Beard oil and beard balm are the two most used products in beard care. They both are similar in the benefits that they offer for beard care. They both work by moisturizing your skin and beard, and the balm will give you a little hold.
While they are both great for beard care, there are some differences between the two.
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Can You Use Beard Oil And Balm Together?
Yes, beard oil and balm can be used together because they both serve the same purpose, but you get the benefits of two products. The beard oil will moisturize your beard, and it will likely have a stronger scent. The balm will provide a little hold to your beard.
These products are very similar, and they both provide benefits for your beard. The major difference in them is their ingredient profile. Oils strictly use liquids like argan oil, and avocado oil. These are applied by using a dropper or reducer in a bottle. Each oil is a little different in consistency and benefits that it provides your beard hair and skin. Multiple oils mixed together create a beard oil.
Beard balm is a solid or semi-solid version. They usually contain a styling agent along with butters and oils. There is no harm by using both of them together. You just need to determine if that is what you prefer, and does it help your beard.
The reason that you would want to use them at the same time is because your beard is not getting what it needs just by using one of them. The oil is going to coat your beard hair as well as the skin underneath. This will help to moisturize your skin and hair. By doing this, your beard will look more healthy as opposed to dry and scraggly looking. It also provides nutrients and vitamins. Many oils have vitamins A, D, and E in them as well as antioxidants. The oil does add a little weight to your hair, and we mean just a little. There is minimal to zero styling or taming away fly hairs using just this product.
The balm is also going to coat your skin and hair, but you would have to use a lot of it to provide as much oil that is covering your hair that you would get from using the beard oil. However, you are getting some weight in the product due to styling agents added to the ingredient profile. This will help control your hair a bit, and it will help to tame fly away hairs.
Each product is great on its own, but your beard may want more. Some men a light amount of oil to ensure that their hair follicles and skin are conditioned, and then will apply a balm for a more even distribution and to fully coat their beard. It may take some time to get what you need out of using both a balm and an oil together, but the great news is that there are so many products to choose from. You should be able to find something in each category for the perfect solution.
There are even some products that give you multiple options like Honest Amish beard balm. They offer a regular balm as well as a heavy duty version.
Let’s look at the difference between beard oil and balm to help understand why they can be used at the same time. You can see the current price here of the heavy duty and regular. They are both balms, but the heavy duty will do a better job at styling and taming away your fly beard hairs. By having so many choices, there is almost an endless combination of balms and oils to use together to get exactly what you need.
Beard Balm vs. Beard Oil
Beard Balm
Generally, a beard balm is compromised of butters and oils like Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Jojoba Oil, Argan Oil, etc. In addition, they usually have a hardening agent in them like beeswax. Beeswax will control the thickness or hardness of the balm. Adding more beeswax will make the balm more like a solid and less will make it softer and closer to a beard oil once it is melted in your hand.
Beard balms can be put into different categories based on what they are designed for. Although, they all serve the same purpose, some will perform better than others at certain tasks based on their ingredient profile.
There are conditioning balms which are designed to coat your beard like an oil, but they will provide very minimal hold. These will generally have less beeswax in them, and they will be easy to scoop out. These tend to melt in your hand rather quickly as they are composed of a high percentage of soft butters and oils.
There are styling or sculpting balms. These will condition your beard as well, but they will have a higher percentage of beeswax in them. This will weigh your beard down a bit more depending on how strong the hold is. This is great for keeping stray whiskers at bay. Sometimes brands will market these with phrases like “heavy hold.”
There are hybrid balms. Most beard balms fall into this category. They provide conditioning as well as a little hold.
Beard Oil
Beard Oils contain the same types of oils that are used in balms except they do not contain the beeswax and butters. They will contain vegetable oils like Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Castor Oil. These are liquid at room temperature.
The purpose of a beard oil is to hydrate and condition your skin and beard. It will also deodorize your beard if scented. They will aid a bit in shaping your beard if you brush your beard with a boar hair brush like this one on amazon after you apply the oil.
When To Use Beard Balm and Beard Oil Together
It is perfectly OK to use beard balms and oils by themselves. If you are getting what you need from the products you use, there probably is no need to use them together. But, if you feel that you are needing something else, it does not hurt to try and use them together.
When you are growing your beard in, it is probably a good idea to have both on hand. In the early stages of beard growth when you have a short beard, you may experience a lot of itchy beard, and a beard oil will be great for that. At some point, your beard will get a little longer, and you will start getting more and more strays pop out. Grab a beard balm that has a decent amount of hold to it, and then add it to your beard with the oil. This just one example of when you may use a beard oil and a beard balm together.
Another time to use them together may be during the winter months. If you are a balm user, you may need a little bit more conditioning during the winter months. You can try to use a more conditioning balm, but a beard oil will probably work better as an addition.
How To Use Beard Oil and Balm Together
Apply your beard oil first. Simply put a dime sized amount into your palm and rub into your beard and skin. It is important to try and work the oil from the root of the hair to the end. This will ensure that you are not just coating the ends of your hair.
Take a beard brush and brush your beard down.
Next, scoop out a small amount of your beard balm, and rub your hands together to melt the balm. Then, rub your hands through your beard to coat as much as you can. Try to apply it to the areas that need the most hold first. Comb your fingers down through your beard to shape it.
Take a beard comb, and comb down your beard to shape it how you like.
Some people with very long beards like to use them at the same time. Simply apply the beard balm to your hands and rub them together. Once the balm is melted, apply a liberal amount of beard oil, and then coat your beard.
Should You Use Beard Oil Or Balm First
If you are using beard oil and balm together, then you should apply the beard oil first. The beard oil is designed to coat your beard hair to keep it moist and conditioned. It will also help keep your skin from drying up under your beard. The beard balm is made to provide some conditioning to your beard, but it likely has wax or heavy butters in it which is supposed to help style your beard.
You don’t need to wait for any set time to apply the balm because as soon as you rub it together in your hands, it will melt. At this point it is very close to an oily substance because the heat from your hand and the friction helped it to melt a little bit. Once it sets in your beard, then it will provide a little hold, and it will help maintain some of your stray hairs.
If you are going to use them together, then you may want to look into a heavier balm with more wax because you are putting a nice coat of beard oil on first. The combination of the two products may require you to choose a heavy hold depending on your preference and beard.
One thing to look out for is the ingredient list on your balm. Balms that have a little more hold will usually have a wax like beeswax in it. This is what is going to provide the hold that will work so well with the oil.
Some people do prefer to use the beard oil after the balm, and you can do that as well, there is no harm in it. The best thing to do is to try both methods out to see which you like better. The oil first and balm second approach seems to work well, but you can try it out to see what is best for your beard.
