No matter how new or old your beard is, no matter how long you’ve been in the business of growing a luxurious beard, you assuredly need badass beard care to tame your mane and keep your facial hair looking great. And as someone with a beard, there’s a distinct difference between good beard care and great beard care. Oh, and between badass beard care, of course.
The coolest beard products on the market are going to soften and shape your hair and skin, a crucial step in maintaining a healthy beard. And yes, your beard can indeed be healthier, softer and better-looking. Plus, if you’ve just started growing a beard during pandemic days at home, you know there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it, a trial-and-error process that requires a bit of experimentation and a lot of hard work. It’s the fun kind of hard work though, not tedious or boring.
After all, you’re growing and refining a beard for yourself, to try something new or to stick with tradition (again, I say this as a bearded fellow of more than eight years — and counting!). In the same way that you want, say, a badass leather jacket or a badass pair of black jeans to go with it, you should also want badass beard care. Make no mistake, you needn’t have a massive, overly long or Gandalf-esque beard: Even stubble or shorter beards can do with an upgrade when it comes to beard care, be it beard oil, beard balm, a beard brush or a little bit of each.
And the even better thing is, plenty of seriously cool brands are making it fun and even enjoyable to shape, style and groom your beard. Yes, we really mean it. No, we’re not kidding. Badass beard care is easier to find than you might think, but you need to aim true and aim steady when selecting beard oils, balms and the like. Here are a few pointers from us as far as what to look for and what to buy.
What to Look For in Beard Care Products
- Beard oils: A beard oil differs from beard balm in its consistency and its form. Beard oils penetrate deeper through your hair follicles and can reach the skin more quickly than a beard balm, which can often be used moreso to style and shape your beard, taming unruly beard hair. That being said, it’s best to have both in your rotation, if only to give you more grooming options.
- Beard balms: Like we said above, beard balms can act as a way to style and mold your beard, kind of like the way you’d wear pomade in your hair. They also soften and moisturize your beard hair, but don’t penetrate down quite as deep as beard oil. Again though, it’s worth having a well-stocked medicine cabinet to keep a fresh beard top of mind. Beard balms are useful for shorter to medium-length beards, as you’ll soon find out, and they come in handy, travel-size options for easy transport in your dopp kit. Beard oils, especially those in glass bottles, can sometimes be more difficult to take on the road, but again, consider adding both to your beard grooming routine.
- Beard brushes: Most beard brushes come in two forms: More of a standard beard comb, often made of soft wood, or a beard brush, featuring a wooden handle and boar or horse hair bristles. A beard brush can act as an exfoliating device for your beard, straightening stray hairs and removing any beard dandruff (yes, that’s a thing that can happen). Badass beard care is a matter of steps and the proper products, starting with the smaller details, details that you might have overlooked, like, well, a beard brush.
Which Products Are Best for Your Beard?
There are plenty of ways to go when it comes time to care for and style your beard, so you’ve got to know which ones work for you. A beard balm or beard oil is going to work quite well for shorter to medium-length beards, while longer beards should likely rely moreso on beard oil to penetrate longer hair follicles.
A beard brush with bristles likewise can work for both longer or shorter beards, although a beard comb is probably best suited to particularly long beards. Every grooming rotation should incorporate at least one beard oil or balm, and one comb or brush. The great thing is, plenty of brands often specialize in both beard balms and oils as well as beard brushes.
It’s easier than ever to get a one-stop shop for your beard care needs, but every brand is different: Some go with rugged scents and natural ingredients, some focus on unique ingredients like organic aloe or oils, and some come in old-school packaging.
And some, like Kiehl’s, can be found both online and in fine boutiques worldwide. Until you can get back out there properly, stick to our guide for the best beard care and reap the rewards.
Badass Beard Care Products to Tame Your Mane
Warlord Beard Oil
It’s harder to get more badass than a company owned by veterans and geared towards helping your beard look insanely great, right? Yes indeed. While the company also makes beard balm and beard wash (which you’ll find out about in good time), we love the fact that Warlord Beard Oil is made to target both your beard and the skin, as every beard oil should. It’s also pretty cool that it comes in scents like Rich Mahogany and Southern Tobacco. Of course, it’s also delivered in fittingly badass packaging, a helpful bonus when searching for ways to amp up your grooming routine.
Kiehl’s Grooming Solutions Nourishing Beard Grooming Oil
Kiehl’s should be a go-to brand in any guy’s array of men’s grooming essentials, with decades of history and quality products to back up that revered name. That also extends to a highly helpful, aptly named Nourishing Beard Grooming Oil, one that should absorbing easily and smell great (note that Sandalwood scent). This beard oil is also 99.8 percent naturally derived, which is about as good as it gets as far as badass beard care is concerned.
Lather & Wood Ultra-Moisturizing Beard Oil
Can a guy ever have enough beard oil? We think not, and it’s all the better when the beard oil in question is targeted to help dry and itchy skin, a common side effect of growing a badass beard (unfortunate as that might seem!). A blend of seven natural oils and organic aloe lend themselves well to a soft-yet-thick and finely groomed beard. That’s what every bearded guy wants, right? No question.
Beardbrand Utility Balm
Now, let’s talk about the coolest beard balms to add to your badass beard care routine. Beardbrand calls its utility balm a sort of Swiss army knife as far as beard care is concerned, and that’s great news if you want to add a no-fuss step to your beard care routine. In fact, you can use it to control flyaway hairs, moisturize your facial hair and even add some shine and luster to tattoos. Can your regular beard balm do that? Not quite, my friend.
Smoky Mountain Beards Conditioning Beard Balm
With a name like Smoky Mountain Beards, how could you not trust these guys to come through with badass beard care for the modern man? A great beard balm protects and strengthens your beard, offering what the brand says is a light-to-medium styling hold. Is that a good thing? Heck, it’s a great thing. It’s also pretty darn cool that Smoky Mountain Beards offers neat names and neat scents (try Cabin Smoke or White Lightning). Add this beard balm to your rotation ASAP.
Uncle Buddy’s Best Beard Balm
Let’s talk about one more beard balm to spur your beard onwards toward facial hair greatness (perhaps a Gandalf-esque beard is within your reach after all). This one is pretty unique, as far as cool beard balms are concerned, because it’s made to be left in and do its work all the while. You can use it to condition and style your beard, and it’ll moisturize your mane at the same time. Talk about a necessary tool to have in your arsenal.
Every Man Jack Beard Brush
Here’s one of the best ways to tame your beard, as mentioned earlier. Beard brushes, as a refresher, come in many shapes and sizes, including ones with bristles atop a wooden handle. Every Man Jack’s beard brush uses cruelty-free bristles and comes in a compact size to pack in your dopp kit or keep handy by your bathroom sink.
Every Man Jack Beard Comb
Well, well, well, Every Man Jack, we meet again. This is the second type of beard comb to consider adding to your rotation, made with two sides, each with different-sized comb teeth. That makes it all the better to both style your beard and straighten your beard hair (using the fine-toothed side). Carry it in its compact case for on -the-go beard care at its finest.
