As am waiting for IrishDan's awesome balms to get here, I decided I would try my hand at creating my own beard balm. For a first attempt, it came out fairly well. Here's the recipe I used, this made right at 1oz/30ml:
  • 2 tsp Beeswax
  • 1 tsp Shea Butter
  • 1 tsp Almond Oil
  • 1 tsp Coconut Oil
  • 6 drops peppermint
  • 6 drops basil


Here's a shot of the balm hardening



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I let it sit and harden overnight. Here's what the final product looks like:



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The peppermint/basil/coconut combo has a different smell. It reminds me of fresh cut grass. Not what I expected, but it isn't that bad. Also, I've never purchased any type of beard balm before so I have no frame of reference, but I believe I've made more of a wax rather than a balm. I have to use a finger nail to get the balm out, I can't just rub my fingertips around. That being said, it really holds my beard well compared to my Maestro's Beard Butter. It'll be interesting when I get Dan's balms in to compare the consistency of his. 

This has been fun, I've enjoyed crafting my own balm's and wax's as well as beard oil!

 

In 1567, Hans Steininger, the burgomaster of Braunau (then Bavaria, now Austria), died when he broke his neck by tripping over his own beard. The beard, which was 4.5 feet (1.4 m) long at the time, was usually kept rolled up in a leather pouch. --source (Beard Responsibly, my friends)