What Is Beard Oil? Why you should use it.

Beard oil is a men's hair-care product which is designed to mimic natural skin oils, moisturizing the skin beneath a beard while improving the appearance and manageability of the beard itself.  It reduces itchiness and other forms of beard-related dermatitis, while adding sheen to the beard and reducing hair tangles.

Beard oil is an ancient invention, known to have been in use as far back as ancient Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.  Modern versions still use many of the same oils that have been used for centuries, while refining them with modern chemical expertise.

How Beard Oil Helps

Human skin naturally produces a substance known as sebum, or more commonly, skin oil.  Sebum is naturally produced by the sebaceous glands spread across nearly all of the body, emerging on the skin's surface via pores or hair follicles.  Sebum provides several benefits:  It helps waterproof the skin and discourages various skin diseases, such as fungal infections.

Because sebum emerges through hair follicles, the hair provides a natural wicking action that draws the sebum down each hair.  This helps ensure an even distribution of sebum around the body, as well as utilizing it to protect the hair itself from environmental damage.

However, the human chin produces far less sebum than other places on the body.  The relatively low sebum production on chins makes it easy for the skin beneath beards to dry out, as the beard wicks away more sebum than can be produced.  This leads to itching and inflammation of the skin, as well as allowing the beard hairs to become dry, cracked, split-ended, and tangled.

Beard oil alleviates this with a mixture of naturally-occurring oils which are mixed to mimic, as closely as possible, the composition and action of human sebum.  The beard oil mingles with the natural skin oils, softening skin, preventing dandruff, and providing a soft sheen to the beard itself.  

The Composition Of Beard Oil

The most common base component for beard oil is jojoba seed oil, which happens to have a composition very similar to sebum in most respects.  The jojoba shrub is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, was originally cultivated as a replacement for whale oils and is now used in a wide variety of cosmetics thanks to its similarity to mammalian oils. 

Jojoba seed oil, however, lacks triglycerides and other trace minerals and vitamins which are found in human skin oil.  In modern mixtures, it is almost always supplemented by one or more additional oils.  A wide variety can be used, and are chosen according to their texture, scent, or potential herbological benefits.  

The most common additional oils used in beard oil include:

• Castor
• Olive
• Grapeseed
• Sweet Almond
• Apricot
• Saffron
• Argan
• Hemp
• Coconut
• Hazelnut

Many of these are believed to bring added benefit to the beard oil, such as the well-known moisturizing properties of coconut oil.  Buyers should be cautious, as some of these beliefs are based on folklore and herbalism, with little rigorous testing of the actual benefits.  When a beard oil does make specific medicinal claims, it is subject to FDA oversight.

Essential oils are also generally added to the mix.  Essential oils are volatile and pungent, and generally only a few drops are added to any batch of beard oil.  More than that risks irritating the skin, as well as making the scent too strong.  These are generally added for their olfactory value, although as with the base oils, many are also believed to have mild medicinal qualities.

Virtually any common essential oil can be used in creating beard oil fragrance.  Some of the most popular include:

• Cedarwood 
• Sandalwood
• Eucalyptus 
• Sage
• Lemongrass 
• Peppermint
• Clove
• Vanilla 

Finally, some manufacturers may add additional vitamin oils or other herbal elements, although these are generally kept to a minimum to prevent the risk of skin irritation.  Because beard oil is used sparingly, these are combined into small bottles usually containing no more than 1-2oz of the product.  

How To Use Beard Oil

Beard oil is simple to apply, and requires very little effort.  It is best applied after a morning or evening shower, after drying the beard.  Skin pores are most open immediately after a shower or bath, allowing them to soak up more of the oils.

To use beard oil:

1 - Wash both hands and dry them thoroughly.

2 - Using an eyedropper, put 3-8 drops of beard oil on one palm, depending on the size of the beard.

3 - Rub both hands briskly together to spread the oil.

4 - Massage the oil into the beard using upwards motions starting at the skin and moving outwards.  

5 - Comb the beard into its desired form.

When applied properly, the beard oil should fully coat both the beard as well as the skin beneath.  This provides the most protection against the elements, while allowing for the oil to be slowly wicked away over the course of several hours.

There are no known side-effects to the daily use of beard oil, aside from the possibility of individual allergic reactions from component oils.