Curly beards typically have the same hair volume as straight beards while looking much fuller. Reason is the beard hair follicles form an oval shape and curve as they exit the facial skin. The result is curly facial hair growing if various directions, giving a fuller appearance.
Wavy beards are known for their curly growth style, which typically includes wiry, crinkly or fuzzy hair follicles. Some beards get wavier with longer lengths while others have tightknit curls requiring extra management.
Whether you want to amp up your waves or tame your beard, we’ve put together a complete guide to help you tame your curly facial hair and get that quality beard style you deserve.
Wavy Beard Styles We Love
You should embrace your natural beard, but we admit it’s difficult to style a beard that frizzes up easily and always gets tangled. If you do keep your waves, here are a few beard styles that work perfectly for curly or wavy hair textures:
Where Does Wavy Beard Hair Come From?
Your beard’s natural texture is a combination of genetics and hygiene. Some people inherit naturally curly beards, while others have wiry, bushy facial hair. Genes are also responsible for growth rate, color, and patchy beards.
To some extent, there isn’t much you can do to get rid of curly beard hair forever, but if you have hair that’s tough to detangle or tightly coiled in certain spots, you can use a comb and beard care products to straighten your hair.
With proper brushing and beard oil, it’s possible to moisturize and soften your beard hair, which makes it easier to trim and style. I like grabbing a beard grooming kit so I can get a full range of products in one shot.
How to Tame a Wavy Beard?
First, it’s best to decide if you want your beard to have a slight curl or if you’d rather straighten your beard altogether.
In some cases, the best choice may be to crop your beard to a short length to keep it from growing frizzy waves.
However, we want to give you a step-by-step approach to taming a curly beard.
1. Beard Care Routine
We find it’s best that all beardsmen have these tools in their grooming arsenal:
These tools and products make it easier than ever to detangle and straighten waves.
- Electric trimmers or razor
- Multiple combs or guards for your electric trimmer
- Barber shears or trimming scissors
- Beard comb (preferably double-sided wood beard comb)
- Boar bristle brush
- Beard oil or beard conditioner
While brushing out your beard may lead to a bushy look, you must conquer the brush out in order to trim it down and style it the way you want to.
2. How to Style
To clean up your beard waves, kick off your beard care routine with a quick wash, using a beard shampoo or beard wash specially formulated for your face. This means it doesn’t include harsh sulfates, dyes, or alcohol.
Here’s the full styling routine we recommend:
- Wash your beard thoroughly (try an argan oil wash)
- Dry your beard completely
- Comb out curls and brush down with a boar bristle brush or comb
- Once hair is fully brushed out, it’s now ready for trimming and styling
3. How to trim
If you want to keep your waves, then you probably want to let your beard grow out. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t trim up the sides and line your edges under your cheeks and around your mustache.
A short beard style may be easier to maintain if you don’t want to manage your curls.
Thick, short beards look incredibly posh and unique with a wavy hair texture. You can use trimming shears to shape and cut down the length.
- Use a 3 or 4 mm guard for medium thick beards
- Trimming shears work best for longer beard styles when keeping the length
- Fade your beard starting at the cheeks, sides, and neckline using .5 to 2 mm guards
Beard shapers are great tools when you want a professional look with symmetrical sides and cheek definition.
4. Apply Beard Oil or Beard Balm
Award-winning beard championships never skip on a beard conditioning agent, such as a beard oil or beard balm. These beard softening products condition your beard hair and make it shine.
Even if you keep your beard short, you can still apply a dab of beard balm and brush it through to ensure it gets absorbed into your hair and skin.
If keeping the length, you don’t have to do much else. Your beard hair will still be wavy, but with a bit of moisture, it won’t be as frizzy or hard to maintain. This is especially true if you want to style a ducktail beard.
5. Straighten Your Curly Beard
Blow drying your beard to fluff out and straight your facial hair is an option. However, there are new beard hair straighteners on the market that work to soften and straighten all beard types better than a blow dryer.
The best beard straighteners make hair more malleable and easier to style. They also won’t damage your beard while preserving your hair’s natural oils. See our Complete Beard Straightening Guide.
Some beard straighteners have a comb or brush made from titanium bristles, while others use ceramic plates instead.
I say show off your curls and would only recommend beard straightening if you truly want to get rid of the waves.
