Flakes in your moustache are harder to ignore than flakes anywhere else. They sit right under your nose, and everyone you talk to is looking at your face. The good news: it's the same skin as the rest of your beard, so it needs the same simple routine. You just have to actually get to it.
Why your moustache gets flaky
The skin under your moustache is face skin, and it dries out like the rest. It also gets more wear than most of your beard. Food, drink, wiping your mouth, the odd absent-minded rub: it all adds up.
It's also the bit people miss. Oil goes on the cheeks and jaw, and the upper lip gets a quick wipe on the way past. Shaving round the edges of a moustache or goatee can leave the skin there feeling tight, too.
Not every flake is dryness. If there's redness, greasy-looking or yellowish flakes, or flaking round your nose and eyebrows as well, read the section on when it isn't just dryness below.
Wash it properly
Use warm water, not hot, and a gentle wash. Work your fingertips under the hair, not just over it, and rinse until it's clear. Then pat it dry. Don't scrub at it with the towel.
Once or twice a week, the Beard Scrub Bar gives the skin a proper clean with pumice. Go gently on the upper lip, keep it away from your eyes and nostrils, and rinse well.
Get the oil to the skin
Druff Anti Dandruff Beard Oil moisturises the skin beneath your beard, moustache included, and conditions the hair. It's best applied after a shower or a wash with warm water, while your skin and beard are still slightly damp.
For a moustache, use less than you think. Warm a little oil between your palms, then use your fingertips to press it into the skin above your lip, then smooth what's left through the hair. A comb helps it settle. Keep it on the hair and skin rather than your lips.
The oil is scented, with aromatic oils including tea tree and sandalwood. It sits right under your nose, so if the scent feels like a lot, use a bit less.
Goatees and patchy growth
Same routine, same skin. Pay attention to the edges where hair meets bare skin, and the chin, where a goatee is often at its thickest and hardest to get through. If you shave round a goatee, read our guide to dry skin after shaving for the bits in between.
When it isn't just dryness
Flakes that come with redness, itching that won't settle, greasy or yellowish scales, or flaking round your nose, eyebrows or scalp as well, can be a skin condition such as seborrhoeic dermatitis rather than plain dryness.
The short version
- Wash gently with warm water, and get your fingertips under the hair.
- Pat dry. Don't rub.
- Beard Scrub Bar once or twice a week, gently.
- Warm the oil between your palms, then work it into the skin above your lip first, followed by the hair.
- On a moustache, use less than you think.