The best beard oil is an easy sell: if you want to grow a beard, or improve the one you've already got, this is just about the easiest and best-smelling step you could take. Because a great beard starts with the proper products, a little patience to fill those patches, and a little intel on how to shape and style. But what separates the bush-league beard growers from the big league bushes is elbow grease: That beard is a labor of love, and a daily application of beard oil will keep your scruff looking lush and feeling soft, while moisturizing the skin underneath. Meanwhile, the rookies are growing a glorified Brillo pad on their face and rocking dry, flaky skin underneath.
Next to a good beard trimmer, beard oil is the most essential product for a guy with a beard, no matter how long or short his stubble. The best beard oils are overflowing with nourishing ingredients (usually a combination of natural oils). They rapidly absorb into skin and hair, and, depending on the beard, help ground any flyaways. (Some lighter oils don't tame as well as others-which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you've got a close-cropped beard.)
A daily application of oil comes with numerous benefits. First and foremost, it keeps both beard and skin hydrated. It's hard to moisturize the skin beneath your facial hair, and beard oil slips in there quite easily to nourish and soften it all. (This prevents the dreaded beard dandruff, particularly in winter.) And by hydrating the beard hairs themselves, the oil prevents them from turning brittle and wiry. This prevents breakage, and it also prevents the beard from scratching you.
1. To tame even the wildest whiskers: Your beard doesn't just grow neatly into shape; it needs coaching and conditioning. A dense blend of essential oils will do the trick. Something heavy enough to keep your strays in check, but light enough that it still absorbs quickly into the hair and avoid any greasiness.
2. A little sillage: Most beard oils have a subtle scent, though they aren't often overpowering after absorbing into your whiskers. (This ability to project is called sillage, and a nice scented beard oil can pinch-hit in place of a cologne.)
3. Versatility: You can use beard oils as pre-shave lubricants, post-shave nourishment, or even as standalone moisturizers to keep dry skin hydrated.
Here are 10 of the best beard oils. Stock up for the cold months, or for the beard-growing journey ahead.
$13.00, Amazon
Cremo is always reliable for its low-cost, high-performance formulas. And that's the case in this no-BS recipe, thanks to the marriage of argan and jojoba oils. It's hard to beat and any price-and when you consider how affordable it is, we wouldn't blame you if you don't feel like reading any further.
$66.00, Saks Fifth Avenue
This one it technically not a full-on beard oil, which explains the term "serum designation as well as the top-shelf cost: The blend also packs on moisture-magnet hyaluronic acid to benefit the skin beneath your bristles. Thus it's also great for big, bushy beards, plus it soaks quickly into the hairs and softens them, priming everything for a detangling. A crisp, refreshing citrus-basil scent lingers on your mane after.
$18.00, Brothers Artisan Oil
Combining oils of argan, jojoba, grape seed, juniper berry, rosemary, and clary sage, this homespun "grooming" oil has been on top of our list for years. It conquers a number of soothing and nourishing tasks around the face and head; use it to soothe skin, tame and condition the hair, or (above all) calm pesky beard hairs.
$12.00, Amazon
We agree with the army of (nearly 25K) reviewers on Amazon: Honest Amish's beard oil checks all the boxes and at a much lower price than much of the competition. It has 8 oils in its blend, with the necessary argan and jojoba at center. But perhaps best of all is that it's 2 oz. compared to most brands' single ounce. So it's more or less double for way less money. Thank us later! (After you thank 25K others...)
$25.00, Stubble & 'Stache
Beard dandruff is a real pain, but Stubble & 'Stache's blend combines sunflower and hemp seed oils to nourish the cheeks and chin just as much as the beard itself. Deploying argan, jojoba, and castor oils (as well as vitamin E), this one promises more than soft skin: It keeps your +1 as happy as the skin and hairs on your chinny chin chin.
$15.00, Target
Beardbrand is aptly named, given they sell some of the most trusted, effective beard products in an extremely crowded retail space. And while they've got an outstanding assortment of premium and scented oils (as well as washes, stylers, hydrators, and more), we love this unscented blend that suits all skin types (even the most oily). It combines oils of apricot kernel, grape seed, jojoba, and castor, and packs a mighty punch for a low price.
$24.00, Amazon
Blind Barber's beard oil is more than just that-it works wonderfully all around your face, as well as to tame and add a touch of shine to the hairs up top your head. We like mixing in a couple drops with our matte hair stylers, for that added eye-catching definition.
$18.00, Amazon
A hot oil treatment is a mega nourisher for your beard, and feels like a soothing barbershop experience. You heat it up, then wear it for 15-20 minutes after warming the skin and whiskers. Then, after rinsing, you have instantly softer scruff. Proraso's product helps open the pores and extract the natural oils in your skin, working in tandem with that sebum to give you this once-weekly superboost.
$26.00, Amazon
Lots of beard oils can double as pre-shave oils, and vice versa, but few are designed specifically for both. By using almond oil in its blend, Davines targets inflammation, and combines the ingredient with jojoba oil for a skin-and-beard-soothing result.
$23.00, Amazon
Stmnt's GQ Grooming Award-winning beard oil packs all the hydrating superpowers of its counterparts, but a citrus-y scent that could go whiff for whiff with your favorite summer cologne is the real hero.
$15.00, Maapilim
$45.00, F. Miller
$26.00, Mr Porter
$13.00, Amazon
$36.00, Neiman Marcus
$13.00, Target
$30.00, Kiehl's
$62.00, Nordstrom
$33.00, Aesop
$15.00, Amazon
$13.00, Gillette
$24.00, Nordstrom