Beard Waxing: Is It Worth It? How To Wax Your Beard

Shaving multiple times in a week can be a chore for many of us in our busy lives. At the same time, we would not like to keep unwanted facial hair for company.

While shaving can help eliminate unwanted facial hair for a few days, it does come back, and when it does, it comes thicker than before. In comparison, the results of waxing stay for anywhere between 2-3 weeks.

But, is beard waxing worth it?

In short, beard waxing is worth it for men who want or need to be constantly clean-shaven or they just want to only wax facial hair below their neckline and very high on their cheeks. The longer you wax, the weaker facial hair in these areas becomes.

In this article, we will tell you all that you need to know about waxing your beard and also about the advantages, disadvantages, and health risks, if any, associated with waxing.

Let us begin.

What is beard waxing?

Beard waxing removes unwanted facial hair from the roots instead of merely trimming the hair. This process’s advantage over regular shaving is that hair doesn’t grow back as quickly as in shaving. 

With regular waxing, one can even hope to not see hair regrowth in their targeted area on the face. Beard waxing is an excellent option for people who like to maintain a clean-shaven look.

Pros/ Advantages of waxing your beard

  If you feel that you have more hair on your face than you would like to have, waxing can be the ideal solution for you.

Regular waxing reduces facial hair to light and thin.

Waxing uproots the hair from the roots; therefore, it takes time for new hair to grow back. 

With regular waxing, the hair will grow thinner, lighter, and softer and even stop growing in some areas of your face.

 This means that if you have been concerned about the more than necessary hair on your face, you can stop worrying now.

While waxing removes unwanted hair, it also removes dead and dry skin cells.

The skin becomes much smoother through waxing than through any other hair removing method.

How much does beard waxing last?

Waxing the beard helps to retain the results for more than two weeks. Actually, it varies a lot from 2-8 weeks. Unlike shaving, where the facial hair grows back after 3-4 days, since waxing targets the hair follicles itself, new hair’s growth takes time. 

If you dislike shaving every day or are simply too busy to shave regularly, waxing is a better solution.  

Read Also: Does Shaving Make Your Beard Thicker?

  Shaving is not the ideal way to remove hair if you are interested in targeting specific areas or want to remove very small hairs. Waxing is the answer to this because it is more precise.

You have exact control over the parts of the face which you want to wax and don’t want to touch.  This is because only those areas of hair are removed where the wax has been applied.

Cons/ Disadvantages of waxing a beard

 Facial hair waxing might not be for everyone as people will sensitive skin might face irritation, rashes, and blood clots, among other things, when they wax their facial hair.

There are no two opinions about it. Waxing is a painful process as it involves yanking out the facial hair from your body.  

Since facial hair is more sensitive and less layered than the skin on other parts of the body, it can be more painful if it is not done under professional experts’ supervision.

 Waxing is not a fool-proof method. At times, the body’s hair roots are too tight and strong, which leads to hair not getting plucked.

The result is painful boils that are filled with puss and infect the skin.

Therefore, if you find that your hair is not getting removed in the first or second attempt, it is better to leave it just like that and not force the issue.

 This is probably the worst part about waxing that doesn’t go as planned.

The after-effects of waxing can be visible in some cases after 24-48 hours of waxing.

Burns, boils, and rashes are the usual culprits that show up.

Care should be taken to not expose the skin to elements of weather right after waxing, as this is what usually causes the problems.

How to wax your beard?

First, things first.

There has to be enough facial hair before you can even begin to think of waxing. 

You might be wondering why we are telling you the obvious, but you would be amazed at the number of people who start waxing without having enough hair on the face.

If there isn’t enough facial hair, there will be nothing much for the wax to stick to, except for your skin, and you don’t want to pull your skin out, do you?

Let your hair grow for at least a week or two before you get down to waxing. When you’re ready to wax, here is what you need to do.

Choosing your wax

There are different kinds of waxes in the market. Some come in a container that is microwaveable so that you only need to heat the entire packet, and you’re ready.

Others come with a separate heating pot for the wax. 

There is also something called cold wax, but we don’t recommend that because it is not very effective, in our opinion.

Some waxes come with a pre-wax solution that helps clean away the dead cells, skin, and oil from the face.

If your wax has no pre-waxing solution with it, apply some rubbing alcohol on a face towel or a wad of cotton, and rub the face thoroughly with this before waxing.

Don’t forget to pat the area dry before applying the wax to remove all alcohol residue.

The waxing process

Since the wax is hot, we will not touch it with our bare hands, which is why we need something to apply the wax on the face. A waxing stick or any other small utility like a Popsicle stick can be used here.

Just make sure that the tool you are applying wax with is clean and hasn’t been used before for anything.

Stick your waxing stick and pick up a gob of wax and apply the wax evenly across the area from where you want to remove the hair. 

Don’t try to cover the entire area at one go but instead try to apply the wax to a small area at a time. This will help the wax to fix the hair.

Once you’re done applying the wax, it is time to apply the waxing strip. Waxing strips are typically made of muslin and can be part of a waxing kit, or you can purchase them separately too.

Hold the strips at their edges, lay them on the bearded area you want to remove, and press gently with a finger to apply pressure on top of the strip. Make sure that the entire strip is stuck firmly on to the beard.

Now without wasting further time, yank off the waxing strip.

There shouldn’t be a lot of time between application of the strip and pulling it off because the longer the wax sits on the face, the harder it will become and the tougher it will be to remove it.

Repeat this process until everything that you wanted to be removed has been removed.

Now, apply some post-wax solution or olive oil in a copious amount to your face. This acts as a pain reliever and also cleans any wax or oil on the face.  

There you have it. Congratulations on your first waxed beard.

Now let us look at some of the frequently asked questions that we keep getting.

FAQs

Conclusion

Waxing your beard will not be the most pleasant experience you have ever experienced.

However, as it usually goes with everything in life, there are pros and cons with beard waxing.

Beard waxing will give you a more clean-shaven look and will save you time from shaving for several weeks.

It is not a permanent thing but it does last for quite some time. You won’t need to do it after 5 days. That’s important to understand.

If you want to be clean shaven either because you need to do it for professional reasons or because you prefer it, try it.

Also, most often than not you might want to do this not for your entire beard but only below neckline and high on our cheeks.

But, have in mind you will encounter some pain. If you fear pain don’t do it.

Plain and simple.

Also remember, the longer you wax, the thinner and weaker your facial hair will be. As an alternative, you could search for laser treatment, for a more permanent and less painful solution.

And…that’s it for today’s article. I really hope you found it useful.

Lemme me your thoughts and your experiences as far as waxing a beard is concerned.

Until next time,

Stay safe,

Tasos