After testing 16+ beard balms, we think that the Honest Amish Beard Balm is the best beard balm for most people. If you want the absolute best in beard balm, Wild Willie’s Beard Butter Balm should be your choice. But if you’re looking for the best budget beard balm, you can’t go wrong with the Smooth Viking Beard Balm.
With big power comes big responsibilities, so does with big beard. The trend of sporting facial hair has gone viral and looking at the craze men have for it, it’s not a fad that ’ll will fade away with time. Beard care brands are pouncing in on the golden opportunity and churning out fresh new arrivals every second day. How we all wish maintaining beard was as easy as growing it. But everything comes for a price, why would handsomeness be free? People with absurdly thick and long beard often face awful scratchiness and worst of all, flaky skin. This is when beard balm comes to rescue.
Contents
- 1 Best Beard Balm – Handpicked Choices
- 2 Reviewing the Best Beard Balms of 2018
- 3 Wild Willie’s Beard Butter Balm – Best Runner Up Beard Balm
- 4 Smooth Viking Beard Balm for Men – Best Budget Balm
- 5 Liberty Beard Balm for the Modern Gentleman – Best Handmade Beard Balm
- 6 Grave Before Shave Beard Balm – Best Smelling Balm
- 7 Honest Amish Beard Balm Leave-in Conditioner – Best for a Strong Hold
- 8 Scotch Porter – All Natural Men’s Beard Balm – Best Overall Pick
- 9 Bossman Beard Kit – Beard Oil, Conditioner, and Balm –
- 10 Duke Cannon Best Beard Balm
- 11 Beard Balm – Rocky Mountain Barber
- 12 What is Exactly a Beard Balm?
- 13 Beard Balm Vs Beard Wax and Beard Oil
- 14 Why Using Beard Balm is Necessary?
- 15 Know about the Ingredients Used in Beard Balm
- 16 How to Apply Beard Balm Properly
- 17 Wrapping up the Beard Balm Saga
Best Beard Balm – Handpicked Choices
Reviewing the Best Beard Balms of 2018
Wild Willie’s Beard Butter Balm – Best Runner Up Beard Balm
Wild Willie’s can be easily concluded as the one of the best beard balms of all time. The oils mentioned on the label include emu oil, tea tree, rosemary, apricot, jojoba, castor and cedar wood oil which are responsible for the woodsy, crisp and refreshing aroma of the formula.
- Wild Willies touts their texture and consistency as setting them apart; if you’ve been unhappy with beard balm texture in the past, this might be something for you to consider.
- 100% money-back guarantee if you’re not a fan
- Fragrance free
- Contains many organic and naturally beneficial oils, including tea tree oil, a powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal, which protects against itchiness.
- Contains emu oil. Emus are a type of animal. If you’re a vegan or vegetarian, this is probably going to be a con. However, most who aren’t probably won’t find this an issue.
Smooth Viking Beard Balm for Men – Best Budget Balm
The no-frills tin container has a terrific blend of world’s some of the best beard care ingredients to facilitate a healthy and steady growth and elimination of annoying skin peeling and itchiness. This one provides a strong holding so, you should rather go easy with the styling.
- All natural
- Free of chemicals
- Works for mustaches too
- Non-messy formula
- Makes styling easier
- One of the biggest complaints with this product is its smell. However, it’s important to note that most find they love the smell.
Liberty Beard Balm for the Modern Gentleman – Best Handmade Beard Balm
Liberty Beard Balm comes in a fashionable tin box which clearly mentions that the product works best on slightly damp hair. It is composed of beeswax which functions as a light sealant and moisture locker, along with the balanced proportions of argan oil and jojoba oil to curb common beard ailments such as beardruff, skin redness and flare ups.
