Should I get Beard Dry Oil or Traditional Beard oils?

Taking care of a beard is like taking the tire off a bicycle.

When I was about eight years old I decided my bike wheel needed to come off so I flipped my bike upside down and attacked the nuts that held the wheel to the frame with a Crescent wrench and a hammer because the threads were too tight for my little sausage fingers. My dad noticed what I was about to do but couldn't stop me in time. I managed to practically weld the nut to the shaft by cross threading it something fierce. What I learned was any time it occurred to me to grab a hammer to finish a job, I should probably also ask for some advice. (By the way, I was without a bike for a whole summer as a result of my "creative" approach to bike repair!).

Use the right tool for the job.

Suffice to say, I am now a big fan of using the right tool for the job. It helps if you have a good toolkit. For beards, this means having a traditional beard oil and a beard balm of some sort. My beard balm is called "Beard Dry Oil." It is also a good idea to have a high quality beard comb, a brush for shaping your beard and a Beard Oil Brush for application. With these tools, you are ready for anything. That said, you may not need everything at once. Since I have a year old beard and use both a traditional oil as well as Dry Oil. If you are buying a gift or want to know what to start with, here are some tips for picking the right product.

For shorter beards (or for more control)

In general, a Beard Dry Oil is best for beards younger than a couple months or for when you want a little more control. A beard balm style oil adds a little volume and really helps control "fly aways." In particular I use Beard Dry Oil for my sideburns or whenever I have slept on my beard and I have a bad case of "bed beard," or whenever I just want to have a sculpted look like Santa had in A Miracle of 34th Street. The way Beard Dry Oil works is that it contains a little beeswax and lanolin and provides a little structure. While it is mainly designed for shorter beards and touch-ups, it can be used as a daily oil, even on longer beards. Case in point, Brian Furby the beard expert from the beard and moustache product review site TitleBeard has a year old beard (aka "Yeard") and uses Dry Oil daily. He likes it because it provides the control he desires.

For longer beards (or for for shine without hold)

As my beard has gotten longer, I have come to really appreciate traditional liquid beard oils. These oils provide great hair health properties, add a really nice shine to my beard and smell awesome. Most folks I talk to with more than a few months growth prefer liquid oils because the Beard Dry Oil can weigh down longer beards if that is all that is used. Some guys like to use Beard Dry Oil and traditional oils together for maximum control over the way their beard behaves since they can use as much of each type of oil as they like. There really isn't a right or wrong when it comes to beard oils, just what works best for your beard and how your beard is behaving on a given day.

Getting the right tool for your beard!

Like I mentioned earlier, it is good to have the right tools for the job! My guess is that curiosity will get the best of you and you'll want both eventually. If you buy both at the same time you save on shipping! :} The good news is that the Beard Oil Brush works great with either type of oil. You can buy just about any combination of beard care kit that you want, including getting a Beard Oil Brush, a Beard Dry Oil and Traditional Oil by using the pull-down option on that product page. Now, you'll be ready for anything!

Repairing a handlebar that won't stay together

Repairing a handlebar that won't stay together

A customer wrote in and asked about ways to prevent a handlebar from splitting apart at the curls. I have meant to write an article about this for a while now. These are the techniques that have helped me out a lot in my handlebar moustache journey. Ahhh, repairing the split in the moustache. The snakes-tongue, as I call it. The best way I have dealt with this is some combination of the following:

Mini flatiron.

About $25 on Amazon. I let it heat up for 5 minutes while I am oiling my beard, checking for errant nose hairs or trying to find the dime that rolled off the counter under the cabinet. Anyway, this flatiron (used VERY carefully, so as no to burn you or char your moustache) is a wonder product. It brings all of the hairs to the same angle from whatever their natural growth patterns was. A pro-level variant on ironing is to compress the hairs (again, carefully) between the paddles and then turn my wrist to around 90 degrees so that the ends of the handlebar turn up and then gently pull the iron towards the tips, away from my nose. This puts a gentle curl to the hairs like scissors to ribbons, if you will. It is better to take many quick passes at your moustache than to try to pressure cook those hairs. I have done this scores of times without incident but it is possible to burn those hair right off if you forget you are flat-ironing your moustache and start watching a Breaking Bad marathon.

