Whether you have a beard or not, it’s still important that you exfoliate your face occasionally.
But when you do have some facial hair, it gets even more important to keep exfoliating the skin underneath the beard.
That’s because growing a thick beard to cover your face, will trap the dead skin cells within which can easily end up clogging your pores and eventually starts to affect your beards health and growth potential.
The best beard product to help with this is called the beard exfoliating scrub, which is similar to a normal facial scrub but is a bit runnier and less abrasive so that it is easier to rub into the skin under your beard and less likely to do any beard damage.
Sure you could also use a beard brush to exfoliate and clean the beard skin, but sometimes, you just need to get a good facial hair exfoliating scrub in there to get the job done.
And those are the exact products we will be ranking today; the best beard scrubs that can deep-cleanse the beard skin, reducing itchiness, dead skin cells, and beard dandruff.
Ready to get started? Keep on reading below to find the best scrub for your beard type and budget. ↓
Quick Summary of the Best Beard Scrubs
Best Beard Exfoliator Scrubs of 2024 Ranked
1. Scotch Porter Beard Exfoliating Face Scrub
The Scotch Porter brand has been featured many times before on this website, they make an amazing beard shampoo, and even better beard conditioner.
And when it comes to exfoliating the beard skin, their charcoal and licorice face scrub is by far the best product for the job.
As with all of their products, the focus is on all-natural ingredients and they use no sulfates, no parabens, no mineral oil, and no synthetic colors.
Considering that you will not need to exfoliate your beard often, their 3.4 oz (100ml) bottle will last you several months. The price of $18 is not that bad either.
This scrub is scented with licorice with also some aroma coming from the natural botanical infusions they use in the formulation.
It feels great and reinvigorating on the skin, but most importantly it’s runny enough to reach the skin underneath even the bushiest of beards.
Key Points
- Made in the United States.
- Removes dead skin cells.
- Unclogs pores to help prevent beard acne.
- Contains the SP Skin Recharging complex.
- Part of a bigger lineup of amazing products.
Bottom line: If you want to deep-cleanse the pores and facial hair follicles deep within your beard, then the Scotch Porter beard scrub should be your number one choice and the best one to buy considering value and effectiveness.
2. Brickell Men’s Exfoliator for Beard and Face
Brickell Men’s Products Renewing Face Scrub will work just fine for bearded dudes.
It does what it claims to do and that is to cleanse, energize, and rejuvenate the skin underneath your facial hair (and elsewhere on your face).
What’s cool about their exfoliator is that the ingredients are 98% natural and 70% organic.
There are no parabens, silicones, or sulfates in their decently sized 4 oz (118ml) container, and the scrubbing particles come from natural pumice, avocado, and jojoba beads.
The consistency is a bit thicker than with the Scotch Porter beard scrub above, but it’s still runny enough to get it deep into your thick full beard.
There is some natural coffee in the formulation, and that’s what gives it the energizing scent.
With a price tag of $22, it’s by far not the cheapest scrub on this list, but still well worth the investment considering the sporadic use and the high-quality of ingredients.
Key Points
- Manufactured in the United States.
- Medium-strength exfoliating power.
- No parabens, SLS, or synthetic microbeads.
- Reduce oily build-up, acne, and ingrown beard hairs.
Bottom line: If you want to scrub your beard with only the most natural and organic ingredients (that still pack a powerdul exfoliating punch) then consider getting yourself the Brickell scrub.
3. Rocky Mountain Barber Co. Beard Scrub
There is no facial hair scrub with a better price to value ratio than the Rocky Mountain Barber Co. Charcoal Scrub has.
Their sizeable 8 oz (237ml) bottle is much larger than with any of the competitors, yet the price of $14.99 is lower than with most of its rivals who have less than half of the size.
This exfoliant is alcohol-free and unscented, and the ingredients are mostly natural, with good stuff like natural activated charcoal, jojoba oil, argan oil, and pumice granules.
As to be expected, there are no harmful man-made chemicals like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) or parabens.
This scrub can be used on facial hair and for the rest of the facial area. While it’s definitely liquidy enough to reach your beard skin, some users do report that it does not offer that powerful of a “scrub” compared to some other exfoliators.
Key Points
- Made in the US.
- Deep-cleansing effect thanks to charcoal.
- Suitable for all skin types.
- Contains no alcohol or added scent.
- Easily the best value choice.
Check it out Here
Bottom line: Rocky Mountain Barber Co. makes amazing beard oils, balms, beard combs, and many other tools. Their beard scrub? It’s one of the greatest around, with amazing value and a large bottle.
4. Marlowe Facial Hair Exfoliating Scrub
Marlowe No. 122 Men’s Facial Scrub has a nice and clean minimalistic design, and the price hovering around $12 for a 6 oz (177ml) tub is not bad at all.
It’s dubbed as a light daily exfoliating cleanser, but as you will be using it for beard skin, we recommend that you use it only once every two weeks or so.
The scent of this scrub is natural sandalwood, which is nice, in our opinion it’s a perfect blend of woodsy and masculine.
The scrubbing power is just right, with the natural pumice beads being not too rough, but not too sensitive either.
This exfoliating scrub has a fairly thick consistency, which makes it not ideal for beard skin exfoliation, and much better for the use on rest of the face.
For this reason, we wouldn’t recommend it as the beardsmen’s first choice, but it still does work if you want to use it under the beard skin.
Key Points
- Good value.
- Clean minimalistic design.
- Mostly natural ingredients.
- No SLS, parabens, or phthalates.
