Oil change for the beard

To ensure you can enjoy your beard for as long as possible, oil plays a very important role right from the growth stage. More specifically: beard oil. There are an increasing number of products and manufacturers on the market dedicated to this topic. But how can you tell a good, high-quality beard oil from the rest? It’s high time for a brief introduction.

Thousands of options

As a barber, you not only need to master your craft inside out, but also have specialist knowledge of the various grooming products. That’s why I often talk to my customers about the pros and cons of different beard oils. Admittedly, the choice isn’t easy. A Google search alone yields around 300,000 results on this topic. That’s roughly twice as many hits as a blond man has hairs on his head. And you wouldn’t want to count them all individually either. That’s why I’ll quickly tell you what to look out for.

The key to success

Beard oil usually consists of a blend of highly concentrated essential oils and a plant-based carrier oil. The former nourishes the beard and releases a variety of scents, but would be useless without the carrier oil. This is the key to success: thanks to the carrier oil, the beard oil is absorbed into the skin and hair and spreads evenly. A good carrier oil is extracted from nuts, kernels, fruits or seeds and provides the skin with the substances typical of the plant – vitamins, nutrients and active ingredients.

Cold-pressed or hot-pressed?

A decisive factor in the quality of carrier oils is the production process. Using heat and a chemical process, the plant-based ingredients can be refined quickly and cost-effectively through hot pressing. Whilst this makes the oil more stable, it also causes it to lose much of its natural efficacy. Cold-pressed oils, such as those we use, are quite different. They are produced using a gentler process and without external heat. This takes longer, but significantly enhances the quality of the ‘virgin oils’ and therefore results in a higher price.

A tough nut to crack

The question remains: what should the oil be extracted from? Here too, there are countless possibilities: avocados, grape seeds, almonds, hemp seeds – the list could go on and on. For Eric:Barbier’s beard oil, we rely on the high quality of argan nuts. They grow only in a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve in Morocco and are found as almond-sized seed kernels within the argan fruit. Alongside the fruit, the trees also provide a home for goats – these nimble climbers feed on the leaves. The oil is cold-pressed and is characterised by its comprehensive care for skin and hair. Compared to other products, it is immediately apparent that our beard oil has a slightly creamy consistency due to its composition. To achieve this effect, many other manufacturers use glycerine, which dries out the skin in the long term – we deliberately avoid this.

Testing on a living subject

It was important to us to find an oil that doesn’t sit on the beard like a film, but is easily absorbed and makes the hair noticeably softer. We spent several years tinkering with it. When I took over the salon, I ordered various oils and tried out different blends, which I gave to customers to test. Based on the feedback, we kept refining the beard oil until we found a blend with a masculine mahogany scent that most people liked. In future, we’d like to launch further product lines with different scents.

One for all

My tip: It’s not just bearded men who should use a good oil at least once or twice a week after washing to enjoy a healthy, well-groomed beard for years to come. It’s also worth it during the growth phase: it moisturises the hair and ensures that the tips pressing against the skin become softer. This prevents annoying prickling and itching right from the start. In winter, after showering, I apply a few drops of our beard oil to my neck and nape – it absorbs quickly and moisturises the stressed skin.

As you can see – not all beard oils are created equal. At our salons on Ballindamm and in HafenCity, I’d be happy to show you just how important good quality is.

Yours, Anthony