Are you wondering whether you can use baby oil as a substitute for beard oil? Read on to find out the benefits of applying baby oil to your mane.
Baby oil is a good beard oil substitute for keeping your facial hair moisturized. Especially baby oil that has mineral oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, almond oil, sunflower oil, and jojoba oil. These baby oils will moisturize your beard, soften it, add shine and make it easy to comb especially mineral oil-based baby oil.
Avoid baby oils that have antiandrogenic oils such as lavender oils as these might affect your beard growth negatively.
Related: Is baby shampoo good for beards?
Table of Contents
Types of baby oils in the market
There are three types of baby oils available in the market that I found during my research. They include
- Common baby oils: These baby oils are clear in color and contain lanolin and mineral oil as some of the ingredients. Johnson’s baby oil fall in this category.
- Plant and vegetable oil-based baby oil: Normally made from sunflower oil, coconut oil, and jojoba oil and are free from mineral and lanolin oil.
- Mixed varieties of baby oil
What to consider before using baby oil for your beard
Ingredients
The first and most important factor is to consider the ingredients used in baby oil. Different oils have different effects on your beard.
Some baby oils have lavender oil as one of the ingredients, lavender oil, and tea tree oil have been proven to be antiandrogenic, meaning they will suppress androgen receptors [receptors that help you grow a beard] and uplift estrogen receptors.
Baby oils with the following ingredients are safe for your beard.
Coconut oil and mineral oil
Coconut oil is one of the best oils that you can use on your beard. Research comparing coconut oil, sunflower oil, and mineral oil established that coconut oil penetrates hair fibers much better than all the other oils.
Coconut oil also has a high affinity for hair protein compared to other oils. Mineral oil, on the other hand, which is a refined petroleum product, does not penetrate your hair fibers at all. It rather coats it from the outside which can help you retain moisture.
Sunflower oil
Sunflower oil, on the other hand, has both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids. The latter penetrates hair strands better than the former. Sunflower oil like coconut oil has high levels of triglycerides which is what you need in any penetrating oil.
Grapeseed oil
Grapeseed oil is another ingredient in baby oils, compared to other oils grapeseed oil does not have a high hair penetrating capability due to the high amount of polyunsaturated fats.
However, sunflower oil does have some degree of hair penetration to monounsaturated and saturated fats.
Other oils used in baby oils include sweet almond oil and jojoba oil. Sweet almond oil like grapeseed oil and sunflower oil has a small degree of penetration into your beard.
However, jojoba oil does not penetrate your beard hair at all, it, therefore, serves as sealing oil to keep your beard moisturized.
Benefits of baby oil for facial hair
Moisturizer
Keeping your beard moisturized is very important, if you want to maintain growth and promote your beards health.
Knowing the right product to use for your beard is very important since there are tons of oils available some of which are not safe for your beards such as rosemary oil, eucalyptus oil, tea tree oil, and lavender oil.
Baby oils are a great beard moisturizer, given that they have two components of any good moisturizer [penetrating and sealing oil].
Coconut oil has very high hair penetrating capabilities, it will penetrate your beard hairs and moisturize them from inside out.
After a penetrating oil, you will need an oil that does not offer high penetration qualities to seal your beard and lock in moisture.
Mineral oil, grapeseed oil sunflower oil, and sweet almond oil will offer some degree of penetration while at the same time seal in the moisture.
Jojoba oil does not penetrate your beard, but rather seals in moisture and softens your beard.
If you have sensitive skin that clogs easily it would be advisable to avoid mineral oil getting on your skin beneath your beard since it can cause a breakout.
Soften
A dry and brittle beard is s a result of an unmoisturized beard. All the natural oils used in the baby oils have some moisturizing properties that will prevent dryness and soften your beard.
The best baby oils for moisturizing your beard and softening it are those that have penetrating oils [coconut oil], and sealing oil [grapeseed oil, sweet almond oil, sunflower oil, and mineral oil].
To soften your beard, you can apply baby oil immediately after washing your beard with either water only or with a baby shampoo or beard shampoo. Either way, make sure you use lukewarm water or warm water to wash your beard.
Water helps open up your skin and beard cuticle that allows both your skin and beard to absorb oil.
For better beard softening results, use baby oils that have coconut oil and jojoba oil.
Help prevent dandruff
One of the causes of dandruff is a dry and unmoisturized beard besides fungus and bacteria. Coconut oil and Jojoba oil have some antibacterial properties that will help you deal with or protect against dandruff.
Easier combing
Combing an entangled beard is very difficult, especially if you have a curly beard. I have found that when I finger comb my beard and then use a beard comb while am taking a bath it helps me in detangling my beard.
It gets even better after you apply a good oil such as avocado oil, mineral oil have been proven
to help ease combing.
Applying baby oil before you wash your beard and then following it up with another application of baby oil will really help you ease your combing especially for men of African descent.
Add shine
Coconut oil-based baby oil will help moisturize, prevent beard damage from washing and chemicals and most of all add shine to your facial hair.
How to use baby oil on your beard
A coconut oil-based baby oil can be used both before washing and after washing your beard. Coconut oil will help prevent protein loss during the washing process.
If you want to chemically treat your beard or perm your beard applying coconut oil will help treat against protein loss caused by these processes.
Remember, baby oil is only a beard oil substitute, not an oil to be used on daily basis. Using a beard oil tailored for your beard’s specific needs should be on top of your list.
If you are looking to moisturize your beard and soften it much better avocado oil or coconut oil followed by either olive oil, castor oil, grapeseed oil, and sunflower oil, or any other good sealing oil should help you achieve that.
Frequently Asked Question
Does baby oil help facial hair grow? While baby oil will not help you grow a beard if you cannot grow one naturally. Applying baby oil on your beard will help keep it moisturized, soften, and ease combing especially if the baby oil has mineral oil.
Is Johnson’s baby oil good for the beard? Yes, Johnson’s baby oil is good for the beards. The mineral oil used in Johnson’s baby oil will help seal in moisture and also ease in combing. However, if you have skin that clogs easily avoid any mineral oil-based baby oil such as johnsons.
What are the side effects of using Johnson’s baby oil on beards? As mentioned earlier, Johnson’s baby oil contains mineral oil as one of the ingredients. The side effects of using Johnson’s baby oil on the beard include clogged facial hair follicles and may lead to acne break out and blackheads.
Wrap up
Baby oil is an easy and cheap beard oil substitute when you ran out of your favorite beard oil. It will help keep your beard moisturized, soft combing for mineral oil-based baby oils. Coconut oil-based baby oils will also protect your beard from protein loss caused by washing ingredients, and also protect against protein loss caused by the use of chemicals and heat.
