Both beard oil and beard balm should have a place in any man’s male grooming arsenal. However, although their end goals are similar, each of these beard care products serves a unique and key function. Let’s take a look at both.
What is Beard Oil?
Beard oil is the most popular out of the two beard products, with roughly 60% of men choosing it over beard balm. It’s created out of 2 main parent ingredients – carrier oil, and fragrance. 98% of beard oil is made up of carrier oils, and we use a combination of jojoba oil, argan oil, inca inchi oil, and rice bran oil, chosen for the multiple benefits they offer to skin and beard. Carrier oils are almost always odourless, so the remaining 2% of most beard oils is the fragrance, which we create by blending 10+ natural essential oils. Artificial fragrances offer no benefit to your skin and can even be harmful, so it’s best to avoid them where possible.
Why do you need beard oil?
When your facial hair gets to a certain length, the glands underneath stop being able to produce enough natural oil (called sebum oil) to care for them. This is why you get that nasty itch (and the dreaded beardruff) if you don’t use beard growth products like beard oil. The key to a happy beard is making sure both hair and underlying skin get what they need to stay healthy. Beard oil is as close to sebum oil as you can get, so by applying it daily, you’ll help yourself to grow a strong, thick beard with moisturised, nourished skin underneath.
If you enjoy the nourishing effects of beard oil but find yourself fighting against unruly beard hairs, balm’s your guy. Containing the same natural essential oil blends as our beard oils, our range of beard balms is built on 3 key ingredients, hand-selected for their effectiveness:
· Shea butter to moisturise your hair and underlying skin
· Natural cocoa butter to repair damaged hair and promote fuller, thicker growth
· A premium beeswax to give you control over your beard. Rain or shine, beard balm will keep you on top form.
Key Product Differences – a Heads-Up View:
Benefits
Beard Oil
Beard Balm
Hold & Control
**
*****
Beard Growth
*****
****
Seasonal?
Usable all year
Less hold during summer months*.
Time to use
Whenever you want
Whenever, but best used in morning/afternoon
*Balm gets its hold and control from wax, usually beeswax. As wax gets warmer, it becomes more liquidy, which is why you rub it in your hands before applying and it sets once left to its own devices. Balm still works great in warmer months, but you’ll notice you’ll get better hold when it’s colder, so this beard product can be even more effective when used during autumn and winter.
How to Use Beard oil
1. Soap up, sucker
Use a gentle beard soap, wash or shampoo as required to remove dirt and any lingering beard care products from your beard. Be careful that the water isn’t too hot, as this can damage your beard hair. And nobody wants that.
2. Gently towel-dry
Press the towel gently into your face to soak up the majority of the water
3. Apply a few drops of oil . . .
Use the dropper to get some beard oil into your palms. 3-4 drops for a short beard and work up as required.
4. Massage into your palms
Evenly distribute the oil between your fingers and the centre of your palms.
5. Rub into your beard
To get the best, most even oil coverage, work the oil into your beard using a high-quality boar-bristle beard brush.
How to Use Beard Balm
1. Wash that beard
Keep that beard clean – remove any excess beard products and dirt by washing it carefully before applying beard balm.
2. Towel dry
Remove excess moisture by gently pressing a towel into your beard.
3. Grab your beard balm
Using your thumbnail, scoop out a small portion of beard balm.
4. Break it down
Rub the beard balm between your fingers until any lumps disappear and it forms a thick liquid.
5. Apply to your beard
Rub the beard balm first downwards through your beard hair, and then upwards to ensure even distribution.
6. Brush it Up & Dry it Out
For maximum hold, you can gently blow-dry your beard hair using the coldest setting of your hairdryer, combing it gradually with a high-quality boar-bristle beard brush or beard comb.
The Daily Grooming Routine Every Bearded Man Needs
Beard care products. Huh. Yeah. What are they good for?
Absolutely everything.
Okay, they’re not going to do your dishes, but when it comes to beards, they’re going to keep you looking your best. And any man who cares about improving his presentation will know that turning heads starts with a solid daily grooming routine.
