What Is Beard Butter?

Best Beard Butter

There are many, many products out there to help you keep your beard tidy and looking nice. But how exactly do you use them? Why should you use them? What even are they?

A good starting point is something called beard butter. It’s a great way to keep your facial hair looking clean, healthy, and stylish, so let’s learn how to use beard butter and get started on creating that magnificent beard you’ve always wanted. Definitely, something to consider adding to your beard grooming routine. Let’s see if it’s right for you.

Best Beard Butters
Image Product Details
sample-table__imageOur Top ChoiceLive Bearded Beard Butter
  • 100% All-Natural Ingredients
  • Light-Medium Hold
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sample-table__imageMost AffordableBeard Guyz Butter with Grotein
  • Cost-Effective
  • Great Scent
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sample-table__imageWild Willie's Beard Butter
  • American-Made
  • Organic Ingredients
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sample-table__imageMaestro's Classic Beard Butter
  • Mild Scent
  • Water-Based
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sample-table__imageFresh Beards Beard Butter
  • Unscented
  • Shea butter is creamy but not greasy
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What Exactly is Beard Butter?

What does beard butter do? Essentially, it is a lotion for your facial hair, with some added styling benefits. The texture isn’t exactly like a liquid lotion, though, hence the name “butter”. At their base, beard butters are usually made up of something like shea butter, coconut butter, or cocoa butter. These all have a thicker texture than a liquid (like beard oil) but are smoother and ready-made for application without needing to warm them up or work them before use (like beard balm).

Ingredients that can be in beard butter include, but are not limited to:

  • Some sort of “butter” base (like shea butter or cocoa)
  • An oil, like coconut or argan oil
  • Beeswax
  • Essential oils

Just imagine a jar of whipped butter (mixed with a few other things, of course) that you’re allowed to put on your face. That’s the sort of texture you’re going to experience when using beard butter, though it is obviously way more than just butter in a jar.

best beard

What’s the Difference Between Beard Butter and Beard Oil?

I mentioned beard oil as a comparison to beard butter, but what’s the difference between the two?

Beard oil is made to keep your beard (and the skin underneath) soft and moisturized. It can also keep things smelling nice if it has any added essential oils with scent. But wait, doesn’t beard butter also help with moisturizing?

The main difference is that beard butter contains more than just oils for scent and moisturization. Shea butter, often used in the creation of beard butters, contains a lot of vitamins that help your skin. It also acts as an anti-inflammatory, so it’ll keep your skin from itching under your beard and help clear out any blocked pores. Butters are also more easily absorbed into the skin. Beard oils will leave your beard looking shiny, while beard butters have a more subtle finish.

Beard oil also doesn’t contain any sort of wax, meaning it isn’t the best for helping you to style your beard. A wax like beeswax, which is what is usually in a beard butter, helps tame flyaways and bushiness and also enables you to better style your beard into a certain shape. Beard oil won’t do that, while beard butter will.

To sum up, the key differences are:

  • Beard oil is just a combination of different oils, while beard butter contains butter, wax, and oil.
  • Beard oil doesn’t help with shaping or styling your beard.
  • Beard oil helps with moisturization but doesn’t always have the same anti-inflammatory properties that the ingredients in beard butter do.

best beard balm

What’s the Difference Between Beard Butter and Beard Balm?

Beard balm can have essentially the same ingredients as a beard butter, but in different concentrations. Beard butter has more butter than beard balm, while beard balm contains more wax than a beard butter. This is usually beeswax, just like with beard butter, but other waxes like carnauba wax are also used. Wax has better holding power than butter does, so you have more control over how you style your beard.

Beard balm also needs to be worked before use, in order to emulsify the product. Otherwise, you’re just going to end up with a glob of cold wax on your face. Beard butter can be used straight out of the tin without any emulsification needed. Once you’ve put the beard balm onto your beard and styled as needed, it will hold it in place, in a similar way to how hair gel does but not as harshly. Your beard won’t be left stiff by any means, but your style will stick better than if you had used beard balm.

To sum up, the main differences are:

  • Beard balm/beard wax contains a higher concentration of wax and a lower concentration of butter and oil, meaning it holds better
  • Beard balm/wax requires emulsification prior to use, while beard butter is ready to use out of the package.
  • Beard wax hardens more after it dries.

Why Should I Use Beard Butter?

You know what beard butter is now but why should you use it instead of just combing or brushing your beard? There are a variety of benefits, for both your beard and your skin, including:

  • Soothing skin irritation. Your beard may be irritating or drying out your skin and beard butter will prevent you from becoming itchy or uncomfortable beneath your beard.
  • Skin hydration. Again, your skin may be becoming dry underneath your beard. Beard butter will keep it nice and soft.
  • Softer hair. Do you have really unruly, wiry hair in your beard? Beard butter can calm it down and make your hair softer to the touch.
  • Unclogging your pores. Dust and dirt can get trapped under your beard and affect the health of your skin. The nourishing vitamins in beard butter can help clear up those blocked pores.

