Women often use biotin to grow better hair and nails, but did you know that many men are also using biotin for beard growth and health?
And that’s what we’re focusing on this article, answering the simple question of; Will biotin help the facial hair and mustache in growing thicker?
Let’s find out. ↓
What is Biotin (B7)
Biotin is an essential vitamin from the water-soluble vitamin-B complex, technically known as vitamin B7 and often called vitamin H or coenzyme R.
This water-soluble vitamin is essential for human survival.
And some of the biotin benefits include:
- Maintenance of fatty-acid production
- Enhanced carbohydrate metabolism
- Promotes cell energy production
- May improve beard, hair, skin, and nail health.
Our bodies produce sufficient amounts of biotin naturally, but there is some evidence that higher dosages of biotin from supplemental forms may benefit us, and this is also why you can find many hair and nail supplements – and of course those beard pills – containing some biotin.
Beard growth-promoting foods naturally high in biotin (vitamin B7) include;
- Eggs
- Almonds and nuts
- Whole grains
- Milk products
- Meat & poultry
Biotin and Facial Hair Growth
One of the main benefits of biotin supplementation for men is that it may increase beard growth and boost beard thickness over time.
It’s not going to magically turn you into a lumberjack I can guarantee you that, but it can aid your body in naturally producing stronger and healthier hair all around the body, and this includes the goatee, sideburns, mustache, and even body hair.
Studies conducted on the subject have shown that when there is a deficiency in the water-soluble B vitamin, the body has an incredibly hard time at growing hair, be it on top of the scalp or on your face.
These effects have been proven in both animals1 and humans2, and the use of biotin supplements has been shown to at least normalize the growth of scalp hair.
Lack of “vitamin H” in the diet can also result in beard hair loss and beard dandruff.
One well-done randomized double-blind placebo study tested if B7 supplementation (Viviscal brand) would be able to promote the growth of hair and convert more of the thin vellus hairs into the terminal kind, the results showed that the supplementation resulted in significant regrowth and thickening of the hair during 90 and 180 days3.
Although this study was done on scalp-hair and in women, it’s likely that some degree of similar results applies to men who use biotin to grow hair on their faces.
How Much Vitamin B7 is Needed to Help Beard Growth?
In the study where more vellus hair turned into terminal hairs, the biotin dosage was not that big, only 120mcg (40% RDA).
On various forums, I’ve seen men using much higher dosages of B7 for facial hair growth and reporting slight improvements in their beard growth speed and density after using biotin. These dosages often range from 500 to 10,000mcg.
How much biotin should you use to grow your beard faster?
Well, you probably don’t need 10,000mcg at least. But you could try that too, as B7 is water-soluble and the excess is simply removed via urine.
Personally, I’d recommend either supplementing with a high-quality multivitamin that contains a good dose of biotin or to go with isolated biotin supplements if you’re looking to maximize your intake.
This brand, for example, contains all the B-vitamins (and a very high 5000mcg dose of biotin) along with other facial hair nourishing compounds such as; collagen hydrolysate, MSM, and keratin. I think it might be a better bang for your buck than isolated biotin supplements.
And sure it may be sold mainly to women seeking better scalp hair, but the ingredients should work just as well for men who use it for their beards.
Side Effects of Biotin for Facial Hair Growth
If you’re trying to megadose with the vitamin H for beard growth, taking something like 5000-10000 mcg should you be worried about side effects?
Not necessarily.
There are currently no known side effects of biotin supplementation, as it is like vitamin C, water-soluble and easily excreted away from the body.
The only negative of taking too high-dose biotin to promote natural beard growth would be that you are going to be quite literally urinating your money away.
Frequently Asked Questions about Biotin & Facial Hair
Can biotin grow me a beard if I take 10,000mcg?
Biotin can slightly help your stubble grow, but this effect is subtle, and not enough to stimulate any significant amounts of growth. When combined with other ways to grow the beard faster, biotin should be used a piece of that puzzle.
With that being said, a deficiency in this key vitamin can hurt your whisker growth quite significantly, so you want to make sure you are always getting some.
Should I use biotin for a patchy beard?
Doesn’t hurt to include it in your arsenal of patchy beard solutions, but again, it won’t do much alone. It’s a small piece of a bigger puzzle.
If biotin alone won’t work, why are there so many biotin beard before after pictures online?
Pull any of those images to Google’s reverse image search and you will quickly see that the images are actually either of guys who went and took transplants, or the popular minoxidil beard growth before afters. It’s extremely unlikely that anyone has ever gone from silky smooth cheeks into a noticeable mane with just the use of biotin, be realistic.
Conclusion
Will biotin help you grow mustache and beard? Yes, in a way, as it aids your body to produce thicker healthier hair all around the body, including the facial hair.
Is biotin a good supplement if the goal is sprouting more bristles from the facial hair follicles? Not if you’re only buying biotin, because it’s just one of the many vitamins necessary for facial hair growth.
So the bottom line is that even though biotin can promote facial hair growth naturally, it’s not enough alone to go from no-beard to big face bush.
Best would be to get it from diet and use the supplement money for something that combines biotin with other micronutrients.
Like this multivitamin which has 5000mcg biotin, MSM, keratin, and collagen.
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