“How do my beard products fit into this?”, we hear you ask. Let’s take a look.
1. Shampoo in the shower
If you want to grow it out, you need to keep it clean and remove any dirt or grime. Beard shampoo is the one for this job, and your morning shower is the perfect time to do it (obviously). How often you need to use a beard shampoo depends on your climate and the type of job you do but 2-3 times a week is usually a good rule of thumb. If it gets dry, do it less. If it’s super greasy, do it more. One thing’s for sure, though – this isn’t a beard product you want to miss out on.
2. Shave in those lines
Keep your beard looking badass and well-groomed. After your shower, grab a razor and tidy up your cheek line, neckline and the top of your moustache if you get annoyed by unruly hairs pricking your nose.
A beard trimmer will get it done, but for a tight, clean shave that yields the best, tidiest results, we recommend you invest in a high-quality safety razor. You can pick these up for £25-40 and they’re an important addition to your bathroom cabinet.
3. Moisturise your skin
The buck doesn’t just stop with beard growth products. There’s a reason your granddad looked 80 when he was 30 – old-school “soap and water” skin care isn’t that great. If you want your beard to pop, your skin needs to pull its weight, too. This doesn’t have to break the bank but be prepared to spend £10-20 in order to get real benefits from a facial moisturiser. The plus side is that since half of your facial real estate is covered by a beard, your moisturiser will last you ages.
Apply a pea-sized amount to your palms, spread it out, and evenly massage it into your forehead, nose and cheeks. You’ll be getting compliments within a week.
4. Grab your beard-care product of choice
Oil or balm? Now’s the time to decide. Grab your favourite beard care product, apply a small amount to your palms, and work it into your beard. For best results (and the maximum hold from your balm), use a boar-bristle beard brush to ensure an even distribution.
5. Let it dry – au natural, or blow-dry?
It’s entirely up to you. If you’ve got an extra 5 minutes to spare, we recommend blow-drying. Not only will it save you walking around with a damp beard, it’ll also give you complete control over your final style.
If you choose to blow-dry, bear in mind that heat is not your friend. Keep it to the coldest setting, and be gentle as you brush through.
As we expand our beard care product range we’ll be adding a blow-dry spray, so watch this space…
10 Quick Tips for a Bigger, Better Beard
Beard info online is widespread and varies in quality, and there aren’t any tell-all books you can check out of the library.
(Okay, we might have found one).
Most of it is geared around getting you to buy beard care products, without revealing much about what’s in them, or what they do.
The truth is, you can set yourself on the right path with the correct tips. And we’ve got 10 of them here.
1. Be patient
That dude in the gym with the beard down to his chest? That doesn’t happen overnight. Growing a beard can take a lot of patience. On average, you can expect to grow 1cm of beard hair a month, and the best thing you can do is just let it grow. All of the beard care products in the world won’t substitute good old-fashioned patience.
Trust us – when your follicles start needing beard care products, you’ll hear about it. The way they tell you?
Insatiable itching and flaking (we call it beardruff).
As your hair gets longer, it needs more natural oil to stay healthy. Beard oil is the best replacement, so put a few drops into your hand and add it to your beard.
3. Less is More
You don’t need a lot of beard oil to get the benefits. It needs to be enough to cover each hair, but oil spreads, and a little goes a long way. Use too much and your hair won’t absorb all of it.
You’ll stroke your beard, your hands will get greasy, and you’ll spend all day with the manual dexterity of a nervous teenager. And none of us want to go back there.
4. Avoid artificial products
Every year, more and more artificial ingredients end up on EU Cosmetics Blacklists, and beard care product businesses are seriously big offenders. Companies use them because they’re cheaper without always considering the damage they can do to your skin.
Always check the label of the beard products you buy and opt for all-natural beard care products where you can. The price might be a little higher, but you really get what you pay for.
5. You can train your hair
Out of control moustache putting you off growing it out? We agree – it’s annoying – but it doesn’t have to be the end. With a bit of patience and a boar bristle beard brush to hand, you can actually train your hair to grow in the directions you want.
