Beards can be tricky, but who’d want to give up their beard for the sake of one good kiss? Some people believe that they interfere with intimacy, which is one of the core tenets of any relationship.
In this article, we have listed some great tips for you on how to kiss with a beard.
I’m sure we’ve all been there lads. There’s a girl across the bar. She looks sweet and she even seems interested. So, you decide to go out, pulling off your beard like a lumber chic gentleman, and the night goes really well! Finally, to cap things off just right, you lean in for a kiss.
And she immediately gets assaulted by what feels like an XXXL sized toothbrush. Kinda puts a damper on the whole romantic mood, doesn’t it?
Yes, it’s annoying, but who’d want to give up their beard for the sake of one good kiss? Beards have an entire No-Shave November month dedicated to them.
Whenever celebrities are seen sporting one, a wave of approval always follows. Beards are great, and we want to adjust our lives to live with them.
In lieu of this, we are here to give out tips on how to kiss with a beard.
Do Women Even Like Bearded Men?
Before we delve into how bearded men should kiss, let’s discuss why they have to. Is a beard even necessary? Do people even like them?
Well, the answer to those questions, my bearded Vikings, is yes!
Research into beards and facial hair is non-stop. Particularly, reports from a 2017 study conducted by the Universities of Queensland and New South Wales and also many other studies displayed that full beard worked well in long-term relationships.
Women that expressed a dislike of beards in these studies all had similar reasoning. It ultimately boils down to an issue of hygiene.
These women were of the opinion that beard hair is easily susceptible to the likes of ticks and lice. So, a point to keep in mind when keeping a beard is to maintain proper hygiene and washing. Heck, this advice should be a general rule of thumb to follow!
The Queensland study even revealed that women who were disgusted by pathogens found beards attractive. This comes off as a sharp contrast to the previously mentioned point about lice and ticks.
However, there is a legitimate reason. The likely justification is that men with beards, being more susceptible to these pathogens, would also be resistant to them. Therefore, they’d be more attractive to women who’d want to avoid disease and illness.
Turns out, keeping a beard isn’t just about being manly. It’s about improved immunity as well!
To conclude: yes, women do like bearded men. They want manly, masculine men. Alpha males. The ones that don’t have a higher expectancy of cleanliness as well, so make sure you’re well-groomed.
Read Also: Can I use regular hair shampoo or soap for my beard?
How To Kiss With A Beard: Top Tips
Keep Your Mustache In Place
Now, let’s go into the tips one needs to rely on when kissing with a beard. And first and foremost, comes the mustache. Kissing is an act that actively involves the lips.
Therefore, mustaches end up causing the most amount of skin irritation to your significant other. Overgrown ones also mean that they’ll be sputtering up facial hair. It falls to reason that if you want to maintain that special romantic spark, the mustache needs control. How do we go about that? A couple of ways, actually.
First of all, try combing your mustache downwards. The less facial hair bristling upwards, the less your significant other needs to worry. Another point is avoiding trimming the mustache too close to the face. The shorter hairs may seem like less of a problem, but that isn’t the case.
They end up developing more resistance and therefore feel more like a porcupine’s needles. So, when trimming, just remember to keep a steady, moderate hand.
Also, try to make sure hair doesn’t fall directly on the upper lip. Mustache-less beards are also an option if you’re confident in your ability to pull them off.
Use Beard Oil And Conditioner
Most men balk at the suggestion of putting on conditioner or beard oil. Since beards are so strongly associated with masculinity, their grooming seems unnecessary.
To these men, I say: for the sake of your significant other, grow up. Maintaining personal grooming and hygiene’s never a bad thing. Heck, finding a man that’s so bent on avoiding it should shoot up red flags. But let’s take this opportunity to educate such individuals.
The simple conditioner works well for beards.
It softens them, and even makes brushing and trimming easier. That softness also makes kissing a relief, since the significant other’s no longer facing a cheese grater. Conditioners are a relatively inexpensive and easily available choice to rely on.
Beard oil’s a touch better! Its downsides are being more expensive and slightly less available. You won’t find a beard oil aisle at the supermarket.
However, the pros outweigh the cons by far. Massaging some oil into your roots will help strengthen them. Some oils even have properties that make hair seem glossier and fuller. Best of all is how good you’ll smell after a bout.