Overall, beard butter is just great for the health and look of your skin and hair. If you want everything to look neat, clean, and healthy, then this product is for you!

benefits to beards

What Other Benefits Does Beard Butter Have?

Okay, it makes your skin look great, but so does lotion. It softens your hair, but so does conditioner. Why use beard butter specifically?

You could look at it like it’s two products in one: one for your beard hair and one for your skin. But beard butter is also so much more than just a moisturizer and a conditioner. Many butters also contain beeswax, just like a beard wax does, and can help with shaping and styling your beard. It won’t have quite the same hold as beard wax, but it also won’t leave your beard with quite the same stiffness that a beard wax does if that is something you don’t like.

It moisturizes, conditions, and keeps your beard in place and styled. It has many benefits, as you can see, so it’s worth giving a try.

When Should I Use Beard Butter?

When should you use beard butter, as opposed to beard oil or beard wax? The answer to that isn’t a simple one, because it’s really all up to personal choice, as the style and shape of your beard, and the texture of hair that you have.

You might have really oily hair and not like the feel of adding more oil to your beard and skin, so you may opt to choose beard butter over beard oil to get the same moisturizing qualities without the oily feeling or the shine that oil leaves on your beard. Beard wax can have a hardening effect on your beard after the beeswax dries. Some people find this uncomfortable or just don’t like the look it gives their beard. Again, if that is the case, beard butter might be your go-to product for styling and shaping your beard.

Honestly, it’s all up to you. If you’ve never tried any beard products before, you may want to buy one of each and test them out. There’s no better way to figure out what you like and what works for your own beard than to try each. Then, depending on which one you like more, you can add that to your beard grooming routine. 

How Do I Use Beard Butter?

Using beard butter really isn’t hard once you know what to do. Follow these steps and you’ll learn how to use beard butter like a pro in no time:

  1. Scoop a small amount of your beard butter out of the jar. You don’t need a lot, just enough to fit on the end of your finger.
  2. Rub your hands together to spread it out across both hands, then begin rubbing it onto your beard and face. Make sure you’re not just rubbing on the surface– you need to get the butter down to the beard follicles and the skin beneath your beard.
  3. Use a beard comb to continue spreading it throughout your beard so that it goes from the tips to the ends of the hair. Once the beard butter is spread properly, use the beard comb to style your beard as you like.
  4. Wash your hands you’re good to go!

washing hands

See? That’s how to use beard butter in a nutshell: it’s really that easy. The best time to do this is after you’ve showered and washed your face since your beard hair will be at it’s softest and easier to work with. It’s is fine to apply every day, even twice a day depending on your beard length, just make sure you’re not using it too much or too often and that you’re washing your beard regularly to ensure the product doesn’t build up and weight down your beard. You’ll also want to wash the beard comb and/or brush you use, as leaving beard butter in your beard combs and brushes will create lumps and clog not only the beard comb, but your beard the next time to brush it out.

Which Beard Butter Should I Use?

There are many butters on the market, so even once you’ve decided you want to add this product to your beard grooming repertoire, how do you know which one is right for you? It can get expensive trying every single one on the market, so I’ve summed up a few below to give you an idea of what to try.

 

Fresh Beards “Classic” Beard Butter

If you are the type of person who doesn’t want any scent in your beard butter, this may be the one for you. This will just leave your beard feeling fresh and even though it does contain oils, they don’t have any sort of scent that you’ll notice.

Ingredients include shea butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, grape seed oil, and vitamin E. If buying American-made products is something important to you, you’ll also be pleased to note that this is made in America.

Pros:

  • Unscented
  • Shea butter is creamy but not greasy
  • Can typically be found at inexpensive prices

 

Cons:

  • If you do want something scented, you may want to try a different product
  • You won’t get the hold that comes with butters that contain wax

 

Beard Guyz Butter with Grotein

This beard butter does contain scent and it is quite a pleasant one, though your mileage may vary. You need not worry though, the scent doesn’t stick around forever and isn’t overpowering. It contains a blend with a variety of oils, including coconut oil, as well as both cocoa and mango butters. It’s not greasy and soaks up into your hair quickly, so it’ll leave it looking smooth and silky in no time.

Pros:

  • Not greasy
  • Absorbs into hair and skin quickly
  • Smells great
  • Moisturizes the skin on your face as well

 

Cons:

  • Does have a scent, for those of you looking to avoid that
  • This isn’t a thick or waxy product, so it won’t do the best job of shaping or taming your beard if your hair is coarse

 

Wild Willie’s Beard Butter by Manskape

This is another product that’s made in America. It’s made with all-natural ingredients and is free of any artificial scents or dyes, though it does have a scent from some of the ingredients in it. Ingredients include argan oil, almond oil, shea butter, tea tree oil, yellow beeswax, and vitamin E. The peppermint oil gives it a fresh, clean scent. Wild Willie’s also contains both shea butter and beeswax, so it’ll give you a great hold when using it to style your beard.