For example, the curled-up 50’s moustache look doesn’t grow naturally. If you’re aiming for this, spend 30 seconds brushing your moustache to the side as part of your morning grooming routine. Give it a few weeks, combine with your favourite beard products, and you’ll be amazed by the results.
6. Always opt for a Boar Bristle Beard Brush
Plastic isn’t just bad for our oceans – it also sucks on beards, too. Nylon bristles might look smooth to the eye, but on a microscopic level they’re full of sharp, jagged edges. These damage your beard hair and cause split ends and even complete breakages. The same goes for your underlying skin. Not good.
Boar bristles are naturally rounded, so they’ll disperse oil, train hair and exfoliate skin without the unwanted damage and irritation.
7. Let Food be thy Medicine
You don’t need expensive supplements and pills to grow a beard – the single best thing you can do to improve your beard (beyond a solid beard care routine) is to eat a balanced diet. Your beard – like every other cell in your body – needs a steady supply of vitamins and minerals. If you’re not getting your five-a-day now, aim for it and you’ll notice benefits that don’t just stop at the bottom of your beard.
Hit the gym, too – testosterone is one of the biggest catalysts for beard growth.
8. Wait Before You Trim
Unless your boss is a tyrannical demagogue and you absolutely have to keep each hair the same length, we recommend you don’t shave at all for the first 3 months. Different parts of your beard will grow at different speeds, and after 3 months, they should have balanced out a bit. From here, you’ll have a good perspective on how to plan your attack – and the result will be so much more satisfying, too.
9. When Trimming, Start Small
The Golden Rule of Beard Trimming – you can take more off; you can’t put more back on.
Take it from us – there is nothing more painful than slicing into a beard badly and undoing months of hard growing. Unless you’ve got the concentration of a Tibetan monk, your hands will be a little shaky. So, start from the very outer edges of your beard first and take off any flyaway hairs. Brush through your beard, take a step back, and trim more off as needed.
10. Keep a Straight Face
Men have historically pulled funny faces when shaving to get the closest cut. This is never a good idea when grooming a beard. When you relax your face, your beard will move with it, and if you’re unlucky you could end up looking truly peculiar. So, as tempting as it may be to shift your lips, cheek and chin around, try your best to break the habit and keep a straight face.
Why Mission Beard?
The Best Beard Oils Around
Wondering where to buy beard oil? We’ve got you covered.
We do 3 scents, and we do them well. From punchy citrus scents to deep, masculine blends of cinnamon, tobacco and hops, our range of beard care products offer the perfect variety for beard maintenance and gives the modern man everything he needs to maintain his mane.
All-natural ingredients
All of Mission Beard’s products are 100% natural. We don’t water our oils down with dangerous ingredients or cut corners with artificial fragrances. Whether you’re buying an oil, balm, shampoo or moisturiser, rest assured that your beard care product’s ingredients have grown out of the ground and been hand-picked for their beard benefits.
That goes for our beard brushes, too. We never use plastic. Our brush kits are made from 100% boar bristles and natural, sustainable beech, pear and cherry wood.
No Animal Testing – Not Now, Not Ever
We don’t test on animals, and never will. We only test on beards, and they’ve loved it. We’ll also never work with companies who do test on animals.
Proudly not Homemade
That’s right – our stuff is the real deal. We haven’t spend years planning our attack on the male grooming market just to spoil it all with poorly-produced beard care products that have been thrown together in someone’s kitchen.
We’ve partnered with some of the world’s best and most experienced cosmetic chemists, who have helped us to formulate a range of beard oils, beard balms, shampoos and moisturisers that aren’t just professionally made, but are also packed with features sure to help your beard live its best life.
Rigorous Testing and Development
You deserve the best beard care products you can get, which is why we’ve literally spent years planning and developing our range. They’ve all been fully lab-tested (on beards, not animals) in lengthy trials to make sure they measure up against the EU cosmetic regulations. When you buy from Mission Beard, you’re getting top quality products packed with bearded benefits.
