Okay, I’ve talked extensively here about shaving. But I do have a beard, but I keep it trimmed and shave my cheeks and lower neck, otherwise, I’d look like Wolfman or something equally facially-hairy. And I don’t want that.
Fun fact, I last shaved my full face on my wedding day 31 years ago. But I’ve had a moustache since 7th grade, basically.
Up until late last year, I have never done anything to really care for my beard. It would get washed when I washed my face. It would get moisturized and given a treatment never. It would get trimmed once a week.
I stumbled into my beard care routine, really. I got some pre-shave and beard oil from Stirling Soap Co., but found the original scents I purchased too strong. So I gave those away and got some unscented oil, and have been using that for months. I found fairly quickly that pre-shave oils don’t do much to help my shaves, so I stopped using them for that purpose, but I continued to use them as a beard oil.
Only recently have I discovered that the beard oil was really helping my skin and beard, and that the beard oil is really for the skin under the beard, and that a beard butter was what I needed to help keep the beard hairs healthy.
Beard oil is just that–a mix of oils (and maybe fragrances) that gets massaged into the beard areas to help moisturize the skin under the beard.
Now, up until my trip to the MN State Fair with my wife a few weeks ago, I wasn’t aware that beard oil was really intended for the skin under a beard. I’d been applying it to my beard for months and was happy with what it had been doing–I was noticing a slight softening of the beard hairs, and was pleased with that. But only recently did it dawn on me that I no longer shed face dandruff when I rub my beard. So that’s been some positive results.
At the State Fair, though, I sought out a couple of vendors who were selling shaving or beard products. At the Texas-based Rugged History Beard Co., I asked what the use case is for beard oil, beard butter, and beard balm, because I’ve seen all three, and never thought to Google or find out what they’re used for. I just assumed they were three different forms of the same basic product.
But as the French would say, mais non!
We’ve talked about beard oil already. Beard Butter is specifically to moisturize beard hairs. It’s thicker and almost waxy, and is basically a leave-in conditioner for beards. You rub a little into your hands and then spread it on the beard, and leave it there (perhaps using a beard brush or a comb to help style and lay down the beard).
Beard balm is mostly for styling beards. Rub it in and then style with a brush or comb and you’re set!
I keep my beard very short (probably 1/2″ at its longest, and it gets trimmed once a week), so no need for balm, but I did buy some beard oil from the Carden Farms booth (along with their Clear & Clean Shaving Soap Stick) and beard balm from the Rugged History Beard Co. booth, and have been using them ever since.
As I noted above, I’d noticed that regular use of the beard oil was having an effect. And I can say that after a few weeks of using the beard butter 3-4 times a week, I’m noticing just a slight extra softening of the beard hairs. Nothing dramatic, but the beard feels slightly softer and smoother to the touch on days I use it.
The experts–and I’ll use that term as a catch all referring to people with beards who share their experiences, in addition to the people who make the products–all say that use of a beard balm and butter is enhanced by the use of a beard brush. With the balm, the brush can be used to smooth out the beard and shape and style it, while with the butter, the brush effectively helps work it into the hairs. I’m not sure I need such a thing for my beard, but yes, I’m thinking about it, you know, because of “experts.”
I’ll be honest, I don’t really have a favorite of any of the beard oils (the Truefitt & Hill is sold as a pre-shave oil, but it didn’t do a great job for me in that respect)–they seem to work well, and feel pretty interchangeable. If I ever branch out to other oils and butters, I’ll let you know here.
