You can have the highest quality beard care products, the most expensive razor and the very best beard brush in the world and still end up doing more harm than good if you don’t know how to properly care for your skin and facial hair. One of the biggest mistakes that beginners make is using the wrong temperature when washing their beard. Believe it or not, the temperature of your water can soothe your skin, damage your beard strands or close up your pores so tightly that they don’t get clean beneath the surface.
Knowing the right temperature at which to wash your beard is essential if you want to really take care of your facial hair. Luckily, achieving the perfect temperature, as you’ll see, is anything but complicated.
What’s the Right Temperature for Washing Your Beard?
\When it comes to washing your beard, lukewarm water is the only way to go. For most men, once they realize the difference that lukewarm water makes, they’re willing to take the extra time to make sure that their faucet achieves the perfect temperature. Lukewarm water is about as inoffensive as water gets, being gentle enough to take care of your delicate skin and beard so that your washing session is as efficient and beneficial as possible.
Too Much Heat Can Leave You Feeling Dry and Irritated
You might be tempted to let your water get steaming hot before applying it to your face, especially during the cold winter months. As the weather gets colder, our skin craves the heat as it can feel comforting and soothing. However, hot water is about the last thing you want to put on your skin for various reasons.
For one thing, hot water strips your skin and hair of the protective oils that it naturally produces. This can leave your skin and beard vulnerable to damage and more likely to become irritated. Very hot water can even gently burn your skin, causing it to become dry and flaky while it heals.
Too Much Coldness Can Prevent You from Getting Nice and Clean
Cold water is no better than hot water. When the skin becomes cold, its pores close up as a protective measure. This means that all of that nourishing product that you’re massaging into your beard and skin is barely getting in there. When we wash our beards, we want to thoroughly clean out our follicles and pores so that we get rid of bacteria, oil and dirt that can cause problems like irritation later on. Cold water prevents the product from permeating the skin barrier, making it an ineffective washing session.
Lukewarm is Always the Way to Go
As you can see, when it comes to washing your beard, lukewarm water is crucial. It’s the only temperature that will let you make the most of your washing session. Once you try it, you’ll realize the difference as your skin and beard will feel cleaner and healthier than ever.