Best Beard Oil 2024: 15 Serums for Softer, Smoother Scruff

Growing a beard was only the beginning: Now you’ve gotta give it some love, and the best beard beard oils will keep that sculpted scruff feeling great. Not just for you, either, because the right beard oil leaves your skin glowing and your follicles from annoying you or your partner. It keeps facial hairs from getting brittle and wiry. It softens the hair so you’re not scratching your neck or dealing with beard dandruff (yes, it exists). All of that from just a couple drops of oil, twice a day.

• Best Beard Oil Overall: Honest Amish Classic Beard Oil, $12
• Best Multipurpose Beard Oil: Beardbrand Utility Beard Oil, $39
• Best Natural Beard Oil: Horace Lemon & Mint Beard Oil, $15
• Best Fragranced Beard Oil: Fulton & Roark Formula 5 Beard Oil, $55
• Best Beard Oil for Big Beards: Pura d'Or Beard Oil, $12
• Best Beard Oil for Flyaways: Jack Black MP10 Nourishing Oil, $35
• Barber's Favorite Beard Oil: Northern Fir Quality Beard Oil, $24
• Best Beard and Face Oil: Blind Barber Beard Oil, $17
• Best Beard and Hair Oil: Aesop Shine Hair & Beard Oil, $35

I’d go so far as to rank beard oil as the second most important beard care product, just after beard trimmers—and it’s a close second. Because whether you keep your facial hair at a precise 24-hour stubble, go full hermit-mode, or stay somewhere in between, a beard oil does irreplaceable work. (The kind you can’t replace with any old moisturizer or conditioner.)

Read on for GQ’s tried-and-true picks for the best beard oils, as well as how to choose a beard oil based on its key ingredients.

For the longest time, I thought of Honest Amish as “that Amazon beard oil,” given its enormous popularity on the e-tailer. (At the time of writing, we’re talking nearly 29,000 reviews and a 4.5-star average.) And often, I'll intentionally seek out an alternative to these Amazon-beloved grooming products—if only because it feels like the equivalent of recommending Applebee's to an out-of-towner. But this time, well: Welcome to Applebee's.

Frankly, I couldn't find a better beard oil. Not only is Honest Amish cost effective (at the second-best price-per-ounce on my list), but the brand nailed the blend. It's a pure oil recipe (no non-oil ingredients), with seven carrier oils and seven essential oils that give it an earthy scent and help tone the skin beneath your bushel. It absorbs fast, works great to smooth down flyaways, relax stiff bristles, and battle both dry skin and flake-prone beards. And did I mention the value? Six bucks per ounce is a steal.

I only use Honest Amish on my beard, largely because I'm not a fan of using any essential oils on bare skin—I particularly find that pumpkin seed oil (a key ingredient here) can be slightly pore-clogging on acne-prone skin. That said: I count myself as acne-prone, and haven't had issues with Honest Amish, so I'm probably being over-cautious. It's really just that good.

Despite the name Beardbrand, this company's product line covers the whole body, with a focus on multi-tasking grooming products like dual washes, all-purpose balms, and this utilitarian oil. You'll catch me using it on my hands, elbows, and hair—whether for a dash of shine (to offset a matte hair product) or a protective coat against frizz and humidity. But Beardbrand's Utility Oil is on this list because it works beautifully in the beard.

Sure, it's a touch heavier than some other oils—but that also makes it a terrific pre-shave lubricant. It's important to note that no matter which “flavor” you choose, this oil has a strong dash of fragrance. They're all good, but I'm partial to the brand's new Bold Fortune scent, which it oozes a sexy combo of leather, oud, and tobacco. (And pro-tip: the brand's utility wash has the same come-hither scent, if you want to double down.)

Horace's beard oil will make a lot of you happy, though for different reasons. For those overwhelmed by scents—particularly artificial ones—you'll appreciate that its got the subtlest of aromas. I'm partial to the Lemon & Mint one, which reads as “fresh," and never overwhelms.

For those looking to stay away from chemicals, Horace's formula is 99% natural—and the 1% is a synthetic grape seed oil, not something with 12 syllables, which I'm fine with. The brand gets bonus marks for its easily-understood ingredients labels, which break down these details and err on the side of much-appreciated transparency.

