Washing your beard properly is the first step into really looking after it! There are plenty of beard soaps put there and each has it’s own benefits over the next. The important thing is that you look at the ingredients and decide on the best soap for your beard. Or, you can spend a while trialing different beard soaps until you find that one that just feels awesome on your face! Here we’ll go over the best beard soap for a range of people and then it is up to you to experiment. We’ll also cover off some of the most asked questions too – so you’ll get the best outcomes from your washing experience!
The best beard soaps include honest Amish beard and body soap, Bossman men’s bar soap four in one, and any other soap that contains natural products. A beard soap will leave your beard clean and smelling lovely.
It can be a little confusing when you look at the different options of beard soap available! Is organic better? What about goats milk? And there’s some beard soaps with charcoal in them – does that make it any better than the others? Well, what works well on my beard may not be the best for your beard. There is, however, some beard soaps that come highly recommended by reviews and from myself! If you are in a hurry – check out this popular option for your beard.
Article Contents
In a hurry? This is the best beard soap
If you are in a hurry, look no further than the Honest Amish beard and body soap.
Honest Amish Beard & Body Soap (Slick)
4.7 out of 5 Stars
This beard soap is one of the most highly recommended on Amazon and for good reason! It’s just a simple beard soap that works! In combination with their other products, this sets the foundation of a fantastic beard maintenance routine that will leave your beard looking stellar! You don’t need much of this beard soap – a little goes a long way and you can expect to have it in your cupboard for many months. Make sure you keep it out of running water as it’ll wear down the bar really quickly.
- Hand Crafted in the USA
- Mild Non-Drying Formula Suited for Face and Beard
- All Natural and Organic Ingredients
- Small Batch Hand Made Natural Soap
- The Most Trusted Brand for Beards in the World
Beard soap product summary
Here are all of the beard soaps that we have reviewed in this article. These re the top 10 beard soaps that you should consider before settling and buying one. Also, in my experience, there’s no point only looking on Amazon for the best beard soap. I’ve included some other products from Etzy – where the handmade quality is something that is completely worth the price if you feel like pampering yourself and your beard.
| Honest Amish Beard & Body Soap (Slick) (above) | Link to Amazon |
| Honest Amish Beard and Body Soap (Extra Grit) | Link to Amazon |
| Bossman Men’s Bar Soap 4-in-1 | Link to Amazon |
| Baroque Royal All Natural Beard Soap | Link to Amazon |
| BOGUE Goat Milk Soap | Link to Amazon |
| Seamoss Beard Soap | Link to etsy |
| Norwegian artisan beard & body soap shampoo | Link to etsy |
| Beard Soap by TreeBeard with Goats Milk, Australian Blue Clay, Yorkshire Tea, and Botanical Oils | Link to etsy |
| CraftsmanSoapCo Tea Tree, Cedar, Lavender & Spruce | Link to etsy |
| Big Red All-In-One Beard and Body Soap – Clay | Link to etsy |
Best beard soap reviews
Here is the round up of some of the best beard soaps on the market at the moment. If you are looking for a great beard soap I have compiled with list so you don’t have to go trawling around the internet!
Honest Amish Beard & Body Soap (Slick)
4.6 out of 5 Stars
This beard soap is very similar to the slick version but with a very slight difference. The original has the essential oils cedarwood, clove, anise, and lavender with white kaolin clay. The Slick has the essential oils Eucalyptus, cinnamon, and clove with French green clay. The Extra Grit has the same essential oils as the original with black walnut hulls and wild cherry bark (exfoliates) and bentonite clay. The extra exfoliation will help scrub your face and provide a deep clean for your beard.
Like the slick version, this beard soap goes a very long way so use it sparingly. The scent is not overpowering and doesn’t linger too long which means it’ll be perfect for use in combination with another smelly product. A solid choice for your beard washing!