- High-quality ingredients
- Cruelty free and Vegan friendly
- Thinner balm
- Hit or miss on some scents
Grave Before Shave Beard Balm – Best Smelling Balm
This is a perfect beard balm to kick start your venture with if you haven’t used a balm before. This quirky named product comes in a 2 oz. tin which has a cool logo embossed on it. But the real stuff is what’s beneath the tin cover.
- Cans are made in America of union-made steel
- Responsibly sourced, fair trade, organic ingredients
- Dedicated factory, which means the product is pure without contaminants belonging to other unrelated products, which is great for those with allergies which often literally live and die by ingredient lists.
- Contains medical grade, USP-certified lanolin
- Made with 100% Kosher grape seed oil and 100% organic, fair trade coconut oil
- Made with responsibly sourced beeswax
- Since a lot of people aren’t fond of the scent of lanolin, some might not like the smell if their noses are extra sensitive
Honest Amish Beard Balm Leave-in Conditioner – Best for a Strong Hold
Honest Amish is a very famous beard styling product company. It is a cost-effective solution for high maintenance beard. it contains avocado oil, grape seed oil, pumpkin seed oil, apricot oil, argan oil, aloe along and balances them off with shea butter, cocoa butter and kokum butter.
- Made with only natural and organic ingredients
- Extra softening over their regular beard balm
- Designed for extra control for untamable beards
- Some find that the hold isn’t markedly better than the regular Honest Amish beard balm; for others, it works.
Scotch Porter – All Natural Men’s Beard Balm – Best Overall Pick
Don’t you have a desire to have the best-looking beard? Well, this is what the manufacturers if this beard balm claims to offer you in a sealed container.
- Exceptional results for beard texture, condition and appearance.
- Proven relief for itching and beardruff (beard dandruff).
- A few complaints about the scent.
Bossman Beard Kit – Beard Oil, Conditioner, and Balm –
More scent options! Bossman hails from Austin, Texas, ironic hipster beard capital of the world. Their RELAXING blends of beard balm help tame your beard while also nourishing and replenishing it to keep it silky smooth and soft for that special someone in your life. The Magic Scent packs a right olfactory punch: Heavy notes of sandalwood and vanilla, along with “intoxicating” accents of bergamot, patchouli and frankincense.
- It fills out patches
- Made in the USA
- The ingredients are 100 percent natural
- It makes hair healthier and shinier
- It doesn’t work for everyone since hair growth depends on genetics
- The smell and the taste are unpleasant – you’ll need to drink a lot of water
Duke Cannon Best Beard Balm
Shout out to my aunt for getting me a tin of Duke Cannon for Christmas. It ’s a new balm for me, and it doesn’t disappoint. Best Damn Beard Balm comes in a tin that acts like an Altoid tin – It collapses! No prying or screwing off necessary. There’s not as much balm in the product itself – 1.6oz compared to two ounces. It’s also a little bit more grainy than other balms out there (that’s from the Shea Butter recooling and crystalizing), but it leaves your beard soft and smelling like a redwood forest, with big notes of citrus.
- Keeps your whiskers soft and smooth with a more “gentlemanly” appearance.
- Gets rid of beard dandruff.
- Excellent for taming stray hair.
- Many users prefer the scent to other brands.
- Unlike oil, it won’t leave an oily, shiny appearance.
- Use it sparingly as it may leave a greasy residue on your beard which will come off on your hands after touching it and may get on your clothes too.
Beard Balm – Rocky Mountain Barber
CEDARWOOD! Let me repeat that…CEDARWOOD! If you’re looking for a balm that keeps you soft with jojoba, tea tree, and coconut oil and gives you lots of style control, Rocky Mountain Beard Balm is for you. You ’ll smell like Grizzly Adams’log cabin in the middle of the ountains, not like a flaky hipster city boi flower patch. They use eight -different essential oils sourced across Canada for the musk, which also includes hints of rosemary and lavender.
- It provides just the right amount of hold.
- No waxy residue.
- Keeps hairs straighter, smooth, soft and well-conditioned.