Finally, if you're on the fence about incorporating a beard oil because you're not sure if it makes sense, Horace's will make you a believer. It absorbs fast, gives a pinch of shine, and makes just enough difference in terms of taming, moisturizing, and softening that you'll see why a beard oil makes sense.

Pura D’or

Beard Oil

$20 $15

Amazon

I test literally hundreds of grooming products a year, and I'm so intimately acquainted with brands new and old that I often think about them through the framework of their best product. For Pura d'Or, it's this beard oil.

It's the best value on this list, at $3 per fluid ounce. Given how quickly you can go through beard oil—just think, you're applying twice a day, and maybe you have a big or thick beard—that dollar-per-ounce math becomes important.

Of course, it's only important if the formula measures up—and here, it does. There are two carrier oils, argan and jojoba, along with a bit of grapefruit peel and some sandalwood essential oil for both a natural scent and a touch of antimicrobial powers. It's a great beard oil for anyone, no matter how big your bank account, but if you're bearding on a budget, you'll appreciate how much goodness Pura d'Or packs into a few bucks.

Jack Black's Epic Moisture MP10 Nourishing Oil is an all-timer for me (I use it for more than my facial hair), but the bottle empties fastest when my beard's at its bushiest. That's when the flyaways and freaked-out follicles get craziest—and when the oil's star ingredient, silicone, does its best work.

Silicone gets an unfair rap in haircare and skincare, particularly in an era where we're (rightly) more thoughtful about what we put on and in our bodies. True, it's not at all natural. But it has the unparalleled ability to seal moisture into hair and skin. One dusting-over with this blend from Jack Black will lock down any rogue hairs—all while treating skin and follicles with its roster of 10 oils.

Blind Barber

Beard Oil

$17

Ulta

Blind Barber's tonka-tinged oil is wonderful for the guy who wants to moisturize skin and whiskers with the same product. It wears extremely light—so much so that my oily skin barely registers its presence—and I find its carrier-oil-centric and shea-butter-forward formula especially comforting on the skin. It should be noted that this formula includes artificial perfume, so fragrance-averse individuals should steer clear. But for those of us who want a special scent, a flake-free beard, and soothed skin, Blind Barber's beard oil does it all.

Aesop

Shine Hair & Beard Oil

$35

Todd Snyder

$35

Aesop

While I'd use most of the above options as both a hair oil and a beard oil, Aesop's is one where I think of it as a hair oil first and foremost. It brings control without making things look greasy, while trapping moisture and stopping frizz. I'll use it in short hair to tame down the sides, in medium lengths (mixed with a cream or clay) for added shine, or in long hair to prevent split ends.

Then, once my hair's settled up, I'll run my hands through my beard afterward. So, if you want a great hair oil with beard benefits, Aesop's is the winner.

Don't overlook Jack Black's excellent beard oil, especially if you prefer beard products without strong fragrances. It's one of the most popular beard oils on Amazon, but don't hold that against it. This oil delivers a dose of antioxidants and vitamins from natural ingredients such as brown algae. It also uses a unique blend of oils with the subtlest whiff of melon fragrance. Instead of the usual suspects (jojoba, avocado, sunflower seed), this product uses Kalahari melon oil, macula oil, and plum oil, which go to work softening and moisturizing your facial hair on contact.

Since the beginning of the men's grooming boom, I've been waiting for the big designer fashion houses to start catering to guys with facial hair. For now, Tom Ford's beard oil stands alone. The tobacco vanilla fragrance is incredible (with an emphasis on vanilla), and you just need one or two pumps for full coverage. Considering the price and the name on the bottle, we were shocked to find this oil comes in a plastic pump bottle, but that fragrance. If you want to buy beard oil as a gift, this premium conditioning oil is a step up over your average Amazon brand, even if it doesn't soften coarse hair as well as some of our other options.

Fulton & Roark proved that solid cologne could be more than a novelty, and now the brand's complex and masculine fragrances are available in beard oil form. (GQ writer Timothy Beck Werth recommends going with the Palmetto, Ramble, Calle Ocho, or Blue Ridge fragrances.) This isn’t a pure oil blend, but it does contain soothing natural oils and botanicals such as sunflower seed oil, apricot kernel oil, olive oil, and lychee fruit extract. Our only complaint? We wish it came out of the shaker bottle a little easier.

