The Beginner’s Guide To Beard Oil Expertise
So you are in the beginning stages of growing out your facial hair, and you definitely feel like the novice you are. You feel like seeking out the advice of any bearded man who crosses your path. How can you tame your whiskers, get rid of the beard-ruff, and make the itch stop once and for all?
The first step from novice to expert is to realize that your concerns and discomforts are normal and to be expected. The second step is to realize that beard oil is part of the arsenal of any expert and will obliterate all of the aforementioned issues.
Contrary to common belief, beard oil has been around for centuries. Its current popularity is due to the recent explosion of the beard trend, which began in 2014. Previously, only the few members of the beard club were privy to this secret tool of the bearded man’s arsenal.
Beards are part of what sets men apart from the opposite sex, making them a welcome addition to any man’s face. If you are one of the many men eager to grow facial hair and join the club of beard experts, then the first item on your list is beard oil. Learn all the important aspects of this integral part of every bearded man’s bathroom cabinet so you get it right from the get-go.
When The Time Is Right
Of course, those who financially benefit from the sale of beard oil will encourage and advise you to use it at the first sight of a five-o’clock shadow. The unbiased truth is that applying beard oil that early in the game will not have any beneficial effect on your future beard. Although your skin can always enjoy what beard oil has to offer, your beard bristles can stand to grow a bit before they will reap any real benefits from the oil.
So what exactly is the magic of this beard oil potion every one seems to be talking about? To understand this, let’s get under the skin to consider the root of your facial hair: the hair follicles. At the tip of your hair follicles are your sebaceous glands. These glands produce sebum, an oily substance that gives your skin and hair moisture.
Hydrated skin and hair are supple, resilient, and healthy-looking. You have a lot of sebaceous glands in your face, but production of sebum is not unlimited. When your skin and hair dry out because of overly drying weather conditions or cleansing habits, you have to supplement your sebum production with other oils.
Flaky skin and itchiness are signs that the skin under your beard is lacking moisture. To hydrate your skin and hair, you have to cover them in a waterproof, oily substance such as beard oil. Beard oil forms a water-proof barrier over your skin and hair, keeping the moisture within your skin and hair from escaping into the air via evaporation.
Once your beard stubble has grown for for a few weeks , you likely will experience some amount of itching. Along with the itchy feeling, you might also notice dry flakes shedding from your skin. This dry skin beneath your beard is so common, it has its own name: “beard-druff.”
Alongside those symptoms, your whiskers will also seem sharp, rigid, and easily breakable. This dryness can cause hair shafts to split and break off, making it seem like your beard is not growing. All of these signs are telling you that your skin and beard are running low on moisture.
To rehydrate, you need to consume water; and to maintain the moisture within your cells, you must supply a waterproof layer over your skin and hair. Beard oil provides such a waterproof layer for your beard, keeping the the water from escaping through your skin and hair.
Beard oil is composed of essential oils as well as carrier oils. Essential oils are derived from plants whose aromatic essence and vitamin content they contain. Carrier oils are base oils which carry the essential oils into the skin. Together, these two types of oil allow beard oil to protect your skin and hair from moisture loss.
The Novice’s Ideal Beard Oil
Beard oil has exploded onto the market in recent years. Manufacturers are taking advantage of this new niche by hiking up prices. Competition has created a plethora of beard oil options, making it difficult to choose one. Newbies can be overwhelmed and easily duped into purchasing a mediocre product for a high cost.
For your first beard oil purchase, pay attention to the list of ingredients and look for options that include jojoba and argan oils within the first few items. These two oils are carrier oils, providing the waterproof layer rather than the aroma. Your first beard oil does not require any fancy essential oils and their trademark aromas. The fewer ingredients your beard oil contains, the slighter your chance of having an allergy to it.
Once you move on to more exotic beard oils with more extravagant ingredient lists, always be sure to do a skin patch test on the inside of your elbow before applying the oil to a larger area of your face. Jojoba and argan oils are both very mild and gentle on skin, making them ideal ingredients for your first beard oil.
What’s In It For Your Skin?
The primary ingredients of beard oil are the carrier oils. These particular oils are utilized for massages as well. Carrier oils vary in the rate they are absorbed into the skin.
Your skin will benefit from fast-absorbing oils because they are less likely to be accidentally wiped off before entering the skin. Hazelnut, canola, grape seed, and apricot kernel oils are some of the fastest absorbing types available. Their fast rate of absorption makes them ideal for keeping your skin protected and hydrated.
