Before we talk about the advantages of beard combs and beard brushes, let’s first take a look at the reasons why we need these products in the first place and why we cannot use combs that are not meant for beards.
There are several reasons why you should not use plastic hair combs to comb your beard. Most plastic combs are made very poorly in mass production where they are formed in molds, leaving small imperfections in the form of small plastic burs that snatch and pull your beard. Additionally, every time you go through your beard with a plastic comb, static electricity is created and instead of your beard look tidy and well groomed, you will get a worse result than before combing. The same applies to plastic hair brushes.
With this in mind, you are now wondering what options are available to you – that are worth your while?
These are wooden beard combs, horn beard combs and boar bristle beard brushes.
Wooden beard combs are a great option for every beardsman because they efficiently comb the beard without creating static electricity, as is the case with plastic counterparts. What matters is that the comb is handmade and is polished to perfection. Lately, due to the extremely fast and inexpensive manufacturing process, laser/CNC machine made combs that are not processed further have became popular – these combs are guaranteed not to make your beard happy. Also, there are many combs with thick needles, with huge spacing and thick ends. Forget about these combs as they would be worthless even for your hair.
Horn beard combs (usually from ox horn) are even better than wooden combs, because they have all the advantages of wooden combs plus they contain keratin, a protein in our hair and skin that prevents damage to epithelial cells. This is another reason why these combs pass through the beard like a knife through warm butter, without sticking to our pulling on your beard.
Beard brushes are also a great option for many reasons. Of course, this is true only when talking about high quality handmade brushes that are intended for the beard. There are many that market soft hair brushes as beard brushes. The best examples of this are horse hair brushes or pig hair brushes that are not strong enough to comb through the beard. The only bristle that is strong enough is boar bristle.
So what should you use? A beard comb or beard brush?
Beard brushes have several advantages over beard combs. Beard brushes distribute beard oil and balms more easily and evenly, to the skin and the root of the beard. They also stimulate and encourage skin circulation and very effectively eliminate impurities from the beard. You will also notice that your beard is somewhat ‘trained’ and turns more easily in the desired direction.
However, when deciding whether to buy a beard comb or beard brush, it is important that you take into account the length of your beard. Brushes are more suitable for shorter beards, from the first to the third month, while combs are most effective after the third month. Which does not mean that beard brushes are not good for your beard after the third month, but rather that they have an advantage over combs in that period (before the third month).
However, as in everything in life, the choice is up to you and you will best assess what suits you most. We are here to give you guidance and help you in your choice.
