Make Your Own Beard Oil
Looking for a Father’s Day gift for your favorite man with facial hair? Thanks to the Great Beard Revival, mustache and beard products are everywhere these days: beard oil, beard balm, beard conditioner...the list goes on and on! But beard oils can be expensive, with some costing more than $30 for an ounce! The good news is that you can make your own customized beard oil for much less.
What Does Beard Oil Do?
Just like the hair on your head, facial hair appreciates care and attention. Beard oil hydrates both the beard itself and the skin underneath, and it can help with itchy skin, beard dandruff, and even acne. It will also make your beard soft, tangle-free, and more attractive.
Most beard oils consist of a blend of conditioning carrier oils (such as jojoba, almond, coconut, argan, castor, or grapeseed oil) along with essential oils, which are used for both their scents and their therapeutic properties. Scent is important because mustaches and beards are so close to the noses of both those who sport facial hair and those who like to smooch with them.
Basic Beard Oil Recipe 
What You’ll Need:
- 1 ounce glass bottle (for the beard oil)
- Small funnel
- Carrier Oil(s), see list below
- Essential Oil(s), see list below
What To Do:
- Okay, this is the easy part—all you really need to do is mix the ingredients together! Simply use a small funnel to add your carrier oil (or oils) to the 1-ounce bottle, almost to the top.
- Add about 20 drops of the essential oil desired and put the cap on the bottle nice and tight.
- Shake it up well to really make sure you've blended the essential oils with the carrier oils.
- Try it out. Remember, you can add more essential oilto your mixture, but you can’ttake it out (although you can dilute it by adding more carrier oil). You might want to try matching very small batches at first while you experiment with scent, or go with our suggested blends below.
3 Essential Oil Beard Blends We Love:
Add one of the following blends to 1 ounce of carrier oil.
Citrus and Bay Beard Blend
- 10 drops bay leaf essential oil
- 5 drops sweet orange essential oil
- 5 drops lime essential oil
Woodsy Beard Oil Blend
- 5 drops spruce essential oil
- 5 drops cedarwood atlas essential oil
- 5 drops sandalwood essential oil
Earthy Beard Blend
How to Use Beard Oil:
Beard oil is one of those products where more is not better, and a little goes a long way. To apply, pour a dime-size drop onto your palm (a bit more if you have a really long beard), gently rub your hands together and rub the oil directly onto the skin beneath your bead and use your hands and fingers to comb the oil through the beard itself.
Best Conditioning Carrier Oils for Beards:
-
Jojoba is wonderfully conditioning for the skin and hair. Jojoba’s molecular structure is very similar to sebum, your skin’s natural oil, and it’s helpful for inflamed skin, psoriasis, excema, and acne. Jojoba oil has the added benefit of a long shelf life.
- Sweet Almond is excellent for the skin, blends well with other oils, and penetrates the skin easily. It is also high in fatty acids, making it an ideal oil for damaged or mature skin.
- Castor Oil is extracted at a low temperature to keep the ricin (a toxic substance present in the plant) from being present in the oil. Rich in fatty acids, castor oil has been used for centuries for its moisturizing and protective qualities. It also helps to clear blackheads and reduce dandruff.
- Fractionated Coconut Oil is coconut oil that contains only the medium chain triglycerides of coconut oil, so it remains in a liquid state. It is an odorless and colorless oil that is light, very penetrating, and has a long shelf life. It’s an excellent skin moisturizer that also penetrates hair better than many other oils.
- Argan Oil, produced from the kernels of the Argan tree, is rich in natural tocopherols (vitamin E) and phenols, carotenes, squalene and fatty acids, making it a truly nourishing and luxurious oil. Argan absorbs quickly into the skin and helps to hydrate it. It also strengthens damaged hair.
- Grapeseed Oil, which absorbs into the skin quickly without feeling greasy, is an excellent choice for those whose skin does not absorb other oils easily. Grapeseed oil has moisturizing qualities as well as being mildly astringent with antiseptic qualities. It varies in color from almost clear to a beautiful pale green.
Best Essential Oils for Beards:
Our favorite essential oils for beard growth and thickness are:
-
Basil
aroma: warm, herbal aroma with a hint of aniseproperties: soothing, energizing, toning -
Bay Leaf
aroma: herbaceous, warm, spicyproperties: antiseptic, bactericidal -
Bergamot
aroma: light, fruity, citrusproperties: uplifting and relaxing, soothing agent, skin conditioner, antiseptic -
Cedarwood Atlas
aroma: soft, woody, warmproperties: especially good for oily skin and dandruff, antiseptic, antiseborrheic, astringent -
Lime
aroma: citrus, tartproperties: energizing and uplifting, soothing, astringent, skin conditioner -
Patchouli
aroma: musky, earthy, smokyproperties: soothing for all skin types, especially good for mature skin, blemished skin, and for treating dandruff; also anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent, aphrodisiacal -
Sandalwood
aroma: woody, butteryproperties: useful for dry and damaged hair, antiseptic, emollient, soothing, astringent, skin conditioner -
Spruce
aroma: fresh, earthy, sweetproperties: calming yet also energizing, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory -
Sweet Orange
aroma: sweet, tangy, warm, and citrusproperties: astringent, lifts the spirits yet is calming; soothing agent, skin conditioner
Don't Want To Make Your Own Beard Oil?
Over the years we've gotten a lot of experience crafting different beard oil blends and we've finally concocted one that we absolutely love. Our Bay Beard Blend is a super nourishing and conditioning blend formulated with argan oil, sweet almond oil, fractionated coconut oil and a subtle blend of bay, orange and lime essential oils. Give it a try and let us know what you think!