Bossman Men’s Bar Soap 4-in-1
4.4 out of 5 Stars
This beard soap has a fantastic smell woody and with patchouli. This beard soap has been specially formulated to make sure that it doesn’t leave your hair feeling dry. It washes out well and leaves no residue. A small amount goes a long way and doesn’t contain any alcohol products so it won’t dry out your skin – that makes it the perfect choice for men than have trouble with dry and flakey skin.
- The 4-in-1 mens soap is infused with a masterful blend of moisturizing oils like organic coconut oil and organic shea butter. Our mens soap helps clean, nourish, and strengthen your hair, beard and skin.
- The soap for men doesn’t contain harsh foaming agents like other soaps that dry out hair and skin. Bathe with confidence knowing your beard grooming will enhance and preserve your hair and skin’s natural oils.
- The mens soap bar contains organic coconut oil, organic shea butter, organic palm oil, organic safflower oil, organic plantain leaf powder, organic cocoa powder. Made without alcohols that dry out pores.
- Infused with just the right touch of carefully selected essential oils of Geranium, Lavender, Vanilla, Rosemary and Patchouli. Creates a clean, yet seductive manly scent for close encounters.
- MADE IN THE USA, NOT TESTED ON ANIMALS. ALL NATURAL INGREDIENTS
Baroque Royal All Natural Beard Soap
4.4 out of 5 Stars
This beard brand is starting to get more and more popular. The smell of the soap is mild enough for daily use and like most of the other soaps in this list, a little will go a long way. It leaves the beard soft and manageable and really helps tame all of those wild hairs!
- PROTECT YOUR BEARD: Why settle for regular soap? It dries out your beard, causes irritation, and creates a dull look. Instead, level up with Baroque Royal beard Shampoo soap which cleans out oil residue and dirt while replacing natural oils as a beard softener and conditioner. The result? A healthy-looking beard with a compliment-sparking sheen
- RELIEVE ITCHINESS: Still have an itchy beard and flaky skin? Even after trying out every beard balm and beard oil? Your soap might just be the culprit. Our special beard soap and conditioner moisturizes and soothes the skin under your beard to reduce flakes and irritation. This beard wash makes a perfect gift for yourself or others
- QUALITY YOU’LL LOVE: No more dealing with soaps that are a pain to lather. Combine it with a bit of water and a bit of a rub and our beard wash soap bar creates a rich lather for a satisfying clean. Every order of this beard care product comes with 1 (80g/ 2.8oz) bars that will last you for months
- GREAT FRAGRANCE: Subtle and refreshing, the unique scent leaves you feeling invigorated and netting compliments throughout the day. We also take great pride in all our beard care products being cruelty-free; our grooming soap is never tested on animals. The best beard and mustache softener natural beard soap.
BOGUE Goat Milk Soap
4.4 out of 5 Stars
If you are still looking for that perfect beard soap and nothing else has worked for you – then you should check out this soap! The blend in the soap of different oils means that you do not need to apply any extra beard oil or balm after using it. It contains goats milk which contains a load of proteins and fatty acids that are readily absorbed into the hair. This will leave if well conditioned and shiny. If you are struggling to find a beard soap that won’t dry your hair out then look no further!
- Artisanal soap handmade in Ojai, California with locally farmed fresh raw Goat Milk and Organic Essential Oils.
- Hand-mixed poured, and cut into long-lasting bars.
- Rich in nourishing Vitamins A, E, B6, B12, and hydrating proteins which reduce wrinkles and brighten the skin.
- No artificial additives, preservatives, dyes, or fragrances only the naturally antibacterial goat milk.
- Rich creamy lathering soap that leaves no residue.
Seamoss Beard Soap
This beard soap is the first on the list that is from Etsy. The low batch handmade quality of the beard products from Etsy makes the buying process so much nicer and you can be assured that each bar of soap has been lovingly crafted! This bar contains sea moss that contains a whole range of beneficial fatty acids and minerals!
100 grams of Sea moss contains Omega-3 (47.0 mg), Omega-6 (2.0mg), and Protein (1.5 g) so when it is combined into a soap bar there is a massive moisturizing effect.
