Beard Conditioner vs Beard Oil: What's the Difference, and Do You Need Both?

If softness is what you seek, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s be real – we’ve all been there. Your beard is itchy and it’s dry.

When you touch it, it feels like straw. It’s definitely not the soft and smooth beard that you imagined when you first started growing it.

That’s where beard conditioner and beard oil come in.

But what are the differences between the two? How do they work, and how are they used?

Well, if you’re asking those questions, today is your lucky day. We’ll cover all of that (and more) below.

Let’s start with beard oil. After all, it is one of the most popular beard care products on the market.

Beard oil is a leave-in treatment that replicates the natural oils in your skin (which is also called sebum). Beard oils are mostly carrier oils, like jojoba and argan, with essential oils and/or fragrance added for scent.

For more information on the ingredients to look out for in high-quality beard oils, read about the most popular essential and carrier oils (like coconut oil).

Beard oil works to moisturise skin, soften beard hairs, prevent beard dandruff, and much more (but we’ll cover that later). You can also learn more about how beard oil is used here.

Now onto the second moisturiser – beard conditioner.

While both beard oil and conditioner provide similar results, they’re not the same product.

Beard conditioner is an in-shower product that provides deep hydration that's perfect for coarse, itchy, and dandruff-prone beards. Where beard oil is left in all day, beard conditioner is applied during a shower, left on for a few minutes, and then washed out. 

If beard conditioner sounds like something you need in your beard care routine, take a look at ours, or see how the rest compare in our round-up of beard conditioners.

So what else should you know about beard conditioner?

Well, the benefits are pretty important.

Here are the top three benefits of beard conditioner:

It might be obvious, but the biggest benefit of using beard conditioner is its moisturising properties.

Most conditioners are packed with hydrators like shea butter, argan oil and coconut oil. Ours uses shea butter with argan, jojoba and sunflower seed oils.

Not only that, but some conditioners use humectants – ingredients that draw water in and help hold it in your hair and the skin underneath. Ours contains panthenol (provitamin B5), which does exactly that.

Secondly, beard conditioner will soften your beard hair.

Really, this is just a side effect of moisturising your beard, but who doesn’t want a softer beard?

A softer beard is also easier to manage and style – so, if you spend a lot of time brushing and combing your beard, you might benefit from a beard conditioner.

Ours is a rinse-out conditioner. After washing, work it into your wet beard, leave it on for 3 to 5 minutes, then rinse. Don’t skip the wait: that’s when it does its work.

Alex is religious about it: twice a week, every Wednesday and Sunday, left on for 3 to 5 minutes before rinsing.

You’ll also see beard conditioners sold as leave-ins. A lot of those get their softness from silicones, which coat the hair rather than condition it. If you want something that stays in all day, that’s what beard oil is for.

Let’s change gears a bit here (although not too much), and talk about beard oils.

Here are some of the things you’ll notice once you start using it:

Just like with beard conditioner, the main benefit of using beard oil is the added hydration.

Where conditioner hydrates in the shower, beard oil keeps your beard and skin moisturised for the rest of the day. 

Some of the best ingredients to look for in a beard oil include sweet almond oil, argan oil, jojoba oil, rice bran oil, Inca Inchi oil and vitamin E (all of which are in every one of our beard oils).

If you want a shinier beard, there’s really only one solution. Can you guess what it is?

You’d be right if you said beard oil.

The lightweight formula of beard oil allows it to turn even the dullest and driest beard into a shiny and reflective one.

And, before you know it, you’ll be ready to be on the cover of a magazine.

Finally, beard oil can help prevent itchiness and beard dandruff.

And – if you know anything about growing a beard – you should know that these are two of the biggest challenges for beginners.

 So – if you’re struggling with flaking, itchiness, or dandruff, we recommend trying beard oil. It may just be the solution you need. 

But, what if it’s not? Well, then you might want to try beard balm – it has a thicker consistency that can help with itchiness too. Or add a conditioner to your routine (more on that below).

If you’re interested in trying new products, we also recommend using a beard wash for the deepest clean. It’s simply the best way to clean your beard, and the natural partner to a conditioner.

To some people, beard oil and conditioner might sound pretty similar.

And, for the most part, it is.

However, there are a few key differences between the two.

Here they are:

The way you use beard oil and beard conditioner is different.

While, yes – both of these beard care products work to nourish and moisturise your beard – each has a separate application process.

The key difference is how often you use them.

Beard oil, for example, can be used daily (in fact, we have a guide on how often you should use it). On the other side of things, beard conditioners are used in the shower, anywhere from every wash to once a week. Alex uses his twice a week. 

Some people opt to leave their beard conditioner in post-shower, but we recommend washing it out after 3 to 5 minutes and then applying an oil once you've dried your beard.

Another difference you’ll notice if you enjoy reading the labels on your products is the ingredients.

It’s pretty simple, really.

Beard oil is a lightweight product that uses lighter ingredients like essential oils and carrier oils. In comparison, beard conditioner is heavier, using richer moisturisers like shea butter.

That being said, beard conditioner isn’t as rich as beard butter or beard balm.

Finally, how you store beard oil and beard conditioner is different.

While beard conditioner can live in your shower, beard oil requires more specific treatment.

Don’t worry though, it’s nothing difficult.

You just want to store beard oil in a dark and temperature-controlled location. Both sunlight and extreme temperatures can degrade it – meaning it won’t be as effective.

It isn’t one or the other. As our founder Alex puts it, they work together.

Start with a beard oil. If your beard is still dry, uncomfortable, coarse or flaky, add a conditioner to your routine.

Here’s how Alex does it: conditioner twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays), left on for 3 to 5 minutes before rinsing, then beard oil every morning after his shower and again before bed.

We think that beard conditioner should be first on your list.

Beard conditioner is used exclusively in the shower. Beard oil, on the other hand, is used post-shower. That means you’ll want to use beard conditioner first, wash it out, dry your beard, and then apply beard oil. That way your facial hair is equipped with the support it needs to face the day ahead.

Most people own hair conditioner.

For some, it can be tempting to use it on your beard hair instead of a beard-specific conditioner.

It won’t do any harm, but it’s not ideal. Most hair conditioners are made for the hair on your head, which is finer than beard hair, and they’re not designed with the skin under a beard in mind.

Ours works the other way round. It was formulated for beards first, which makes it great for the hair on your head too. The opposite isn’t always true.

So if you only want one bottle in the shower, make it a beard conditioner, like our Underdog Hair & Beard Conditioner.

Before this article you were probably wondering, “What’s the difference between beard oil and beard conditioner?”

But not anymore.

We’ve covered the A-Z of these two popular beard care products – including what they are, why they’re used, and the key differences between them.

If you’re interested in learning more about beard care (or looking for some top-tier products), we’ve got you covered.