How to Use a Beard Straightener Without Frying Your Beard

What a beard straightener does

A beard straightener is a heated brush that relaxes curl and wave as it passes through the hair, giving a smoother, flatter and more controlled beard. It works like a small straightening iron in brush form, with heat-resistant bristles and a heated plate or ceramic core.

It is most useful on beards long enough to curl in several directions, where curls make the outline look uneven or the beard wider than you want. On a short beard of a few millimetres there is nothing for the bristles to grip, and a trimmer does more than heat ever will.

Setting the heat

The right temperature is the lowest one that changes your beard's shape. Fine, straight-ish beard hair responds at lower settings; thick, tightly curled hair needs more, but higher heat means more risk of drying and weakening the hair.

Start at the bottom of the range, test on a small section under the jaw, and step up only if the hair does not respond. Grey and white hairs are often drier and can scorch or yellow more easily, so treat a salt and pepper beard more gently. If you smell burning hair or see steam from a dry beard, the heat is too high.

How to use a beard straightener, step by step

Heat on damp hair can damage it, so the beard must be completely dry first. Let the brush reach temperature while you prep.

1. Wash and condition the beard, then dry it fully with a towel and a blow dryer on a cool or warm setting.
2. Mist a heat protectant evenly through the beard and comb it in.
3. Starting under the jaw on one side, place the brush against the hair, not the skin, and draw it slowly downward toward the ends.
4. Work in small sections from the ear to the chin, then repeat on the other side, and finish with the moustache on a low setting and short passes.
5. Point the bristles outward and away from your neck, and keep the brush moving. Holding it in one spot concentrates the heat.
6. Let the beard cool for a minute, then smooth in beard oil or warm a little balm over the surface to hold the shape.

Protecting hair and skin

Heat is the main risk, and there are two ways it causes problems: drying the hair and burning the skin. A protectant helps with the first, and technique handles the second.

• Keep the heated core off your skin. The brush is designed to be used in the hair, not pressed against the face or neck.
• Be extra careful around the lips, ears and the thin skin under the jaw.
• Do not use it on sunburn, razor bumps or irritated skin.
• Moisturize afterward with oil. Heat strips moisture, and dry beard hair frizzes and splits.
• Let the brush cool on a heat-proof surface and keep it away from children.

How often to straighten

Using heat every day tends to leave a beard dry, rough and more prone to split ends, particularly on curly or coarse hair. A few times a week, or for occasions when you want a sleek shape, is a more sustainable rhythm.

On other days, a boar bristle brush and balm can keep much of the shape without heat. Blow drying the beard downward with a round brush on a warm setting is a gentler middle ground.

Curly beards and what to expect

A straightener will relax a curly beard, not turn it permanently straight. Curl returns with humidity, sweat and washing, and very tight curls may only loosen rather than go flat. In a humid Ontario summer, expect the effect to fade faster than in dry winter air.

If curls are making the beard look uneven, the cut can help as much as heat. We shape curly beards to account for how they spring back, often leaving a little extra length where hair curls up so the outline stays even. Book a Beard Only + Lineup or read up on how to use beard balm for heat-free control. Very coarse beards may also benefit from our guide to softening a coarse beard.