- 4 ounce bar of all natural hand made soap containing Seamoss, Honey, and Tea Tree oil. Made specifically to moisturize dry and patchy beard skin.
Norwegian artisan beard & body soap
If there’s one country that knows what beards need – it is Norway! This soap is made from ingredients from the fjords and mountains like Norwegian honey, and nettles. It smells like cedarwood and is mild enough to keep it present after use. If you are looking for a little something that is a little more special for your bearded man (or Viking) then this is a perfect little treat for them!
- Cleanses nourishes and smells simply amazing! Makes the coarse beard hair moisturized, nourished, and manageable.
- Each handcrafted soap bar is paper wrapped and labeled.
- NO: cheap oils, palm oil, preservatives, chemicals, or artificial colorants.
- 100% NATURAL and made in a very limited quantity in Norway. Long-lasting large bar, lets you save money over liquid shampoos & soaps.
- Ingredients: saponified oils of olive, organic shea butter, organic coconut, organic unrefined cold-pressed hemp seed, organic avocado butter, organic castor, rice bran, crystal clear Norwegian mountain water, local raw Norwegian summer honey, fjord grown organic nettles, cedarwood fragrance oil.
Beard Soap by TreeBeard
this has to be one of the most recommended soaps on Etsy! This beard soap has been made using an organic goats milk base with Australian blue clay, and Yorkshire tea… as well as the “original” blend of botanical oils you’ll find in TreeBeard Beard Balms (tea tree, cedarwood, and sweet basil). It contains no additional fragrances so it smells purely of what its made with (manly, woody, like an old shed, but in a good way, etc) It has been designed to be used only once or twice a week to cleanse/tone/moisturise your skin, fight dreaded “beard acne” and release your facial hair from build-up of beeswax etc. from beard balms.
The high quality ingredients means that the beard soap will leave your beard feeling soft and well conditioned. If you are looking for a regular beard soap that is a little bit more fancy than the typical beard soaps – this is for you!
CraftsmanSoapCo Tea Tree, Cedar, Lavender & Spruce
With the bright, earthy smell of the forest and a hint of lavender, our beard soap delivers a refreshing start to your beard care regiment. Made from a choice blend of oils, this bar is formulated to build a particularly thick, creamy lather for a thorough beard cleaning that won’t leave your beard or face dry. Use this soap to build a lather in your hands or directly against your beard, working it like a shampoo from the roots of your beard to the tip. Natural soap will gently loosen and lift excess oil and dirt without stripping your beard of its natural oils or drying your skin. With a scent of Cedar, Lavender, Sage, and Tea Tree, it’s a warm, woodsy scent that will help refresh your beard and face.
This soap, along with all of our other soaps and goods, is made using only naturally-derived scents and colors.
Order placed is for one bar of soap, net weight 4 oz.
Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Avocado Oil, Hemp Oil, Jojoba Oil, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Fragrance (crafted exclusively from essential oils)
Big Red All-In-One Beard and Body Soap
Big Red Clay Soap is mildly scented with Grapefruit, Tangerine and Bergamont, so as not to offend the senses but to offer a pleasing, subtle scent. We apply the same craftsmanship to our soaps as we do our combs, ensuring only the finest products come in contact with you and your beard. Only the highest quality natural ingredients have been used to provide nourishment for your skin and beard, leaving you looking your best. Keep it simple and stay groomed gentlemen.
- 100% all-natural ingredients
- Bentonite acts as a natural detoxifying and pulls toxins and impurities from the skin.
- Fats, Oils, and Butters keep skin and hair moisturized.
- Use as an all-in-one Soap to cleanse skin, beard, and hair.
- Crafted in small batches to ensure quality.
- Scented with natural essential oils.
Ingredients: Coconut Oil, Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Water, Lye, Palm Oil, Buttermilk, Goat’s Milk, Yogurt, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Orange Peel Granules, Oxide & Mica, Bentonite Clay, Essential Oil Blend.
