Should You Apply Beard Oil Before Bed?

There is no denying the benefits of beard oil.

The mixture of carrier oil and essential oils not only makes your beard smell amazing, but it can help condition your whiskers and keep your skin well moisturized to make your beard also feel great.

But here’s the deal:

Most guys just apply their beard oil in the morning and head off on their day – and that’s completely fine!

After all, you want to look your very best before you see anyone, right?But the other day, I was checking out Reddit (/r/beards) and looking through some common questions guys had about beard care, and this one jumped out at me:

screencap of a beard care question

It’s a good one!

Even though only a couple of people chimed in on it, I still feel it was an interesting notion as we have always recommended men on here just to apply beard oil in the morning.

After a bit of research and field testing, the results were as follows:

You might want to consider a nighttime application of a conditioner to your beard, but probably not traditional beard oil.

Here’s why:

You Can Apply Beard Oil At Night, But Should You?

diagram showing potential beard and skin problems when overapplying a conditioner

Nothing is stopping you from applying some beard oil before you hit the sack, and it’s something we would largely have no qualms about.

But here’s the deal:

There is such a thing as over-application when it comes to beard oil.

So, if you are making an application in the morning, you will want to make sure that you exercise a bit of restraint in the evening hours.

Here’s why:

If you load up your beard with too much oil, it will, of course, look greasy.

While that seems pretty obvious, the other potential problem will have to do with your skin.

Just like when following your preferred skincare routine, you need to make sure you respect the signs that your body is showing you.

So, if you start to break out or notice clogged pores, blackheads, bumpy, or just generally oily skin, then you might want to lay off the gas pedal a bit with the application.

But that’s just scratching the surface with the over-moisturizing aspects.

Of course, beard oil is more than just a moisturizer.  The other aspect to consider is the fragrance.

Essential oils, which provide the scent of beard oil, are incredibly potent.

While the science is still out on their effectiveness, when it comes to applying it onto your skin 24/7 – you will not only start to see diminishing returns, but it’s probably just not a good idea as it could cause mild irritation.

We recommend that if you are doubling up on the application of your beard oil, then you will want to do the following:

Use a simple (and very mild) carrier oil like jojoba oil instead of scented beard oil.

Carrier oils make up about 95% of any given beard oil anyways and are the sole ingredient that does all the good stuff to make your beard look great.

By getting just the raw ingredient, not only will your wallet thank you, but it will also be free of any of the extra stuff like essential oils, synthetic fragrances, etc.

If you are looking to pick this up, then we would recommend checking out sites like Amazon as they have a fairly comprehensive (and dare I say better) selection than what you will find locally.

Here’s one particular carrier oil that we have used several times with excellent results.

Applying Night-Time Beard Oil Is Different Than Daytime Application

When you are applying your beard oil or carrier oil at night, you want to do things just a little bit differently.

Without beating around the bush, just make sure you reduce the application by half.

So instead of a dime size amount like normal, go with about five drops (adjust accordingly for beard length).

The goal here is to have a very light application that hardly coats both your beard and skin.

Also, you want to make sure you do this about 30 minutes before you go to bed (so it can fully absorb).

This will not only help any of the adverse side effects that we covered above when it comes to over-application, but it will also reduce the transfer of oil from your beard to the pillowcase. Otherwise, consider wearing a beard bonnet to prevent the transfer of product.

Will You Have A Better Looking Beard?

Absolutely.

You are adding a layer of moisture to your beard that will feel incredible.

But for you to thoroughly look your best, you just need to make sure that you practice repeated application and adjust accordingly based on the signs your skin and beard are showing.

So be sure to do a few before/after pics and compare the results to see if you are happy with them.

Can You Skip Daytime And Go Straight To Night Time Application?

Yes (with a caveat).

If you are not a fan of applying beard oil in the morning, just using it in the evening is completely fine.

But here’s the deal:

When you wake up in the morning and jump in the shower, you want to make sure that you don’t just use a standard bar of soap on your face.

This will not only strip out all the oil, but it will dry out your beard and reverse many of the effects that the previous night’s oil application did!

So be sure that you just use either a natural bar of soap or an actual beard wash when cleansing your beard.  

These soaps are designed to scrub away the dirt and grime while leaving behind the good oils and moisture for your skin.

This way, your beard will still look and feel great (if not better) as it did before you jumped in the shower.

For Intense Night-Time Repair

isolated shot of a beard balm tin

The goal of this article was to talk about beard oil before bed and whether you should be doing it.

But we would be remiss if we didn’t at the very least talk about beard balm.

If you are looking to apply the evening beard oil as a second application due to dry skin or perhaps beardruff, then you might want to consider switching up your beard care routine.

Beard balm not only contains carrier oils to deliver a splash of moisture to your skin and beard, but it also has butter (typically shea or cocoa) along with beeswax.

The butter not only helps your skin on a secondary level by working in tandem with the carrier oil, but the beeswax also acts as a protectant and to helps lock in the moisture to your face.

This can be advantageous, especially if you are in an arid climate and looking for something a bit more effective than just a light coat of carrier oil.

Again, like the beard oil, you will want to get a beard balm free of any fragrance, not only to save your nose for the night but to be a bit more gentle on your skin while you sleep.

Taking Ownership In Your Beard And Skin

All of the grooming products in the world won’t make a lick of difference if you don’t practice application regularly and know when to practice restraint.

So be sure that you take notice of the subtle changes in your skin and beard with increased use (this is why we mentioned earlier to take pictures to document).

This will be the best way to make sure you get the results that you desire.

Adam Williams

As the lead editor of Tools of Men, Adam loves men's grooming products. Particularly of interest is managing facial hair and perfecting the art of the modern man's skincare routine. His work has been featured or quoted in several publications, including New York Magazine, Vice, Sharpologist, MIC, Elite Daily, and more. When Adam isn't working, he enjoys spending time with his two little kids who keep him both on his toes and young at heart.

Ask a Question