Choosing the right product to groom your beard is daunting, and we understand how difficult that can be. To help you make the right decision, we have made a detailed comparison that quickly exposes each product’s pros and cons in this article.
If you’re still unsure which to choose, we have provided information on combining both for maximum results. Let’s quickly run through them.
| Key Factors | Beard Butter | Beard Balm |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Beard butter is a creamy-textured grooming product. That Urban Edge Beard Butter is a good example | Beard balm is a waxy-textured grooming product. |
| Ingredients | Mango and Shea butter and natural oils such as Argan and Jojoba. | Beeswax is the primary ingredient in beard balms. |
| Consistency | Beard butter has a creamy consistency that resembles whipped butter or lotion. It is light and soft and glides through the beards easily. | Beard balm is thicker and more solid in consistency, looking like a paste or wax. It can feel heavy due to its grip on beards. |
| Primary Purpose | Beard butter moisturizes the beard and the skin underneath, providing deep conditioning benefits. | Beard balm offers styling and control benefits. It is mostly used for reshaping and taming flyaways. |
| Hold | Beard butter provides a light hold that is enough to just | Beard balm offers medium to firm hold |
| keep your beards clean and organized. | depending on the brand and how much is applied. | |
| Finish | Beard butter gives a more natural look with a soft, moisturized finish. | Beard balm gives off a structured and shiny finish. |
| Beard Length Suitability | Beard butter is great for anyone with a short to long beard. | Beard balm is only suitable for medium to long beards |
| Beard health | Beard butter offers more hydration and moisturization to beards, preventing dandruff, breakage, split ends, and dryness. | Beard balms offer long-lived styling and holding benefits. |
| Skin Nourishment | The soft, creamy texture and ingredients make it easier to nourish the skin and prevent patchy and itchy skin. | Challenging for beard balm to reach the skin underneath the beard. |
| Beard Growth | Beard butter effectively reaches the beard roots and penetrates the skin, creating a healthy environment for beard growth. | Beard balms mostly sit on the hair, focusing on styling and holding without moisturizing the hair follicles, roots, or skin underneath. |
| Cost | You’ll need to apply more often, so you’ll have to replace your beard butter more often. | You don’t need to apply more often, so replacing takes longer. |
Beard butter is a beard grooming product with a butter-like consistency. It offers a gentle hold due to the absence of beeswax and other firming ingredients. Its main ingredient is butter (like Mango and Shea butter), but it can also contain natural oils (like Argan and Jojoba oil).
Beard butter is an excellent choice if you want to deep condition, soften, and promote the healthy growth of your beards. If you have a short to long beard and are looking for a light styling product, beard butter is the perfect option.
Thanks to its moisturizing and hydrating properties, beard butter treats dry and coarse beards. It also soothes dry, itchy skin, making it the perfect grooming product for people with dry skin and preventing dandruff. That Urban Edge Beard Butter is an impressive beard butter we recommend to anyone who wants to see results.
Beard balm has a thick consistency and firm ingredients, making it a great choice for people who want more control over their beards’ appearance.
Beeswax is the major ingredient in beard balms, but you can still find Shea butter and Jojoba oil in the mixture.
Thanks to its styling power, beard balm makes styling easier and firmer while giving volume to your facial hair. Beard balms are also great for moisturizing beards and fighting dandruff and itchiness.
But because beard balms resemble paste or solid wax, they can act like glue if over-applied and quickly dry out your beard and skin.
Beard balm is great for medium—to long beards, anyone who wants to tame flyaways and add more volume, texture, and structure to their beard, or anyone who likes having a longer-lasting hold.
David Mallett beard balm is a recommendable beard balm option.
Beard butter and balm are great beard grooming products, but comparing your beard needs against what these products offer will reveal which is best for you.
Beard butter has a creamy consistency that resembles whipped butter or lotion. It is light and soft and glides through the beards easily. Thanks to its lightness and softness, it doesn’t feel heavy on the beard nor dry out the skin.
On the other hand, beard balm is thicker and more solid in consistency. Because it looks and feels like a paste or wax, it can feel heavy due to its grip on beards. Applying more than necessary can make the beards stiff and dry out the skin underneath.
Beard butter is focused on moisturizing both the beard and the skin underneath. It also provides deep conditioning benefits, leaving the beard soft. It is also used to fight dryness and dandruff.
On the other hand, beard balm is geared towards offering styling and control benefits. It is mostly used for styling and taming flyaways, which gives the beard a defined shape.
It is also used to add volume and structure to the beard.
Beard butter provides a light hold to keep your beards looking clean and organized. Because it lacks firming ingredients like Beeswax, the hold of beard butter is short-lived, usually for 4 – 6 hours.
However, it can still retain its conditioning effects throughout the day, and you might need to reapply it for its holding effects.
Meanwhile, beard balm offers medium to firm hold depending on the brand and how much is applied. In general, a beard balm hold can last throughout the day, making it the perfect choice for styling, controlling, and shaping thicker and unruly beards.
Winner: Beard balm
Beard butter gives a more natural look with a soft, moisturized finish. It doesn’t do too much, like adding structure and texture to the beard. Instead, beard butter focuses on keeping the beard healthy and clean while promoting growth.