Too much / too little wax:

Wax is sorta like fuel in an aircraft. Too much and it is too heavy and crashes. Too little and you run out and it crashes. The good news is, no one dies when you are figuring this out. I mean, that is really good news. If people died manicuring their handlebar, the liability policy I could have to take out would bankrupt me. Try altering quantities and journal the results. I am kidding about the journal. Actually, that would be interesting to read. So, journal. Then please share it. Include flowery language like they did back in the Civil War era too, please.

Moustache comb.

Not "a comb I use on my moustache," but a bona fide (please note use of fancy Latin--that means I am serious) moustache comb. Preferably from Kent. Preferably purchased on CanYouHandlebar.com (link). Here is why: the teeth are super fine, so they separate the warring factions of the snake tongue into discrete hairs and coerce them into playing nicely with one another. Regular ol' black grandpa combs (of which I have owned dozens) were "ok" but no great shakes for wax distribution. Ideally, each hair should have a super thin coat of wax and should gently touch the hair next to it like a pack of youth group kids in inner-tubes going around the bend of a slow river.

Occasional trimming.

When my handlebar gets super long, then my gravity defying feats begin to falter. This is not a recommendation, just something I have done on occasion.

CanYouHandlebar goes to Rwanda

Using CanYouHandlebar? two degrees below the equator

Last month my wife and I visited our sponsored child Agnes, who is studying to be a journalist in one of the finest schools in Rwanda. The school is run by a Christian philanthropy organization that provides a bright future for the desperately poor, and street boys of Rwanda, a country that suffered a devastating genocide 18 years ago. Many of the kids we met were without family or were the products of rape or prostitution. That is the sad part. The hopeful part is the present unity of the country as Rwandans (no longer Hutus and Tutsis). The trip defies description in many ways, though I have spent many words trying in the weeks since my return. Instead of trying to describe every sight, sound and emotion I thought I would share my goals. I had several while I was in the the country (not in priority order):

Goal 1: Test CanYouHandlebar? moustache wax on safari:

I wanted to know if my waxes would stand up to the heat of the African sun just South of the equator (Preview: they worked really well!)

Goal 2: Meet our sponsored child:

We wanted to do more than send a few bucks a month. We wanted to show Agnes that we truly loved her and were committed to her for the long term. We also wanted to give her a hug. It was great.

Goal 3: Soak up experiences:

Expose myself to things that are truly different than I would ever see in the United States and be as open to whatever I came across as possible.

Goal 4: Test my worldview:

My definition of what it means to be poor has shifted. My belief in the free market as a way to lift individuals out of abject poverty has been buttressed by my visit to a women's training center wherein young women too old for school are taught a skill that will ensure they have food on the table each night.

Goal 5: Fix two sewing machines:

I didn't know this would happen but I had the opportunity to help fix two old sewing machines with my survival bracelet.

Goal 1: Test CanYouHandlebar moustache wax on safari?

As you'll see below, on safari, I was not exactly at my most dapper. During the ten day trip I only shaved a couple times because I had to use bottled water to avoid getting some wacky disease from the local water and I didn't want to waste a bunch of perfectly good water just to get smooth cheeks every morning. Being in Rwanda makes you think a lot about priorities.

The giraffe posed for me. It was so real it felt fake.

On this safari we spent hours in a Toyota van that had little to no air conditioning. We had to roll the windows up for the first hour or so to keep out the horse-flies (they are roughly the size of a small horse) that hang out in the tall grass at the entrance. It was pretty warm, as you might imagine. But the heat and long ride were totally worth it by the time we got to the giraffes, hippos and plain buffalo.

To be entirely honest, I wondered how my wax would hold up. I took this shot on the way home from seven hours of safari. I touched up once or twice during the day (mainly because O wiped the sweat off my face so much I lost some wax in the process) but my handlebars never drooped! I was using Primary6 and the experience made me feel really good about the product. I was two degrees below the equator and Primary6 delivered!

Goal 2: Meet our sponsored child

A few months ago my wife and I started sponsoring a 16 year old girl in Rwanda, named Agnes, who is studying hard in school and wants to one day be a journalist. We heard about a great organization named Africa New Life Ministries and they are completely legitimate. I saw it first-hand. Agnes was very sweet and had poise beyond her years.

Goat are awesome. Did you know they have horns? I like to think they are little handlebars.

