal statement and assists in shaping the style of an individual. Beards usually grow in different colors and such. Some beards are naturally white, gray, and blonde in color. There are also some men who grow naturally black beards.

Black beards are considered the best color, which is why a lot of people are wondering how to make beard black naturally. If you are one of the men who’ve been wondering on how to make beard black, then you’ve come to the right place. What’s good about these tips below is that they are all natural solutions. Let’s begin going over them for you to get started.

Tips on Making Beard Black Naturally

Tip #1 Black Tea

Black tea can naturally make your beard black. All you need are black tea leaves and water. Boil the leaves in water and let it cool down. Once done, you can start applying the tea to your beard. You can let the tea sit in your beard for an hour or two. Rinse it and make sure just to use water when rinsing. You can repeat doing this every single day until you get the effect that you want.

Tip #2 Black Sesame Seed

The best kind of sesame seed to use is the black one because it still has a lot of nutrients in it. To be able to use this kind of natural treatment, you can start soaking the black sesame seeds in water until they are all soft. Using a food processor, start mashing them until it has a paste consistency. You can also use your mortar and pestle if you prefer this. Once done, you can use the paste through your beard and gently massage it. You can do this weekly for you to be able to get the black beard that you’ve been dreaming of.

Tip #3 Natural Beard Oil

Some of the natural beard oil that you can use are shankhapushpi and sesame oil. Both oils have a lot of health benefits, but it can also help your beard turn black in no time. All you have to do is to choose your preferred oil and boil it. Once done, let it cool and massage it on your beard. Do this regularly to turn your beard black.

These are some of the tips on how to make beard black naturally. You don’t have to worry about anything at all because these are all natural, so the chances of getting any side effects are extremely low. Start choosing your preferred tip above so you can begin tuning your beard into the black.