What’s Essential About Essential Oils?
The second important part of beard oil is the essential oil composition. Unlike carrier oils, essential oils are not essential for providing moisture for your skin. Also unlike carrier oils, essential oils are infused with scents.
Essentially, essential oils are essences of aromatic plants. They are like the flavor added to your coffee, the color added to your fashionable sneakers, the teriyaki sauce to your steak. Essential oils set your beard oil apart from the pack.
To choose your complementary beard oil, you must know the scent you want to represent you. Are you a nature-loving man who likes the musk of cedar wood? Are you the happy-go-lucky guy who likes a spritz of lemon scent? Is the sophisticated peppermint flavor of mint chocolates indicative of your refined masculinity?
However, essential oils don’t stop at aromatic essences. They go above and beyond their name, supplying your skin and hair with healthful vitamins and substances. For example, lemon oil benefits you two-fold. The aroma alerts your mind while its topical application helps fight acne. Peppermint oil is another essential that will make you more alert while providing other benefits; it relieves headaches, clears respiratory systems, and offers antimicrobial effects.
You can research the huge selection of essential oils to find the one that provides both the scent and the positive side-effects that will work best for you. Next, read the labels of beard oil products to make an informed decision on the ideal match for you and your beard.
Know Them By Their Other Names
To make your homework just a bit more difficult, beard oil manufacturers like to use the botanical names for the plant oils on their ingredient labels. For example, if you want a beard oil containing peppermint oil, look for the words Mentha piperita in the list of ingredients.
Don’t let the lengthy, tongue-twisting names discourage you; just make a list of botanical names of the oils you want included, then just look at the labels and play word-match. Just as a last word of caution: if there is no ingredient label to contend with, you are better off avoiding the product.
A Little Goes A Long Way
In general, each man can decide for himself how much beard oil he wants to apply. As a rule of thumb, the softer you want your beard, the more oil you should apply.
For the novice, a penny-sized portion evenly applied over the entire beard should suffice. Given the results of your first application, you can make adjustments to your subsequent applications. Of course, as your beard grows, so will the size of your application.
You may opt to use beard oil on a daily basis or just as the need arises. If the scent of your beard oil becomes your trademark, you will definitely want to apply it daily, which is definitely not a problem. If money is an issue for you, you might prefer to use it only as much as you require the extra moisture.
Application is rather dummy-proof and self-explanatory:
Place a penny-sized amount onto your palm, rub your palms together to disperse it into an even layer, then rub in into your beard all they way down toward the skin. With the tips of your finger, massage the oil from skin down to the tip of the beard, over and over again. For the best results, use a wooden beard comb or beard brush with boars bristles to comb the oil from root to tip. End result, you should have a smooth, silky-looking beard with just a hint of shininess.
Save Money or Save Time
If you are a newbie to the beard scene, your best bet is to read our beard oil guide and make an informed purchase. Some of the cheapest options out there provide very good results. If you have a specific brand in mind, you will still have to sift through a large variety of different concoctions, differing in scents as well as function. You will also want to ensure that you are purchasing a genuine product instead of a fake rip-off.
Purchasing your beard oil will be time-efficient and introduce you to the world of beard maintenance. However, when you are ready to move onto expert status and time is not an issue, then your best option is to make your very own beard oil from scratch in the comfort of your own home. The homemade choice is also perfect for anyone on a budget, costing a fraction of the store bought product.
In case you opt for the latter choice, our sensational, tried-and-true beard oil recipe will make the creation process a breeze. Beside the savings, there is another benefit to your homemade concoction; you will be able to customize the ingredients to include only oils of your own choosing.
That’s All, Folks
You have made it to the end of the Novice’s Guide To Beard Oil Expertise. If you were an intimidated newbie at first, by now you should feel equipped to take on the world of facial hair in general and beard oil in particular.
Beard oil is not just a useless addition to your bathroom cabinet. Its moisturizing factor truly benefits the quality and look of your beard. Your supple, soft, smooth stubble will grow into a healthy, flake-free, attractive beard with timely oil application.
To top off the benefits, your choice of scent will turn your beard oil into your trademark musk. The ladies will recognize you by your scent and identify that particular smell with your unique designer look.
Grow Your Beard Thicker & Faster With The Help Of Beard Oil
