My fiance wants to start using beard wax (or whatever it is you guys use to get control of your facial hair). He has a goatee which he’s trying to grow long and it’s very coarse and unruly. I am no help because I’m not a guy and my hair is so fine that no amount of product of any kind makes it do what I want so I have no experience in anything remotely like this.
What kind do you like? What’s good for very coarse hair? Any tips on how to use it with best results?
I’ve never heard of beard wax… just mustache wax, and unless I was taking up barbershop quartet or dressing up as Snidely Whiplash for Halloween, I wouldn’t even use that. I just let it grow wild, and keep it in check with a beard trimmer. If it gets completely out of control, I shave it off and go clean-shaven until I remember how much of a pain shaving is.
Huh. Beard wax. Sounds like a great idea!
His hair went to two extremes. His head hair is super soft and fine and he started going bald in high school. His face hair is incredibly thick and coarse and he gets a 5 o’clock shadow walking across a room. He dealt with the head hair by shaving it all off but he’ll never shave his facial hair (and I’d prefer he didn’t, I’m not usually attracted to beards but it looks good on him). He thinks it looks too unruly when paired with his bald head though, which is why he wants to try taming it.
You simply comb some wax into the beard and shape it. It doesn’t take much, and you have to comb it through well. Too much and you’ve got a mess to deal with when you wash the beard. If there’s any real difference between beard and mustache was except the size of the container I don’t know what it is.
I’ve never used wax, but I do frequent a beard message board so there is one thing I’ve picked up. Lots of people make the mistake the first time of picking up clear or white wax. Don’t do that, buy the one that’s the same color as your (his) beard. If it’s brown, buy brown. Clear is meant for grey beards, if you put clear wax on a brown beard, it’ll look white.
This is, of course, you have the option of a color and you’re using it to style the beard.
Beard wax??? Sheesh, just keep the thing trimmed short and forget the foreign substances.
Goatees are kind of disgusting anyway.
Concur.
Like Serpico’s (Al Pacino’s) boss told him when he showed up for roll call at NYPD:
“You look like an asshole with dentures”
congodwarf-
its nice that he asked for your input.
keep in mind, whatever he chooses, will affect how the water beads up and rolls off, when you shampoo 
I wax my mustache when it’s long, and I find that it works a little better when your whiskers are still damp. I work it between my fingers to soften it up a bit, and then smear it into targeted areas before combing through and shaping the ends. I asked the folks who made it (I have several brands), and it’s mostly beeswax with some jojoba oil added. If waxing a beard becomes a financial strain, making beardwax wouldn’t be out of the question.
Just make sure to get the right scent, the pleasing odor is half the point.