But if you like a structured and controlled finish, Beard balm is the perfect choice. It leaves the beard looking well-groomed and styled while leaving a bit of a shine (depending on the product you use).
Winner: Tie
Beard butter is great for anyone with a short to long beard. This is mainly because beard butter’s forte is not offering strong and extended hold but providing deep conditioning, moisture, hydration, and stimulating healthy beard growth
On the other hand, beard balm is only suitable for medium to long beards, which usually require styling and control.
Although beard balm provides some conditioning benefits, it does not focus as intensely on conditioning and hydration as beard butter
Winner: Beard butter
Beard butter offers more hydration and moisturization to beards, which in turn prevents dandruff, breakage, split ends, and dryness. Its deep-conditioning properties fight against patchiness and thinness
Although beard balms offer moisturization and conditioning benefits, they excel in styling and holding the beard. While they also protect the beard from wind and humidity, they do not penetrate deeply into the hair.
Winner: Beard butter
Because beard butter has a light creamy consistency, it can easily reach the skin underneath. The soft, creamy texture and ingredients make it easier to nourish the skin and prevent patchy and itchy skin.
Beard balms can barely penetrate the skin underneath the beard. Even if they do, they still can’t provide enough nourishment to the skin since they contain waxes that form a layer over the skin rather than soaking it.
Winner: Beard butter
Since beard butter reaches the beard roots and penetrates the skin effectively, it creates a healthy environment for beard growth by properly moisturizing the hair follicles and skin. This leads to reduced shedding and stronger beard growth
Meanwhile, beard balms mostly sit on the hair, focusing on styling and holding without paying too much attention to moisturizing the hair follicles, roots, or skin underneath. In other words, they do not focus on creating a healthy beard growth environment like beard butter.
Winner: Beard butter
Depending on the brand, beard butter and balm can cost between $10 and $25 for a 2-4 oz container. The actual difference in cost lies in how often you’d need to replace them.
You’ll need to reapply the beard butter more than once daily to maintain your hold or styling. Plus, beard butter is light in consistency, so you must generously use the product to get your desired styling or hold.
That leads to quicker depletion and a need to get new ones.
Speaking of beard balm, because it has a thicker consistency, firmer ingredients, and styling power, you don’t need to apply it as often as you would a beard butter. Little application keeps your beard in shape until the next day.
Winner: Beard balm
You must pay attention to these factors to choose the right product for your beard:
If you have a short beard up to 1 inch max, beard butter is a suitable option. Short beards are less unruly and require minimal styling and flyaway control.
But if you have a medium to long beard, about 1 inch and above, your best option would be a beard balm. Beard balms give more hold and styling control over longer beards, keeping thicker and longer beards clean and organized throughout the day.
Beard butter is ideal for rough, coarse, dry, or brittle beards. Thanks to its moisturizing ingredients, it hydrates and deep-conditions beards, making them appear soft and manageable.
On the other hand, if you have a thick and unruly beard and a lot of flyaways to deal with, then you should get a beard balm. Beeswax, the primary ingredient in beard balm, gives your beard structure and control over stray hairs.
Beard butter is most beneficial for dry, itchy skin because of its moisturizing properties. Its soft consistency allows it to penetrate deeply into the skin underneath the beard, preventing itchiness and dandruff.
If you have moist skin, beard balm is a great option. It mostly focuses on the beard but still offers little conditioning to the skin underneath. So, if your skin is not itchy and doesn’t need intense hydration, beard balm is a worthy option.
If you’re looking for a soft, natural look, beard butter is your best option. It leaves the beard naturally softened without adding too much stiffness or shine.
But beard balm is the perfect pick if you love having a shiny and sleek beard. It offers a more structured and controlled look, making it great for a professional outing or formal occasion.
You can get beard butter if you need a grooming product to apply regularly. Beard butter is perfect for daily use to keep your beard soft and hydrated.
But if daily application is strenuous, beard balm is the ideal choice. It is great for occasional styling, and thanks to its ingredients, it can maintain its styling and holding power for a long time.
Combining beard butter and balm offers deeper hydration, improved styling, and balanced beard care. But before doing that, remember that this combination works best for medium to long beards. And again, use a minimal amount of each so your beard doesn’t feel too greasy or heavy.
Here’s a step-by-step approach to how you can use beard butter and balm together:
Start by washing your beard with shampoo to remove dirt, oil, or any previous product buildup. Pat your beard dry with a towel, leaving it slightly damp.
Scoop a small quantity of beard butter and rub it between your palms to melt it and bring it to a creamy, soft consistency. Now massage it into your beards, starting from the roots and working your way up to the tip. Remember to massage the skin underneath your beard, too, to keep it hydrated.
After massaging the beard butter into your beard, use a beard comb like That Urban Edge Beard Comb to detangle your beard and distribute the butter evenly across all areas underneath your chin. After combing, wait a few minutes to allow the beard butter to absorb into your skin and hair.
Scoop a small amount of beard balm and rub between your palms to soften the wax. Apply the balm on your beard, focusing on the outer hair while targeting flyaways and areas that need control. You can use your fingers or a comb to shape your beards as desired.
In the debate of beard butter vs. balm, the right choice depends on your beard’s needs and personal grooming goals. Beard butter is ideal for deep hydration and softness, while beard balm excels at providing a stronghold and styling control. For many, combining both can offer the best of each product.
