Black Pepper & Lavender Beard Oil

If your beard itches, the skin underneath is what’s dry, not the hair. That’s where three or four drops a day go, and it’s why you work them into the roots first. The scent is lavender taken green and sharp, with black pepper directly underneath.

Oil, balm or wax: which you need

These get sold together and they do different jobs. Oil is the daily one: it goes to the skin, softens hair, and doesn’t hold anything in place. Balm is oil with butter and a little wax in it, so it conditions and gives some weight. Wax is for shaping a moustache and does nothing for skin.

If you’re buying one thing, buy the oil. Dryness under the beard is the problem that actually causes discomfort, and hold is a styling preference on top of that. Most men who think they need hold find that a beard which combs easily mostly stays where it’s put.

For the itch that comes from dry skin

Cut ends sit against skin that isn’t used to being covered, and the hair pulls your skin’s own oil away from the roots at the same time. That combination is worst in weeks two through six of a new beard, but it doesn’t stop there: a long beard takes more oil off the skin than a short one does. Three or four drops a day covers both sides of it: the oil softens the cut ends so they stop scratching, and it puts moisture back at skin level.

It keeps your skin comfortable under the beard, which is usually the difference between keeping a beard and shaving it off.

What this lavender smells like on you

Lemon and ginger sit over it and black pepper directly underneath, so what you get is green and sharp. Basil is the odd one, and it’s why this comes across herbal; honey and vanilla keep it from turning bitter as the pepper settles down.

• Top: lemon, ginger, lavender
• Middle: basil, honey, cinnamon, black pepper
• Base: amber, vanilla, patchouli

Basil and honey aren’t in any other beard oil you’ll find, and you can compare the note lists across the rest of the line.

How to use

Work three or four drops through a freshly washed beard, starting at the roots, then comb into shape.

A 30 ml bottle holds roughly 600 drops. At three or four a day that’s about five months; at six, closer to three. Your beard size decides where you land.