Beard Hair Care: Is facial hair different from head hair?

Here I am, 54 years old and growing my first beard. I’ve had a mustache for years, but never thought about care of the whiskers. I just kind of let them go and trimmed them. I now muse over whether I should use shampoo and conditioner on my beard like on my head? I’m at the three month mark and I only have about an inch of growth. Not surprising as facial hair is not a notorious feature on Asian men. Does conditioner encourage growth or strength of the hair? I am growing it out for a community theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof where I will be trying for the role of Laser Wolf. So I guess my mangy beard would be ok.