Got yourself a beard that needs some styling and taming help? Good, beard wax is just the right tool for that.
Miles ahead beard oil in the level of hold and even stiffer than beard balms – resembling mustache wax in many ways – beard wax belongs to its own category.
And today, we are going to find out the best beard waxes of 2024, so you can leave the guess-work out of your beard care routine and go straight for the greatest products.
Of course, we will also look at important topics like how to use beard wax, what it is, what are the ingredients, and many more important things to factor in before you buy a tin of beard wax.
What is Beard Wax
Someone once said that beard wax is a love child of beard oil and mustache wax, that’s pretty close.
We think beard wax can be best described as a waxier version of beard balm.
Indeed, the ingredients of beard waxes and beard balms are strikingly similar, with beard wax providing better hold since it has a higher percentage of waxes like beeswax in its blend.
Whereas balms tend to have more oils (which give less of a hold, but more nourishment).
If you need to tame and style your beard primarily, then beard wax should be your go-to product, as that is what its main purpose is in a proper beard grooming routine.
Typical Beard Wax Ingredients
- Hard Waxes – Beeswax, paraffin wax, tallow, etc give it the hold.
- Solid Fats – Coconut oil and shea butter give it more volume.
- Carrier Oils – Jojoba oil, Castor oil, etc make it more pliable.
- Essential Oils – Peppermint oil, Cedarwood oil, etc are used for scent.
Beard Wax Comparison Table
Best Beard Waxes of 2024
1. Seven Potions Beard Wax
I featured the Seven Potions Beard Wax as the best beard product in its own category before. So as it’s only logical, we will once again highlight its magnificence here in our review of the best beard waxes.
How good is it you ask?
Pretty darn great I’d say, as it has a perfect ingredient list and does exactly what it claims to do right there on the front sticker of the tin…
Styles / Tames / Conditions.
Their brand is from the United Kingdom, and they pride themselves as NOT being a company that blends their products at the back of a personal garage, but instead formulates them and sends the recipe to a larger third-party controlled facility for final production.
“This makes their product safer than average and quality-controlled, something that not many little beard care brands can say.”
The Seven Potions beard wax has a medium hold, so it’s not runny like a balm would be, but also not insanely waxy like some of the stronger blends are (this one doesn’t leave your facial hair dry and hard).
The only thing I have to complain a bit is the size. This beard wax comes in a 1 oz (30ml) container which is the same size as the average mustache wax tin.
Key Specs
- Size: 1 oz (30ml)
- Waxes: 2
- Carrier Oils: 6
- Essential Oils: 3
- Hold: Medium
- Scent: Woodsy
- User Feedback: Positive
- Price: $$
Ingredients
(Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Beeswax, Jojoba Wax, Peach Kernel Oil, Cocoa Butter, Avocado Butter, Palm-Free Vegetable Glycerin, Vitamin E Oil, Cedarwood Oil, Sandalwood Oil, Natural Essential Oil Fragrance Blend).
Who is it Best for?
This is the best all-around beard wax to use with medium hold. As a medium hold product, it’s great for bearded men who are just starting to use beard waxes and aren’t really sure what to buy the first time.
With the Seven Potions Beard Wax, you can’t really go wrong.
Pros:
- Safe and tested ingredients produced in a state-of-the-art facility
- Reputable brand from the United Kingdom with a raving fan base
- Great woodsy scent and all-natural organic ingredients are a plus
Cons:
- They don’t disclose all of the essential oils used for scent.
- If you need a super-strong hold for styling, don’t get this one.
Where to buy it: Amazon.Com or Seven Potion’s Website.
Bottom line: There’s a good reason we chose Seven Potion’s Beard Wax as the best product in our review. It just bloody works just as expected. Perfect all-around wax for most beards.
2. The Bearded Goon’s Beard & Mustache Wax
The Bearded Goon’s Beard Wax prides itself as “ridiculously strong”.
Is it?
Well, yes.
With beeswax as the main ingredient, followed by solid tropical fats and tree resin, you can expect this wax to provide excellent taming properties and a great level of hold.
We like that they kept the ingredient list short and sweet, and didn’t cram the tin with dozens of cool-sounding oils like many of the competitors do.
About that tin size though, it’s just 1 oz (the size of a typical mustache wax tin), so if you use this product on a daily basis, be prepared to stock up soon.
Key Specs
- Size: 1 oz (30ml)
- Waxes: 1
- Carrier Oils: 2
- Essential Oils: Blend
- Hold: Strong
- Scent: Pine-like
- User Feedback: Mostly Positive
- Price: $$
Ingredients
(Beeswax, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Tree Resin, Essential Oils).
Who is it Best for?
