This lovely Spiced Bergamot Beard Oil smells warm and sweet, with a hint of pith and a woody, spicy base. Know somebody suffering from itchy winter beard? This oil is just the thing.
The base is made from some of my favourite oils. Argan oil is my all time favourite facial oil, but it’s also amazing for hair. You’ve probably seen lots of shampoos and hair serums on supermarket shelves bragging about argan oil (USA / Canada), despite containing next to no actual argan oil (USA / Canada). This beard oil uses the real thing, which is rich in Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) and has been used in hair care in Morocco for centuries.
Hemp seed and jojoba oil (USA / Canada)s help condition and soften hair, and castor oil (USA / Canada) adds a bit of shine while helping encourage hair growth (perfect for the owners of beards on the patchier side). A bit of Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada) helps ward of rancidity and extend the shelf life of the oil, and it’s also great for skin—helping it heal.
The essential oil blend is rather lovely. A base of sultry, mysterious labdanum and cedarwood is joined by citrussy bergamot, bright ginger, and spicy nutmeg. I find it can smell a bit sharp right out the bottle, but it warms beautifully when massaged into the skin (and hair), leaving a lingering warm base note with a hint of spiced citrus. It’s lovely.
Spiced Bergamot Beard Oil
4g | 0.14oz argan oil (USA / Canada)
12g | 0.42oz hempseed oil
5g | 0.17oz castor oil (USA / Canada)
4g | 0.14oz jojoba oil (USA / Canada)
2 drops Vitamin E MT-50 (USA / Canada)2 blobs labdanum resinoid
12 drops cedarwood essential oil
6 drops bergamot essential oil
4 drops ginger essential oil (use CO2 extracted for the best scent)
2 drops nutmeg essential oilWeigh the carriers oils out into a 30mL/1oz glass bottle that has a dropper top. Add the essential oils, cap, and shake to combine. Voila! You just made Spiced Bergamot Beard Oil 🙂
Makes ~30mL/ one fluid ounce.
I wish I had your inventory of oils. I am just simply a man wanting to make some beard oil but can not afford the upfront costs to acquire all of the oils needed for all of your great recipes.
You might find you’d be better off checking out a place that sells things than a website that exclusively publishes recipes if that’s the case 🙂 It’s a bit like going to a cookbook shop in search of lunch 😉
Never thought of castor oil in a beard oil! I make beard oil for all the men in my life (dad, BIL…) and I use pumpkin seed oil (also promotes hair growth, plus it’s non greasy) and I just discovered black cumin seed which is also supposed to be amazing for hair – this is going in my next batches! I will definitel add castor oil to my recipe – great tip!
I look forward to hearing how it goes! I’ll have to try pumpkin seed oil in a future batch, too 🙂
Thanks for the great recipe, Marie!
Any suggestions on nutmeg eo substitutions?
Hmm… maybe a wee bit of clove?
Why are none of my comments being displayed?
I’ve got an FAQ on this 🙂
Can hemp seed oil be used to infuse herbs using heat without compromising all it’s benefits?
I wouldn’t choose hemp seed oil for infusions as it tends to oxidize very quickly.
Ditto, I’ve made beard oil for a few years now and have never used castor oil. Thought it would be too sticky. Will have to give this a whirl. I don’t have Hemp so will sub in Apricot Kernel or Argan & Jojoba. I actually have all the EO’s on hand as well. Thanks for this recipe.
Thanks, Fuchia!
Love! Made it and it’s a hit!
Woohoo! 😀
Thank you Marie!
My son likes to wear a tight or very clipped scruffy beard. Like a 24 o’clock shadow, but poor thing, he has a patchy beard. Never thought of castor oil! He’s asking me to make it for him Right Now.
Of course, I’m going to. Brilliant recipe!!
Cj
Thanks, Cristie! I hope it helps with his beard 🙂
I see palmarosa in your picture but not in the recipe…?
I guess I decided not to include it after all. The photos and recipe development often happen at the same time, so things are subject to change.
Love all these recipes! Do you have any more that you can post, as well? Thank you.
Thanks, Anthony! I post two times a week and have a book coming out this fall—subscribe to get an email every time I publish something new!
Substitute for labdumun essential oil…?
Labdumun is the resin, Cistus is the essential oil. There is no real substitute, but I would say Balsam is the closest
Thanks! Which balsam are you thinking of? I honestly can’t think of a single similarity between labdanum and fir balsam, but I suppose peru balsam has a few similarities in terms of warmth—or perhaps you’re thinking of a different one entirely?
Honestly, none. It is so, SO unique. I’ve read that it has been used as an alternative for ambergris, so perhaps if you could source some ambergris that would work, but it would be infinitely easier (and less expensive) to purchase labdanum, and since I’ve never smelled ambergris this is really just a wild-ish guess. Labdanum smells like nothing I’ve ever encountered elsewhere, and while it reminds me of many things, you can’t exactly piece together the scent of a warm breeze in a grassy field on a summer day from other essential oils :/
Oh my goodness I need this then lol! Ok wonderful thank you so much for your reply. Last question then who is your supplier for that one? I poked around and having trouble finding it…
I got mine from NDA, but they don’t carry it anymore :/ This looks like it should be the right thing from reading the reviews 🙂
Hi, I have an issue (or maybe not) with my vitamin e oil. It sits at the bottom of my mixed oils. Could you possibly give me some pointers? Should I heat or maybe emulsify my mixture? Or just shake before use?
KR Renate
Hey! Where is your vitamin E from? Did you buy a cosmetic ingredient like liquid MT-50 tocopherols?
Thank you so very much! So helpful!
Hello!
I’m making this beard oil and the hemp seed oil I have says it needs to be refrigerated… is this still the case when it’s mixed in with the other oils and vitamin e?
Thanks so much!
Hemp seed oil will oxidize fairly quickly at room temperatuer (within 6 months, usually), so while it doesn’t need to be refrigerated while it’s in concoctions, I always recommend making those concoctions in batches small enough that they can be used before the hemp oil oxidizes. You could store the final product in the fridge, but I find that makes the product very unlikely to be used!
I don’t know if my measurements were off, but this made 1 oz., not a ½ oz… Hmmm… I must be wicked tired 😉
Hmmm… yeah. Whoops LOL. I think I made a half recipe and then scaled up to get whole numbers lol. Fixed, thanks!
Can this be used in a bottle with a treatment pump?
Yup!
Just a little confused about “2 blobs labdanum essential oil”.
Did you use 2 blobs of resin or the essential oil.
If the essential oil should it be 2 drops or mls?
It was the resin—it was sold as an essential oil, but that was definitely a labelling whoops. You’d want ~0.3g.
Hi,
I am practicing making some of this for my uncle Joe for Christmas. I noticed when I put the Cistus (ladmnum sp?)in, it seems to stay in the two blobs that I put in. Will it eventually fade into the other oils?
Thanks!
Brian
Hey Brian! Do you know what the solvent/carrier for your labdanum is? I recently ran into this with a new version of a resinoid and I suspect the different carriers.
Are these ratios within the safe dilution levels??? Looks like a lot more than %2.
Hi Leo!
If you take a look at all the the more recent formulas Marie has published, she has made a lot of formulation changescompared to recipes since 2016. The number one change she has made is in using percentages even in essential oil use. If you take a look at this page, you can get an idea of why Marie has made the formula change and here. Before you go ahead and make this recipe, you can always check out the IFRA database!