So there we have some of the best beard soaps from around the internet! If you are looking for a daily, long-lasting beard soap then the Honest Amish brand is a great option for you. If, however, you want something a little more fancy and you are willing to give some homemade small batch beard soaps a try – then you should try something from Etsy. I love the extra sense of luxury that I feel when I am using a product that I know has a high number of quality ingredients! Perfect for treating yourself or for a gift for someone you love!
Maybe you want a little more control over your beard soap and are willing to get dirty in the kitchen. Well, it is surprisingly simple to make your own beard soap. With a little bit of high school level chemistry and a spare afternoon – you may just hit on the combination that is perfect for your beard.
Next, we’ll go over the simple ways that you can make your own beard soap!
DIY best beard soap
Making your own DIY soap bar is relatively easy. it is made from an oil or a fat mixed with an alkali (opposite of an acid). The oil is normally from an animal or plant, such as goats milk, jojoba oil, castor oil, and coconut oil. And the alkali in many homemade bars is sodium hydroxide – a simple chemical that can be found in your chemist.
The magic happens when the oils, fats, and alkali are mixed together and heated. In chemistry, we call this process saponification. It’s a simple mixture that can form soap bars. For liquid soap, you can use potassium hydroxide.
These are the basic tools that you’ll need:
Once you have these simple and inexpensive tools a simple recipe looks like this:
- 10 oz olive oil
- 20 oz coconut oil
- 9 oz distilled water
- 4.78 oz 100% pure sodium hydroxide
- Essential oils for scent (optional)
- Place the coconut oil in the slow cooker and turn it on to melt the coconut oil
- Once the coconut oil has melted add the olive oil to the slow cooker
- In a separate bowl mix the water and sodium hydroxide
- Once the sodium hydroxide has melted add it to the slow cooker
- Mix together with the immersion blender for 10 – 15 minutes or until it has thickened up.
- Set the timer to 50 minutes and place the slow cooker on LOW
- After 50 minutes add the essential oils and mix well
- Turn it out into the silicone molds and allow it to cool for 24 hours
This recipe is modified from The prairie homestead
After this amount of time the soap will be ready to use but let it sit for a week – which will further improve the texture and hardness of the soap. If you want to change the ratios or use other oils and fats be sure to check out the Lye Calculator to work out how much sodium hydroxide that you should be using.
Learning to make your own beard soap is a fantastic way to create a beard soap that is exactly what you need for your beard. Want it a little bit more moisturizing? Add more carrier oils to the mix!
Check out soap calc to get more information on the properties of your soap before you make it! It’s a really simple but powerful calculator that means you can get an idea of the properties of the soap based on the ingredients.
So there are the best recommendations and the best way to make DIY soap. Now, lets look at some frequently asked questions about beard soap!
Frequently asked questions about beard soap
There are a load of different beard soaps on the market! Each with their own properties and marketing spin. Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions about beard soap.
Is beard soap necessary?
When you are growing a beard it is common to use shampoo and hair bars in the early stages. They seem to work well enough and some (if not most) people just keep using the regular hair shampoo and conditioner for their beard. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing BUT there is a better way.
Beard soap and conditioner is specially formulated for beard hair. It’s very different to head hair and also the face makes a lot less oils than the top of your head. This means that you are probably stripping the beard hair of all of the natural oils! This will leave your beard wire and brittle. A dry beard is more prone to damage and breaks more easily.
So, while a beard soap is technically not such a bad thing for beards. It can cause dry and brittle hair. Stick with a bar of soap specially formulated for beards with all of the good oils and fatty acids that’ll leave your hair conditioned and feeling great!
Here are some other benifits of beard soap:
- Preserves the natural oils on your skin
- Hydrates the skin to stop beardruff
- Stops beard itch by keeping the hairs soft and supple.
Those reasons are more than enough for you to buy some beard soap! It’s really inexpensive and is the foundation of keeping your beard looking good everyday!
Is Dove soap good for beards?
