Beard Care!

[Guest needs help]

vjkk vjkf!

Sangat ji, Das is the only one in his family with a beard. And i don't know how to take care of it. It's pretty wild, the hairs are about two inches long but are very curly so they only stick out about one inch. Besides tying a taati, what can i do to take care of my beard?

Even when i comb it, it doesn't really do much. and i'm very hesitant to put oil on it b/c i don't wanna break out in pimples... any advice?

[Guest gupt]

Gurfateh jeeo,

nothing more beautiful than our true appearance with dharis!!

Firstly, don't get too caught up looking at individual hairs, as this is something I used to do. I realised that most people dont actually notice it, its only that you are looking so closely at your own beard. In fact if you look at other people's beards very closely you will probably see that your beard is not much messier than anyone else's. Instead of looking at individual hairs, its better to just look at the overall shape of the beard. My beard hairs are also very curly and so look shorter than they are, I realised that most young singhs have the same situation, its normal.

Here's what I do and I'm happy with my beard;

1)totally drench your beard in water, eg., while showering.

2)apply conditioner, i use 'Original Source' conditioner. apply it in such a way that you give the shape to your beard that you want. like smooth it down the sides of your face, straighten out the main part of the beard from the chin downwards etc.

3)leave it in for a while, eg. 15 mins.

4)You can either comb your beard while the conditioner is stil in it, or wash it out and then comb it. There are times when I comb the beard with conditioner in, sometimes after when its totally wet, and sometimes once ive lightly dried it and its only damp. You have to experiment to see what comes out best. With me I have to vary what I do from time to time. As per Gurmat we should use a wooden gurmat kanga. While combing it comb it keeping in mind what shape you want (like the shape you made with the conditioner). Dont worry if hairs start coming out of place while combing, this is normal and natural and gives more of a human sikh look to it rather than all hairs totally in place like glue.

5) You may or may not need to apply a little bit of oil such as coconut oil. I find that I need to as after some time without applying oil the beard curls up too much looking too short an the sides also curl to the sides away from my face too much. If you do apply oil I find it works best to apply it while the beard is still ever so slightly damp.

6)Sometimes I find that when doing the above procedure, just after combing and just before the point of applying oil, its good to just get a little jug of water and and get it all over my beard, kind of while keeping it in shape if you get waht i mean. Like throwing the water upwards from my ears down to give straightness to the sides. and also putting water onto the main beard. And then AFTER this putting on oil to try to preserve the neat shape youve gotten because of the water. The reason for this is sometimes combing it can make more single hairs go out of place or curly so applying water once more can help straighten it out again. However we must always comb as it is hukam to comb our hair and also to take out the little tangles as this makes it neater.

Also, as for the part about applying conditioner, how often you need to do this may or may not vary. For example with myself there was a time when I was applying conditioner to my beard if not once but twice daily, but then i went through a time when i only applied it after a few days or weekly. Currently I am able to take longer periods without conditioning it.

This whole process takes me under 5 mins (if you ignore the time you take to leave in the conditioner during which you can just carry on getting ready like tying dastar etc.)

Look at other singhs beards and you can see what is normal and what you make think is messy is actually normal for all singhs. eg. the shape is fine but when you look at individual hairs they will be curly and going in diff directions, but really its fine as overall as a whole the beard looks normal.

If you have any questions let me know!

[Guest Guest]

I use shampoo and conditioner 2-3 times a week, and soap the rest of the days. I don't really even add oil as the hairs never seem too dry, and I dont have many split ends. Just comb your dhari whilst its wet, dry it a bit with a towel, comb it again, and then leave it. But otherwise don't worry too much yet - your dhari is still short and is going through a "messy phase" before it fills out and looks a bit better. Providing the hair is healthy (not many split ends or breakages), and you comb it, don't worry about anything else.

[Guest Kulwinder Singh]

Fateh ji,

I have got a very well grown beard and i love it. But the problem is on the left hand side of my face under the chin there is a patch come up where there is no beard growing. Earlier it used to be properly covered with beard but now when i tie my beard , people can still notice the patch under the chin where skin can be seen. Please suggest some medicine on how to remove that patch and get the beard growing again.

sat sri akal!

[innergear]

...mor Dabur amla... :-)

[Singh559]

You will break out if your face isn't properly hydrated. The best thing to do is to clean your face and use conditioner on your dhari and put baby oil to prevent it from drying up. Sometimes hair feels like it isn't dry but it usually is. Make sure by putting some oil and then taking a shower (without shampoo, you can use conditioner instead) and seeing the difference when it dries.

As for pimples wash your face with skin soap with warm water and then wash it off with cold water. Warm opens pores and cold closes them up. Don't worry about pimples, as long as you keep your face clean and don't go oil happy and dump a bucket on your dhari you will be fine.

[Guest Dharmbir]

WJKWKF,

I am a fairly young Sikh who has always had a beard and kesh. I am not Amritdhari yet, but I hope to be ready soon.

I used to trim, but stopped doing this maybe two years ago, and whilst I love my unshorn beard, I wonder about ways of keeping it neat.

I work with machinery so I often have to tie it up so it doesnt get caught.

My question relates to people who keep their beard in nets - is this OK in Sikhism?

What if i wanted to cornrow my beard - is that OK in Sikhism?

I dont ever want to cut it now, but these questions about caring for my beard pop up.

any guidance which can be provided will really help me.

If I broach the subject with my Dad i fear his Indian Cultural views will cloud his judgement. I firmly believe that Sikh Culture and Indian Culture are two separate things.

[Mrkhalsa007]

Fateh, Dharambir if you use a bears net for work its fine even when you took amrit its for a job so its cool Fateh!

Beards*