DIY Gift: Beard Balm

DIY

DIY Gift: Beard Balm

by Rachel74 Comments on DIY Gift: Beard Balm

12/1/15: I slightly updated this recipe, to add measurements by weight, ingredient and container sources, and a free label. The new post: How to Make DIY Beard Balm.

For Christmas this year I made my husband a batch of beard balm to help tame and condition his unruly facial hair. He has an aversion to the trendy naming convention of “blank & blank,” so as a joke I made a label for my fake brand of Whiskey & Woodsmoke. I guess I made a pretty convincing label, since when he opened up the package on Christmas morning he said, “Oh, I remember this from the shop we were in the other day.” I had to break it him that that couldn’t be true, since I’d made it myself.

I wanted this beard balm to smell like bourbon, so I bought a bourbon fragrance oil from an amazon seller, but I wasn’t totally happy with it. It mostly smells like vanilla, with just a hint of bourbon. Combined with the cedar and rosemary oils, though, it creates a nice woodsy, manly scent. If you don’t want to buy bourbon fragrance, you can definitely leave it out, or even experiment with adding vanilla or other scents.
Get the recipe to make this DIY beard balm

DIY Beard Balm

Beard Balm Base:
2 Tbsp beeswax, coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp shea butter
1 Tbsp cocoa butter
3 tsp jojoba oil
2 tsp sweet almond oil
Scent:
1/8 tsp bourbon oil
4-8 drops cedar essential oil
1 drop rosemary essential oil

Add the beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba oil, and sweet almond oil to a small jar or tin, and place in a saucepan. A tin can is a good choice, but you should avoid glass, since it can crack from direct heat. Add water to an inch or two below the top of the jar, and heat over a stovetop until everything melts and liquefies. Stir with a disposable popsicle stick or wooden chopstick.

Add essential oils just a few drops at a time to scent your balm, and stir to combine. When you’ve achieved the scent you want, pour your balm into a mini mason jar, and allow to cool.

To use, rub a small amount on your fingers and smooth onto your beard.

Christmas is over, but this would make a great DIY Valentine’s Day or birthday gift for the bearded man in your life.

74 thoughts on “DIY Gift: Beard Balm”

  2. Do you know how big your tin was? 8 oz? I would love to know as it would help me scale your recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!

  3. I am curious about the bourbon fragrance. Can you tell me a little more? This is the first I have heard of it.

        1. Try the Sandlewood Bourban Fragrance Oil from Bulk Apothecary it smells great and not overpowering. I make beard & mustache balms with it. Its my my best seller. Most women say “Its A Man In A Jar” LOL! My website will be open by the end of January.

  4. I love the (what I perceive to be) double meaning in the name of the scent! Great job!

  6. What size jar did you use? 4 oz? I have some leftover 8oz canning jars and I’m wondering if I’d need to double the recipe to use them. Thanks!

    1. Lisa, I was tempted to try that, but I’m not sure if it would work. You might have to experiment a bit. Let me know if you try it.

    1. What scents do you use? I want to mAke some for my husband but he hates rosemary.

  11. Made a half-batch of this for myself just as a tester (never made a balm before), replaced the sweet almond oil with coconut oil since I had one not the other. I only had cedarwood essential oil, ended up using about a 1/2tsp trying to mask the smell of the wax/cocoabutter.

    Do the ingredients you use have much smell to them? I tried the triple filtered white beeswax to limit the smell as much as I could but, may be better vendors to buy from that have products with less smell to them. The wax/cocoabutter especially.

    1. THRobinson, the cocoa butter I used didn’t have much of a scent, but my beeswax smells like honey. I think it’s nice, but if you don’t like the scents of the starting ingredients than you may not like the smell of the end product. More refined versions will definitely have less of a scent.

  12. Exactly how much does this recipe yield? Have you came across any improvements to this recipe? New scents? Thank you!

  13. It is important that your beard balm has all natural moisturizers and sealants. The best moisturizers for beard balm are jojoba and argan. The best sealants are shea and beeswax. 🙂 Always avoid fragrance oils as they are harmful. Go with 100% pure essential oils instead.

    1. Mod cabin, im having trouble with my beeswax, the honey scent over powers the essential oils.. Any reccomendations?

        1. Beeswax, shea, cocoa butter, argan, jojoba, vitamin e, and i tried a few drops of peppermint but the honey smell still overwhelms it, i also tried lemon too but same results

          1. Try Texas cedar and lime. Those essential oils are cheap and the lime can cut through beeswax pretty good. If that doesn’t work perhaps try cutting down on the beeswax and increasing the shea.

