So you’ve invested months into growing a beard and now you want to protect the fruits of your patience. You’ve decided to start using beard oil in your beard, but you’re torn between making your own beard oil from one of many beard oil recipes that can be found online, or just purchasing it outright from one of many online vendors.
In this article I will cover the pros and cons of making your own beard oil versus buying them pre-made. I’ll be looking at it from a financial, as well as a practical perspective.
Making Your Own Beard Oil
Crafting your own beard oil is appealing for many obvious reasons. It allows you to create something unique, and tailored to your specific tastes and therapeutic needs. But is this the best way forward for your beard, and your wallet? Let’s examine some of the pros and cons of making your own beard oil.
Pros
Variations are Limitless
When you make your own beard oil, you are not restricted by any brand’s formulation of carrier and essential oils. You can combine whatever ingredients your imagination can conjure to make a one of kind beard oil that will smell and feel like nothing else on Earth.
Sense of Satisfaction
What kind of man doesn’t get satisfaction out of making himself what most other people don’t know how to do? Once you’ve completed your first beard oil, you’ll be so proud of it (and yourself) that it might not even matter how it smells.
Cons
You Might Not Know What You’re Doing
Unless you’re experienced in aromatherapy and the use of essential oils, you might not realize what kind of scents will mesh well together, and which ones will smell awful together. It’s great to be able to say that you made your own beard oil, but no one will be impressed with how soft your beard is if you smell like a walking stink-bomb.
Luckily for you, there are many simple recipes that you can follow which will probably prevent you from going completely off the cliff with your beard oil. But still, if you’re not sure how some of the ingredients in the recipe smell like, it’ll be difficult to gauge whether or not you’ll enjoy the final product.
High Cost
Undoubtedly, the biggest draw back to making your own beard oil is how much more it will cost you compared to buying them already made.
If it’s your first time making a beard oil, you’re going to need to pick up some dropper bottles for storage, funnels to get the oil into your bottle, and at least 1 bottle of every ingredient you want to use.
The cost builds up fast for a few different reasons:
- Shipping cost
If you source your equipment and you ingredients from different places, you’ll end up paying an arm and a leg in shipping costs. The best way to counteract this is to order everything from the same place. For this, Amazon.com is going to be your best friend. - You Need to Buy More Than You Need
For an average sized bottle of beard oil, you will only need a few drops of each of the essential oil you plan to include in your concoction. But for every ingredient you want in your final product, you have to buy an entire bottle of the stuff. This means that you’ll end up paying for a lot more oils than you’ll actually be using.
This might not bother you if you plan to make several batches of your beard oil, but that leads us into our last con…
It’s Expensive to Change it Up
Once you’ve selected a recipe, and you’ve purchased a bottle of each of the essential oils your recipe calls for, you’re stuck with that formulation. If you realize that you don’t really like the smell, and want to use different essential oils, you’ll have to purchase a whole new set. Depending on how particular you are about the smell of your bread, this could start to get expensive fast.
Similarly, once you’ve finished your first bottle, if you want to change it up and trying a different scent, again you’ll have to purchase all new ingredients.
If you’re going to go this route, you’re going to want to keep costs as low as possible. I’ve comb through Amazon.com to find all the higest-rated, lowest-priced items that you’ll need to start making your very own beard oils.
My Amazon.com beard oil starter kit:
Buying Pre-Made Beard Oil
Buying beard oil that has already by made an packaged for you is without a doubt the simpler option. And as it turns out, it is also the most cost effective option. Let’s examine the pros and cons.
Pros
Low Cost
If you compare the cost of a pre-made beard oil to the cost of making your own, there’s no question that you’ll save money by buying the pre-made one. If you choose to make your own beard oil, you’ll have to invest in a lot of product that you won’t ever need. When you buy pre-made beard oils, you only pay for what you’ll use.
Purchasing beard oils online will generally cost you anywhere between $10 and $40 + shipping depending on the desired brand and bottle size.
If you’re new to beard oils and just want to test the waters, before you invest in a large inventory, I recommend going with a small bottle that won’t set you back by too much.
Try Beard Oil Before You Make It If you’re looking up beard oil recipes, you’re probably looking at spending over $50 in ingredients (at least). If you haven’t tried beard oil before, a much lower cost option than making your own is buying from one of the many beard oil makers out there. Leven Rose’s Spiced Sandalwood Beard Oil
What Does It Smell Like?
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Tested Formulations
The good thing about going with pre-made beard oil, is that you know that they were made by people who know what they are doing. Following a beard oil recipe is one thing, but a company that specializes in making and selling beard oils is in a different league altogether. Let’s just say that the quality of the beard oil will probably be better if you purchase them pre-made.
Cons
Less Customization
Let’s say you’re looking for a beard oil with a very specific combination of essential oils, you might not be able to find it among the existing blends out there. Typically, the blends that make it to market are the ones that are most popular among beard oil users, but if your tastes tend to stray from the pack a little bit, you might be out of luck with pre-made beard oils.
Summary
Hopefully this sheds some light on the difference between making your own beard oil and buying them already made. If you’ve decided to take the plunge and make your own, make sure you check out all the great recipes on this site.