The Best Vegan Beard Brush: Horace Vegan Beard Brush
A different Horace exfoliating product nabbed a spot in the 2023 GQ Grooming Awards. In addition to that excellent face mask, the brand also has a durable beard brush that doesn’t use boar’s hair (or any other animal products). So for bearded vegans, this is our top choice. Made in Germany, the brush uses synthetic bristles made from natural materials (vegetable fiber and agave leaf) as well as a colorful beech wood handle to leave you with well-groomed whiskers.
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What to Look for in a Beard Brush
The best beard brushes all have a similar design: Boar bristles embedded in a wood handle. (These days there are vegan alternatives, too.) But you’ll find a lot of variety when it comes to size, handle type, and bristle firmness, which is why we tested a whole bunch of ’em and called up a few experts to help you track down the very best beard brush for your specific scruff. A good beard brush distributes natural oils, give your beard a fuller look for styling, and make it easier to uniformly apply nourishing products like beard oil. And—just as importantly—their thick bristles exfoliate the skin beneath your whiskers, promoting blood flow to hair follicles, preventing beard dandruff, and whisking away gunk. They can also help you avoid tangles, although guys with thicker, longer beards will do better with a wide-tooth beard comb or pick.
Do I Need to Use a Beard Brush?
Even if you already own a beard comb, you still need to add a brush to your checkout list. Brushes are for beard care, and combs are for beard styling—with a lot of gray area. (It might be best to pick up one of each.) To find the right brush for every guy, we talked to Matty Conrad, a go-to GQ beard expert who also designs his own beard care products at Victory Barber. Conrad agreed with our assessment that brushes are a true necessity. In a phone interview, he also told us that guys should look for brushes with stiff, natural bristles. What are the benefits of beard brushes? According to Conrad, they’re “exceptional for creating blood flow, for creating tension on short curly hair, for making sure we can control flyaways, for spreading the hair out as naturally as possible. They also help you ”spread beard oil through the beard in a nice natural way because natural bristles will adhere to the oil and drag it through the beard.” And as exfoliators, these tools can even help unclog pores to prevent ingrown hairs. So if you’re suffering from beard itch, it’s time to introduce your scruff to a brush, stat.
How to Use a Beard Brush
Typically, you’ll brush your beard out after a shower to distribute any natural and applied oils (beard balm, beard oil, other beard products). You’ll brush out a clean, dried beard from the bottom (at the neck), moving upwards and outwards—basically, make it big and bushy by sending it away from its natural growth. This process also distributes sebum and oils to keep the hair detangled. You can then brush it back down into place (with its growth pattern). The brush creates tension on the hair without pulling or snagging, smoothing out stubborn beards. If you’re dealing with dandruff, don’t be afraid to really dig in there and massage the skin. Conrad also told us that brushes are essential for growing a new beard, and hair growth in general. “Usually, one of the first things I recommend [for new beards] is, ‘Okay, get a beard brush.’ Start growing your beard and give it a solid, say, six weeks of brushing it every night, really start to get that bloodflow going, and spread those oils around. And it is actually a good thing to do to help stimulate growth. The actual brushing action is very, very good for your beard when you’re first growing it.” This goes for all beard types, too—short, long, and medium beards can all benefit.
How We Chose These Products
Some of these products (though not all) were personally tested for this guide. Others were chosen based on our extensive experience with beard grooming, our knowledge of the top brands in the space, and expert advice. We looked for products that used high-quality wood handles and 100% boar bristles (with one exception for our vegan friends). We also wanted to include a variety of brush types in terms of sizes, firmness levels, budget, and handle type.
About the Authors
Timothy Beck Werth has had a beard for the past 10+ years, and he’s extremely passionate about all things beard care. As an experienced grooming product reviewer, he’s tested beard brushes (as well as oils, balms, washes, trimmers, and combs) and uses them regularly as part of his own grooming routine.
Adam Hurly has covered men’s grooming for GQ since 2016. In his time writing for the GQ Recommends team, he’s written about everything from developing a basic skin care routine to his own experience with hair transplant surgery. He is a Sioux Falls, SD native and a current expat in Berlin.
Source:
www.gq.com
