Can You Use Lotion in Your Beard? Benefits & Risks


lotion in beard

Lotions are formulated with tons of ingredients that offer great benefits for the skin. If you are wondering whether lotion is safe for your beard, read on, I did research to find out.

Can you use face lotion on your beard? You can use lotion/creams in your beard as a beard oil moisturizer substitute depending on the ingredients. The natural oil-based lotion/creams will moisturize, strengthen, smoothen, and control beard dandruff. However, avoid mineral oil-based lotion in your beard if you have oily, sensitive acne-prone skin or a long beard.

Read on to find out how to use lotion on a short beard of its benefits and potential risks. Plus why it is bad for a longer beard. And finally best alternatives for lotion in your beard.

Applying lotion in beard as a substitute

You will agree with me when I say sometimes we bearded men are tempted to just grab that face, hand, or body lotion and apply it on our facial hair.

Especially, when you are running out of your favorite beard oil or balm. First, we will cover the benefits and then cover the risks.

Benefits of applying lotion to your beard

These benefits are solely based on lotions that use mineral oil and natural plant-based oils, as part of their ingredients.

There are soo many ingredients that are used on your lotion for moisturizing your skin that will not benefit your beard.

Moisturizing your skin and beard

Given that most lotion is made for moisturizing your skin. Applying it on your beard will moisturize your skin under the beard by locking moisture in the skin.

Lotions that use natural oils such as coconut oilOpens in a new tab., among others, will moisturize your beard as well. One of the most common ingredients is mineral oil.

Mineral oil is great at locking moisture in the skin but it does not penetrate your beard strand at all compared to coconut oil as was found in this study.Opens in a new tab.

While these lotions will work on a short or stubble beard, they may not work well for a long beard.

For a short beard aka stubble, the lotion is able to get into contact with the skin easily without interference from the beard.

But for longer, a beard about 3 months long beard since most of these lotions come in the form of a gel. They may not be able to reach your skin beneath the beard.

At this point, you should ditch lotions and adopt a good beard oil. After all, well-formulated beard oil will moisturize your beard and skin easily.

Fight dandruff

One of the challenges you will face when growing a beard is dandruff. A poorly moisturized or washed beard will suffer from dandruff.

Given that lotions are meant to moisturize your skin. Mineral oils and natural oils such as coconut will help you moisturize and fight off dandruff.

Again, for the lotion to be able to fight off dandruff, it should have ingredients that will have moisturizing and antimicrobial properties that most natural oils have. Such as tea tree oilOpens in a new tab. and olive oil.

Smoothens beard

If you are fond of blow-drying your beard, applying some lotion that has coconut oil and mineral oil will help prevent your facial hair from heat damage.

Applying the same lotion after styling your beard will help it remain shiner and less frizzy.

Make beard stronger

As stated earlier, coconut oil is excellent at penetrating the hair shaft and strengthening it inside out.

It goes without saying therefore that if you apply, lotion that contains coconut oil it will make your facial hair stronger and easy to comb without breakage.

Get rid of lice

If you are suffering from beard liceOpens in a new tab. or have come into contact with someone with lice and you are afraid that they might have transferred lice into your beard or hair.

Applying lotion with mineral oil and other strong natural oil such as tea tree oil will help you get rid of the lice.

All you have to do is apply the combination of lotion and tea tree oil and leave it for 8 hours before washing.

Possible risk for using lotion in your beard

Some of the risks that may come with using lotion include.

Clogged pores

Mineral oil and coconut oil have been known to clog pores if you have oily skin that is prone to acne. Keeping lotion loaded with mineral oil and coconut oil may be a good idea.

Look and feel greasy

Lotion may make your facial hair appear and feel greasy to the touch. Additionally, when mineral oil is inhaled it can cause a type of pneumonia known as Exogenous lipoid pneumoniaOpens in a new tab..

Below is a list of the most common products used in the manufacturing of lotions.

  • mineral oil
  • water
  • glycerin
  • capric acid triglyceride
  • stearic acid
  • cetyl alcohol
  • phenoxyethanol
  • phenol
  • Cetearyl alcohol
  • dimethicone
  • carbomer
  • sodium citrate
  • ethylparaben
  • propylparaben

While these products are beneficial to the other parts of your body, most of them will cause more harm than good to your facial hair.

Additives such as parabens and sulfates will cause more harm to your beard in the long run. AlcoholOpens in a new tab. also makes your beard rough.

Alternatives to lotion 

Fortunately, there are several natural plant-based oils that have been proven to offer benefits to the beard and skin beneath without adverse effects. These include

Can you use lotion if you shave?

Absolutely, in this case, you can opt to use lotion in your beard after shaving to keep your face moisturized.

But once your beard grows for about a month you should ditch the lotion.

For men who prefer maintaining a stubble, a lotion is a good option. It will moisturize your skin and beard.

To be on the safe side always just invest in good beard oil and there are many options on amazon designed for grooming your beard and keeping the skin beneath your beard moisturized.

Specifically, look for a beard oil with jojoba and argan oil. These two will moisturize and soften your beard.

These beard grooming products are made with natural ingredients that take care of your skin needs and at the same time nourishing your beard whether short or long.

We recommend sticking to products that have been made purposely for beards, do not attempt to use a product on your beard just because it has worked well on other parts of your body.

That said there are products that will work surprisingly both on your beard and other parts of your body.

Natural oils such as coconut, olive, shea butter, cocoa butter, and castor oil are good candidates to use on your body as well as your beard. 

Argan oil mixed with jojoba oil in the ratio of 1:1 will act as a good facial hair softener.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I put Vaseline on my beard? Yes, you can put Vaseline on your beardOpens in a new tab.. However, you should note that Vaseline helps to lock moisture that is already existing.

If your beard does not have moisture there is no point in using Vaseline. But rather invest in a beard oil that has argan, shea butter, cocoa butter, jojoba, or coconut oil

Is beard oil better than lotion? Yes, beard oils are better than lotion. They are specifically made to take care of your beard, they are loaded with numerous natural ingredients designed to moisturize, condition, and nourish your beard.

On the other hand lotion products contain ingredients such as paraben and sulfates that harm your beard.

Can I use body lotion for beard growth? No, beard lotion cannot be used for facial hair growth at all. The growth of the beard is influenced by genes and your body’s levels of testosterone.

Is lotion good for your beard? The lotion is only good for your beard if it is made of beard-friendly natural oils such as coconut oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, or argan oil, a lotion made of anti-androgenic oils such as rosemary and tea tree is not good for your beard.

Does lotion help beard growth? Unfortunately, body or face lotion can’t help with beard growth. However, Minoxidil can help with beard growth even among men who can’t naturally grow a beard.

Does lotion prevent beard growth? Unless you are using a lotion with anti-androgenic oils such as rosemary oil, or cream that has DHT blockers, the lotion should not prevent you from growing a beard.

Conclusion

Using body lotion can seem like a good idea when you run out of your favorite beard oil. However, we have established given the array of products used in making these lotions, using them in your beard may not be that good.

There are some beard lotions in the market specifically made for beards that will serve your beard better than body lotions, especially if you are allergic to mineral oil or petroleum-based products.

Ben

Hi, I'm Ben! When I embarked on my beard-growing journey, I had lots of questions. Now having successfully grown a beard, I launched this blog to share the answers I discovered through extensive research. Alongside beard tips, I also offer insights on maintaining and growing dreadlocks, as well as general advice on looking your best. I'm all about helping others look and feel great!

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