          4. I ended up going with 1tsp beeswax, 2tsp shea, 1tsp argon, 1tsp jojoba, 2 vitamin e oil pills, 2 drops of lemon, 3 drops of lime and the citrus cut the honey smell way down. I am also gonna try the refined white wax, i also heard it has a little less smell.

          5. Careful with citrus essential oils. They are photosensitive and thus can cause your skin to darken. And not in a nice way. I learned the hard way.

  14. I just made my first batch using a blend of earthy/woody oils. Now my hubby looks like a well groomed lumberjack… and smells like one too (in a good way of course). Oh, and I found that empty pipe tobacco tins make FANTASTIC containers!

    1. Danielle, awesome, so glad you (and your husband) like the recipe. And that’s good to know about the pipe tobacco tins.

  15. Hi, this is a great recipe and I’ve enjoyed making it although I’ve found it to be a little greasy compared to shop bought ones and I wondered if you had any thoughts on adding arrowroot powder to cut down on the greasy texture

    1. Hmm, instead of adding arrowroot powder I would just cut down the oils a little bit. I’d start with a teaspoon less of the jojoba or sweet almond oil. Hope that helps!

      1. Hi Sam, I did try the arrowroot powder with mixed results, some batches were fine not greasy at all but some were very lumpy, very hit and miss so I’ve been looking at kaolin clay as an alternative but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet, hope this helps

    1. 56 dollars on amazon. and it enough to make balm for at least a year. and a commerical balm cost 18-25 dollars for a 2oz can

  17. What brand of oil did you use? Also, do you think it would be ok just to put in some actual liquor or does it need to be oil? I’ve never made anything like this and would love to try!

  18. I’m wondering if fragrance oils could be used in place of the essential oils.

  21. I’ve tried this receipt except I substituted the rosemary with vanilla and both times the smell of honey was overbearing (the second time I even cut the amount of beeswax by 1/2). Could it be because of the type of beeswax I’m using? Everything I’m using is natural; beeswax, shea butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E oil, Eden Garden essential oil, etc. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

  23. Hi. I live in Vancouver WA… Just over the river from Portland Or. Is there a way I can buy some of this from you??? If so how do I get in contact with you to do so?

  24. This is awesome 🙂 The consistency is great and so is the feel in my partners beard. I added a little vitamin e oil, and used cedar, cinnamon leaf and holy basil oils instead. Thanks for getting the recipe so dialed!

  26. I look for bourbon oil but geranium oil keeps coming up with bourbon in parenthesis. Is this the same thing?

  27. I tried this, but the cocoa butter completely overpowered everything else in terms of scent. Did you use cocoa butter that was fragrance free?

  28. I would LOVE to make this! But I have a question … The scented oils … I found an Old Spice Swagger type Fragrance Oil — would that be suitable to use for this? Or will it be detrimental to his wondrous beard? (I can gladly share the link to the oil that I’d like to use)

  29. I have a Shea Butter, Cocoa butter, Mango butter blend with Beeswax and other natural oils. I left it in a cold car for an hour and the balm cracked. How can I ship these without it cracking?

  31. Love this idea. Does this have a fairly long shelf-life? (I would imagine it has due to the ingredients)

  32. Great info, I was looking for an alternative to buying the $20 for a 2 ounce tin. Being an African American and having different hair texture is a challenge. After finding your recipe and doing a bit of research I am excited to make a batch this coming week. Thanks for the good find

    1. Lindsey, I don’t see why not, unless you have some kind of allergy or sensitivity. Testing on a small spot would be a good idea to make sure.

  34. I tried this last night. After letting it set overnight, the balm is extremely hard and tough to get any out to apply. What am I doing wrong?

    1. Hmm, I’m not sure why you had this happen, but I would suggest melting it back down and adding slightly more of the oils to soften it up. Let it set, and repeat if it’s still too hard.

    2. I actually had the same problem. Can you remelt and make adjustments? What should I add more of to soften it a bit? Thanks!

  35. Hi,

    I’ve tried to make balm, but once cooled, I can barely smell the essential oils. I melt the wax and oils on very low heat in a double boiler, then once melted, I add a high amount of essential oils. Once cooled, the scent is hardly there. Any help is greatly appreciated!

  36. Hi,

    I tried making beard balm, but when it cooled over night, I could barely smell the essential oils. I tried to double the amount of essential oils in the balm, but the next day I could barely smell anything. Is this because the essential oils are burning off?? I keep the double boiler on minimal heat.

    Thanks!

  38. This is amazing! I have a weird request, do you have the file you used to print off the labels for this balm? If so, I would love to use it for mine that I make for my boyfriend! Please and thank you!

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