Hello everyone. I figured I'd put up some reviews of the products I use to maintain my beard. I started letting it grow out on 5/24/13. At that time, I wasn't doing anything for it product wise and hadn't ever before that (back then I'd had a trimmed [3/4"] full beard for like 3 years and goatee before that ever since I could grow it). When I started letting it grow I Googled 'how to grow a long beard' and came up with a bunch of YouTube videos and forums like this one, AND this one coaching you on how to grow and maintain it. The following is a result of that research.

First let me start by saying that besides trial and error, this site was largely responsible for much of the information I found helpful. The other source that I'd found most helpful were YouTube videos by BeardBrand (who I only recently found out was a member of this site!). There were other videos and forums that were helpful as well, but the above mentioned stood out by far.

Now to the actual products. One of the first things I learned was you had to oil your beard. Here's, what I used.

Beard Oils:

African Royale Hot Six Oil
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This is the first oil I tried. I already, well, my wife already had it, so that meant not buying anything. It's a pretty good oil; absorbs well, smells nice, and I liked how it made my beard look. It is mainly olive oil, with almond, castor, canola, safflower, coconut and some other oils and herbs. In the beginning (first 3-4 months), I was oiling like 3-4 times a week, basically everytime I washed it, I oiled it. It's main drawback is that it's a little heavy on my face. When I put it on, I KNOW I'm wearing it and I don't like that. In addition to that, when I tried to use it daily I noticed a little bit of break out on my face. You can usually find it at Walgreens for around $6.00.

Coconut/Olive Oil (sorry, no pic)

Coconut oil is supposed to be great for hair, but I didn't like it at all. I felt it was extremely greasy and made my beard shine wayyyy too much. I tried various amounts all the way down to just dipping my finger tip in it and it didn't matter, grease city.

Olive oil is a little better grease wise, but still a little much for me. Plus, olive oil is really better for skin than hair anyway.

Bottom line, for me, neither of these oils made it as a goto oil. Mainly because they're both too greasy. But they are good if you don't have anything else (most people already have one of these in their kitchens) to use. Not sure of cost on these cause we've had them for awhile.

Homemade Oil

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Well, after using the above oils, I realized I would need to use something else. So after researching and pricing out some of the beard oils out there I decided to just make my own. At roughly $30 per ounce beard oil can get expensive. I spent about $35 for ingredients to make about 12 ounces of oil. That's roughly 12 bottles of premium oil for the price of 1.

Many have said beard oil is the most important part of beard care, and I now realize how true that is. The reason I reviewed my own homemade oil is because it is mainly Sweet Almond and Jojoba oil; the same two main ingredients in many other beard oils. So for anyone reading these reviews for advice, I would strongly advise ANY oil using mainly a combination of Jojoba/Sweet Almond or Jojoba/Grapeseed oils, or just Jojoba oil straight. Jojoba oil is a little thick by itself for me, but it can't be denied that it's a great choice for beards.

I now oil my beard daily, and have been for a few months. I have had no rashes, greasy build up, heaviness or any of the other nuances of using the  Hot 6, Coconut or Olive oils. This oil is AWESOME. It absorbs extremely fast and leaves my beard hair thick, healthy, and with a light shine. Usually I have to wash off my hands after oiling but not with this stuff; that's how fast it absorbs. Both me and my beard love it!

Ingredients: carrier oils (Jojoba , Sweet Almond, Argan, and Olive) with Vitamin E oil and essential oils (cedarwood, patchouli, pine, clove) for fragrance.

Note: once I find the proper forum, I'll post the whole recipe.  

Soaps;

Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap
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This stuff works pretty good. It lathers up really thick when I add a little water and really gets into my beard. This soap is also supposed to be used to help get rid of minor skin conditions etc. so I like to use it to help keep my face from getting irritated. I have been using it for about 2 months now and will continue to do so. This bar cost +/- $5.00 (can't remember exactly)

Honest Amish Beard & Body Soap (Original)
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This is a really good soap. Great lather, and good cleaning. I like this stuff because it leaves the skin on my face feeling soft and moisturized while still giving my beard that squeaky clean feeling. This is my main beard soap, although I use the pine tar soap every 3rd or 4th time. I use it once a week, every other day of the week I just wash out my beard with water. It has all natural ingredients; clays, oils, herbs and butters. It smells like their original beard wax. The price is around $10 after you pay for shipping.


Waxes:

Honest Amish Original Beard Wax
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This stuff is great. It has a nice smell, decent hold and lasts the whole day. It's made of all organic oils and beeswax; and cost about $18 including shipping.

This was the first beard product I ever bought. I started using it in October to help tame my flyaways, and was so impressed; I bought their beard soap a month later. Now, I haven't tried any handlebars or anything like that, but it makes my beard look very neat when I need it to, and it keeps my mustache out of my mouth. It can be greasy if over applied though, so keep that in mind if you have any kind of wax and don't like it. A little truly does go a long way. I use about a pea size on my beard now (profile pic only 2 wks old), with most of it going to the stache. When I first got this stuff, my beard/stache were much shorter, and I was using the same amount I am now, it was grease city. So I had to back way off and us about half of a pea size. Bottom line, if you're looking for something to tame flyaways and a little shaping, this stuff is for you. And a 2 oz. tin will last quite a while in that capacity. It also feels like if I used more, I'd be able to achieve stronger holds. I may even test that out and update later.


Miscellaneous Items:

Baby Comb
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This is a cool little thing I stumbled on. The teeth are so soft it doesn't break tangled hair, it just stops moving. So the result is a very gentle but thorough combing. We have about 10 of these things lying around from our girls and I've tested all of them. Some are a little stiffer than others, but overall, all are extremely gentle on the hair. As you can see, it is also very small, and fits right in the pocket. So for all you dads out there (or guys who know someone with kids), try raiding your son's/daughter's hair care drawer, you should be pleased with the results.


Parry Bottle

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This is another cool gadget to have in your beard care arsonal. Most of the time I like to take my showers at night, before bed. In the morning, I rinse my beard in the sink. As it got longer, it became harder and harder to wash it there. It almost got to the point where I started taking showers in the morning, but before I had to do anything drastic like that, the parry bottle entered my life. This thing sprays water out of the tip in the top. It makes rinsing, and even washing my beard out in the sink a piece of cake because you can direct the water flow anywhere on your face. So anyone out there washing in the sink, get one of these, it's a life saver.


Well, that's it for now. I'll update as I try new stuff.