Bottom line: This would be our first choice if it wouldn’t be so thick. And due to it’s thickness, we would say that this product simply works best as a face scrub for clean-shaven men, but not so much for us bearded folk.
5. Jack Black Facial Hair Exfoliator
Jack Black’s signature beard and face care lineup contains some impressive products.
Their Face Buff Energizing Scrub can be used on both the facial hair and the rest of the facial area.
It contains natural mint for an invigorating effect, and vitamin C to repair and nourish the skin. The abrasive material in this scrub comes from the natural bamboo powder.
Each tub being 6 oz (177ml) in size and the price is 30 dollars. In other words, this is definitely an expensive choice and honestly not my top recommendation in terms of quality or value.
Their directions call this a “pre-shave scrub” and tell you to use about a nickel-sized amount 2-4 times per week.
However, if you use it to scrub the under the beard skin, you definitely do not want to use it that often, as it would risk stripping the natural oils too often.
Instead, consider using any facial hair exfoliating products 1-2 times per month at maximum (yes, sounds low, but trust me you don’t need to be scrubbing your beard on a daily basis).
Key Points
- Leaves your face and beard skin feeling fresh.
- Can repair the skin and prevent beard split-ends.
- Very gentle exfoliating effect thanks to bamboo powder.
- A signature brand of the actor Jack Black.
- Minty and fresh scent.
Check it out Here
Bottom line: This product is decently good and gets the job done, but the value is just not there with the price around $30 and a tub containing only 6 oz of scrub.
6. House99 Purifying Beard Scrub
The now-retired soccer legend David Beckham went hard into the clothing and cosmetics business after his playing career.
One of the most interesting products from his face care line called House99 is the purifying beard scrub.
It comes in a 5 oz (150ml) container and the price is around $22. So the value is decent, not the best, not the worst.
One of the biggest pros of this scrub is that it’s designed specifically for facial hair use, unlike almost all of the other products which are face scrubs that CAN be used on the under beard skin.
It also contains some exotic ingredients like volcanic stone, black charcoal, quinoa, and spirulina extract.
As for the cons, there is some sodium benzoate, mineral oil, and propylene glycol in the formulation, all of which can cause negative skin reactions and are simply not necessary to put into the product.
Key Points
- Specifically formulated for beard skin.
- Natural perlite (volcanic glass) as scrubbing particles.
- Can help unclog pores and facial hair follicles.
- Leaves the skin feeling invigorated and energized.
Check it out Here
Bottom line: I was really excited to finally find a product that was designed for scrubbing the beard skin directly, but it was a bit of a let-down to see mineral oil, sodium benzoate, and propylene glycol in the ingredient list. For this reason, we heavily reduced the ranking of the House99 Purifying Beard Scrub.
How Often Should You Exfoliate the Beard
It’s common for beard scrub companies to claim that you should be cleaning and exfoliating the beard area daily.
But we don’t recommend you to do it that often, and that’s because your beard needs the natural sebum oils produced by the skin to grow healthy and strong.
We recommend that you exfoliate your beard skin with a special beard scrub once every two weeks. So just twice per month.
You can use a beard brush for some small beard exfoliating daily, but please don’t start scrubbing your facial hair with any of the above abrasive products that often.
What’s so bad about a daily beard scrub then?
Your skin has these small sebaceous glands underneath, which are attached to the pores and beard follicles. They produce the natural sebum oils to moisturize and nourish your facial hair, but only in finite amounts.
If you would do some beard scrubbing on the area daily, you would be continuously stripping away all the important oils your beard desperately needs.
This would make your beard itchy and invite problems like beard split-ends, beardruff, and dry skin under the beard.
For that reason, we suggest you wash your beard 1-2 times per week, and to exfoliate your beard 1-2 times per month. You can still exfoliate with a beard brush daily, because the brush won’t strip the oils (it actually helps stimulate the production).
How to Exfoliate the Beard Skin
So it’s been about two weeks since the last time, and now you have got a dirty beard in some serious need of deep cleansing and exfoliation.
Here’s a quick how-to guide to beard scrubbing:
- Wash your beard thoroughly with beard shampoo.
- Scoop a good chunk of beard scrub from the container
- Vigorously rub it deep into the beard skin in a circular motion.
- Do this for about a minute, make sure to not miss any areas.
- Rinse your facial hair thoroughly and apply beard conditioner.
- Wait for the conditioner to work its magic in the beard (2-5 minutes).
- Rinse of the conditioner and towel dampen your beard.
- Apply beard oil to seal in the moisture and replenish the natural oils.
The beard conditioner on the above steps is not absolutely mandatory, but it will help nourish the skin right after you scrub it.
The beard oil, however, is something you should not skip, because scrubbing does strip the natural oils, and you really do want to replace those as soon as possible to prevent drying of the beard skin.
Conclusion
So are beard scrubs necessary?
Not at all. You can certainly get away with just proper beard shampoo and an exfoliating beard brush.
However, using these types of facial hair exfoliators is still not a waste of money.
Sometimes you simply want to deep-cleanse the skin under your bushy beard to help oxygenate the skin and follicles, and just washing and brushing the beard isn’t always enough for that.
Just remember to do beard scrubbing 1-2 per month at maximum, this way you’re not stripping away the natural oils too often, and best of all, it means that each bottle or container of the exfoliant will last for several months, even more than a year in some cases.
Above you find our expert review of the best beard exfoliator scrubs in 2024, I hope you enjoyed it and the rankings helped you find just the right scrub for your needs.