For guys who truly want a good level of hold from their facial hair wax, without having to deal with synthetic ingredients or poor quality vegetable oils in the blend.
Pros:
- Manufactured in the USA
- Very good ingredients and the list is short and sweet
- Beeswax comes in as the first ingredient, so you know it holds.
Cons:
- The 1 oz tin is quite small and frequent users need to restock often.
- Has such a strong hold that it may make your beard feel hard.
Where to buy it: You can grab a tin of this beard wax from Amazon.
Bottom line: The Bearded Goon’s Beard and Mustache Wax makes for a great runner-up for the #1 position.
3. Man Arden Natural Beard Wax
Man Arden is a lesser-known beard wax manufacturer.
Their product is very good, with handpicked pure oils, tropical fats, and beeswaxes, and no harmful ingredients in their blends.
As an added benefit, their wax has a nice matte finish.
Personally, I think this is a big plus.
My own beard is light brown with a shade of orange/red when it gets longer. Since I don’t like the reddish appearance, products with a matte finish can help hide that.
Their container does look bigger on the product page than what it really is. In reality, it’s a 50 gram (1.7 oz) container.
Slightly smaller than the average balm tin, and a bit larger than the average mustache wax tin.
Key Specs
- Size: 1.7 oz (50ml)
- Waxes: 1
- Carrier Oils: 5
- Essential Oils: 0
- Hold: Strong
- Scent: Unscented
- User Feedback: None Available
- Price: $$
Ingredients
(Beeswax, Castor Oil, Virgin Jojoba Oil, Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Organic Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Vitamin E Acetate).
Who is it Best for?
This is a very good basic beard wax for most types of beards. If you can find it in stock, we most certainly recommend it. The sad part is that they do keep a small stock so it might be out at the time you’re reading this.
Pros:
- An impressive list of ingredients from an up-and-coming brand.
- Good size and with sporadic use will last close to six months.
- Being matte-finished, guys with reddish beards will enjoy it.
Cons:
- Such a small brand that it’s often out of stock.
- Lack of product images, brand website, and refund information.
Where to buy it: The Man Arden Facial Hair wax stocks at Amazon.Com
Bottom line: I was inclined to put this beard wax straight up to the #1 spot after seeing the ingredients, but as a such small brand and hard to find contact info, refund details, and brand website, there are some trust issues that eventually led us to drop it to three.
4. The Badass Beard Care Beard Wax
Badass Beard Care is a corny sounding brand name, but they make a pretty good beard wax.
As a Veteran owned company, every patriot can feel good about buying their products.
How good is their wax you ask?
One of the best as long as you choose the right scent option (there are so many).
Some of their scents do contain tea tree oil, lavender, and eucalyptus, which we never recommend anyone to apply anywhere close to their facial hair (may disrupt the hormones necessary for growth).
But “the original” scent, for example, contains just sandalwood and vanilla oil as the aromatic oils, which are not harmful at all.
Hence, we specifically recommend that scent over any of the others.
Key Specs
- Size: 2 oz (60ml)
- Waxes: 2
- Carrier Oils: 3
- Essential Oils: 2
- Hold: Medium
- Scent: Vanilla
- User Feedback: Positive
- Price: $$
Ingredients
(Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Beeswax, Coconut Oil, Lanolin, Sandalwood Oil, Vanilla Oil).
Who is it Best for?
For patriotic beardsmen who want to give their beards a decent level of hold and styling ability. Also if you like the scent of woodsy vanilla, you’ll love the Badass Beard Care Beard Wax.
Pros:
- A veteran-owned company with some nice products
- Manufactured in the USA with what seems like a good quality control
- Sizeable 2 oz tin is bigger than with most competition and lasts.
Cons:
- Some of the scents of this same beard wax have poor ingredients.
- Really freaking corny brand name that is off-putting to some.
Where to buy it: You can grab a tin from Amazon.
Bottom line: You have to be careful with what scent you choose from this beard wax lineup. Some are good and contain no harmful ingredients, but few have got bad stuff like tea tree oil and eucalyptus in them!
5. Honest Amish Original Beard Wax
Honest Amish is possibly the biggest beard product manufacturer on the planet right now.
Sure it might not seem like it, considering their dated-looking design and mediocre products.
But they have been in business for a long time, and perfectly timed their product launches to the start of the massive beard trend some years ago.
When it comes to their beard wax, it’s OK. Definitely, not the best beard wax, but a decently good product if you can’t get anything better.
So why don’t we love it?
Well, it’s because of those darned ingredients they use.
There’s a blend of good stuff like the Beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil, and palm kernel oil (all great choices)
But then they also mess up their products by adding polyunsaturated oils like pumpkin seed oil, and beard hormone-disrupting essential oils like lavender (yes, lavender’s bad for men).
