Post Content
The humble beard comb.
It may not receive as much attention as brushes, balms, and oils but it is a key weapon in the armory of every bearded man.
Is beard comb better than beard brush (beard brush vs comb)?
This is one of the most common questions about beard grooming kits, but I’ll say that both combs for beard and brushes serve different purposes and should be used together to achieve the best results.
The best beard combs can however quickly become your go-to tool when cleaning and maintaining your facial hair every day.
In this article, we’re going to help you find the right beard comb for your specific beard, including a deep dive look at six of the best combs on the market right now.
QUICK OVERVIEW: Best Beard Combs
Our Top Pick Viking Revolution Wooden Beard Comb
| VIEW ON AMAZON → | |
Kent 81T Handmade Beard Comb
| VIEW ON AMAZON → | |
Airisland Dual Action Stainless Steel Beard Comb
| VIEW ON AMAZON → | |
Breezelike Wide Tooth Wood Comb
| VIEW ON AMAZON → | |
Kent Men’s Handmade Beard Comb, Set of 3
| VIEW ON AMAZON → | |
Real Bearded Men Ox Horn Beard Comb
| VIEW ON AMAZON → |
Use the table of contents below to jump to the sections most important to you.
Post Content
6 Best Beards Combs of 2024 Reviewed
Below is my list of the best combs for men who want to maintain a nicely combed beard daily.
Most Popular Products |
||
---|---|---|
"Best Beard Straightener" | "Best Beard Kit" | "Best Beard Oil" |
Buy on Amazon | Buy on Amazon | Buy on Amazon |
1. Viking Revolution Wooden Beard Comb
We’ll start our list with this all-natrual wooden model from Viking Revolution.
Wood is widely recognized as one of the best mustache and beard comb materials and this is definitely the best wooden beard comb on the market.
So why might this be the right beard comb for you?
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
If you want to try a wooden comb that is highly portable (pocket beard comb) and with an amazing price tag, this could be the one for you.
Key Features
There is a lot to like about this little comb, and one of the standouts is the construction material.
Wood is such a great comb material for so many reasons – it’s anti-static, it’s tough and long lasting and it really plays well with beard oils and is considered one of the best beard combs.
This folding beard comb though is also bringing so much more to the party, it’s easy to see why it is such a strong contender for the best wooden beard comb on the market.
It’s highly portable, being small and conveniently shaped to fit easily into suit pockets and gym bags.
The leather carry pouch is also a great little feature that is particularly well suited to wooden combs due to its porous nature.
When you’ve used it for a while and it is starting to soak up all that beautiful beard oil, trust us you’ll be very glad of the leather pouch.
Once again we are very happy to see two different gauges of comb tooth width mounted in one comb.
Not only is it simply a very useful feature, but it also makes this product very handy as a travel comb – there’s no need to pack a comb kit when you have this bad boy on hand.
Wood, as we’ll discuss more below, really is a top grade comb material.
This comb though is so much more than just it’s material.
It packs a high quality and very practical design into a small but powerful package. That, quite simply, is why this is a genuine front-runner for best wooden beard comb on the market right now.
See what others have to say per the reviews here on Amazon.
Pros
Cons
2. Kent 81T Handmade Beard Comb
Who knows more about bushy beards and mighty mustaches than the Brits, huh?
Well, our next option is this beautiful, handmade fancy beard comb from British manufacturer Kent.
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
If you are looking for a comb with a handmade construction, take a look at this classic Kent beard comb design utilizing modern materials.
Key Features
Let’s get this out of the way early, yes this comb is made from plastic.
You will read in many articles on beard care – including this one – to avoid using plastic combs on your facial hair.
So just why are we suggesting you buy this one?
Well, the first thing you’ve got to understand is that not all plastic combs are created equal.
The main issue with a plastic comb is that because they are usually cheap, they are almost always mass-produced.
This can lead to unfinished, poorly polished (or even unpolished) comb teeth that can snag your beard.
This, in turn, makes them uncomfortable to use as well as being bad news for the long-term health of your facial hair.
