Is Beard Oil a Modern Invention?
7 minute read
Beard oils have risen in popularity in the beard care world over the past few years, seemingly as a product which many are unaware of existing. Even in areas with large amounts of beards in the population, the beard owners aren’t familiar with the term or the concept. It may come as a surprise then that beard oils have been a part of beard care over thousands of years, going far back into ancient times. In fact, much like natural soaps, the core concepts of making beard oils have largely remained the same throughout the eras. Let’s take a look at how beard oils have evolved over time to become what they are today.
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon, sporting one ancient beard.
A Tradition Across Millenia
As with many things in our history, beard oils can be traced back thousands of years to many of the world’s great civilizations of the yesteryear, including the Egyptians, Babylonians and Greeks. Many cultures have adopted their own version of beard oils, the meaning behind them, and how they integrated them into their care routine based on the cultural beliefs and supply capabilities of their individual civilizations.
Beard oils are first recorded as being present in Egypt as far back as 3000 BC, being used to help adhere to the principles of order and cleanliness.
Many different civilizations used similar ingredients. Some of the most popular are Castor oil, Almond oil, Myrrh oil, Frankincense, and Cedarwood oil.
Style meant status. Beard oils were used by men of ancient civilizations to help showcase their masculinity and positions in society, as a well kept beard meant you weren’t part of the common folk.
Both isolated and blended oils were commonly used based on the beliefs and needs of the person. Oils could be selected for a combination of religious, grooming and health needs.
Pressing, distillation and extraction methods of obtaining oils from plants were started in these ancient civilizations. These were refined and evolved over time to become the methods we use today to obtain our ingredients.
While there’s no evidence that Vikings blended beard oils, they did apply locally sourced oils to their beards.
Growth During the Medieval Era
Around the year 800 AD, a contraption called the alembic, the world’s first reliable form of distillation, was introduced to the world by a scientist named Jabir ibn Hayyan (you may recognize the word alembic as it’s also prominent in the world of alcohol). This marked the beginning of a period where scientific theories began to crop up more commonly throughout Europe, creating a boom in the methods of gathering higher quality ingredients for beard oils.
Thanks to the writings of Islamic scientists, European apothecaries and herbalists were able to slowly incorporate distillation into their nations throughout the Medieval Era.
With the spread of knowledge and additional testing, Europeans were able to improve their skills at distilling oils for scents and medicinal purposes, thus incorporating it into their own practices.
While Europe was discovering the use of beard oil, one particular culture took a liking to it: The Vikings. Using locally sourced oils, Vikings would apply beard oils to help maintain the famous beards that are attributed to them today.
Artwork of two Victorian men. Unknown artist, circa 1872
An Industrial Revolution
The 19th century was a period of radical development in cultures and technologies, which helped mold the usage of beard oil to be closer to what it is today. Particularly due to Victorian society, grooming standards evolved hand in hand with beard oils. As history progressed through the Industrial Revolution, accessibility and productivity of the product changed dramatically.
Leading up to the Victorian era of influence a shaved face was favored by many, being influenced by European courts, religious beliefs, and classical aesthetics.
The Victorian era reintroduced the idea of facial hair as a sign of masculinity to the wider European continent, bringing back the ideas of honor, masculinity and grooming standards for those with facial hair.
The advent of the barber came during this period in time, with grooming and styling practices evolving as barbers became increasingly skilled at their craft.
On the industrial side, it had become far cheaper to gather the ingredients for both the glass bottles and the oils to be put into them. In tandem with economic growth in the middle and even lower classes, this meant the product could be accessed by more people than before.
The first standardized oils were introduced with the advancements in technologies and economics. A bottle with a brand now meant that customers of beard oil makers could now expect a particular scent and quality when purchasing a specific product.
Many techniques from the past are forgotten due to changing standards making them irrelevant.
If Beard Oil Isn’t New, Why Isn’t It Well Known?
At some point, American society had to forget that beard oils were a grooming tool on the larger scale - and subsequently rediscover it. We can look towards the early-mid 20th century to see the state of America and see what influences were upon it that could cause us to forget.
In the 1920s we had recently come out of World War 1, bringing along the influences of the American military in both this war and the one to follow. Having a clean shave was pertinent in the services during that time, with it assisting in the use of life saving military equipment such as gas masks in addition to the perceived cultural and strategic benefits.
The fashion of the era had progressed from the Victorian era look into one with less frills and flashes. America had a “clean” look to it, which included a clean shave to adhere to the polished look which was rising in popularity.
The movie industry had begun to grow, and with it the influence of brand new movie stars. Male actors of the day largely opted for slicked back hair and a shaved face.
Safety razors were now accessible to the average man at home, meaning that a shaven face wasn’t only desirable, but was now affordably attainable.
Beard Oil: A Resurgence in Modern Society
Beard oils have been on a slow climb back into the minds of popular knowledge, beginning with the reintroduction of beards into fashion in the 1960s. Between the counterculture of the day, the popularity of music and movie icons sporting beards, and a slow shift towards an acceptance of a man’s “natural” look, the prominence of the beard itself has been on the rise. We’ve also recently employed the culmination of thousands of years of scientific progression in obtaining the highest quality ingredients for the product.
Facial hair as a statement of individuality has been progressively on the rise over the last several decades, meaning that the need for a product to enable those various styles has risen as well.
Grooming standards have evolved over the years with the introduction of mass produced hair care products paving the way for well kept, healthy looking hair on both the scalp and the face.
Our understanding of the nature of the ingredients has deepened vastly, which has in turn caused businesses to adapt their methods of obtaining ingredients. Newer methods of cold pressing, hydrodistillation and CO2 extraction have been developed to ensure higher quality oils to create the best products.
Information on the benefits of oils, the evolution of growing and obtaining raw materials, and the progression of the business ecosystem related to beard oils have allowed their makers to craft innovative combinations of carrier and essential oils.
The importance of hydrating not only the beard, but the skin underneath has risen in understanding among both researchers and the general public.
Thanks to social media and the influencers on those platforms, beard oil is beginning to become a product which may be known to the average household in America. It’s a historied product with roots in many eras and civilizations, which will now make another footnote in human history with its increasing popularity in the early 21st century. We would recommend to anyone with a beard that they try to incorporate beard oil into their regular grooming routine and enter the world that is beard care.
About the author:
Bill Crawford is a professional Santa who has been handcrafting beard oils for others since 2017. What began as a necessity for himself has turned into a passion for researching the best ingredients and practices for beard care products, which he shares in blogs to the world.