BEARD TINTING EXPLAINED

At Zeus, we keep our fingers on the pulse of the beard care industry, which means we’ve encountered just about every fathomable thing you can do to a beard – flowerbeards (our eyes water just thinking about them), glitter beards, molding your beard into a baby octopus attacking your face à la Incredibeard. So when we came across beard tinting, we were skeptical.

But according to an article in Allure, beard tinting is actually a useful tool for guys who either have a beard with a mixture of different hair colors or a patchier beard. Read on for the lowdown on beard tinting to see if it’s right for you.

What is beard tinting?

Beard tinting is dying your beard hair a uniform color. This creates the appearance of a fuller beard, and can cover up some patchiness if your beard is on the sparser side.

But do not make the mistake of believing that beard tinting will accomplish the work of beard hair transplants, which are intensive medical procedures designed to make you grow more beard hair.

How do I tint my beard?

The easiest way is to ask your salon or barbershop to do it. But you can also easily achieve the same results at home.

Simply purchase a box of hair dye, going one shade lighter than the color on the back of your head (according to Redken hairstylist Brian Bowman, the hair on top of your head has been altered by the environment, so it won’t produce an accurate color match). Using a lighter color will allow the dye to blend more easily into your normal hair color and therefore look more natural.

Before you apply the dye, prevent the color from staining your skin by rubbing Vaseline around your beard line as well as on your neck and cheeks. You can also use olive oil or baby oil in a pinch.

Also do a test patch on your skin to ensure you don’t have a reaction to the dye.

Our conclusion

Beard tinting is worth the try, but do remember that there is a bit of maintenance involved. Since you are dying your hair, you’ll have to dye any new growth as it comes out. If you're a guy who's used to just applying beard oil and brushing your hair out, performing a dye job every month or two may be too much extra work.

If patchiness is your issue, there are other ways to make your beard fuller, naturally. From eating well to simply keeping your beard healthy, there’s a lot you can do before you decide to go the dye route.