If you have sensitive skin—or if you're afraid of your beard oil clashing with your daily cologne—then Marlowe makes one of the only fragrance free beard oils. It's got an all-oil formula and contains just four ingredients, a refreshing change from the typical beauty product. (Yes, beards are beautiful too.) If you want the softest possible beard, Honest Amish makes a fragrance-free option as well.

Somehow, a lot of men's grooming writers forget about Kiehl's, probably because they've been around so long. The brand's beard oil uses an essential oil blend and a calming fragrance with notes of eucalyptus, sandalwood, and cedar. The formula is surprisingly light for a beard oil and provides an instant softness boost. Start with just a couple drops, as the fragrance can be too strong if you over-apply.

For Black guys and anyone with curly hair, this Amazon brand makes a beard oil just for you. The formula uses moisturizers such as grapeseed oil, castor oil, shea butter, and maracuja oil to condition coarse and curly hairs.

The best best oil should support your skin and your beard, and Baxter of California's sweet-smelling oil doesn't sacrifice one for the other. Squalane helps nourish the most overlooked skin on your face, while avocado oil, Vitamin E, and botanical extracts smooth out your beard. In his guide to the best beard care products, GQ's Timothy Beck Werth said that “In our testing, no beard oil absorbs as quickly or spreads as evenly as this one.”

STMNT Grooming Goods

Beard Oil

$22

Amazon

$22

Nordstrom

No dermatologist is going to endorse a beard oil with artificial scent, because (understandably) there's no upside from a skin perspective. But I'm not a dermatologist, and I—like some of you—prefer to have my great beard oil and smell it, too. And if your skin is fine with perfumed products (and most folks' skin is), then you're going to love STMNT's beard oil. It brings a citrusy, woody, incense-esque aroma, which I find both sexy and soothing. Also, to be clear, as a beard oil, it's similarly intoxicating, with high marks for taming and hydrating beard hair. That is, if you can bring yourself to actually apply STMNT's beard oil instead of huffing it.

As with anything you put on your skin, the ingredients are what matter most. And with beard oils, there are two categories of ingredients: carrier oils and essential oils. No two ingredients will perform exactly the same. Some will help with very specific situations or conditions; some may actively aggravate your skin. Essential oils in particular can aggravate skin if used by themselves.

So, consider the following carrier oils and essential oils, favored both by myself and Alyssa Bachowski, a senior barber at Fellow Barber’s Williamsburg, NYC barbershop.

Carrier oils—often vegetable and see oils—make up the bulk of these beard oil formulas, bringing beard nourishment and skin hydration. The most popular carrier oils are argan oil and jojoba oil (both of which Bachowski recommends), though there are dozens of varieties, from castor to marula to grape seed oils. They're usually unscented, though some—like coconut oil—may carry an aroma.

Because carrier oils make up the “base” of the oil, they should be among the first to appear in a product's formula or list of ingredients.

Essential oils are distillations from more potent sources, and they tend to be additive—and active—ingredients in a beard oil. These oils are typically extracted through steaming methods, and their range of benefits can include antimicrobial properties, oil-toning abilities, and soothing superpowers. Typically, any natural fragrance in a beard oil will come from essential oils. But pure essential oils can be extremely damaging to the skin.

“You should not apply pure essential oil to a beard—it will do the opposite of what you are trying to achieve,” says Bachowski. “These [pure oils] are not good for your beard nor your skin. as they can be irritating and harmful. Essential oils can cause dryness, itchiness, and redness—and some people may have allergic reactions to them.” This is exactly why you want beard oils from trusted, tested brand.

As GQ's lead grooming product reviewer, I've tried just about every beard oil in the biz. The ones chosen for this roundup excel at protecting and moisturizing both skin and hair, with minimal risk for things like inverse reactions and blemishes. They absorb cleanly, unless they expressly choose not to (like those which expressly use silicone), and they smell terrific (with both natural and artificially scented options). I've tested beard oils for a decade, on a beard that's been long, short, and everything in between. I've also scoured online reviews to confirm that these products are backed by throngs of loyal fans, whose collective opinion echoes my own experiences.

Alyssa Bachowski is a senior barber at Fellow Barber’s Williamsburg NYC barbershop location.