What beard oil actually does
Beard oil does two jobs. It softens the hair, and it feeds the skin underneath. The skin is the part that matters. A growing beard pulls oil away from your face faster than your face can make it, and that's where the itch and the flakes come from. A few drops a day fixes it.
It also tames the wiry stuff, adds a little shine without looking greasy, and makes your beard smell like something other than breakfast.
What's in ours
Same base in every bottle:
- Golden jojoba oil. The closest thing to the oil your skin already makes, so it soaks in instead of sitting on top.
- Sweet almond oil. Helps with frizz and split ends.
- Grapeseed oil. Light and moisturizing.
- Avocado oil. Easy on sensitive skin, good for itch and flaking.
- Vitamin E oil (tocopherol).
Then each scent gets its own blend on top, almost always straight essential oils. Tumbleweed gets nothing on top. Smoke House skips the essential oils because the base gets smoked instead. Two scents are the exception. Cherry Bomb uses an all-natural cherry, sandalwood and vanilla fragrance blend, and Holiday Spice, a limited edition, uses a green apple fragrance oil alongside its essential oils. Full breakdown here: what's actually in beard oil.
How to use it
Right after a shower, skin first, then the hair. How much is personal, anywhere from 2 to 10 drops. The step-by-step, with a drop guide by beard length, is on our how to use beard oil page.
Picking a scent
- Big Thicket: cedarwood and pine needle. Our best-selling scent.
- Clove Citrus: clove, orange, tangerine and grapefruit.
- Mint Eucalyptus: peppermint and eucalyptus. Wakes you up.
- Night Cap: lavender, lime and bergamot. The evening one.
- Pecan Coffee: real Texas pecan roasted coffee beans in the bottle.
- Green Belt: tea tree, lime and basil.
- Cherry Bomb: cherry, vanilla and a hint of sandalwood.
- Mountain High: spruce, spearmint and rosemary.
- Black Pepper: black pepper and patchouli.
- The Royals: black pepper, cardamom and clove.
- Morning Wood: cedar, lavender and ginger. The scent isn't suggestive. Only the name is.
- Smoke House: no essential oils. The base oil gets smoked on Ryan's own smoker before it's bottled.
- Tumbleweed: unscented, for guys who already wear cologne.
Limited editions like Pumpkin Spice come and go with the seasons. Can't decide? The trial 4-pack gets you four scents in quarter-ounce bottles.
Regular or Heavy?
Regular beard oil is light and soaks in fast. It's right for most beards, and for anything under about six months of growth.
Heavy Beard Oil is our balm formula with lanolin and mango butter in place of the cocoa and shea, on the same base oils, in a 2oz squeeze tube. Balm is butter, Heavy is mayo. It's made for long or coarse beards that drink regular oil and ask for more. Fair warning: lanolin has a smell of its own. The scent knocks it back but doesn't erase it. Most guys stop noticing in a few days. Find your scent with the regular trial 4-pack before you go Heavy.
Oil, balm, or both?
Oil is for the skin and for softness. Balm is for shape and a little hold. Plenty of guys use both: oil first, right out of the shower, then balm once the beard is mostly dry. More on beard oil vs beard balm, or get both in the Beard Oil and Balm Set.
Sizes
Beard oil comes in 1oz and 2oz bottles. A 1oz lasts most guys 3 to 4 months with daily use. Most scents also come in a quarter-ounce trial bottle, good for three to four weeks.
Questions we get a lot
Will beard oil make my beard grow?
No. No oil on earth is going to grow hair your genetics weren't already planning on. Any beard oil with "growth" on the label is selling hope by the ounce. What beard oil actually does is make the beard you've got softer and less itchy, and that's what gets most guys through the awkward months instead of shaving it off in week three.
Does it help with itch and beard dandruff?
Yes. That's mostly a dry skin problem, and the fix is getting oil onto the skin, not just the hair.
Does beard oil expire?
Eventually. Here's how long it lasts and when to toss it.
Is it tested on animals?
No. Extensive testing on bearded Texas men, not animals (although they have been called worse).
What if I don't like the scent?
Every bottle comes with 30-day free exchanges.
