Last year for the first time in forever, I decided to grow my beard out again. I use a few simple products, kept it pretty short and trimmed to keep the Mrs. McCullster happy, then ultimately shaved my beard growth on New Year's Day of this year (2017). I thought: New year, new me right? I'll just go back to the shaved stubble look I had for the longest time. Turns out I didn't like the clean shaven look anymore (it makes me look real young) and since then I've been growing it out ever since (4 months now).
I should have used the "beard shave rule", which is: For however long you've had your beard (in months), take that many days to think about modifying or shaving your beard. You might be frustrated with it now/today, but usually if you give it enough time, you'll get over it and be thankful you didn't make a rash decision and cut or shave your beard.
I started simple by using Beard Baron products, and learned a lot from his helpful YouTube videos. Now I switched to use Grave Before Shave beard wash once or twice a week. I only use it if I feel my beard is dirty or starts to feel dry. It seems to help out with the spots underneath the beard like acne or ingrown hairs.
For beard oil, I use 7 Sins Sweeney Todd's Wrath. My wife and I picked it out on a vacation and it smells like an old school barbershop. She's not really into the woodsy, lumberjack, smokey Ron Swanson-type beard oils. Just add a minute or two to my routine, put a dime/nickel sized drops in my palm and rub in on beard, skin and moustache. Then comb with a boar bristle brush and I'm good to go.
I'd love to try to do a yeard (a year long beard), but have a feeling by month 7 or 8 it would get too long. I sleep on my stomach and turn my head to the side, so waking up with sleep-beard is not my favorite.