Dove soap is marketed as being super hydrating for skin. The question is does it do the same for beards? Well it is formulated with a range of chemicals that are great for hydrating the skin and it uses a very mild soap (surfactant) as the cleaning agent. That means it probably will not dry your hair out as much as other soaps and shampoos. So, as far as your beard is concerned, it probably won’t do any damage.
Here is the ingredient list of dove:
sodium lauroyl isethionate, stearic acid, sodium tallowate, sodium palmitate, lauric acid and sodium isethionate. Water, sodium stearate, cocamidopropyl betaine, sodium cocoate, sodium palm kernelate, sodium chloride, tetrasodium ETDA, tetrasodium etidronate, maltol and titanium dioxide. Two of the key ingredients are the cleanser sodium lauroyl isethionate and the moisturizer stearic acid.
Although none of these ingredients will hurt a beard it is almost certainly better to use a soap that is formulated for a beard. The fewer and more organic the ingredients the better the beard soap is for your beard. Simple is better when it comes to your beard!
Should I wash my beard with soap or shampoo? Can I use soap on my beard?
It doesn’t matter if you wash your beard with soap or shampoo as long as the soap or shampoo is specially formulated for beards. Using a harsh shampoo that is formulated for heads or the body can strip the beard of its natural oils and cause it to dry out and become brittle and wild!
So, just like the advice above, stick to soaps and shampoos formulated for beards and you cannot go wrong! There are plenty to choose from. Take your time to test a few out and see if there are a couple of sample packs that you can buy to try a range of soaps. That way you can find the best for your beard! If you are not sure where to start – try this sample pack from Etsy:
What happens if you don’t wash your beard?
If you don’t wash your beard it will collect a lot of dirt and grime and that’s not the end of it! Regular washing also keeps your beard free of bacteria and spores that can cause it to smell! Check out my other article on beard bacteria if you are interested in knowing what is going on in your beard!
Also if you have a long beard and you do not wash it regularly the natural oils build-up at the base of the hairs which can lead to pimples and other sorts of ache and irritation issues. If you use products with wax in it – like beard balm, some butter, or straight beard wax – these can build up on your beard. The wax can only be removed by a good through shampooing! If you have too much wax in your beard it will start to look greasy and heavy – so it’s much better to wash it out and start fresh often!
So, it’s best to wash your beard every couple of days with a well-formulated beard shampoo and conditioner to keep it fresh and stink-free! You can wash your beard more frequently if you find that you need to. I wet my beard every day in the shower and use products every two to three days. Find a routine that works for you and stick with it for a fresh face and beard that won’t put people around you off their food!
Is cold water good for a beard?
Rinsing out the conditioner of your beard can be a great way to lock in the hydration! It also closes your pores so if you have dry skin it can help retain the hydration under your beard. So, YES, cold water can be good for a beard as it can help lock in the hydration from the products or shower.
It’s best to use hot and cold water while washing your face and beard. Start by using a warm (not hot) water for the beard sop and massage it deep into the beard to the skin. Then use warm water to rinse out the shampoo. Add the conditioner to your beard and then wash it out with cold water.
Using both hot and cold water can help you get the best effects of both types of water!
Does Face Wash damage a beard?
Face wash can contain a load of different ingredients and one of the most damaging to beards is alcohol. Alcohol is used to remove the natural oils from the skin and that can strip the beard hairs of the natural oils that it needs to look and stay healthy.
Check the ingredients of the face wash carefully and stay away from alcohol-based face wash
Special care should be taken with medicated face washes for acne or other conditions that will contain medicinal compounds that could quickly damage a beard and the hair on your face. If in doubt speak to the doctor who prescribed you the medicated face wash.
Conclusion
There are many types of beard soaps on the market and choosing the best one for you will take a bit of experimentation, As you are comparing the best beard soap for your beard, look at the ingredients. Take note of the effects that certain beard soaps have on your skin and hair.
Using a beard soap as the foundation of your bears maintainence routine will help ensure that your beard is remain fresh and conditioned! That’s what every bearded person wants, right?
Happy beard growing my friends and remember to enjoy the journey!