Kent gets around that issue by employing handmade construction here.
Not only that, but it is still handmade in the same factory in the United Kingdom that Kent has used since being founded way back in 1777.
The materials may have changed over time but the dedication to quality certainly has not.
As a construction material, plastic also brings some advantages of its own too.
The comb is nice and light for one thing, whilst also being easy to clean and long-lasting.
This comb is also on the smaller side, being only 3 inches long.
That makes it easy to manipulate and work through your beard no matter your face size.
This comb represents a very interesting fusion of the old and the new, with traditional manufacturing techniques employed on the most modern of materials.
If you’re looking for something a little different that won’t break the bank then you should certainly consider this well made little comb.
Don’t just take our word for it, check out the customer reviews here on Amazon.
Pros
Cons
3. Airisland Dual Action Stainless Steel Beard Comb
In our march through the best beard combs options on the market right now, we turn our attention to this metal manufactured comb from Airisland.
It may look like a comb designed for terminators, but there is a lot to recommend this product.
Read on to find out what that is.
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
Anyone looking for a highly portable & well-constructed metal beard comb.
Key Features
Metal is not a material many men naturally think off when we are considering new combs.
The reason for that, and on the surface it makes sense, is that the defining feature of metal is that it is pretty hard.
On the other hand, the defining features of our beards and the faces they are attached to is, well, pretty soft, aren’t they?
That doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven.
That is an unfair reason to snub metal combs, as they actually have a lot of advantages.
This comb from Airisland brings all the advantages of metal as well as a number of useful design features too.
First off, the stainless steel is anti-static, and you will find that the teeth of metal combs are remarkably smooth and more suitable beard comb for black hair.
This can really help to cut back on painful snagging which, as any bearded man knows, really sucks.
There are also a number of very interesting and useful design features on this comb in addition to the high-quality material it has been manufactured from.
It is very small, a mere 3 inches in length.
It has also been designed to fit into a credit card holder or wallet, making it extremely portable.
Of course, if you want to use it in the bathroom and store it there, that’s fine too.
Two different teeth widths make it easy to find the right one to work through your own beard.
Finally, as it is made of stainless steel it is easy to clean and very long lasting.
All in all, a very impressive comb that if you’ve never considered a metal comb before, this comb should give you pause to rethink that.
See other customer reviews here on Amazon.
Pros
Cons
4. Breezelike Wide Tooth Wood Comb
Our next comb is another wooden entry, this time from Breezelike.
Whilst it may look like a simple design, it is packing a lot of very useful features, especially for the hairier gentleman.
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
This is the best beardoholic beard comb for men with great, big bushy beards.
ZZ Top tribute acts, Lumberjacks and just about any man with 6 months plus of beard growth.
Key Features
There are a lot of reasons to recommend this comb, particularly if you already have a considerable amount of growth to your beard.
A beard that is well grown out and has a lot of body needs a comb with a wider tooth width, otherwise you are going to spend half your time unpicking the comb from your beard.
That is exactly what you getting from this comb with its lovely, wide-set teeth – surely one of the best wide-tooth combs in the market.
We also like the sandalwood construction material used here.
Sandalwood is already used in a whole host of beard and hair care products, both for its wonderful fragrance and also its many positive effects on hair growth.
It’s also nice and tough, which is certainly a characteristic that you want to see in a comb that will be employed on a longer beard.
It’s simple beard physics (yes, that’s a thing) that a comb working through longer hair will be subjected to more stresses and tension than when combing shorter hair.
For that reason, it must be able to stand up to that punishment, and wood is definitely one of the materials that can do just that.
Another advantage of wood, as we’ll discuss more below, is that it is very effective at working oils and balms into the beard.
With longer beards, this can actually be quite a time intense job to get the whole beard oiled every day, so having a comb that helps out with the task can be a real asset.
Check out the stellar reviews here on Amazon.
Pros
Cons
5. Kent Men’s Handmade Beard Comb, Set of 3
Next on our list is this set of combs, once again from the UK’s premier best beard brush and comb manufacturer, Kent.
