How to deal with beard aggressions during summer?

Summer is here, you go on holiday to enjoy the sun, the sea, the pool, and the watered evenings, but for your beard it is a daily struggle, and, in this article, you will know how to deal with beard aggressions during summer, and thus make sure to keep a silky and growing beard, even during your holidays. For bearded men as much as those wishing to grow it, studies show that summer is the most auspicious season to gain a few centimeters. However, the holidays are also a relaxation, a period when between a dip in the pool and a sip of your cocktail on the beach, you can tend to let go on your routines. But it doesn't matter, it's not too late to pamper your facial hair! We will therefore summarize the different possible aggressions and give you ways to take care of them and thus avoid syncope to your barber when returning from the holidays!

What are the aggressions on your beard during summer?

All year round, aggressions on your skin and hair are common and multiple, of course. But what are the aggressions on your beard in summer?

Tout d’abord, le soleil. En été, le soleil est une vraie menace pour votre peau, mais aussi pour vos poils. Autant les poils constituent une barrière naturelle contre les UV rays, les piqures d’insectes ou encore le sable, mais comme toute barrière c’est elle qui sera touchée en premier. En effet, les UV, bien que stimulants pour votre métabolisme, peuvent avoir un impact néfaste à forte dose. La chaleur abîme les poils tandis que les rayons peuvent décolorer votre barbe et lui donner des teintes plus rousses. De plus, les fortes chaleurs génèrent plus de transpiration, qui aura tendance à irriter la racine des poils et favoriser la prolifération de bactéries et d’impuretés dans celle-ci. Avec les fortes chaleurs, vous irez sûrement vous rafraichir, et les gouttelettes présentes sur votre barbe en sortant de l’eau risquent de subir un effet « loupe » avec les rayons du soleil, pouvant littéralement bruler des poils et provoquer l’apparition de fourches. Alors bien sûr, avec 40°C à l’ombre, votre barbe sèchera vite, mais à force d’aller se rafraichir l’impact peut être notable au retour des vacances…

First, the sun. In summer, the sun is a real threat to your skin, but also to your hair. As much as hair is a natural barrier against UV rays, insect bites or sand, but like any barrier it is it that will be touched first. Indeed, UV rays, although stimulating for your metabolism, can have a harmful impact in high doses. Heat damages the hair while the rays can discolor your beard and give it more reddish hues. In addition, high heat generates more sweat, which will tend to irritate the root of the hairs and promote the proliferation of bacteria and impurities in it. With the strong heat, you will surely refresh yourself, and the droplets present on your beard when coming out of the water may suffer a "magnifying glass effect” with the sun's rays, which can literally burn hair and cause the appearance of forks. So of course, with 40 ° C in the shade, your beard will dry quickly, but by dint of going to refresh the impact can be noticeable when returning from the holidays... But it’s all like hair, no?

                Ensuite, l’agression la plus évidente lors des longues journées d’été, c’est le chlore. C’est bien connu, le chlore qui sert à désinfecter en profondeur les piscines est très néfaste pour votre corps, mais aussi pour votre longue barbe. En effet, le chlore assèche, fragilise et décape littéralement le sébum servant à nourrir naturellement vos poils. De la même manière, le sel et la composition de l’eau de mer assèchent et fragilisent votre barbe. Alors bien sûr, ce n’est pas une journée à Port-Leucate où un saut dans la piscine du beau-frère qui vont détruire votre barbe, mais plusieurs semaines à alterner piscine, bronzette et mer, le tout sans entretien, risquent de faire sérieusement bouder votre toison, et vous-même quand votre barbier vous annoncera le nombre de centimètres à couper.

Then the most obvious aggression on long summer days is chlorine. It is well known, the chlorine that is used to thoroughly disinfect swimming pools is very harmful to your body, but also to your long beard. Indeed, chlorine literally dries, weakens, and strips the sebum used to naturally nourish your hair. In the same way, salt and the composition of seawater dry out and weaken your beard. So of course, it is not a day in Port-Leucate where a jump in the pool of the brother-in-law that will destroy your beard, but several weeks alternating pool, sunbathing and sea, all without maintenance, may seriously sulk your fleece, and yourself when your barber announces the number of centimeters to cut.

