Should You Co-Wash Your Beard? What It Does, What It Doesn't, and Who It's For

If you've never heard the word "co-wash," you're not alone. And if you have, there's a decent chance you've wondered whether it's a real thing or just another way to sell you a bottle. Fair question. Here's the straight answer, from the guy who makes one.

What is co-washing?

Co-washing means cleaning your beard with a conditioner-first wash instead of a soap or shampoo. The "co" is short for conditioner. A co-wash still cleans — there's a gentle cleanser in it — but most of the formula is conditioner, so it takes off dirt and grime without stripping the natural oil your skin makes to protect your beard.

Most beard washes flip that around. They're mostly cleanser with a splash of conditioner added. Mine is the opposite: 90% conditioner and 10% gentle cleanser.

What does co-wash remove — and what doesn't it?

A co-wash removes the everyday stuff: dirt, sweat, dust, and the light residue from yesterday's oil or balm. What it deliberately leaves alone is sebum, the natural oil your skin produces.

That second part is the whole point. Sebum is what keeps a beard soft and the skin under it from drying out. Harsh cleansers, especially sulfates, take it all off every single shower. That's why so many guys step out with a beard that feels like straw and skin that's itching an hour later. Then they put beard oil on to fix damage that happened five minutes earlier.

What a co-wash won't do well is cut through heavy buildup. If you've been under a truck all day, you're covered in sawdust, or you've been stacking product for days, a conditioner-first wash is the wrong tool. More on that below.

Who should co-wash their beard?

Co-washing helps most if your beard is long, coarse, curly, or dry, or if the skin underneath itches or flakes. Those are the beards that lose the most when their oil gets stripped every day.

• Long beards, because the ends are the oldest hair and the driest
• Coarse or wiry beards that feel rough no matter how much oil you use
• Curly beards that frizz and lose their shape after washing
• Guys with itchy or flaky skin under the beard, especially in winter
• Anyone who showers daily and washes their beard every time

One more I hear about more than you'd think: if your go-to beard wash changed its formula and suddenly stopped working, it's worth reading the new ingredient list. A lot of washes lean heavier on cleanser than a beard needs.

How often should you co-wash your beard?

Every day, if you want. Because it's mostly conditioner, a co-wash is built for daily use in a way a sulfate-heavy wash isn't. Your beard won't dry out from it. That's the whole idea. I use mine every single day.

Wet your beard, work it through all the way down to the skin, and rinse. Follow with your beard oil, balm, or butter while the beard's still a little damp.

When should you use soap instead?

Use a real cleanser when you need a deep clean: heavy product buildup, grease, grime, or a day that left you filthy. That's what my Charcoal & Clay Soap is for. Activated charcoal and kaolin clay cut through heavy buildup, grease, and grime, and the shea butter, mango butter, and glycerin in it keep it from leaving that tight, stripped feeling most bar soaps do.

Here's the thing, though. Even though I recommend the soap for a deep clean, I rarely use it myself. I go to the gym and sometimes hike in the mountains, so admittedly I don't get super dirty, and I still just use the co-wash every day. If you have a job that really gets you dirty and grimy, I'd recommend the bar soap for a deep clean. But for most guys, the co-wash is enough.

If you do use both, they work well together. Soap on the dirty days, co-wash right after it to put the moisture back, and co-wash on its own the rest of the time.

Is co-washing a gimmick?

It can be, depending on what's in the bottle. Plenty of products call themselves a co-wash and are really just a regular wash with a new label. The test is easy: read the ingredient list. If there's a sulfate near the top, it's not a conditioner-first wash, whatever the front says.

A real co-wash leads with water and conditioning ingredients, uses a gentle cleanser, and doesn't leave your beard squeaky. Squeaky clean feels satisfying, but on a beard it means you took off everything, including the oil you wanted to keep.

What's actually in mine

I'd rather show you than tell you. Here's what the important parts of my co-wash do:

• Aloe vera juice and pro-vitamin B5 condition and calm the skin underneath, not just the hair.
• Polyquaternium-10 kills static and flyaways.
• Decyl glucoside is the gentle cleanser that does the actual washing. No sulfates.
• Marula, shea nut, meadowfoam seed, argan, and jojoba oils replace what the wash takes off, so your beard comes out soft without feeling greasy.
• Cetyl and cetearyl alcohol trip people up because of the word "alcohol." They're fatty alcohols that soften and thicken the formula, not the drying kind you'd find in hand sanitizer.

Full ingredient list: distilled water, aloe vera juice, cetyl alcohol, cetearyl alcohol, polyquaternium-10, decyl glucoside, glyceryl monostearate, PEG-100 stearate, marula oil, shea nut oil, meadowfoam seed oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, d-panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), vitamin E tocopherol, EDTA, potassium sorbate.

Where co-wash fits in your routine

1. Wash: co-wash daily. Charcoal and clay soap when you've gotten really dirty.
2. Moisturize: beard oil on damp hair, worked down to the skin.
3. Condition and shape: balm when you want some hold, butter when you want deep conditioning.

If you want both washes, the Co-Wash + 2 Soaps bundle gets you the daily wash and the deep-clean bars together. Or grab the Premium Co-Wash on its own.

And if it doesn't work for your beard, tell me. I'd rather know.

-Chris