She was very appreciative of what we brought and though very quiet, she warmed to us as the days went by. It was really cool to not only have the chance to meet her and give her a goat (that I named "Happy"). We also visited my mother-in-law and sister-in-law's sponsored girls. This is a shot of my wife's mom's girl in her first ride in a van going to her first restaurant. You can't not be thankful for what you have after meeting these great people.

Amerite was so sweet. I couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. She was so appreciative for the clothes, supplies and monthly support that lets her attend school.

Goal 3: Soak up experiences

Rwanda is the land of juxtaposition. I know it is a huge cliche, but I have never met such genuinely nice people. From the kitchen staff that made our meals at the guest house to the vendors in the market to the villagers that gathered around during the home-visits--we saw so many more smiles than I am accustomed to in the Midwest. The country was torn apart a brief 18 years ago. In 90 days close to a million Rwandans died during a methodical and evil genocide. In the years since, the country has begun the hard work of rebuilding. Literally.

The bricks are soil cut into rectangular brick and left to dry in the sun. The scaffolding is made of local trees lashed together. Definitely not OSHA. :}

We were watching homes under construction in every village and the power grid was small and spotty. The soil was a striking rust color and it made even weeds look awesome because of the contrast. Accordingly, flowers looked like magic growing out of the ground. With so many hills and gorgeous plants--a shack in Rwanda would be a $750,000 view in the States. Cars aren't too common and all of the taxis are little scooters. Here is one I snapped a picture of on our way back from a home visit.

The taxi drivers almost all sold calling cards as a side hustle. Go free market!

Without getting into the politics, suffice to the world could have done a lot more to help during those dark days. We can't go back in time, but we can do something to help now. If you want to learn more about changing the life of a child check out ANLM.

Here is what changed me: I saw the stark contrast between the boys that were not yet sponsored, "street boys" that got two meals a week and the sponsored children who were fed daily, went to school and had health insurance. The difference between their lives is literally $40 per month. I have been skeptical about these faraway charities my whole life. Seeing the difference first-hand changed me. If you have ever wanted to know that you did something good, that made a dent in the universe. If you ever wanted to be absolutely sure of that, sponsor a child. Here is another child we visited and his proud father.

Here is the one of the families we visited. This father and his son were kings for the day because they had a brand new soccer ball (and pump with spare needles). This replaced a ball made out of banana leaves tied together with twine.

It was hard to leave each home after the visit. The hand marks on the back of our van were made by the excited children who were so glad we came and helped a family in their village and brought that village a new soccer ball. It was really and sad and joyful all at once.

Goal 4: Test my worldview

I didn't grow up with a lot of money but I never hated those that did. I always was inspired by people who found a way to use their brain and their creativity to create something other people wanted to buy. Nobody is truly self-made, but I do believe we can all find ways to improve our lives if we work hard and learn from our mistakes. And I still maintain that is true in America. However, in Rwanda I saw people with absolutely nothing. Not a place to sleep, a next meal or even many good examples of how to climb out of the poverty. With strategic giving we can give them the tools to innovate and thrive.

No shame. No fear. Incredible poise and determination to get through the day. It made me feel lazy.

My worldview of free market remains intact, but I now see a place for investing in the truly poor if they are working toward self-sufficiency. That is what I love about ANLM. They are providing education and vocational training not hand-outs or guilt-driven pity money. I heard story after story of kids that graduated and then turned around and sponsored kids, themselves. That is cool.

Goal 5: Fix two sewing machines

I did not expect to actually do something useful while in Rwanda. I mean I know hugging kids that have never been hugged and handing out soccer balls is technically something; but I never expected to do something actually productive. I don't think random white guys from Michigan are probably what Rwanda has on their list of "things we think will help us," but I had a cool opportunity to take apart the paracord bracelet I wore each day to use it as a drive belt for sewing machines at the women's vocational center. I gotta admit, it felt pretty cool.

Here are the rows of machines on which the women learn to sew.

Here is a machine with no drive belt…I see an opportunity…

"I love it when a plan comes together" :}

So I start unraveling. It took about 30 minutes…

This is a picture of me handing two seven foot lengths of 550 paracord to the lady who runs the sewing program. I kept the scraps as a reminder of the day.

Thanks for reading this post. I want you to know more about me and why I do what I do. A portion of the proceeds of CanYouHandlebar? go to this organization and someday I hope to release a collectors edition of my wax in packaging made in this very room.

For more information on sponsoring through ANLM, click here.

Thanks for reading!