- Eliminates itching.
- Beautiful packaging and presentation.
- The hold is not firm enough for adventurous sculpting.
What is Exactly a Beard Balm?
A beard balm is a medium hold pomade-like substance serving to four purposes- one, it softens the cuticles to make the beard touchable, smooth enough to run your fingers through it. Two, eliminates beardruff which is basically the dandruff counterpart for the facial hair and third, it rejuvenates and restores the health of the tresses, giving it a volume and shine you’ve forever longed for and finally, scenting. Beard balm can be used throughout the year. It contains sealing ingredients which also act as styling agents that trap the fragrance and moisture inside the strands to help you tame the stray hairs and style up any way you want. Just remember to rub the balm in your palms to heat it up a bit before applying on your beard.
Beard Balm Vs Beard Wax and Beard Oil
Have you planned to celebrate no-shaving month this month just the exact way you’ve been doing for the past few months? Welcome to my beard fanatic bandwagon. Althoug h it would be too biased to dub beard as the whole and sole sign of masculinity, some people are gifted with face-cuts that look drop dead gorgeous and manlier with beard on it. Unmanageable beard is the by-product of low maintenance. Those who are really serious about their beard have definitely used or at least heard of beard oil, beard wax and beard balm.
There is no startling functional difference between these three equipment. Beard oils are essentially hair conditioners, they are formulated with a great number off carrier and essential oils to provide a potent dose of nourishment to the hair as well as the skin beneath it. Beard wax is the big brother of moustache wax, containing higher concentration of beeswax.
Beard wax is predominantly used for creating unique patterns and curls to give a unique twist to your same, old, boring beard. So, where does beard balm fit in on the spectrum? Beard balm is the combination of the two above mentioned products. It contains a pantheon of natural oils found in beard oil and for the base, it uses shea butter, petroleum jelly and beeswax to hold the unruly whiskers in position. The area where beard balm outshines is versatility. It endows you with the best of those two and does it on a greater level.
Why Using Beard Balm is Necessary?
You will probably prefer to skip this segment if you already have a beard longer than 3 inches because you are well aware of the struggle.to the uninitiated, as you beard increases in length and volume, you are likely to experience bothersome symptoms like skin flakiness (beardruff), itching and skin burns. Knowing the causes of it might get you convinced to use a solution quicker. Did you know that beneath the thick bushes are located a couple of tiny sacks of oil called sebaceous glands? These glands produce sebum which is the natural skin moisturizing oil.
The problem is sebaceous glands are of a finite size, unlike your hair which grows at a rate of almost 1.25 cm per day. There comes a cross over point when the limited producti on of sebum can’t meet the nourishment requirements of your facial hair anymore. As a consequence, the skin beneath the beard turns extremely dry, scratchy and flaky and the mane becomes unruly, rough and everything else you never wanted it to become.
Beard balm gives the sebum oil the highly necessary helping. Most beard balm contains jojoba oil whose molecular structure is the closest to sebum. Add to that, there are several other carrier and a mixture of pure essential oils to give your beard an irresistible fragrance. It clears out the clogged skin pores and provides a nice, supple feeling. The damaged hair follicles gets a splash of life. Beeswax and shea butter keeps the curls in order and makes swaging it up a less labourious affair.
Know about the Ingredients Used in Beard Balm
Carrier Oils
Carrier oils are compose a significant portion of a beard balm formula. Let’s take a brief look at the properties and advantages of commonly used carrier oils used in cosmetic products.
Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil is sourced from jojoba tree. Structurally, it is closer to a liquid wax ester than an oil. The absence of triglycerides in jojoba oil is a big plus because it keeps the oil from turning rancid over a period of time. it is non-comedogenic in nature so, it won’t clog your pores and hypoallergenic too. Furthermore, it is also a storehouse of vitamin E and many other vitamins and minerals that ward off hair damage and promote healthier growth.
