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Beard Oil vs Beard Balm vs Beard Wax: What’s The Difference?

Beard oil, balm, and wax: What’s the difference between these three popular grooming products? And perhaps more importantly, which should you choose based on your beards’ needs?

Men’s grooming has exploded as an industry in (relatively) recent times. Nowadays, there are more products being created and marketed strictly towards men than ever before. And all of this has caused many amazing and innovative solutions to common problems when it comes to men with beards and other types of facial hair.

Beards themselves are becoming increasingly more popular and accepted in a variety of environments, both personal and professional, which is great news for us! So today we’ll be talking about a variety of amazing beard grooming products and their differences!

Beard Oil

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We often refer to beard oil as the “gateway product” to beard grooming. It is the most widely available, popular, and common of the three options (oil, balm, and wax). Due to these qualities, most men try beard oil first to test the waters and develop expectations of beard products in general.

Beard Oil can be simply defined as a grouping of essential and carrier oils meant to mimic the natural oil created by your skin. In this way, beard oil is meant to nurture and hydrate your beard AND the skin underneath to help make your beard more comfortable.

Beard Oil, because it is so lightweight and less-viscous than balms and waxes, is only meant to control your beard and skin health and moisture, and is not supposed to style your beard in the same way that other beard products can (like balms and waxes). Style becomes the main differentiator between these beard products!

You can grab your own bottle of the best premium beard oil on the market by clicking here!

How To Apply Beard Oil?

Here’s how we at Volt recommend you apply our premium beard oil!

  1. Place one to three drops of beard oil onto your palm. (larger beards require more)
  2. Rub Your palms together and begin massaging into your beard.
  3. Be sure to reach the skin beneath your beard for maximum comfort and reduced irritation!

Who Should Use Beard Oil?

Beard Oil can be used by any bearded gentleman! It’ll help soften and moisturize your beard, and reduce redness, itchiness, or irritation at the same time. But, what if you wanted a product that can help you control your unruly beard hair? Or shape your beard the way you want it? You’ll want a product with a bit more thickness. Which brings us to…

Beard Balm

Volt Open Balm (cropped)

Beard Balm is what we here at Volt call the “Do-It-All” beard product. This is because beard balm effectively combines the moisturizing and health properties of oils with the styling and holding strength of beard/mustache wax.

Beard balm takes many of the same essential ingredients as beard oils have, but instead, uses various butters (like shea butter and mango butter) as the carrying agent due to their high viscosity. This makes beard balm longer-lasting as well due to the lower absorption rate. Often, beard balm is called a “leave-in conditioner.”

This high viscosity also makes beard balm perfect for styling and controlling pesky beard hair! Beard balm will provide a medium hold that is between oil (weak) and wax (Strong). It is this combination of moisturizing and styling properties that gives beard balm the designation of the “do-it-all” beard product!

How to Apply Beard Balm?

Here’s how we recommend you apply our premium beard balm!

  1. Scrape out the desired amount of VOLT Balm with your finger
  2. Rub the product between your palms to dissolve it evenly.
  3. Massage the product into your beard with your hands.
  4. (Optional) Comb or brush until the desired style is achieved!

Who Should Use Beard Balm?

Just like with beard oil, any bearded gentleman can use beard balm. In fact, even non-bearded people can use beard balm considering its use as a hair-styling and scalp-nourishing product. If you have hair that you want to nourish and control, you can use beard balm.

Click here to grab your own premium Volt Beard Balm!

Now, let’s say you don’t care as much about the moisturizing effect of beard balm, perhaps you already have your beard oil for that, and you are looking for a no-nonsense styling product that will definitely hold your pesky hair in place and provide you with limitless styling options. Well, now we are talking about beard wax!

Beard/Mustache Wax

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Beard Wax (also called mustache wax) is a focused styling product. It is a thick, wax-like substance meant to help you hold your beard and/or mustache in place, out of your mouth, and in whatever preferred style you like. The strength of the hold you prefer will vary depending on the amount of wax you apply. But, wax is usually the most viscous and the strongest of the three products we are talking about today.

Unlike balm or oil, beard/mustache wax is more for styling than nourishing your beard. Use wax when you want to define a beard shape, control pesky hairs, or give your beard some texture. Often, wax is used in tandem with a moisturizing product like beard oil, this way you can have full control over the amount of styling you want for your beard.

How To Apply Beard/Mustache Wax?

Here’s how we recommend that you apply our premium beard/mustache wax!

  1. Using the included wooden scraper, scrape out the desired portion of wax (usually pea-sized)
  2. Roll and squeeze in your hands until soft and flexible.
  3. While the wax is warm, apply it evenly to your beard and mustache and begin to style your facial hair into the desired shape!

Who Should Use Beard/Mustache Wax?

Consider using beard/mustache wax if you are already dedicated to beard oil, yet want to grow your beard out or control your beard shape. Often, if you are opposed to beard balm, the combination of beard oil and beard wax is perfect for you because you can control the amount of hydration and styling separately.

Click here to grab your own premium Volt Beard/Mustache Wax!

Takeaway

Ultimately, the difference between these three products is their placement on the sliding scale of Moisturizing to Styling.

Beard Oil provides virtually no styling properties but moisturizes and nourishes your beard and skin. Beard Balm bridges the gap between beard oil (moisturizing) and beard wax (styling) and combines both into a single, easy-to-use, product. Beard Wax provides great styling properties and a strong hold, but doesn’t moisturize in the same way as balm and oil does.

Now that you know the differences, you can choose the perfect product (or combination of products) for you!

You Might Also Enjoy:

Beard Balm: The “Do-It-All” Beard Product

How To Make A Thin Or Patchy Beard Look Fuller

How To Dye Your Beard and get It Right

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