Hey, we liked what we saw with their last product, so what are they bringing to the market here exactly?
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
If you are early in your beard-growing journey and want to build an armory of tools quickly then these are one of the best beard combs.
They could also interest you if you like variety in your combs or are unsure which size and teeth width is right for you and want to try out a few all at once.
Key Features
Well, in terms of design and construction, you can look back up to the single Kent beard brush we reviewed above.
All three combs are plastic, but all three are handmade for a premium finish including hand polishing for snag-free combing action.
No, we didn’t put this set onto the list because for its construction (though, as we pointed out above, it certainly is high grade).
It is here because we really liked the variety that is available in this set.
According to its size you can find it best mustache comb as well as good for the smaller beard.
You have your smaller sized beard and mustache comb, the same as we reviewed above.
But you also have long combs, with a real variety of teeth width, so that no matter your beard length or your face size, there should be something in here to fit.
Top Rated Colognes by Women |
||
---|---|---|
"Montblanc Legend" | "Ck One" | "Nick Jonas by John Varvatos " |
Buy on Amazon | Buy on Amazon | Buy on Amazon |
The fact they can also double as hair combs simply add to the versatility and value of this kit.
This would be the perfect set to pick up if you don’t have any beard combs and perhaps haven’t used one before.
It’s a great starter pack to get you going, but it also has the design and quality to be a long-serving and beloved grooming product you to turn to again and again.
See why people get the set of 3 per the Amazon reviews here.
Pros
Cons
6. Real Bearded Men Ox Horn Beard Comb
We’ll finish up our list with these best beard combs looking genuine ox horn beard comb from Real Bearded Men.
Yes that’s right we won’t endorse any Fake Bearded Men here at Prim and Prep, don’t worry about that.
Specs
Who Is It Best For?
Men looking for a comb manufactured from all natural materials.
Key Features
As provided in more depth above, it suffices to say that when you pick up a bone beard comb you are buying a comb made of a premium material.
Oh, and yes we do know that this product is made of horn and technically not bone – but in use that actually makes no difference at all.
Why does it make no difference?
Well because horn has the same characteristics as bone, and those same characteristics are right here in this great little product from Real Bearded Men.
Ox horn, by its nature, is an anti-static edc beard comb material, so that is going to really help keep your beard frizz free and manageable.
It’s worth noting the teeth are of a relatively fine width, so this comb will be best suited to a short to medium-length beard.
The design is quite impressive too.
The comb folds into the handle for easy transport so you can toss this comb into your rucksack or Doppler bag.
This also makes it easy to store in the bathroom.
It looks beautiful too, and it is a great sign that the product comes with the warning from the manufacturer that appearances may vary between products.
That is due to it being manufactured from an all-natural material, so if that is what you’re looking for, take a good look at this product.
Check out the customers reviews here on Amazon
Pros
Cons
4 Things to Consider to Buy the Best Beard Combs for You
How to decide which beard comb is the best for you?
This is of course to a certain extent something of personal consideration, and the best comb for one person may be totally unsuitable for someone else.
Are you looking for a beard styling comb or a beard trimming comb?
Here are some of the key features of a beard comb.
Take a look at them, decide which ones are more important to you – and which ones you can live without.
That should help you narrow down the right comb to suit your needs when selecting from our list of top beard combs.
1. Construction Material
Quite simply, the material that your comb is made of will have the biggest impact on how it performs for you.
Just to make things a little more complicated though (because nothing in life is simple huh?), each material has different pros and cons.
You need to weigh up these pros and cons for each material to see which is the best for you.
To help you do that (and because we’re very nice) we’ve listed out the main materials here, along with their good and bad points:
Plastic Combs
A decent but somewhat underwhelming material.
The negative to this is that it is often mass-produced in an injection mold.
That can lead to poor quality control and unpolished teeth that snag your beard hair, causing painful snags and tangles.
Choosing a hand-finished plastic comb (as we did in our list below) however will offset this quality issue, but will also raise the price.
To us, it’s a simple trade-off to pay a little extra for the added quality of a hand-finished item.
