Tobacco & Vanilla Beard Oil

The sweetness here is vanilla, which you have smelled before. What sits underneath is tobacco as a dried-leaf note, closer to dried fruit than anything else, and that’s what stops the vanilla going sugary.

How long you’ll smell it

Vanilla is a heavy material, so it doesn’t fade by mid-morning. On a beard, expect to catch it on yourself through the morning and to have other people catch it at arm’s length into the afternoon. Skin holds fragrance longer than hair does, which is another reason to work the oil down to the roots rather than over the surface.

Why it goes on a clean beard

Washing your beard takes the dirt out and your skin’s own oil with it, and that’s the moment the skin underneath is driest. Putting three or four drops in while the beard is still damp replaces what the wash removed, before the tightness sets in. It still works on a beard you haven’t washed in three days; it works better on a clean one, because nothing sits between the oil and your skin.

Sweet to smell, not heavy to wear

Argan and jojoba soak in quickly, and the heavier castor and black seed stay on the hair where the ends split. Three or four drops leave your beard soft and matte rather than shiny. Six leave it looking wet.

Vanilla turns up as a base note in other bottles in the line; here it’s the subject, and you can see how the eight scents divide up on a single page.

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.