Finally, other attacks may be exacerbated during the summer. If you tend to let loose on tobacco or alcohol during the holidays, to be named "barbecue manager", or to be buried in the sand by your children, your beard may let you know: forked hair, rough and tangled, chin scratching, etc. All these signs show that it is still necessary a minimum maintenance during the summer, especially

Enfin, d’autres agressions peuvent-être exacerbées durant l’été. Si vous avez tendance à vous lâcher sur le tabac ou l’alcool pendant les vacances, à être nommé « responsable du barbecue », ou encore à vous faire enterrer dans le sable par vos enfants, votre barbe risque de vous le faire savoir : poils fourchus, rêches et emmêlés, menton qui gratte, etc. Tous ces signes montrent qu’il faut quand même un entretien minimum pendant l’été, surtout si vous souhaitez profiter de votre bain d’Ultra-Violets pour la faire croître convenablement.

How to prepare your beard for the summer?

Well, listing the aggressions of everyday life is good, it's scary, but concretely: how to prepare your beard for the summer? Because with a minimum of maintenance, you will greatly limit the impact of your holiday on your beard, long or short.

First, before leaving, a small refreshment can be beneficial. This reduces the heat that can be created under your chin and in your hair, let the gentle breeze at the end of the day refresh you, and therefore limit sweating in this area. Some will even take advantage of it for a radical refreshment, to avoid being too hot under their hairy scarf, but it is not necessary, and only depending on your desires. Be aware, however, that if you opt for a major refreshment, do it BEFORE you go on holiday! Indeed, you see when you fall asleep sunbathing with the book you were reading, open on your torso, you will keep the memory, tattooed until winter. In the same way, it is better to give your skin the opportunity to sunbathe with a refreshment before the holidays (even if it means relaying push after), than to sport for months a goat with the trace of your missing Full beard.

Secondly, maintenance is essential. We had already published an article on beard maintenance, but here we will focus on the maintenance of your beard in the summer. Starting with a simple shower in the evening after a day at the pool or the beach (or after 40km of hiking, each his leisure!), the water will remove what remains of chlorine, salt, or sand, and will allow your pores to secrete enough sebum to moisturize your hair during the night. You can of course help yourself with beard soaps to help you remove impurities and untangle your hair. The advantage of our soaps is that they are composed of donkey milk with moisturizing properties for your beard, and vegetable oils to nourish the hairs in depth. However, if you bathe every day, or have decided to climb all the peaks of the Pyrenees, beard soap will become indispensable daily, and could, like salt or chlorine, strip your hair and prevent sebum from performing its work. Thus, it will probably be necessary to supplement with beard care products such as oils or balms enriched with vegetable oils,in order to help your hair to regenerate. Be careful, however, not to put it on before going sunbathing, because it could heat and serve indirectly as cooking oil for your beard. Our recommendation is not to put anything if you have planned to bathe, to on the one hand avoid the heat to damage your hair too much, and on the other hand not to fill your pool with jojoba oil or macadamia. The liner of your pool does not need vegetable oils to last in time ...

Thus, we recommend that you regularly brush your beard with antistatic brushes or combs, to untangle it throughout the day, to evacuate a good part of what it embeds itself in it, and to avoid ending the holidays with a dreadlocks. For maintenance, rinsing with water during the day combined with a cleaning at the end of the day with a donkey milk soap, and a few drops of beard oils (or a hazelnut of balm) will be enough to give your beard everything it needs to be resplendent. For this, do not hesitate to go and see on the side of our beard care products, or you will find everything you will need. We also have a complete travel kit to leave in complete serenity. Despite everything, each person and each beard are different, it will require more or less maintenance. For this, no one other than you will be able to know what your beard needs.

Finally, sunscreens. There are, as for hair, oils or sunscreens for your hair. Ask your wife, she surely already has solutions for her hair. But we are on vacation, so we do not necessarily want to go that far and that will not prevent the grains of sand from coming to infiltrate up your chin.

That's it, you're ready to go on vacation while keeping a soft and shiny beard. Last obvious tip for the maintenance of your beard in summer: your nutrition. Add vegetables to the grid with your skewers, consume seasonal fruits and above all: drink water. For more tips on beard care or choosing products and ingredients for it, check out our other blog posts. And above all, enjoy your holidays!