On the plus side, they are rugged, easy to clean and simple to use.
Wooden Combs
We like wooden combs a lot, and we’re not alone in that.
They look great and, so long as they are well finished, can be very kind on beard hairs.
They are generally a little cheaper than horn combs whilst providing a similar performance level.
On the downside, a wood beard comb is harder to clean, as it does not like getting wet.
They should also not be stored in the bathroom, as the moisture from baths and showers can warp, swell and splinter the wood.
Metal Combs
So long as the teeth have been smoothly cut and well polished, such as in the metal comb in our list below, a metal beard comb really can be a great investment.
They are extremely tough and long lasting and very easy to clean.
The only negative is that if you buy a poorly finished metal comb, it can devastate your facial hair as a whole.
They can also struggle with static electricity build-up, which means they are not ideal for very long beards.
Bone/Horn Combs
We love the horn and bone beard combs.
This is the humble beard comb and naturally anti-static, meaning you can comb away all day without building up a frizz-causing charge.
Horn cones also contain a material called Keratin, which is like Teflon to facial hair.
That helps to stop tangles getting caught up in the comb teeth.
They can be a little fragile, and you need to take care when you are cleaning them as the teeth can snap off easily.
Still, they are great all-round material.
2. Tooth Width
Another big consideration is tooth width.
Basically, the more the facial hair the wider the teeth need to be.
Big beard growths – we’re talking over a year’s solid growth – will need very wide teeth.
For the first few months of growth, a fine tooth beard comb width is better, simply because your beard has less mass at this stage for the comb to work with.
Buying a comb with multiple teeth widths is a great way to extend the lifespan of the product.
3. Working Well With Others
As your facial hair grows in length, you may need extra help to work it, style it and care for it.
Some combs are better than others when working with beard oils and balms.
Wood and horn, for example, are very good at combing your beard and working products deep into the hair follicles.
Plastic and metal, on the other hand, are less useful here.
As longer and fuller beards need more oil and balm to look their best, it may be best to consider wood and whale bone beard comb as the better option as your beard grows.
4. High Maintenance?
Last up, you should consider how much cleaning your comb may need and how much time you want to invest in caring for your combs.
The answer here is actually the opposite of the recommendation above.
Horn and especially wood combs are both harder materials to keep clean.
Horn can be a little fragile, especially when the comb is older.
Wood, on the other hand, is a bit tougher, but it really struggles with moisture.
However, metal, plastic and fancy beard comb, whilst not being the best comb materials, are much more versatile materials and easier to care for.
You can simply wash them in soap and water, dry them up and forget about them.
How to Use a Beard Comb
So now you’ve bought your best beard comb – congratulations!
The next consideration, of course, is how to actually use the thing.
Now, there are an awful lot of different guides out there on the Internet that will tell you how to brush your beard and comb your beard.
Some are full of great, highly useful advice.
Some… not so much.
The truth is that everyone will develop their own routine and methods, tweaked to accommodate the varieties of life as they affect you.
The type of comb you end up buying, how much time you have to comb your beard, the type of oil you use, the length of your beard, the way it grows – these are all variables that mean that the way one person uses their beard comb is perfect for them, but may not work so well for you.
The following is a step-by-step guide just to get you started.
If you are early in your beard growing journey, we would recommend you use this as a starting point, adapting it as you practice and you learn what works for you.
How to Use a Beard Comb
1. Select the Best Beard Comb
Grab your comb.
The first thing to do is to check it is clean and ready to go (if it isn’t, drop down below to read our handy guide on cleaning beard combs).
Select a comb with the right tooth width for your beard’s length.
If you are hitting a lot of snags and tangles straight off the bat, chances are the teeth’ width is too narrow.
Change out the comb for one with a wider set of teeth and start again.
2. Comb from Bottom to Top
Many people will start with the cheeks and brush downwards. Wrong!
You should start with the comb upside down in your hand.
Start by combing up your neck toward your jawline and then over that and up your cheeks.
The purpose of this first pass with the comb is to fluff up the hair and remove any tangles.
