Beards can get dry, and as a result of having a dry beard you may be wondering, “Can you use hair conditioner in my beard?”
Whether your beard is dry or you ran out of beard conditioner and are trying to find out whether or not you can use hair conditioner in your beard as an alternative, we hope we can help guide you in the right direction and answer your question and any others you might have about conditioning your beard.
Can I Use Hair Conditioner on My Beard?
Answer: No.
Your hair conditioner does a great job of keeping your hair silky by moisturizing your hair and your scalp. You may be asking yourself if you can use that same hair conditioner on your beard to get the same results. The easy answer is that you probably shouldn’t try it.

It would be convenient if there was a 7-in-1 hygiene product, but the truth is that different areas of your skin have different sensitivities (the scalp is one of the thickest areas of skin on the human body). The ingredients in a regular hair conditioner would probably aggravate the skin on your face, but there is an alternative: beard conditioner.
Beard conditioners and hair conditioners are made with the same purpose in mind: to keep your hair and the underlying surface of your skin looking beautiful and healthy. The difference is the targeted area. Your beard conditioner will contain more natural oils and less irritation inducing chemicals that your scalp can resist, keeping your face feeling comfortable and your beard looking luxurious.
How Often Should You Condition Your Beard?
You may already know this but washing your facial hair (we recommend a beard shampoo for this) too frequently can strip the oils from your beard and leave it dry and itchy. To prevent this, you should only wash your beard two to three times a week and always follow up with a beard conditioner or softener (don’t forget to rinse it out).
If your occupation keeps you dirty, then it is okay to increase the frequency that you wash and condition your beard. It’s also a good idea to wash more often if you have oily skin because the more oil you build up on your face the more bacterium develops. The opposite is true as well; If you have a drier face or live in a dry environment you do not need to wash your beard as often.
In short, how often you should condition your beard depends on how often you wash your beard (which in turn depends on individual factors such as dryness and cleanliness). Maintaining your beard with a suitable conditioner will keep your beard soft and prevent unsightly beard dandruff.
However, if you have a beard on the smaller side, you may find that a beard conditioner is more than you need. If that is the case, you can try using a beard oil instead.
We Are Launching a Podcast!
Enter your email below to be notified when we launch The Gentleman’s Playbook Podcast, coming late 2021! Also, click here to see what we have in store!
Does Conditioning Your Beard Help it Grow?
Answer: Yes.
Something that should be obvious to a lot of us is that healthier hair will grow better. Of course, this means that not maintaining your beard with a proper regimen and expecting explosive beard growth is like taking someone’s shoes away and telling them to run a mile.
Beard conditioners come with natural oils (look for jojoba or argan oils) and nutrients that will feed your hair and lock in moisture. This will give your beard a healthy and full look while also preventing easy damage to your facial hair.
Be careful, because some conditioners might have ingredients that will make your beard look better but will not improve the health of your facial hair.
What are Some Good Beard Conditioners?
We’ve talked about using beard conditioners quite a bit in this post and in many other posts on The Gentleman’s Playbook. We figured it would be fitting to share some recommendations on quality beard conditioners you can use to keep your beard healthy, soft, and luxurious.
Viking Revolution Beard Wash & Beard Conditioner Set
The Viking Revolution beard wash and conditioner set is made with their best beard oil so that your beard gets the most moisturizing as possible, with a pleasant sandalwood aroma. No longer will you have to worry about an itchy or flaky beard, because this beard wash set has both argan and jojoba oils for excellent nourishment. Viking Revolution is passionate about creating beard products of the best quality by using top ingredients. You also don’t have to stress about your product disappearing too quickly, as both the beard wash and conditioner come in 17-ounce bottles.
- Fragrance: Sandalwood
- Essential Oils: No
- Bottle Size: 2x 17-oz. Bottles
- Benefit 1: Large Product Volume
- Benefit 2: Works for All Beard Types
Polished Gentleman Beard Shampoo and Conditioner Set
If you want to be a polished gentleman then you need to polish your beard with Polished Gentleman’s beard shampoo and conditioner set. Packed with ingredients to nourish your beard and face like shea and cocoa butter, Polished Gentleman comes through for your face. You’ll want to read all about the special ingredients yourself, because quite frankly there are more than a few. Even after adding everything but the kitchen sink, Polished Gentleman makes sure to carefully balance the pH of their product to go hand in hand with your face.
- Fragrance: Tea Tree
- Essential Oils: Tea Tree, Peppermint
- Bottle Size: 2x 8-oz. Bottles
- Numbers: Roman Numerals
- Hands: 3
- Benefit 1: Manuka Honey Antibacterial
- Benefit 2: Paraben Free
The Art of Shaving Beard Conditioner
The Art of Shaving Beard Conditioner may come in a small bottle but it can pack a big punch. Unlike the previous products, this one is not a kit but comes only with a conditioner and not a wash. With jojoba oil to moisturize and peppermint oil to stimulate hair growth you will get a pleasant tingle while keeping your beard hydrated. Even though 4 ounces does not seem like a lot, this conditioner is very dense and can even last up to six months. The Art of Shaving designed this beard conditioner to be safe for daily use, so you will not have to stress about over doing it.
- Fragrance: Peppermint
- Essential Oils: Peppermint Oil
- Bottle Size: 4 Fluid Oz.
- Benefit 1: Safe for Daily Use
Can I Use Hair Conditioner in My Beard?
No, you cannot and should not use hair conditioner in your beard. There are a lot of delicate oils that exist within your beard, and hair conditioner is much too harsh and will end up stripping your beard of it’s natural oils.
The best way to condition your beard is either with a beard conditioner that’s intended for use on facial hair, or by using beard oil twice a day (after your shower and before bed).
We Are Launching a Podcast!
Enter your email below to be notified when we launch The Gentleman’s Playbook Podcast, coming late 2021! Also, click here to see what we have in store!