If you have a beard you definitely will have dealt with this problem at least one time in your life. You take a shower in the morning and by midday, you notice that when you when you touch your beard and smell your fingers, it’s not the greatest smell in the world.

Why exactly does your beard smell like cheese? Your beard smells like cheese because of the odorless fatty acid in your sweat that mixes with bacteria causing a cheesy smell since the bacteria is feeding off of the sweat. The odor is a by-product of the bacteria.

Sweat Mixes with Bacteria

This cheesy smell that can develop on a man when his sweat mixes with bacteria is actually quite normal. Most of the time, this smell originates from a man’s armpits. Nevertheless, it can develop in a beard that has not been properly cleaned and maintained.

Women have a similar problem with bacteria consuming their sweat, but the smell created is oniony.

The type of bacteria in men that causes a cheesy smell is very common and it’s called Staphlococcus Hominis, which sounds very scientific but it’s just another type of bacteria that can be picked up on a daily basis. It is readily found on human and animal skin.

Picking up Bacteria Even if You are Freshly Showered Every Day

Even though you might be showering every day, just so your daily activities you’re going to be exposed to a lot of different bacteria. If you touch something that contains bacteria and then touch your beard it’s going to be and trapped in your beard especially if your beard has a lot of oil in it.

On a personal note, I realize that I am picking up a lot of bacteria at my local gym. I did some quick research and I was a little bit shocked at the amount of bacteria that can be picked up in the typical gym.

If you use the treadmill at your local gym, did you realize that this piece of equipment is the most infected with nasty bacteria? In second place was the exercise bike and then in the third place, the free weights.

Luckily I am too lazy to use a treadmill or an exercise bike. Either way of my muscle which is the stupid premise but I go along with it. Nevertheless, I was shocked to find out all three of these types of equipment are you the infected with over 1 million bacteria per square inch.

I’m not telling you this because I don’t think that you should go to a gym, I just wanted to indicate to you that being in public situations will expose you to a lot of different types of bacteria that can affect it the freshness of your beard.

Should you take the extreme measure of shaving off your beard?

If your beard is a big nasty mess, it’s probably good idea to shave it off. If it is relatively well-maintained, I feel that you can rid yourself of this cheesy smell. You need to understand that you have to keep it clean and healthy.

I’m not saying that you have to sterilize it as if it’s some type of operation room. Some bacteria is actually good for the human body.

Try to trim it on a biweekly basis and also pull a comb through it daily in order to remove any stray food particles. Trimming your beard is going to lower the instances of having split whiskers. A split whisker can be problematic because it can gather a lot of bacteria.

Another way to keep your beard healthy is to ensure that you eat correctly. Since a beard is made up of mostly protein, consuming protein rich foods will increase the healthiness of your beard. It is also a good idea for you to consume good fats and green leafy vegetables.

How to Clean Your Beard

Washing your beard daily with simple soap and water is a good plan. You do not necessarily have to use antibacterial soap because that’s going to kill all the bacteria on your skin and some bacteria are actually healthy for you.

After washing your beard, safely dry it off with the towel. Do not rub too hard at your beard.

If you do not wash your beard adequately, you’re going to allow it to gather too much oil which can entrap more residue or bacteria.

Just remember that a beard is creating a warm environment on your face which is heaven to bacteria and that you need to keep this environment clean.

You might be wondering if it’s just simpler to shave off your beard to avoid bacteria buildup. It is true that a clean-shaven face has fewer bacteria, but as long as you keep your beard clean and dry, you will be fine.

The importance of drying your beard

If you don’t dry your beard properly, you’re just asking for trouble and a higher probability of dealing with the dreaded cheesy smell. I personally have a problem drying properly my beard.

I adequately dry my body after a shower, but I notice that sometimes when I’m putting on my t-shirt, water will drip from my goatee onto my shirt.

The explanation as to why it is dangerous not to dry your beard, is that beard whisker follicles will swell with water. This swelling can cause pressure to the proteins in the follicles. The weakening of the follicles will loosen the whiskers in your face.

If you have a full beard, you may use a hair dryer on its lowest setting to completely dry your beard. If you have a small beard, just pat it dry with a towel after washing it or after you step out of your shower.

Now Moisturize Your Beard

Before doing my research for this article, I thought that moisturizing the beard would be the last thing that you want to do because it’s going to increase the humidity in your beard. Apparently, it can keep your beard healthier because it softens the whiskers and the skin at the same time. I recommend the beard balm made by Honest Amish, click here to see this balm on Amazon.

If your skin is dry and itchy, you will have the tendency to scratch it. Scratching your skin can deposit bacteria from your fingernails into the follicles of your beard. Also, the tiny microscopic breakages in your skin are yet more entry points for bacteria.

Sweating A lot with a Bald Head

I have a bald head and my biggest problem at the gym is that sweat is constantly dripping into my eyes and onto my face. My mustache gets immersed in sweat. This sweat is feeding the bacteria on my face. My advice to you is to always ensure that you have a towel at the gym so that you can keep your head dry.

This also applies to people that have a lot of head hair because gravity’s going to pull the sweat onto your face. If you’re lying on a bench, make sure that you have a towel underneath your head so that your head does not touch the bench that could be infested with bacteria.

Exercise Your Way to a Healthy Odor Free Beard

Exercising could actually increase the healthiness of your beard. When you’re exercising, you are increasing your testosterone level. The testosterone hormone can strengthen your whiskers and provide you with a healthy beard because it stimulates facial hair growth.

Also, exercise increases bodily recovery which can replenish your skin. Having healthy skin means having healthy follicles, which is great for a beard.

Good luck with your goal to increase the healthiness of your beard in order to eliminate any foul odors emanating from it. Hopefully, your beard will only develop a cheesy smell if the cheese from a pizza slice has dripped onto your beard as you were scarfing it down.

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