DIY Beard Oil, Cedarwood + Black Pepper

I was looking for Christmas gifts and kept seeing beard oils popping up everywhere. They seemed liked the perfect gift! Until I realized they were $25-$40. For 1 oz. A little digging convinced me this was an easy diy.

Beard oils are just a carrier oil with essential oils thrown in! And because we skipped out on buying a Christmas tree this year, I’ve been craving pine smells. This cedarwood beard oil diy brings a bit of woodsy appeal into our morning routines. I made a small 1 oz. size for a gift but I loved the scent so much I’m keeping a batch to use as an after-shower body oil.

This diy is super simple, but a huge part of it is doing the research and testing to make sure it turns out well. I picked each ingredient for specific purposes- if you’re curious as to the thought process behind selecting each ingredient, hop down to after the diy steps for more information!

Supplies
dark amber, glass bottle
funnel
jojoba oil
cedarwood essential oil
black pepper essential oil
orange essential oil

It’s all about the ratios when mixing essential oils. Ratios let you to scale up or down the potency without losing the scent profile. Play around with the scents in a small glass bowl to see what you like. I went with a 6:3:1 cedarwood, black pepper, sweet orange.

After getting the essential oil mixture down, funnel into the bottle. Fill the rest of the way with jojoba and give it a good shake. Easy peezy.

Originally I was going to create some printable labels for this diy but thought that paper labels would get ruined in the bathroom. So instead I used my favorite white gel pen and scrawled my very generic (a nailpolish naming career is not in my cards) beard oil name on a scrap piece of leather and tied it on with twine.

Alright, so you’re interested in what makes this beard oil so special. Let’s start with the carrier oil: jojoba oil. Out of all the possible carrier oils (coconut, almond, avocado, etc.) jojoba oil has the most neutral scent and mimics our own natural oils most closely. This makes it great for sensitive skin! To get the most skin benefits, look for ‘cold pressed’ jojoba. This method of extraction keeps the most of the jojoba seed’s nutrients.

Cedarwood is a great essential oil but make sure you know which one you’re buying! Look for ‘Atlas Cedarwood’ or ‘Himalayan Cedarwood’. ‘Texas Cedarwood’ and ‘Virginia Cedarwood’ belong to the Juniper family and won’t have the same scent or properties. Besides smelling great, there are claims Cedarwood improves hair health, soothes skin, and aids breathing problems. All excellent benefits for a beard oil! If you don’t have cedarwood try substituting with frankincense, sandalwood, or cypress oils.

With cedarwood as the base, the black pepper brings warmth and antibacterial properties while the orange rounds it out with a sweet and energizing finish.

Now that you spent the time on good ingredients, let’s make sure it keeps. Throwing it back to high school chemistry, remember that UV light will break down oil, making it less potent and expire more quickly. You’ll want to use an amber bottle to keep UV from reaching the oil blend, much like your favorite beer.

Phew! A few minutes of research, lots of money saved, and a custom scented gift. All in all a good day for diy! What scents are you going to try?

My collection of essential oils keeps growing! I’m loving all the different ways to use them around the house during the holidays. Keep an eye out for this diy and others in Thursday’s gift guide. This week’s theme is ‘Good, Clean Fun.’