Pros:

  • America-made with local ingredients
  • Not greasy
  • Pleasant, cool mint scent
  • Contains beeswax, so it’ll give you a better hold than beard butters without it

 

Cons:

  • Not everyone likes the scent of mint
  • Not everyone likes the feeling of beeswax on their beard

 

Maestro’s Classic Mark of a Man

Are you suffering from beard itch? Give this beard butter a try, as it is designed for the purpose of relieving said itch. It has the added bonus of being able to tame even the unruliest of beards. It has the ability to make your beard more tameable, no matter what kind of hair you have, but it also doesn’t leave behind any greasy residue. This butter is water based instead of oil based and contains ingredients like wheat germ oil and mulberry bark extract.

Pros:

  • Mild scent
  • Prevents dandruff by keeping your beard and skin hydrated
  • Water-based: won’t leave your beard feeling oily or greasy

 

Cons:

  • It has A LOT of ingredients compared to other beard butters
  • It’s on the more expensive side

 

Legend Sandalwood Butter

This beard butter has the pleasant scent of sandalwood and vanilla. It won’t leave your skin feeling oily or greasy but it will leave your hair feeling soft and luxurious. Every ingredient in this beard butter is all-natural.

Pros:

  • Helps with getting all those stray hairs to stay in place
  • Leaves your hair feeling soft to the touch
  • The scent isn’t over the top and is actually quite mild
  • Has a light to medium hold

 

Cons:

  • Unlike a lot of beard butters, it is hard to get out of the container due to being too hard and not as “buttery”
  • A bit on the expensive side compared to others

This is just a sampling of my favorite beard butters available, obviously, but if you are completely lost on where to start when it comes to buying a beard butter, this should give you a good idea of different types to try.

Whatever you end up using, make sure to read the ingredients list carefully, look for scented vs. unscented products depending on your preference, and remember that anything contained beeswax is going to have better hold than just butter alone.

best beard butter

Can I Make My Own?

Don’t want to spend a lot of money on beard butter? Do you have sensitive skin or allergies and are worried about buying a product that might irritate your skin? Just love that DIY life? Then you can definitely make your own. It’s actually pretty simple and you can buy the products needed in bulk for fairly cheap, so you can make huge batches or just save your extra ingredients for the next time you want to make your own butters. Perfect for your beard grooming needs! 

DIY

Here’s how:

Ingredients And Items Needed

  1. 2 tsp of  butter (I prefer cocoa butter but it’s really up to you)
  2. 1 tsp of your preferred wax (beeswax is always a good choice if you’re not sure)
  3. 10 tsp of coconut oil
  4. 1-2 drops each of 2-3 essential oils. You can choose them based on their benefits or their scents, it’s really up to you. I prefer jojoba oil, peppermint oilor, tea tree oil.
  5. You can find canisters to use for beard balm or beard butters. If you’re planning on making several or want to experiment with some friends I would recommend these canisters.
Beard Balm Container

 

Steps

  1. Get a heat-safe bowl. Make sure it is large enough to fit over a saucepan, as you’ll need that for the next step.
  2. Simmer water in your saucepan and place the bowl over top of it, making sure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water. You want to warm your ingredients so they melt, but not have them boiling.
  3. Melt your wax first.
  4. Next, add your coconut oil and begin melting that as well while stirring it so it combines with the beeswax.
  5. When the coconut oil and wax are melted and combined, add in the butter and essential oils. Keep stirring until everything is mixed in together.
  6. Remove your bowl from heat once everything is melted and mixed.
  7. Put your newly made beard butter into an empty beard butter container, an empty wax container, or even a mason jar. As long as your container has a lid it really doesn’t matter.
  8. Let it cool in the jar and then it’s ready to use!

 

Conclusion

Beard butter is designed to improve the texture of your beard, soften your hair, and moisturize your skin, while offering a mild amount of hold to help you when it comes to shaping and styling your beard. It’s easy to spread, unlike beard wax which can be more difficult and doesn’t leave your beard feeling oily or greasy, like beard oil can.

There are many benefits, including vitamins for the health of your skin and beard. It can relieve beard itch, prevent dandruff, and help unclog any dust or dirt in your pores. Adding beard butter to your routine can greatly benefit the overall look, feel, and health of not only your beard, but the skin on your face as well.

So is beard butter right for you? Only you can answer that. The preference between using beard oil, beard wax, and beard butter (or a combination of two or more products) is a personal one and there’s really no right answer. Experiment away now that you’ve become a little more informed on what products are available to you. No matter what you end up using, your beard will thank you!

 

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