If you have been looking around the beard care industry for a while, you might have seen that there are new beard products popping out almost daily.
Some become popular, while most will be instantly ignored and forgotten.
One of the latest and most hyped up beard care item has been beard butter.
It was first looked as some oddball between the beard oil and beard balm, but being quite neither of them, so people questioned whether it would be worth it at all, but some years later it has become obvious that beard butters are truly here to stay.
Beard butter has its own purpose as beard deep-conditioning agent and most big beard companies have adopted it into their product lineups permanently.
But what the heck is beard butter and what does it even do? Let’s take a closer look.
What is Beard Butter
Beard butter is a soft easy-to-scoop beard grooming product that typically comes in a metal tin in sizes anywhere from 1 oz to 4 oz.
The main ingredients are fruit and nut butters such as shea butter and cocoa butter, but the formulations can also contain solid oils like coconut oil, or even light oils like jojoba or argan oil for a bit more runnier consistency.
Beard butter is typically unscented, but some manufacturers do add essential oils to their formulations for added scent.
On average, beard butter recipes contain:
- 80-90% fruit and nut butters
- 10-20% carrier oils
- 0-2% essential oils for scent
What Does Beard Butter Do
The principal function of beard butter is to repair and nourish the beard and heal the dry skin underneath your facial hair.
It should not be used for beard styling, as it gives no hold to the beard due to formulations lacking beeswax. If you’re looking for something to style your beard with, it’s much better to focus on beard wax instead.
Due to the thick and buttery consistency beard butter is not really suitable for daily use when you’re out and about. For light daily use, it’s better to go with beard oil or beard moisturizer instead.
Like said above, beard butter helps nourish and repair your beard and the dry skin underneath, but it’s also very thick and greasy.
Which is why it’s best to use beard butter night before the bed so that it can work in your beard and facial hair follicles thorough the night, without people having to look at your greasy and buttery beard in the daylight.
Bottom line: Use beard butter to nourish and condition the facial hair during the night. It’s much better at hydrating the facial hair and locking in moisture than beard oils and balms are, but the trade-off is that you can’t really use it during the daytime unless you want people to think your beard is super greasy.
Beard Butter vs. Beard Balm – What’s the Difference?
Beard butter is often confused with beard balm, and some beard product sellers actually use the terms balm and butter interchangeably.
They shouldn’t though, because even though beard butter and beard balm look similar, they are completely different product with different use-case.
Beard butter has no beeswax in the formulation and is mostly made of natural fruit and nut butters. This gives it soft consistency, and the product is typically used during the night to hydrate and nourish the facial hair.
Beard balm has some beeswax in the formulation and often lacks the thick fruit and nut butters. This gives it a firm but light consistency and also some hold for beard styling aid. Hence, beard balm is often used daily as a type of “heavy-duty” beard oil alternative.
So which one is better, beard butter or beard balm?
Well, they both have their separate functions. Beard balm is more versatile as you can use it for daily moisture and beard styling, but beard butter definitely has its place as a heavy-duty beard nourishing conditioner that you use specifically for healing and repairing the facial hair.
Do you need them both though?
In my humble opinion, not really.
I know all the beard product manufacturers will certainly tell you that you should have every possible beard grooming item under the sun from oils, to waxes, to beard brushes, beard combs, sprays, butter, and whatnot…
But realistically you only need beard butter if your beard and the skin underneath gets easily dry and flaky or if you find that your chest and shoulders get covered in beard dandruff too often.
How to Use Beard Butter
Here’s a simple beard butter routine to follow if you want optimal nourishment and care for your facial hair follicles and the skin underneath your beard:
- Open your favorite beard butter container and scoop out a rough fingertips worth of beard butter from it.
- Rub your fingers together so that the beard butter can heat up a bit, it should start to liquify between your hands.
- Using both hands, try to apply the beard butter evenly thorough your facial hair so that you coat as much of the hairs from root to tip as possible.
- Next brush your fingers deep into your beard from underneath and coat the skin underneath your beard lightly with the butter as well.
- If your beard feels too heavy and greasy after applying the beard butter, use a towel to swipe off the excess.
Here’s a good video tutorial about what is beard butter and how to apply it properly from The West Cork Beard Company:
How Often Should You Use Beard Butter
There is no set rules on how often you can apply beard butter.
With that being said, I would recommend using it at night time, when you want to make your beard softer and whenever you feel that your beard needs some extra deep-conditioning.
That could mean using it every night before bed, or just once or twice per week.
Does Beard Butter Help with Beard Growth
One of the most common questions we get is whether beard butter would help with beard growth.
The answer is no, not really to any noticeable degree at least.
You see, while beard care products are full of healthy oils and can help moisturize and condition the facial hair, there is nothing in them really that would stimulate the growth.
I know many manufacturers are quick to tell you that beard oils, balms, butters, etc. help with growth, but that is simply not true.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything that can stimulate facial hair growth though, as we have covered some of those things previously in this website with these articles:
- Minoxidil for Beard: Activate NEW Growth (Scientifically Proven)
- Derma Roller for Beard Growth: Do Beard Rollers Really Work or Not?
- Vellus Beard Hair: 7 Proven Ways Mature the Peach Fuzz (Works)
- Peppermint Essential Oil for Beard: Promotes New Growth (Scientifically Proven)
- Grow Your Beard Faster: 9 Proven Methods (Research-Backed)
Conclusion
Beard butter is sort of like a softer version of beard balm with no beeswax in it and with added nut and fruit butters in the formulation.
It’s ideal to use it as beard deep-conditioning product during the night, as it helps lock in moisture and keeps your beard well-nourished and cared for, all while preventing dry skin underneath the beard and reducing beardruff.
It’s not suggested to use it during the daytime, as the consistency of beard butter is so thick and greasy. For daytime use, you should stick to beard oil and beard balm instead.
