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thin beard oil?

So I've been playing with home made beard oil recipes. My latest one I think may be too thin. Would this be a good or a bad thing?
 
"Thin" being a relative term, not having any way to measure the actual viscosity of the brands I have purchased compared to other oils I have for various purposes, all I can say is that the beard oils are thinner than say any cooking oil I've used, and are a bit thinner than the shave oils I've tried and had, over all. As well as a thinner oil it easier to get to brush in with a nice very light coating to absorb faster and not leave any greasy feel afterwards. I would have to say that thin is better for beard oils.
 
I would say that thinner is better.

How thin is your home made concoction. Can you provide a known comparison?
 
What are your base carriers?

Thin typicalky means light weight and easily absorbed, both if which are good in a beard oil. Thin is good as long as thin is provided by oils that are readily absorbed into the hair and skin.
 
First of all. Thanks everyone. I guess I'm not sure what to compare it to in order to give you an idea on how thin it is. The recipe I made was 2.5 teaspoons grapeseed oil, 1.5 tsp jojoba oil, 1 tsp Argan oil, .5 tsp Avocado oil and .5 vitamin e oil. Based on your response it sounds like this may be a good recipe. It's hard for me to know if I've made a good or bad recipe because I have never previously used beard oils. I've thought about offering a PIF for my homemades to get some input but I feel like that may be breaking some rules around here, which is the last thing I want to do because I really enjoy interacting with the B&B community
 
This might be a good question for a polymer scientist who specializes in this area of research. Take what I say with a grain of salt. The thinnest oil I have encountered is 100% pure argan oil. This stuff is much thinner than the other non-comedogenic oils that I have encountered.

This morning I washed my face and applied four drops of argan and proceeded to shave without shaving cream. I used a vintage Gillette Spoiler and preformed one single pass using a Gillette Slim set on 9. To my amazement, I was able to obtain a pretty decent shave, an acceptable shave, in under four minute’s tops (no nicks or cuts).

Caveats:

Argan oil stinks when it goes rancid and this rancidity may cause some minor skin irritation. The oil is so thin it is difficult to use. I assume it probably works even better if it has been warmed up a little bit in the palm of the hand. If you try this oil, make sure it is absolutely 100% and contains no alcohol.

My guess is that lower viscosity oils will produce the best results.
 
Since you mention alcohol, I've been curious about adding alcohol to my mixtures. It seems like a bad idea to me but I have read that some people do use alcohol in beard oils. Seems like it is mostly used to more quickly mature the scent of the essential oils. I would guess that the alcohol may break down most oils but I have no idea. I'm more willing to use alcohol in my homemade aftershave to see if it would reduce the amount of separation between my mixture and create a more cohesive blend
 
Alcohol will dry out your beard and make it brittle. It might also react with the essential oils negatively.

Your carrier sounds like a grwta mixfure. Lot of quality oils for hair and skin health, all very lightweight and minimal scent, so a very good start to a beard oil.

You could use just the carrier mixture with good results, would be my guess.

Sounds like a winner, in my opinion. Work up some decent scent profiles, and have at it!

I will warn that grapeseed oil is also comparatively quick to go rancid and can really mess up a batch of oils. Always smell your oils before mixing...
 

OkieStubble

Dirty Donuts are so Good.
First of all. Thanks everyone. I guess I'm not sure what to compare it to in order to give you an idea on how thin it is. The recipe I made was 2.5 teaspoons grapeseed oil, 1.5 tsp jojoba oil, 1 tsp Argan oil, .5 tsp Avocado oil and .5 vitamin e oil. Based on your response it sounds like this may be a good recipe. It's hard for me to know if I've made a good or bad recipe because I have never previously used beard oils. I've thought about offering a PIF for my homemades to get some input but I feel like that may be breaking some rules around here, which is the last thing I want to do because I really enjoy interacting with the B&B community

Many carrier oils already have vitamin E in the form of naturally occurring Polyphenols and Tocopherols (Vitamin E). So, you can subtract the extra vitamin E that you are adding, which perhaps would help it be less thin. While I don't have or grow a beard, I have experimented and tried my hand with beard oils.

I do look for the oil to be a "not to thin or thick" consistency. Adding a few drops of another carrier, Castor Oil, which is a thicker viscosity will help get your consistency where you want it. Castor also promotes hair growth really well.

What essential oils do you use for scent? Have to be careful when using certain oils for scent as they can really thin out your mix. Some can also be photo toxic when applied to the skin, even when mixed with a carrier oil.
 
For essential oils I have used different combinations of, rosemary, clove, pine, lavender, lemongrass, sweet orange, tea tree, eucalyptus, and peppermint. I've read that the citrusy oils can react badly in sunlight. I use only a couple drops of the orange in comparison to the other essentials and I use a 2% dilution with my essentials which is about 12 drops per ounce.
 
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