This would easily be the greatest beard wax around if it wasn’t for pumpkin seed oil and lavender, but I guess they don’t care too much, they’re best-sellers even as is.
Key Specs
- Size: 2 oz (60ml)
- Waxes: 2
- Carrier Oils: 5
- Essential Oils: 4
- Hold: Strong
- Scent: Licorice-like
- User Feedback: Positive
- Price: $
Ingredients
(Beeswax, Shea Butter, Palm Kernel Oil, Olive Oil, Pumpkin Seed Oil, Coconut Oil, Carnauba Wax, Cedarwood Essential Oil, Clove Essential Oil, Star Anise Seed Oil, Lavender Essential Oil).
Who is it Best for?
Not really best for anyone, unless you have to quickly get your beard wax from WalMart before closing (they stock it).
Pros:
- Holds well thanks to the high volume of beeswax and carnauba.
- Little over $12 and 2 oz size, this is the cheapest wax on the list.
- Good ingredients if you don’t count the lavender oil and pumpkin oil.
Cons:
- Lavender oil is an endocrine disruptor and can hurt the beard.
- Doesn’t really deserve its best-seller status based on the ingredients.
Where to buy it: Honest Amish has been the best-seller on Amazon for years.
Bottom line: We can understand why Honest Amish is the best-selling beard care manufacturer in the World, but their dated design and mediocre products have us wondering how they still hold this title in 2024.
6. Urban Nomads Beard Styling Wax
This is the strongest beard wax on the list, but also the least natural of them all.
Which is strange, considering that their container literally says “100% natural ingredients”.
If you look at the ingredients, that’s certainly not the case.
There are all sorts of stearates, different types of alcohols, synthetic fragrance, benzyl benzoate, etc.
Sure it has some natural ingredients like beeswax, jojoba esters, and some other oils, but really, it’s far from being able to legitimately claim 100% natural.
It also looks like a big jar in the product pictures, but it’s really a 2 oz (60ml) jar which is around the average size of a beard balm tin.
But I have to give credit where it’s due, this thing does hold the beard in place, so much so that I’m happy to call it the best beard styling wax on this list if the only factor would be the level of hold.
Due to the ingredient list though, we had to drop it down to #6, because we’re all about that natural beard care here at Beard Resource.
Key Specs
- Size: 2 oz (60ml)
- Waxes: 4
- Carrier Oils: 2
- Essential Oils: 2
- Hold: Ultra-Strong
- Scent: Orange
- User Feedback: Positive
- Price: $$$
Ingredients
(Water, Sucrose, Natural Beeswax, Polyglycerol-6 Distearate, Cetearyl Alcohol, Jojoba Esters, Polyglycerol-3 Beeswax, Cetyl Alcohol, Glycerin, Dicaprylyl Ester, Bergamot Essential Oil, Wild Carrot Essential Oil, Wild Carrot Root Extract, Sunflower Seed Oil, Beta-Carotene, Polyglycerol-5 Oleate, Vitamin E, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Benzyl Alcohol, Salicylic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Synthetic Fragrance, Benzyl Benzoate, Eugenol, Limonene, Linalool).
Who is it Best for?
For bearded men who look for the strongest holding beard wax available, and also for those who don’t really care whether the ingredients are natural or synthetic (this is a blend of both).
Pros:
- The strongest holding wax on this list, easily.
- The sizeable 2oz container will last for a good few months at least.
Cons:
- They claim 100% natural ingredients but use many synthetic ones.
- Having water as the main ingredient seems weird and a bit scammy.
Where to buy it: As usual, you can get this product from Amazon.Com
Bottom line: We almost left this product out of our 2024 beard wax review, but since it’s used by many and still provides the best level of hold by any facial hair wax available, we squeezed it in.
What to Look for When Buying Beard Wax
Hold
The main purpose of a beard wax is to hold your facial hair in place and tame it. This is why they’re often called beard styling waxes.
For this reason, it’s imperative that you look for products that provide you with the level of hold that you need.
But how do I get to know the level of hold?
Easy, you look for the waxes to be early in the ingredient list, because the list always goes in a descending order per volume.
– So let’s say for example that you find a product which starts with things like beeswax, carnauba wax, shea butter… You know instantly that you’re dealing with a beard wax that can provide plenty of hold ability.
– But then if you see a product that lists 8 carriers and a few essential oils before you finally see the beeswax and other waxes listed, then you can be sure that the product is not delivering on its hold promise.
Pay attention! That’s all you need to find the right product that suits your needs.
Ingredients
We get it, every bearded man wants to pamper their facial hair with just the right natural ingredients.
For this reason, it’s important to look at the list of ingredients and go “hmm, is this product worthy of my beard?”
