Beard oil: no more scruffy beards, Darling!

Had a very good question at an event recently and my answer was simple... "So which one is better, a beard oil, or a beard balm?" Inquiring eyes searched my face for an answer.

"Yes!" I answered. "Let me explain why!"

Both are great for beards, and each person decides for himself which, or both, are best.

The ingredients in beard balms and oils perform differently, and it's up to the individual to find their preference. I can tell you my preference for my husband's beard, but ultimately he decides what he wears, which is both! Beard balms and oils contain ingredients designed to be nourishing to beard and facial skin. Beeswax can help as a styling aid and a humectant, and it is found in balms. Argan oil and MCT are good for the beard hair as well, and may be found in either, but MCT is primarily found in beard oils. My husband uses both; he uses the oil during the week, and the balm on the weekend. He also uses the beard balm on his head when he shaves it, and on his ear lobes because they get dry and scaly without it (This is why my tag line in my bath and body business is "No more Lizard Skin, Darling!"). He came up with this system, and it works for him.

The beard oil formula below is a simple one, and a jumping off point into deeper waters. We carry the basic ingredients here on Bath Divas! Boutique oils such as meadowfoam seed oil, boabab oil, rosehip seed oil, passion friut oil, and the myriad of other luxurious natural oils out there are waiting for your exploration!

If you want to join us in our Bath Divas group on Facebook, we'd love to hear your progress and your experience while formulating "your" perfect formula!

If you're as fascinated by natural oils as I am, I highly recommend the book The Power of the Seed by Susan Parker. You can get it here (affiliate link) on Amazon.

Why a Balm for Tattoos?

In the cosmetic industry, we're very careful about making claims when we make and market a product (or we should be). I know I am. This blog post is not about any claim for any kind of results you'll get from a tattoo balm, except that it's generally accepted that there's an after-tattoo process, and recommendations are made by tattoo artists for the new ink and for after care.

I started making tattoo balm for my daughters when they were getting their tattoos. This one does not have any water added, so I could avoid preservatives of chemicals that might be harmful to healing skin. This one is made to have a very low melting point so it's easy to smooth onto new ink, as well. One of the benefits of using a balm after the ink is healed is that it helps present a clear pane for viewing the tattoo ink. If you have ashy skin, you can't see the work you've had done very well. Makes sense, right? This Tattoo balm is vegan. I made it this way because I have a broad range of customers, and I wanted to have broad appeal. I also noticed that the beeswax had some drag that I didn't like. Removing the beeswax, and subbing 1/2 of the weight of the beeswax with candelilla gave me the consistency and smoothness I wanted. It also feels nice as a balm for any rough patches, including cuticles! Just a very nice feeling combo. And as you can see in the photo, this can be packaged any way that you like. One of my white label/wholesale customers asked about a smaller size in a lip balm tube, and I thought, "Wow, that's a genius idea!" They give one away with every tattoo. I do not use any essential oils or fragrances in the tattoo balm, either. Both of those add too many chemicals, in my opinion, and any potential therapeutic benefits of essential oils are not good enough to risk allergy or reactions on fresh ink. So this is a naked balm. It's funny, and we joke about it at the shop, but the question of "what about a salve for this? or that? is usually answered by this one. It's just as luxurious as it is simple.

Make sure you scrupulously follow GMP (Good manufacturing Practices) when making this balm. Sterilize everything, and wear a hair net and gloves. Use the double boiler method (best), or a microwave carefully if you would like. Candelilla wax has a higher melting point than Beeswax, so plan accordingly and make sure the other oils don't get too hot in the process.

Here's the formula for my vegan tattoo balm:

Enjoy! Take a look at https://www.bathdivas.com for the ingredients in the formula, and make sure you subscribe to the website for special sales and news! Happy creating! And THANK YOU for stopping by!

Beard Balms for the win!

This handsome white-bearded guy is my husband, Don. He is the inspiration behind everything I do at my soap company. We jokingly call him "The Original Lizard" behind Green Iguana Bath. When he was having a hard time with "beardruff" he stated, with frustration, "I'm just going to have to stop wearing black shirts!" Oh, no, darling, we'll have none of that. Let me help you. My passion is taking care of people, so I accepted that gauntlet and got to work. I formulated a beard balm for him, with skin-loving butters and oils, and manly fragrances. For my 1.0, I reasoned that using refined beeswax might take away some of the benefits, and that led to a little bit of yellowing around the edges. OOPS. So I switched to refined beeswax. This formula calls for unrefined cocoa butter and shea butter, but if you prefer you can use the deodorized. We carry both at http://www.bathdivas.com. It's a work-around to use the unrefined because of the scent, but I find I like the unrefined. You might decide differently, but you will end up with the same result. the consistency of the refined vs. unrefined is the same. The goal of a beard balm is to condition and soothe the skin under the beard, and the hard oils and beeswax can help with styling and texture. Beeswax is a humectant, and helps to soften the hair as it gives styling benefits as well. If they're going to wear one, they should groom it, right, ladies? A softened groomed beard is much easier to snuggle. It is always recommended that you use Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) when you make your products, and it makes good sense to do this if you're making for personal use, too. You can use a double boiling method, which is more controlled, temperature-wise, or the microwave, if you're careful and don't heat the materials too much. Caution is the key.

Each ingredient has it's own melting point, so if your balm sits at around 91-92F for a bit you might notice some granulation. This is frustrating for people who vend at outside events, so you'll want to figure out some way to keep them cool while on display. If your personal use balm granulates, an easy way to return it to it's smooth consistency is to place the open tin on a sheet pan, and heat in a 170F oven until melted. Allow to cool on the counter and the balm should be smooth again.

For packaging, I use 2 oz. tins that you can find at various suppliers, and fill them to 28g, or 1 oz by weight. We use weight in measuring cosmetic ingredients because it's the most accurate. I use grams because the gram is a very small unit, and I can be very precise.

No further ado, here's the formula:

Alternatively, you could substitute Avocado oil for the sweet almond, and that would give it a different feel. Do experiment and find your "sweet spot." You could also use Argan oil, which is specifically good for hair, meadowfoam oil, or a variety of other boutique or exotic butters and oils. Kokum is especially nice, as is mango. I love Sal (Shorea) butter for lotion bars, and that might be a good one to experiment with as well. Procedure is relatively simple. Melt the beeswax, hard butters and liquid butters, then remove from heat. Stir in Tocopherol T-50 and your fragrance, if desired. "Buck Nekkid" (unscented) is always an option. Need a Vegan beard balm? An easy fix is to substitute Candelilla wax at half the weight/percentage of the beeswax. Candelilla is more brittle than beeswax. You'll also have to consider the melting points, and adjust your procedure accordingly. Beeswax melts at 62 to 64 °C, and candelilla is a little higher at 65°C−68.8°C. Here's a formula for a vegan beard balm which has been well-received by my vegan customers. Note the addition of Pumpkin Seed Oil, which I added because I thought it need a little "more" since I dropped out the beeswax.

And there you have it. Two beard balm formulas, which were tested on my husband first, then trialed to bearded friends, and then they were well-received in my bath and body business.

I'll tackle Tattoo balms in my next post. All of the ingredients are available here on http://www.bathdivas.com Happy creating!