Keeping your beard in top shape is essential for the modern man. Having a dry beard with cracked whiskers isn’t going to help your personal or professional life. One of the items in your beard first aid kit should be a good beard oil. however, if you’ve experimented with beard oils and still haven’t found the right one, or simply can’t justify spending on it, rest easy knowing that you can make homemade beard oil yourself with minimal equipment.
The good news about making your beard oil is that you won’t have to contact any local drugstores, as beard oil is an all-natural product and several varieties are available with common ingredients. That said, you can’t just throw your favorite plant and scent oils into a cauldron and expect it to be a comfortable, balanced oil. The main type of oil you’ll use in your homemade beard oil is called an essential oil; there are a variety of essential oils from a variety of natural products, such as fruit and other sources like wood, flowers and seeds. Oils from fruit or citrus give the oil a great, fresh scent and are usually used in small amounts, as they can irritate the skin if used in abundance. Essential oils are the base of many oils, but if they are not diluted with carrier oils, the oil runs the risk of being irritating or smelling too strong.
The Building Blocks: Essential and Carrier Oils
Since most of the scent is going to come from a combination of essential oils, you’ll need to know how different oils affect the skin. Different essential oils will have different benefits for your skin; and since underneath every beard is a unique skin, some oils will be better for your individual skin than others. For example, cedarwood oil helps with acne and respiratory problems, tea tree oil is great for the skin (although it has a strong odor), evening primrose oil has favorable effects on skin conditions such as psoriasis, and peach kernel oil is a soothing oil used for sensitive skin.
Carrier oils are going to make up the majority of your beard oil recipe; in most cases, half or more. The purpose of carrier oils is to dilute the essential oils to the point where they will not harm the skin and the health benefits can be recognized. Carrier oils also amplify and “carry” the aroma of the essential oils used in the blend. Examples of carrier oils include jojoba oil, a composition very similar to oils produced by humans; vegetable glycerin, a natural moisturizer; organic hazelnut oil, which helps fight acne and eczema; and the ever-reliable and moisturizing coconut oil.
What you’ll need
As for materials, most beard oil recipes are measured in drops and milliliters, so you’ll need a reliable dropper and a measuring cylinder that has milliliters as a measuring option. Materials for homemade beard oil are fairly common and can be ordered online or purchased at local department stores. Getting the oils can be a bit more complicated, but several health stores carry these products and they can always be found online.
Time to blend
When it comes time to mix and make the beard oil, you can be a bit of a mad scientist. For a small batch (smaller batches are preferred when making beard oil, as it should be stored in cool, dry places and smaller amounts will stay fresh longer), use about eight to ten milliliters of a carrier oil or combination of carrier oils and add this mixture to your measuring cylinder. Some good combinations of carrier oils are coconut oil and argan oil, or jojoba oil and …. any other oil. Jojoba oil blends easily and is absorbed by human skin and hair, so you can’t go wrong with it.
After adding the carrier oils to the blend, it’s time to give it a touch with the essential oils. Add the essential oils to the test tube already containing your carrier oil blend, ONE DROP AT A TIME. If you add the essential oil too quickly, too much could go into the batch and then you’ll have to start from scratch or deal with an irritating and intense beard oil. As a rule of thumb, do not add more than ten drops of essential oil to your blend, or you will risk getting an irritating and intense beard oil.
As long as you stay within those guidelines, the margin for experimentation is huge. Try out different combinations using classic, bold scents like sandalwood and maybe finishing off with a nice citrus or grapeseed oil. Finding the right combination of oils will not only help you achieve a great scent, but can help your beard and skin tremendously. Everybody is different and there is no one perfect oil, but with enough experimentation, you can enjoy your ideal beard oil with the knowledge that you made it with your bare hands.
Reference : Healthline
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