Nine times out of ten you will quickly find things that raise questions, like water, alcohol, silicone, synthetic wax esters.
Those are there only to fill the containers with the cheapest stuff possible, in order to increase the profit margins of the manufacturers.
Scent
Facial hair waxes are most commonly scented with either natural essential oils or synthetic fragrance.
The amounts needed to give the products some aroma are miniscule, but still, it’s important to consider a few key factors.
First and foremost, do you want scented or unscented beard wax? This can be a big deciding factor since you apply the wax directly under your nose.
Secondly, essential oils are used for just a couple drops per tin, but they’re still insanely powerful and volatile.
Using the wrong types of essential oils like eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, or lavender oil can even result in some natural suppression of the hormones that grow the facial hair in the first place.
Size
The size of the beard wax container is important information for three purposes…
- To figure out the real value of the product.
- To understand how long the wax will last in use.
- To get an idea of how it’s like to store and carry around.
Most commonly, beard waxes come in 2 oz (60ml) tins, which are exactly the same size as the common beard balm tins.
But sometimes they also come in smaller 1 oz (30ml) tins that are the same size as your average mustache wax tin.
Even though a 1 oz tin will be easier to carry with you, it also runs out very quickly when used frequently.
Price
It’s an undeniable fact that making your own DIY beard products will always be cheaper than buying the premade stuff.
(see our guide on homemade beard oils for example if you don’t believe me).
The same holds true for beard wax.
With quick calculations, a high-quality DIY beard wax would come to be around $3-5 per 1 oz. Compared to the average of $15 per 1 oz of premade beard waxes.
I think $10-20 is a reasonable price range for most beard wax products, after all, the profits have to be made from somewhere.
But if you see someone selling 1-2 oz tins of beard wax for 30+ bucks, it’s time to wake up and realize that you’re being bamboozled.
Our Beard Wax Review Selection Process
To determine the best beard wax of 2024 we chose a bunch of products and placed them on a fair playing field.
We then started to compare their pros and cons, prices and tin sizes, to come up with this ranking system that you can see above.
We think it’s fair and accurate and places a lot of emphasis on using the right ingredients that help you – the customer – in finding just the right beard wax for your needs.
Beard Wax vs. Beard Balm
So let’s tackle the big question shall we; which is better beard wax or beard balm, and how do they compare?
It all depends on your goals.
Beard wax has more beeswax, carnauba wax, or other waxes in the formulation, this means that it has less moisturizing and nourishing qualities, but more hold and better taming ability.
Therefore if your goal is beard styling, get the beard wax.
Beard balm, on the other hand, has a higher volume of carrier oils in the formulation, which gives it better moisturization qualities.
However, the amount of waxes in balm is lower, which means that it doesn’t provide a good hold and it’s rarely a good product for beard styling.
If you need to moisturize and nourish the facial hair and the skin underneath, get beard balm.
Can I Use Beard Wax for Mustache?
Yes, you can and should use beard wax on your mustache as well as the full beard area.
There’s not that much of a difference between mustache wax and beard wax, often times the beard waxes just have a bit less hold and larger size tins.
Beard wax also tends to have more nourishing carrier oils in its formulation, but that obviously doesn’t hurt the mustache so definitely use it on the whiskers as well.
How to Correctly Apply Beard Wax
Applying beard wax is a simple process, here’s how to do it step-by-step…
- Using the nail of your index finger scoop out a pea-sized chunk.
- With a strong wax, you may have to heat the tin with a blow dryer.
- Once you get the wax on your fingers, heat it up in between them.
- Once melted, apply it to your whole facial hair area in all directions.
- Finish off by styling the beard with a beard comb or beard brush.
- Wait for the wax to cool and harden, beard stays in place.
- And that’s it, you now know how to use beard wax properly!
See? It isn’t difficult at all. If you know how to apply beard balm, you already know how to use the wax as well. They’re almost the same thing, the latter is just harder and you may need a blow dryer for scooping it.
Benefits of Using Beard Wax
We are almost done here, but let’s not forget to list the benefits of beard wax…
- Helps you style the beard – Thanks to the hold provided by beeswax.
- Helps nourish an itchy beard – Thanks to the natural carrier oils.
- Protects from the elements – Thanks to the thin protective layer.
- Can be used on hair – Natural low-oil beard waxes work well for both.
- Tames stray whiskers – We all have few flyaway hairs.
- Doubles as a mustache wax – The two are not that different.
- Can help fight beard dandruff – Thanks to the blend of carrier oils.
Conclusion
This wraps up our 2024 guide to greatest beard waxes.
I hope it helped you find just the right product for your beard.
Did we miss a wax you think deserves a spot on the list? Let us know in the comments and I will take a look at it.
