7 Key Things to Look for in a Beard Balm
By now, most guys know that beard balm is practically an essential factor in maintaining a healthy beard. But, unfortunately, not every bearded man knows that not all beard balms are created equally. The truth is that you can make any thick, waxy product and slap a beard balm label on it, regardless of how effective it actually is.
A good beard balm can perform many important tasks all at once. It can moisturize the beard as well as the skin, provide essential nutrients to the follicles, tame frizz, add texture, and even improve the overall style, feel, and appearance. Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it?
Identifies for a Beard Balm
So, now that you know what a beard balm is supposed to do, let’s talk about the things that you should look for in a formula before making a purchase. This way, you’ll end up with a beard balm that truly can do it all and is totally worth the money that you spend to obtain it.
Beard Balm Identifier #1: Plant-Based Formula
The first thing you need to look at is the list of ingredients. That’s because if you’re going to be applying something to your face on a daily basis, you need to make sure that it’s actually benefiting you. Ideally, a beard balm will have a plant-based, all-natural formula consisting of things like plant butters, plant oils, and essential oils, as well as botanical extracts. These ingredients are loaded with natural nutrients that benefit the beard. Besides that, synthetic ingredients and fillers can do more harm than good as many of them tend to be harsh, and therefore irritating to the facial hair. In fact, irritation can lead to your facial hair falling out and can slow down beard growth.
Beard Balm Identifier #2: Nonallergenic Ingredients
Many of us have skin allergies to certain ingredients that are commonly found in skin and hair products. Therefore, while looking through the list of ingredients, make sure that the formula does not contain any known allergens or any allergens that you know affect you. For example, soy allergies are fairly common, so pay close attention to any potential soy derivatives that may be present in the formula, because they are often found in skincare and beard care products due to how inexpensive they are compared to other types of oils.
Beard Balm Identifier #3: Lots of Natural Moisture
A good beard balm formula will supply your facial hair with lots of moisture. This is one of the main reasons for using a beard balm in the first place. The facial hair is prone to being dry, due to its unique texture. This means that supplying it with ample amounts of moisture daily is simply essential. While checking out the ingredients of a beard balm, make sure that highly moisturizing ingredients are at the top of the list. Some high-quality, natural, and moisturizing ingredients you may find are vitamin E, olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, shea butter, and mango butter. The wider the variety of these ingredients, the better, as this ensures that your beard will be given lots and lots of much-needed moisture with each and every application.
Similarly, make sure to avoid ingredients that are known to cause dryness, including sulfates and alcohols. These are often used as fillers that help “fill” out the formula to cut manufacturing costs, but they exist at the expense of your beard. They can suck moisture out of each facial hair, basically defeating the purpose of using the product in the first place.
Beard Balm Identifier #4: High Nutritional Value
One thing that we tend to forget is that our beard needs nutrients and lots of them. The skin and hair follicles readily absorb nutrients through topical applications and use them to improve the overall health of the facial hair. Essential nutrients for the beard include vitamins A, C, and E, as well as zinc, omega fatty acids, magnesium, and biotin. They each enhance the facial hair in their own way, by stimulating the follicles, strengthening the cuticles, calming irritation, and so on.
The good news is that many plant-based ingredients naturally contain high levels of these nutrients. This means that if you’re using a plant-based beard balm formula, you can count on these nutrients naturally being present. Therefore, don’t look for the nutrients themselves, but rather ingredients derived from plants that are known for being high in the nutrients we have listed.
Beard Balm Identifier #5: The Right Price
It’s okay to care about the price of your beard balm. Surely, you don’t wanna overpay for a beard balm that is not actually as valuable as the price that it’s sold at. Many brands produce subpar beard balms and put them in fancy packaging, thinking that this will trick customers into thinking that they are higher in terms of overall value. One look at the ingredients though, and you quickly realize this simply isn’t the case.
However, you also don’t want to simply opt for the cheapest beard balm product that you can find. Cheap beard balms tend to be cheap for a reason, which usually has to do with either the ingredients or how those ingredients were extracted and derived.
Beard Balm Identifier #6: A Consistency that’s Easy to Work with
Another key factor is consistency. Applying beard balm into your beard will be quite a difficult task if the consistency is far too thick and hard, or so thin that it leaves your beard greasy. You want to be able to easily work your finger through it, but also be able to scoop it out rather than having to pour it out. If you can, try to test the formula beforehand. Being able to easily work it into your beard without any struggle is key.
Beard Balm Identifier #7: Good Reputation
Finally, you wanna make sure that your beard balm comes from a company with a good reputation. Luckily, Beardoligist does. Beardologist is the perfect collision of men's beard care and craft cocktails. So, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding that balm which meets your bearded needs.
What You Now Know
The quality and effectiveness of a beard balm can vary tremendously from one brand’s formula to the next. Hence, why it’s crucial that you know these factors must be taken into consideration before buying a new beard balm product. The good news is that this guide will have you totally covered the next time you go shopping for a beard balm.