essentials

- a good wash or shampoo (right now i'm rocking w shea moisture coconut and hibiscus w silk protein, not specifically designed for beards but it's glorious)

- moisturizer (i'm using cremo for now; dr miracle's and shea moisture also have good ones)

- beard oil (kiehl's! expensive but worth every penny)

- balm or wax for control

buy small sizes / samples and try different brands. lot of good ones out there. don't overuse your product, if you're buying good shit a little bit goes a long way. find the right combo, have your shit sparkling like 7 up © roc marc

like the homie said, if you're starting from scratch don't even touch it for a good 2 months. i usually do a clean shave once a year and and then just let it come in, no trim, minimal edge up. it's gonna be hell, it will look and feel like shit for a good minute, but after about 8 weeks it will hit that sweet spot as far as length and thickness and start popping off lovely. then you get your manicuring on.

https://i.imgur.com/4JETKAh.jpg

that's prolly a good 3 months after my last full reboot. itchy uneven mess for like the first month and a half tho lol.

brush brush brush. constantly. beards are way hard to train. product and maintenance is key.

until you know what you're doing let a pro do your trimming and edge up. i've had a fully since my teen years so i can do the shit in the dark with my eyes closed, but a lot of cats is out here playing theyself. cheek line too low, neck line too high. just looking crazy. i see it daily. find a good barber. once you get a little more confident, a good electric trimmer for maintenance. keep your cheek and neck lines as close to natural as possible. the chinstrap jawnt is a trash look.

there's a good beard community online, lot of good IG and YouTube follows. i can give you some names.