You put 5 or 6 drops in your palm, hadn't the bottle told you how much you needed to put on, rub it in quickly and come to lunch and find your collar has a smudge of oil on it and your beard has a ring and your beard looks just like it did this morning. You think it's a different oil and order another bottle, and the same thing happens again a week later. There was no change in the product. Somehow it was processed.

Here's the secret of nearly no one who has never used it before: beard oil is not difficult to apply at all, but there are a lot of default mistakes that almost everyone makes in the first few weeks – and it has nothing to do with what bottle you bought. Behind the beginning potter's back, all four (amount, temp, time and tools, ingredients) are conspiring to make a good oil look bad, and any one of them is enough to work that magic alone. Learning how to use beard oil for beginners is less about buying an expensive product and more about applying it correctly from the very first day.

That doesn't mean that you did something wrong on purpose. It just indicates that no one gave you the real instructions.

A few additional drops doesn't imply a few additional days of softness.

When applying 5 or 6 or more drops to a beard less than an inch in length, you are probably putting too much oil on it.

This is important since any excess oil will just sit on top, rub off on your collar or pillow and end up giving your beard a greasy appearance instead of a well-groomed one. Men who use too much oil in the beginning seem to think they need to switch to another product, but their problem may actually stem from the wrong amount of oil per amount of hair.

Apply 3-4 drops for beards less than 1 inch, 5-6 drops if the beard is 1-3 inches and 7-8 drops when the beard exceeds 3 inches, applied once per day.

This is possible as it is matched with the volume of the product and hair so that the oil gets absorbed and not left on top where it will be seen as shine.

Cold Oil Sits on the Beard, Does not sink into it.

When applying the oil directly from the bottle without warming, there will be a clear oil sheen on the surface that may not absorb.

This is important to know because cold oil from a cool bottle is thicker and will not spread out as quickly as slightly warmed oil, and will tend to pool in the area where your palm first touches it when applied rather than uniformly. This is the same beard where a beginner once claimed that they had “enough” oil and yet did not see any improvement, the oil was not actually applied to most of the beard.

1. Rub the correct number of drops in your palms for 10-15 seconds until they are warm.

2. First, press palms together, and then work outward against the beard from the bottom of the beard.

This effect is because if the oil is warmed, it thins slightly, which means that it will be distributed over more hair follicles, rather than clumping in one area.

Judging Beard Oil by Day Three Skips the Day it works.

If you used an oil for a couple of days, and labeled it as "not doing anything," then you almost certainly didn't get it to work.

This is important since the results of using beard oil to combat continued dryness and frizz isn't going to happen overnight. The changes in texture and shine will become more apparent over the span of two weeks or so by using the oil on a regular basis. The guys who get it wrong, typically don't have some lousy oil, they just have the wrong time frame on their evaluation of the oil.

Make sure to use the product for at least 3-4 weeks, and assess it weekly rather than daily, before deciding if it works for you.

By day 2, if it still doesn't seem to be working, it's easy to think you need more oil, but more often than not, adding more oil isn't the answer, warming and distributing what you have already is.

This can work because it allows your skin, your eyes, your hair to get repeated exposure to the change and see it as a steady change rather than a one-time change.

If you miss the Comb Step, the oil will clump in 3 places of your beard instead of the entire beard.

If you are using your fingers as the application method, and you stop there, there's a good chance that your beard isn't uniformly coated with oil.

That's important because the fingers only brush the surface of the hair where they come in contact, and they skip the hair under and between the fingers completely and reveal this as patchy shine or as an oily beard in areas and dry in others. A comb can protrude through you where your hands can't.

1. Apply oil using palms, following the warming step above.

2. With a wide-tooth comb, comb through the beard root to tip for 20-30 seconds, in short sections.

This is because it doesn't just work on the outer layer of hair that your hands touched, but on every layer of hair.

Your skin may be unfamiliar with a beard, causing it to get irritated by the fragrant oil can that is being used to cut the beard.When the skin is new to a beard, it may become irritated from the use of a fragrant oil can to trim the beard.

If the itching or irritation of your skin has become worse after applying the oil, it is not the technique that is your problem, but the actual product.