Grapeseed Oil
Extracted from the seeds of grape, this oil is cheap and therefore used profusely. It provides deep condition of the skin, softens the hair and cures split ends. However, top-notch brands avoid the use of grapeseed oil due an extremely short shelf life.
Argan Oil
Argan is loaded with excellent benefits for hair. The latest studies have shown that argan oil can potentially boost elastin and collagen production, leading to skin tightening. For facial hair in particular, the natural antioxidants an vitamin e present in this oil strengthens hair from root to tip, repair the cellular damage done by the overuse of chemical-based styling products.so many healing and nourishing properties has earned it the title of “liquid gold”.
Sweet Almond Oil
Almond is rich in Vitamin-E. This one vitamin singlehandedly resolves multiple hair and skin problems such as those irksome itchiness and beardruff that are dogging you when the short stubble works its way to become a full face eclipse.
Essential Oils
There are numerous essential oils in the oil, each possesses a distinct smell. Apart from adding a soothing fragrance to the balm concoction, it also strengthens its power by enhancing it with various other benefits. Essential oils such as tea tree oil, lavender oil, cedar wood oil, sandal wood oil etc. havefantastic cooling, antiseptic and antifungal properties. If you’ve sensitive skin, you should limit exposure to citrusy oils to avoid skin inflammation.
Sealing Agents
Beard balm uses a number of sealing agents to lock the moisture inside hair shafts and skin just like a moisturizing lotion and eradicate dryness problems.
Shea Butter
Shea butter is the most prominent of them all. It is derived from African sheanut. Many face creams have shea butter extract in them to brighten and replenish the skin.it is non-comedogenic and non-water soluble in nature so, it won’t jam your microscopic skin pores.
Beeswax
Beeswax, the main ingredient of bead wax, is naturally produced by bees in their hives. It has unbelievable acne-fighting acumen, plus, it’s antiseptic and non-comedogenic. Therefore, people with severe skin problems can also benefit from it.
Petroleum Jelly
Petroleum jelly is a mixture of hydrocarbons. Being non-water soluble, it can easily seal the essential moisture of the hair into the follicles to keep the hair healthy looking and prevent the skin lying underneath from drying out.
How to Apply Beard Balm Properly
The process of using beard balm is easier than worrying about how to bring those ratty stray hair under control. If you ’re a newbie, knowing these cool tips would help you make sure you’re doing it properly. First, scoop out a pea-sized amount from the tin (adjust the amount according to the length of and volume of your beard), take it on the palm of your hand rub your hands to melt it down, ensuring no clump is left over before you apply it on the beard. Cover your palms completely with the balm and start massaging from the root and gradually make your way to the tip. Touch up the neck region, moustache and sideburns as well. When done, use a boar hair bristle brush or comb for the finishing touch.
Wrapping up the Beard Balm Saga
The market is replete with hundreds of brands. It’s not a cakewalk to cut through the clutter and find that one great product for yourself without knocking your socks off. Dishing out my personal opinion is not the aim of this article. I have merely done the extensive research part on your behalf. Now it’s your due diligence to gobble down the information and smartly apply it during the selection process. The best beard balm doubles as a conditioner and a styling product. Pick wisely and let your beard become a reflection of the rockstar you really are.
David says
It’s been a long time since I’ve grown a beard again because I couldn’t get past the itch, wiry feeling, and beard dandruff. I decided to try again and have been using Honest Amish Beard Balmt for about 2 weeks in conjunction with their beard oil and another brand’s beard soap. I’m about 4-5 weeks into not shaving. It’s definitely making a difference. When used regularly (about every other day since I sometimes switch to the beard oil), my face doesn’t feel itchy. Like any other grooming product it requires regular use. The big test will be that the cold weather is here and the heat is being used, that time of year for hotter showers and dry skin/dandruff. Hopefully it will work as well as it has been so far. FYI, it has almost no scent. I would buy again and like their products a lot.