Beard conditioning questions.

[mongo523]

Greetings all,

Second post here.... after my newbie intro thread. I've lurked here as a guest for a little while, and couldn't find the answer to my question, so.....

Has anyone used shea butter as a beard conditioner? I am leary of/sensitive to many fragrances. I don't want to smell girly or medicinal. I have read many of the reviews for beard balm products when I searched Amazon.com Many of the reviews mentioned off-putting fragrances, yet had others raving of the awesome fragrance in the same reviews. I never know what to believe.

I currently have the longest effort of growing facial hair ever.... Now, I am NOT particularly gifted in the facial hair growing world, but I can manage a stash merging with chin. Pretty weak on the sides, and don't care for the whole "neck beard" scene. I shave the sides/cheeks/neck with a safety razor, badger brush and a puck soap from AOS.

I recently tried my hand at making some homemade beard oil. I am using jojoba oil as the base, and also got a small jar of Tea Tree essential oil... which I am still undecided if I like. Not quite sure what other essential oils I would choose next, but did find a crunchy hippy granola store near me that has open testers... so I will test sniff others to see what else I may like. Didn't find a pipe tobacco essential oil.... damn shame there! Guess I'll have to "season" the beard the natural way.

So.... I haven't been too pleased with what I've used so far to soften and condition my beard. That being the homemade oil, and a fancy schmancy salon type hair conditioner that my wife has in the shower. Shea butter smells ok enough for me, (found one without coconut, lime, mango, etc.) and I am wondering if this is acceptable to use and if anyone else has been experimental enough to try it.

Thanks in advance for your answers,

Mongo

 

[Shave_Rat]

Good to see you getting around and checking out all the aspects B&B has to offer.

I haven't tried any of the balms yet, I stick to beard oil, but I also keep it very short trimmed, so lightly applied oil makes more sense to me. As far as scent goes, that will always always be subjective. About the best you can do is look for unscented and add a drop of your own liking of essential oil to scent it up, or go with ones that have things you already know you like... sandalwood, bay rum, etc..

There are a few gents that have been experimenting with making their own balms much like you did the oil. I am lacking the research and knowledge in chemistry and hair over all to give much suggestions on if/what shea butter will do, but I know it's highly popular in many skin conditioner products and other hair care products, so it would stand to reason it wouldn't do any damage to the skin or hair. lol