Why Jojoba Oil for My Beard?

Jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) is native to southern Arizona and California, and northwestern Mexico. Native Americans used it to treat wounds and other skin issues. It started being used all over the world in the latter half of the 20^th century because sperm whale oil was made illegal, to preserve the sperm whale populations.

It’s also important to note that jojoba is “likely unsafe” for anyone if ingested orally. It contains erucic acid, which can cause some major side effects like heart damage. Needless to say, keep it for your facial skin and beard, don’t try to hydrate your insides with it…

Aside from that, jojoba oil has amazing properties for the skin and hair. This is definitely an oil you should look out for in your beard oil, hence why we use it in our beard oil recipe.

Composition

Jojoba oil is extracted from jojoba seeds as a wax, which adds up to about half of the seed’s weight. This wax contains many ingredients that have great benefits to the skin and hair, like vitamin E, vitamin B complex, iodine, as well as three fatty acids (erucic, gadoleic, and oleic).

Benefits for the skin

All these components found in jojoba oil mean serious benefits to the skin. It’s important for you to understand that for a beard oil to be effective and help with growth, it MUST condition and nourish the skin. If it doesn’t, due to the lack of good ingredients, it’s more a cosmetic.

Very Moisturizing

One of the biggest impediments to beard growth is overly dry skin. This leads to the production of weak hairs that are very brittle and will break easily. Jojoba oil doesn’t evaporate when applied to the skin, therefore it traps in the moisture, leaving you feeling hydrated throughout the day.

Antibacterial and antifungal

Jojoba oil’s contents will help eliminate bacteria and fungus on the skin, which usually cause ingrown hairs, pimples, and other types of skin irritation. There is bacteria on our face, it’s completely normal, but too much leads to issues.

Controls sebum secretions

An interesting aspect of jojoba oil is its similarity with sebum, the oil your skin produces to keep itself healthy. It’s so similar, your skin can’t even tell the difference between the two! This means that your skin thinks it has enough sebum and will in turn not produce more.

Helps heal wounds

According to a study conducted in 2011, it was found that jojoba oil speeds up wound closures and stimulates the synthesis of collagen. Plainly put, it’s the substance that keeps the bodily tissues together. If you have ingrown hairs, zits, cuts from shaving, jojoba oil will help your body heal those areas.

Benefits for the hair

Great benefits to the skin, mean great benefits to the hair as well. Jojoba is extremely nourishing for the hair and it will help with keeping it healthy and shiny.

Can treat alopecia and hair loss

Often, hair loss is caused by blocked hair follicles, typically because of sebum. Jojoba oil will dissolve the sebum that is clogging the pores/follicles, which will reduce hair loss.

Encourages hair growth

Your body needs proteins to generate new hair cells, and because jojoba oil contains so many, it encourages the development of hair cells and stimulates blood flow to the follicles, bringing more nutrients.

Improves hair texture

The fatty acids contained in jojoba oil will coat the hairs, making them silky smooth with a nice sheen. If your hair (in this case, beard hair) is coarse and feels brushy, a bit of jojoba oil should do the trick!

Conclusion

The benefits of jojoba oil for the skin and hair are far-reaching, this oil can even help to treat certain skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. If you’re looking for an effective beard oil, you should look for jojoba oil in the ingredients. We suggest you also read our article about “growth oils”, you might find it very helpful!