/fa/ - Fashion

Female here. Obviously I don't have a beard, but I'm black so my hair has the texture nearly equivalent to pubic hair and I use quite a few natural oils so if you're interested in making your own mixtures or using individual oils, I can give a little perspective on them.


Castor oil: A thick little bugger but is good at giving your hair some shine. It's better for the roots I think, or if your strands need a heavy coat. It's known for stimulating hair growth and making patchy hair a little thicker. I personally like to put a little on my brows before I sleep. Because it's so thick, it may be best to dilute it with other oils. For my scalp, I use it in a mixture of olive or grapeseed:coconut:castor oils with a 1:1:2 ratio. I massage it in two, maybe three days a week. If your grocery store carries it, it'll probably be in the laxative section. If not, you can find it at any vitamin store.

There's also the more expensive Jamaican Black castor oil, but I've never tried it and from what I hear, it smells like "cigarettes" or "old folks". But some people swear by it and says that it's much better than the regular store-bought stuff.


Grapeseed oil: An oil that's on the thinner side. Rich in Vitamin E, which is good for hair. I guess it could be more of a rationed alternative to buying actual Vitamin E oil. It's slick and softening but beware if your skin is prone to breakouts because thinner oils are more likely to clog the pores. A thicker alternative I think would be Olive oil. Available at any store.


Olive oil: With oils, it's best to opt with extra virgin, but some people may be put off by the smell of olive oil when it's extra virgin. I personally like it. Gives good nourishment to the roots and also provides a good shine. Grapeseed oil's a possible alternative if you think you won't like the smell of olive oil.


Argan oil: Eh, it was alright. Not horrible, but I didn't feel it lived up to the hype. It was certainly an interesting oil. It's said to be "balancing" so I guess that's why it didn't give me the slickness that I like. I suppose for that reason, it would be better for people who are going to put it near their face. The one thing I did like was that it cut my hair's drying time by a fraction. I honestly don't know where to find it in a local store; I bought mine off of the internet.


Coconut oil: My true wonder oil. Never has any oil made my hair feel so soft and manageable. It's great for helping hair retain its moisture and protein. If you don't want to keep it in your beard hair, it works as a great conditioner/hair mask, so you can rinse it out and still reap the benefits. Just make sure it's warm, though. It's one of the main ingredients in my hot oil treatments. But what I basically use it for is to seal in my moisturizer at night. I also like to use it on my skin following a lotion-down after my shower. You can find it in grocery stores, but you want the unrefined, extra virgin stuff that smells like cookies, not the refined stuff that smells like nothing. The unrefined stuff is a litter harder to find in grocery stores though, but it's pretty accessible in whole food stores and some vitamin shops.


As far as essential oils go (the oils I've mentioned thus far are called "carrier oils" because they're supposed to "carry" essential oils since they're usually too potent for use right out of the bottle), I haven't dabbled too much in those except for tea tree oil. It's antibacterial and anti-fungal. Like many essential oils, it's good for stimulating the blood flow to the scalp, resulting in better hair growth. I like to drop some in my scalp oil mixture.


I know that they sell actual beard oil, but my guess is that it's most likely made with one of these oils, or the even cheaper soybean oil (which isn't terrible, but that's basically the oil used in the standard Crisco).
I hope this helps!

>>2588

I wish i had a beard so i could use that advice.