Yes, you will look stupid in the mirror.
Yes, it will be worth it.
3. Don’t Tug and Pull!
Speaking of tangles, if you are hitting snags at this stage don’t worry too much about it.
As a beard grows, it will naturally start to untangle a little more every time you comb it.
When the comb gets snagged up in a tangle, don’t tug and pull at it.
All that is going to do is damage your beard and make you swear and cry a little.
Just work the comb backward a little when it snags, then carefully work it through the tangle slowly.
Adding a few drops of beard oil can really help the comb through snags too.
4. Comb Downwards
Now the beard is tangle free and all the hairs are standing up by themselves, it’s now time to flatten them down.
Take your comb and reverse your grip, so the teeth are now pointing downwards.
With the comb held in this way, comb your hair downwards until your beard is lying flat against your face.
5. Style Your Beard
Finish up with any styling flourishes you like.
This can be as flamboyant as you like, or you can skip this step entirely for a more natural looking beard – hey, it’s your beard, right?
If you want to put bells and ribbons in it, knock yourself out – though don’t expect us to come out drinking with you afterward.
One thing we would suggest always doing at this point is combing your mustache away from your mouth though.
That really is the most basic beard-combing regime we can think off.
Like we said, with time and practice you’ll adapt a combing beard style to suit you and what you want from your beard.
As a basic regime though, it is worth following in the early days for a neat but not over styled beard.
How to Clean & Maintain the Best Beard Combs
If you want your beard to be clean and neat then you also need to keep your comb clean.
How can you expect it to work well on your beard if it is dirty and full of crud?
Short answer: it can’t.
Some materials, as we mentioned above, are easier to clean than others.
As a general rule of thumb though, here is a foolproof method to keep your brush and comb clean and your beard neat.
Tools
You don’t need much in the way of tools to clean your beard comb.
A manual toothbrush used as a beard brush though can be a very useful aid here.
Pick up the cheapest one you can in a discount store or somewhere similar – seriously, the cheapest, 50 cent models will do the job just fine.
Method
If notice your hair comb is getting a little oily or full of bits of beard debris, fill a bowl (or the washroom sink) with warm water.
Squirt a little liquid soap onto your comb and carefully work it between the teeth of the comb with your fingertips.
Be extra careful not to bend the teeth too far out of position.
Rinse the comb clean of soap and most of the dirt, then hold it underneath warm running water and get to work with your toothbrush.
Run the bristles of the toothbrush up and down the teeth of the comb, rinsing all the while with fresh water.
When all the debris and oils have been removed your beard brush is clean.
Simply grab a clean towel, pat dry to remove as much moisture as possible and leave to air-dry thoroughly.
Don’t put the comb away until it is completely dry.
This will work on all the best beard combs from our list except those made of wood.
Because of the nature of this material you should avoid getting it too wet.
Never submerge a wooden comb in water and dry them thoroughly as soon as they are clean.
Above all else though make sure you have fun, look after your beards and we’ll see you soon to check out some more awesome grooming products!
FAQs on Best Beard Combs
1. Why do I need a beard comb?
Daily combing can:
- Prevent ingrown hairs, avoiding this irritating beard issue altogether.
- Train the beard to grow around the mouth, preventing your mighty mustache from becoming a gross soup-strainer full of crumbs.
- Give the appearance of a thicker, fuller beard by combing all the hairs into one direction.
- Comb over beard to remove dandruff or other unsightly particles.
2. Does a comb promote faster growth?
Everyone is looking for the best way to grow a beard quickly, but combing is sadly probably not going to make it grow any faster.
What it can do, as we mentioned above, is to make what you currently have, look a bit thicker by allowing you to comb all the hairs in one direction.
This can really help a developing beard to look much fuller in the earlier growth stages.
3. What are the best beard combs?
The answer is the best beard combs are the one that suits you and your beard, and that is going to be a different requirement for everyone.
It may not necessarily be the most expensive one on the list; it may not be the one with the outstanding features or the coolest design.
It will be the one that feels right for you.