Matt James is proud of his beard.
James, 31, exclusively opened up to Us Weekly about his facial hair and how Every Man Jack has transformed his beard.
The Bachelor alum admitted that before learning how to properly take care of his beard, he looked like “a wild man.”
“The first time I grew it — I just washed it like [how] I washed my underarms — I just put some soap on there,” he told Us. “Now that I have all my products and a blueprint … I feel like I could rock my beard to the max potential.”
His go-to grooming routine includes the Every Man Jack Small Batch Beard Collection. First, James uses the Hinoki Spice Beard & Face Wash. “I’ll let it sit in there for a second and then I’ll wash it out,” he told Us. Then, he applies the Hinoki Spice Beard Oil until it’s “dried out.” To give his hair a bit more shine, he uses “a pea sized amount” of the Hinoki Spice Beard Butter “to get that glow.”
While James has been equipped with the tools to maintain a healthy beard, he still struggles with some aspects of grooming. “The biggest challenge is definitely hydrating, especially when it gets cold,” he candidly said.
To beat the winter dryness, James recommends the Every Man Jack beard balm and oil to lock in moisture.
James’ girlfriend, Rachael Kirkconnell, is also a part of the process. The TV personality revealed that in order for Kirkconnell to be on board with the beard, she told him he had to “take care of it.”
“She’s definitely more accepting this time around.” James told Us, explaining that his beard was previously unkempt. “I think that she appreciates how much thoughtfulness goes into it. So she’s cool with it, as opposed to me just looking ragged and just letting it go.”
Although James doesn’t see himself shaving his beard in the near future, he told Us that he has gone “back and forth” with the idea.
The last time he ditched his facial hair was in May 2022, when he released his book, First Impressions: Off Screen Conversations with a Bachelor on Race, Family, and Forgiveness. At the time, he posted a video acting like he was kidnapped and “forced to shave” his facial hair.
“The last time I cut it was a big deal. I felt like I was forced to cut it … I like the way it looks and feels and now that I have all the things necessary to take care of it, I don’t know if it’s gonna go there [again],” he told Us.
Elsewhere in the interview, James gushed about his partnership with Every Man Jack. “Once I found out more about Every Man Jack and what they were about … it was a no brainer,” he said. “It’s been a fun partnership. It’s allowed me to grow my beard back out.”
James explained that because he’s 6’5”, the company needed to raise the height of the vanity he was using while shooting his commercial. “Other brands might find ways to work around that, but it’s just like the thoughtfulness that went into everything that we’ve done,” he praised. “I’m just lucky.”
