Beard Maintenance for the Professional

Some of our local weathermen have recently decided to try growing a beard. Some did it for “No Shave November”, and while some shaved theirs off, others have decided to keep theirs. Others are giving it a try for the first time since they’re moving into an online video weather forecasting role instead of working in a traditional TV station.

Since I’ve been wearing a short, professional, “corporate” beard for a little over four years, I thought I’d take a moment to help out some of our weathermen as they’re on their journey to become fellow beardsmen. Here’s how I’ve been maintaining my beard as a professional (who has also had to wear suits at times and be in professional situations, especially as a now-PhD-titled academic).

For my beard trimmer, I use the Philips Norelco Series 9000. I ordered it from Dillard’s. I was told early on when growing a beard that the two best words I can hear are “Philips Norelco” and to invest in a good beard trimmer. After using a really cheap beard trimmer starting out, once I decided I was going to become a permanent full-time bearded guy, I decided to take the plunge and invest in the Norelco 9000 (make sure to buy the beard trimmer, not the electric razor with the same 9000 model number, otherwise if you run that across your face, bye bye beard). This was the best investment I ever made, and I won’t ever settle for anything less. The beard trimmer has detachable guard lengths. I’ve played with different ones over the years, I’ve gone anywhere from as short as 5mm to as long as 12mm. That’s a good range for anyone wanting a short, professional “corporate” beard, with 5mm being more of a “heavy stubble” to 12mm being a decent, full “corporate” beard (mine’s generally about the length of a typical IDF/Israeli Defense Forces solider when I’ve worn it between 5-8mm, in which I was accidentally mistaken for a MOSSAD/Israeli Secret Service agent once!). Of course, I’ve also seen some guys try for a longer length and able to pull off the look. It’s also easy to charge and travels well. I’ve generally used mine about once a week when I need to keep everything really sharp, every couple of weeks or few weeks if I’m on a vacation or not around a lot of people and taking a “break”.

I also invested in a beard brush from Jeremy’s Razors (just stay away from the razors on their website for you weathermen thinking of shaving off the beard!). It looks like they’ve discontinued the brush I use, but here’s a picture of it. Mine was reasonably-priced, but there should be suitable alternatives to it anywhere at a similar price. I use it about once a day (I was using my hairbrush, but I’ve found the beard brush is a little better).

I haven’t used any other products yet such as beard balm or beard oil, but I’ve heard good things about Aleph Male from Israel. If I ever try any of those products in the future, I would give them a try first so I can support Israel. I also don’t use anything fancy to wash my beard. Since my head shampoo is really mild, I just use it on my head and beard. If my head shampoo ever becomes an issue, I’ll look at other options, but right now, it’s mild and works fine.

A good resource for weathermen (or any other bearded men!) who want some advice or inspiration (or encouragement in the event you’re considering shaving off your beard!) is Beard Board. It’s a useful discussion page where you can ask questions about beard advice and maintenance or even post pictures your beard and get encouragement and answers from guys who are experienced beardsmen. I’ve used the site over the years to ask questions, get encouragement, and give some encouragement back to others. Without it, I probably would have given up early in the growing stage and caved and shaved. However, the guys on there were always encouraging me to grow on, so it helped me to become and remain a permanent beardsman.

I hope this helps provide some useful advice to those weathermen who are trying the bearded life the end of this year. I was where you were four years ago, and I stuck with it and have kept being bearded ever since!