Read Also: Beard Smelling: How To Keep Your Beard Smelling Awesome
Kissing someone and tasting a hint of cinnamon or nectar? Now, that’s a quality deal!
Both tasting and smelling are very very important. Don’t forget this!
Always Use Napkins And Wet Hankies After You Eat
Normally, people could possibly forego using a napkin after a meal. Perhaps they’re running late. Or maybe it just slipped their mind. Bearded men, sadly, do not have this luxury extended to them.
Food crumbs easily stick into the hair. And that’s fine, this will happen no matter how carefully you eat. The real problem is the smell that follows. Crumbs getting stuck in hair for hours on end often lead to a musty odor developing.
Worst of all, the crumbs will taste horrible. No, I don’t mean to imply that you’ll be actively looking for chunks of leftover food.
However, your significant other will definitely encounter them when kissing. This makes for an uncomfortable scene all around, so just remember to use napkins and wet hankies. It’s one of the cons of looking like a grizzled mountaineer.
Read Also: How To Eat With A Beard
Not a big deal. Just clean and wash your beard regularly.
Switch Your Kissing Technique
To be honest, there’s not a lot that can be discussed here. Sooner or later, facial hair will enter the playing field. But we can still try to alleviate the skin rashes your significant other may face.
Your style of kissing can be slightly modified in order to avoid as much hair contact as possible. One possible way is to slightly lean upwards when kissing, in order to avoid mustache contact.
Another method is to start the kiss with puckered lips, then swooping in. This way, you can at least ease the significant other into your facial hair. Ultimately, any and all such avenues will be a little awkward.
Keep communicating with your partner to see what they like as well. Switching up kissing isn’t just awkward for you, it’s awkward for them.
It’s a manner of trying out new things and seeing if you both enjoy them. If they don’t and are fine with a little prickliness, that’s all fine. If they do, well, sweep them off their feet and lean in slow.
Stubble Hurts More Than Long Beard
There are many problems that can occur when kissing with a beard. Long facial hair that extends up to your mouths is one thing, the taste, and smell of your beard are also important but there is one more factor to discuss.
Sometimes, everything goes perfectly fine but your girlfriend has to deal with some pain when she is kissing you. Short hair is rough and harsh.
That’s a major drawback of stubble. Longer beards tend to be softer.
So choose wisely. Discuss with your girlfriend and you will make the right choice.
How Does One Deal With Beard Burn?
Now, let’s turn our attention towards the recipients.
Women can often encounter a skin rash called “beard burn” while kissing a guy with a beard. It’s irritating, painful, and leaves a red mark across the face. Therefore, treatment options typically aim to alleviate and remove all three symptoms.
Beard burn is a type of contant dermatitis that is caused by facial hair rubbing against the skin.
Try to remember that stubble( short facial hair) will cause beard burn much more often than longer beards.
How to deal with it
Cold masks are an easy way of dealing with beard burns.
The coldness will help counteract the rash’s heat. It will also provide much relief to irritation and itching. Even doing as much as keeping an ice-pack on will at least help the swollen skin settle down. Moisturizing creams can also be applied, to relieve irritation.
Excessive makeup isn’t recommended. While it may cover up the redness, the trapped heat will only exacerbate the irritation and pain.
Keeping the area exposed to air is extremely important for a quicker recovery. Finally, for extreme cases, medication can be relied on. Doctors can prescribe a topical corticosteroid cream for relief.
Over-the-counter anti-histamines will also help with the itching, though it should be noted that they make you drowsy.
Conclusion
We understand that beards can be tough at times. They interfere with intimacy, which is one of the core tenets of any relationship.
However, you’ve made the decision to keep one. It’s best to keep an open dialogue with your partner over the decision since their support is paramount.
Other than that, follow these few tips on how to kiss with a beard as best as you can. They’ll provide the best shot you have at normalizing bearded kissing with your significant other.
And…that’s it for today’s article! I really hope you found it useful and helpful.
If you have any comments or questions feel free to write them in the comment section below and we will be more than happy to help.
Until next time,
Stay safe,
Tasos
Tasos Moulios is the founder of Beardlong. He loves trying different beard and hair styles and blogs about them. The tips he shares come from his own experience and love for what he does.