Should I be using beard oil or beard balm?
This is a question we get asked a lot. Let’s understand the purpose of each of them so the question becomes easier to answer.
The starting point is the length of your beard.
If you have just started growing out your beard or maintain facial hair around the 5 o’clock shadow then beard oil is for you.
In fact, applying beard oil to skin after a clean shave feels amazing! And only helps moisturize your skin and soften hair as it begins to grow out again.
If your beard is long enough to have some wispy hairs, or long enough to run a comb through it then a beard balm can offer you some benefits that beard oil won’t.
Primary functions
Beard Oil
Beard oil is designed to hydrate your skin and replenish the nutrients in your hair that gets stripped out as a result of everyday activities. Like hot showers.
It’s formulated using oils like jojoba or argan which are referred to as carrier oils.
Beard oil is designed to be applied directly onto your beard but then worked through with your fingers or ideally a beard comb (so your fingers don’t absorb the goodness you’re trying to get into your beard) until it makes contact with the skin under your beard to rehydrate it.
This keeps your skin healthy, encourages dormant hair follicles to grow which leads to a thicker fuller beard, and hydrating skin also prevents itching and beard dandruff.
Beard Balm
Beard balm is designed to treat beard hair and contains some of the same carrier oils like jojoba to replace nutrients, but the intention is not to work it through your beard to get skin contact, and this is where the two start to perform different functions.
Beard balm contain raw ingredients like beeswax, shea butter or mango butter and these provide “hold” in your beard so you can shape it and over time, train your heard hairs to grow in the desired direction.
Often beards can have wispy hairs or just generally look a bit “boofy” as they grow naturally and the benefit of using a beard balm is to tame it and maintain healthy beard hair at the same time.
Primary benefits summarized
If you have any facial hair you should be using beard oil on it.
If your beard is long enough to run a comb through it then you should be using both.
The balm may be your everyday go-to for its ability to tidy up your beard and keep the hair healthy and strong, but every few days (or when you feel the need) you should be combing beard oil through to rehydrate your skin and keep itching and dandruff at bay.
Secondary functions
The Bearded Man uses natural essential oils (instead of synthetic scents) to create the scents in our beard oils and balms. They provide a bunch of physical and emotional benefits like:
improving skin repair
stimulating the brain for enhanced focus
Relaxes the brain to help unwind
Helps fight acne
Alleviates the symptoms of eczema
Improves blood circulation
Fights infection
Calms nerves
Relieves insomnia
These benefits change depending on the blend of essential oils used (the scent of the product) and can be very useful in everyday life. If these benefits interest you, please send an email to hello@thebeardedman.nz and we can send you more information on it.