Today I'm handing my blog over to Simon for a review...
Written by Simon – Jen has no need for beard oil.
Many's the time I've tried to grow a beard, and many's the time I've given up because it gets too damn itchy. One particular time, after struggling through “Mo-vember” I remember getting up at about 4AM to shave it off because I just couldn't sleep. Sooner of later this always happens and I go back to having a bald face.
I've got quite thick, straight hair but it doesn't lie flat on my scalp, it kinda grows straight out. Add to that the fact that there's a fair amount of grey hairs in my beard these days, which seem even thicker and more wirey, and that's probably part of the problem I have with keeping a beard, the other part being a pathetic inability to stick with anything that causes me the slightest discomfort.
Anyway, when attending the Love Natural, Love Organic show in July this year, Jen got chatting to Chris from Good Day Organics (gooddayorganics.com) who has recently updated the branding on their men's range. When Jen got home she enthused about their products in general and mentioned that they did a beard oil. A mere two months later I'd picked myself up a 50ml bottle from their website. I'd looked about a bit and considered a couple of other options but at £13.00 with free postage theirs seemed like the best value.
I don't want to just re-type the blurb from their website but the product is Soil Association certified 100% Organic, Vegan friendly and Cruelty Free. Its supposed to soften the hair itself and moisturise the skin underneath. This sounded good to me – it does two things, right? And the ingredients list is just five different oils, nothing unpronounceable or sinister sounding.
First things first, the packaging looks pretty good to my mind – nicely packaged cardboard box in bright yellow (they also do wooden boxed gift sets) and the bottle itself is brown glass with a rubber bulbed pipette dropper in the cap to apply. Even a nice handwritten note in the box from Chris to thank me for my purchase and let him know if I'd got any questions.
I really like the dropper, I just squeeze five or six drops into my hand and rub it into my beard. Haven't spilt it yet and no waste. The oil is very light and soaks right in; even right after you can barely tell it's there – perhaps just a slight shine to the hair? Anything left on my fingers soaks in quick too; I don't have to wash it off. As it goes on it does have a very faint smell – the nearest I can come to is the toasted sesame oil used in some Chinese dishes, which I think is nice. However, even though I'm literally rubbing it in under my very nose I can't smell it once it's soaked in a few moments later.
So, the important part, does it work? Yes. I'm currently enjoying a personal best in terms of beard preservation, having kept my hairy chin for a couple of months now. I use the oil after showering and towel-drying my face and it keeps it comfortable all day and all night. The beard is certainly softer but more important to me is that my skin underneath doesn't get dry or itchy. The real acid test will be if it keeps working through winter, riding my bike to work on those cold, windy mornings. Maybe I'll need to start applying it morning and night? I'll try and remember to do an update after the bleak misery of the British winter is over.
After roughly a month of use I've not made much of a dent in the oil level and I think that the 50ml bottle will probably last me a good six months. £2 a month for non-itchy skin and a glorious beard? Can't be bad. I'll be getting some more when it runs out.
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