The Ultimate Guide to Men’s Beard Products
Everything you need to know about everything that touches your beard.
There’s plenty of information out there about beard care. If you’ve found this guide, you know that already- the best way to kill beard dandruff, how to tame a messy beard, 10 ways your beard can kill snakes (we may have made one of those up). It can be a lot to keep track of! So we decided it was time to simplify things a bit. To boil everything down to one simple guide for all the products out there that can help you grow your very best beard.
So without further ado, we present the Ultimate Guide to Men’s Beard Products:
Beard Oil
Because where else would we possibly start but the holy grail of beard products? Google “beard oil” right now and you’ll get approximately a gajillion results. And with good reason: if you only use one beard product for the rest of your life, you better make it beard oil. It hydrates both your beard hair and the skin underneath; softening your beard, preventing dandruff, itchiness, and all types of common beard problems. We could go on, but the bottom line is this: we simply would not grow a beard without beard oil. It’s that important.
Ultimate Recommendation: Ranger Grooming Co. Beard Oil from Leven Rose. You can tell from the black label with simple white lettering — BEARD OIL — that this product does not mess around. Unscented, under 10 bucks on Amazon, and gets the damn job done.
Wax, Butter, and Balm
Here’s where things get a little tricky — wtf is the difference between these three popular beard products? The easiest way to think of them is in ascending order of beard styling capability:
- Beard Butter: Essentially the closest of the three to a traditional beard oil in solid form. It provides the nourishing and hydrating benefits of oil, with a slight hold from a touch of wax. You could get away with using this instead of beard oil, but it won’t offer much in the way of styling.
- Beard Balm: The middle child between butter and wax, which means it’s the most loved, right? Right?? (Sorry. Middle child writing this. Moving on). Balms maintain some of the nourishing and hydrating benefits of butter/oil, but ups the wax content for a stronger hold. If you’re not going crazy with styling (like a handlebar mustache, etc), this makes a perfect combination with beard oil to lock in nourishment and also maintain tidy facial hair.
- Beard Wax: The peacock of the bunch. This one is all about the show, baby! None of the hydrating and nourishing benefits of the previous products, but a way stronger hold. If you’re looking to go crazy with the styling (or you just have a particularly unruly facial mane), wax is the product to reach for. Just make sure you’re using oil first to keep your beard healthy and stylish.
Ultimate Recommendations:
Wax: Honest Amish Original Beard Wax. The OG’s of the wax game. If it’s good enough for those long ass Amish beards, it’s good enough for you.
Butter: Maestro’s Classic Beard Butter. Not oil-based like most butters, this bad boy hydrates dry, itchy beards to perfection.
Balm: Aberlite Beard Balm. What, you thought we were above plugging our own goods here? No shame in our game. This balm is the best on the market, with a pleasant sandalwood scent, insane hydrating properties, and a hold strong enough for even the unruliest of beards. The king of all middle children!
Combs and Brushes
A seemingly innocuous part of the beard care routine, but not one to be overlooked. For the love of god, stop using your girlfriend’s cheap plastic hair comb — it ain’t built for that burly beard of yours and we’re pretty sure your girlfriend doesn’t appreciate it either. Step up your game with the ultimate grooming tool combo: a solid wood comb and a boar bristle brush.
Comb your beard first to detangle knots and work in beard oil just after applying. Then hit it with the brush to give your beard a fuller look while training it to grow in the direction you want. Because you’re in charge, not the beard.
Ultimate Recommendation: Beard Brush and Comb Set from GROW ALPHA BEARD. We’ll be honest, this just happened to be the first result on Amazon when we searched for a comb/brush bundle. But despite the hilariously aggro brand name, this kit has almost 25k glowing reviews and comes with a bamboo double-sided comb (nice), hefty boar bristle brush (very nice), and a bonus pair of mustache scissors for snipping off those pesky flyaways (bonus nice!). So we’re comfortable giving this an ALPHA GROW BRO RECOMMENDATION, BRO.
Razors and Trimmers
“Razors??” you gasp, shocked at the mere suggestion of shaving a single beard hair. “Trimmers?!” you follow up with, even more pissed now at this facial follicle betrayal. “But wait,” we exclaim, eager to win you back with our track record of never, ever, steering you wrong, you ungrateful sons of-
Whoops, got carried away there. Let’s talk razors and trimmers, shall we? Trust us, you’re going to need one of these sooner or later. And it doesn’t mean you’re shaving your beard off, calm down. It means you’re growing your beard stronger, in fact. Smarter. More powerful than ever. A nicely trimmed beard is a fully evolved beard. No more caveman look for you, sir. You’re a modern man with a badass modern beard- goddamn right you trim it up.
So what to look for in a razor or trimmer? Versatility is a great place to start. Multiple attachments that allow you to go anywhere from shaving it all off (not that you would) to trimming the most miniscule of millimeters off your precious beard hairs. The ability to snap on attachment and get a perfectly consistent stubble or 5 o’clock shadow look is really the holy grail. Look for that and solidly made stainless steel blades, and the rest is all a bonus.
Ultimate Recommendation: The Aberlite Trim. Basically all the dream features described above, plus 3x the blades, long-lasting battery life, and a beautiful LCD display, all for a steal of a price.
Heat Straighteners
This section is for advanced beardsmen only. The type of guys who probably just breezed through the previous four sections, eager to skip to the good stuff, because the difference between butter and balm is old news to them. To those wily veteran bearded bros, we salute you. To everyone else, welcome to the club. It’s time to achieve your best beard ever…
It’s time for a heat straightener.
Dafuq is that, you ask? Well, simply put, it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like — it’s a tool that uses heat to straighten your beard hair. But it’s so much more than that. Heat straightening your beard unlocks the next level of beard care. It not only tames your messy beard, but it makes it fuller, softer, and healthier too. All in under two minutes.
Where can you get your hands on this mighty tool? That brings us to our…
Final, Ultimate Recommendation: The Aberlite Pro Beard Straightener. There may be imitations on the market, but nothing compares to the one true king. With features in GQ, Men’s Health, The New York Times, Byrdie, and Beardbrand, you don’t just have to take our word for it either. This thing is the real deal. Get yours today and get to work toward the beard of your dreams.
How’s that for ultimate?