This is something you should check as many budget beard oils rely on additional alcohol and cheap perfume to reach that price point and a fresh man who is slowly getting used to daily beard growth tends to be more sensitive than expected. Most times I've seen, a beginner focuses on some category of irritation that is actually coming from one particular cheap product that he calls "beard oil".

Read the ingredient label for alcohol/fragrance near the top, patch test on your jawline for 48 hours, and use a plain carrier oil such as jojoba or argan at 4-5 drops per day before applying to your skin.

This is because you are able to test the actual product of oiling a beard without misjudging the entire product due to the presence of irritants.

Integrating all components.

None of these five errors are actually related to choosing the wrong oil — they are habits that go right by the majority of beginning painters without anyone ever pointing them out. Set the amount without setting the timeline and the results are somewhere between inconsistent and invisible; or set the amount without preheating and it's the same.

The sensible beginning program is roughly this: measure drops to your actual beard length, make sure that you warm the oil in your palms before applying, commit to a real 3–4 week trial before evaluating the results and choose a alcohol free, simple oil that has not caused your skin to feel irritated.

Take some time to consider your options before deciding. Most guys can see the difference in the initial week, by week 2 or 3, they'll have softer and shinier hair and by week 5 the routine will finally become automatic, the first-time-yo-yo version will be replaced by the above.

It won't make a patchy beard or a very early beard grow into something it's not — beard oil works with the beard and skin you already have, it doesn't speed up the growth of beard in. That is genetics and time and not product.

But this iteration of this, the most for whom the vast majority of beginners gets stuck, isn't a bad-oil problem. Take a few measurements, heat it a bit, comb it through and give it real weeks, not days — odds are that the oil ring on your collar will be the last one you use.

FAQs

What is the recommended amount of beard oil for beginners?

If your beard is less than an inch long, use 3-4 drops; 1-3 inches, use 5-6 drops; more than 3 inches, use 7-8 drops. I'm not sure if that does any additional good beyond the first, as it usually just rolls onto your collar or pillowcase. The amount should be matched with length of beard rather than a fixed amount per day.

What is the time it takes for a beginner to see results from beard oil?

By the first week, most men will see a decrease in dryness and in the second or third weeks, they should see more consistent softness and shine. You'll not see a huge change after the initial application as beard oil works over a period of time and is not a quick fix. Allow new oil to be used for at least 3-4 weeks before evaluating for effectiveness.

If you are just beginning with beard oil, do you need a comb?

Yes, the wide teeth of the comb will make a difference in the distribution of the oil throughout the beard. With fingers alone you tend to just get the oil on the surface and don't get it throughout your beard. Once you've applied, you'll get rid of most of the patchy or streaky appearance by performing a quick 20–30 second comb-through.

Can bearded oil be used on a short beard?

No, but it has to be less than would be used for a longer beard. If you have a beard that is less than 1 inch, you will need 3-4 drops, as there is less beard to absorb the product. Early in the game, one of the most frequent causes of oily beard is using a full dropper over short beard.

Does beard oil give breakouts to beginners?

It can, typically because of the particular oil, not the practice of oiling. Any budget oils that contain extra alcohol or heavier synthetic fragrance will probably cause skin irritation in recovering beard skin. The easiest way to eliminate this early is by patch testing any new oil for 48 hours before using it all the way.

Is it okay to heat the beard oil before using it if you are a beginner?

I can attest to the difference in oil spreading if you warm it between your palms for 10-15 seconds prior to spreading it on the scalp. Cold oil, directly from the bottle, is thicker and will accumulate in any place where your hand touches it and not cover the whole beard. This little piece of information will help remedy the "it's not doing anything" mentality that many beginners experience at the outset.

If you are just about to begin your beard journey, what's the best beard oil for you?

A basic, alcohol-free carrier oil mixture, such as jojoba or argan, is usually the best place to begin. The ones that are generally recommended are the ones that are not harsh at all on the skin of the person as they are adjusting to having a beard and do not have any added fragrance or alcohol content as budget bottles might. It's crucial to look at the ingredients before purchasing more than looking out for a specific brand or fragrance.