Their beard oils, as well as other beard oils regularly passed off as “beard growth oils” are often loaded with DHT inhibitors. DHT or Dihydrotestosterone is an androgen hormone that is directly responsible for androgenic hair growth and development, which includes facial hair. So if your beard needs DHT in order to grow, how can a product that inhibits it’s production help you grow a beard? The simple answer is: It doesn’t.
See, DHT plays a pretty big role in hair loss in cases of male pattern baldness. People suffering from MPB are sensitive to normal levels of DHT, not necessarily because they have high levels of DHT, but more so because of the fact that their hair follicles have more androgen receptors that are readily available to accept DHT and allow it to bind to their follicles. Unfortunately for men and with AGA [Androgenetic alopecia], this means that even their normal levels of DHT can result in the androgen hormone binding to their hair follicles, causing miniaturization of the follicles. Products containing DHT inhibitors have been proven to help reverse AGA and help regrow hair on the scalp. Because of this, companies often make the mistake in assuming that if a product is good for the hair on your head, it must be good for your beard. Little do they know, that’s not how it works. Those products while helpful for regrowing hair on your head can actually be pretty harmful to your facial hair growth and development.
It’s best to avoid any oils that claim to “thicken your beard hair” because there are no oils out there that have been proven to promote new growth or to thicken your beard hair. In fact, most commercially available beard oils contain potent DHT inhibitors so it’s best to just make your own at home using simple ingredients like Jojoba oil, Peppermint oil and Bergamot.
Beard Supplements:
The side-kick of “Beard Growth Oils” is the infamous “Beard Supplement”. A vitamin that they claim will strengthen your hair, increase thickness and fill in thin spots to overall give you a fuller beard. This, just like the “Beard Growth Oil” is also BS. Their “Beard Supplement” is really just a severely overpriced multivitamin with a beard on the label. If you look at the ingredients in these so-called “Beard Supplements” you’ll see they contain the exact same vitamins and minerals as any normal once-a-day multi-vitamin that you can get over the counter at any pharmacy for a few bucks.
These companies know people will do anything to grow a thicker, fuller beard so they take advantage of that by repacking multivitamins, slapping a beard on the label and charging $90 for a bottle. These “beard supplements” will never give you a fuller beard, nor will they do most of the other farfetched things those companies like to claim. They might help improve over-all hair health but you can obtain that just by eating a properly balanced diet and/or taking a generic multi-vitamin for a fraction of the cost.
Overall, I suggest you avoid any products claiming to help you grow a “fuller, thicker beard” as 9/10 of them will never do the things they claim and will usually only result in wasted time and money.
So what will help?
As of right now, unfortunately, the only proven method to increase facial hair is a potent hair-growth drug called “Minoxidil”. The most well-known brand of Minoxidil is Rogaine (known as Regaine outside of the US), but there are various other brands of Minoxidil that work just as well and for a fraction of the cost. Widely available in most pharmacies across the world, as well as through various online vendors such as Amazon and eBay, Minoxidil has been helping men and women regrow the hair on their balding domes for decades. One observed side-effect of Minoxidil is facial hair growth (yes, in women too).
For years, men have been using Minoxidil to improve their beards in all of the ways those “Beard Growth Oils” and “Beard Supplements” never could. One popular Facebook group called “The Minox Beard Spot” has amassed over 55,000 members, all of which have been documenting their experience with Minoxidil. Most have shown very promising results in as little as 3 months. Unfortunately, Minoxidil is not a short-term solution. It may take several months, or even years of use to achieve the beard you desire with Minoxidil. Unlike the scalp, your facial hair gains can be permanent with Minoxidil given enough time. The goal is to achieve not only a full beard, but a terminal beard. This means allowing the newly sprouted beard hairs to reach full maturation before hopping off of Minoxidil. If you stop using it too soon, the immature hairs may not receive enough of a blood supply on their own and may fall out, but if you use Minoxidil long enough for those newly vitalized follicles to develop their own reliable blood flow, they can mature into terminal hairs and should remain on your face even after you stop using Minoxidil.
Now, it should go without saying that Minoxidil is a drug, and as a drug, you should expect there to be some side effects. The most common side effects are pretty harmless for the most part but there are some more serious side effects that you should be aware of. The more common and less serious side effects include headaches, dizziness, dryness, itchiness, redness of the skin, irritation, fatigue and hair growth in other areas of your body. While some of these may sound pretty bad, they are actually fairly mild for the most part and usually only last a few days if you even experience them at all. The extra hair growth, for the most part, should fall out once you stop using MInoxidil.
The more serious, but also less common side effects include fainting, chest pain, swelling of hands/feet, unusual weight gain and difficulty breathing especially when lying down. These are pretty rare and are usually a result of using a higher dose of Minoxidil than is recommended. Another thing you may experience while using Minoxidil is an increased heartbeat or heart palpitations. This sounds super scary, but really it’s not that bad and actually hasn’t been shown to be harmful. The reason this happens is because Minoxidil is a vasodilator, meaning it causes your blood vessels to dilate, resulting in increased blood flow. This allows more blood to get to your hair follicles, but this also means that your heart may have to beat a little faster or harder sometimes in order to compensate for the flow of blood. It’s not usually something that lasts all day and you may not even experience it at all, but when you do, it may feel like you just drank an energy drink. If you experience an increased heartbeat that lasts all day or for prolonged periods of time, you should probably stop using Minoxidil. The same can be said for any of the more serious side effects that I listed above. A beard might look nice, but you health should be your main priority.
Is there anything else I can use to help?
I’m glad you asked. While Minoxidil can do a majority of the work itself, it sometimes requires a little kick in the butt to get started. Some people may have other issues that are preventing their follicles from producing hair and may not even know it. That’s where derma rollers come in. A derma roller is a micro-needling device that has been used for decades to stimulate collagen production and is often used to reduce scarring, stretch-marks, wrinkles and other skin blemishes. Derma rollers do this by creating hundreds or even thousands of little micro-wounds in your skin that trigger your body’s natural healing response. Your body will produce collagen and send it to the area to attempt to heal the micro-wounds, resulting in higher levels of collagen in the treated area.
Not only do derma rollers help to stimulate collagen production, but there are various other factors to take into consideration when trying to achieve a luxuriant man-mane. Some of those factors are inflammation, genes, signaling pathways (stimulatory pathways like Wnt/B catenin, stat 3 and Shh and inhibitory pathways of Dkk-1, Dickkopf-related protein 1 and BMP 4); growth factors, activation of stem cells of the hair bulge and improving vascularity. While some of that might sound like gibberish to you, scientists have found that those are the most common factors that dictate the ability for follicles to produce healthy hairs. While not every one of those can be combated by derma rolling, a lot of them can. Through various studies scientists have observed microneedling to benefit hair growth, including:
- Release of platelet-derived growth factor and epidermal growth factors. Increased through platelet activation and skin wound regeneration mechanism.
- Activation of stem cells in the hair bulge area under wound healing conditions.
- Overexpression of hair growth-related genes, vascular endothelial growth factor, B catenin, Wnt3a, and Wnt10 b as documented in animal studies.
In other words, derma rolling can help to create the perfect environment for hair growth to occur. Through this, derma rolling has been shown to increase the effectiveness of Minoxidil by up to 80%. Don’t get things confused though. Some people see “derma rolling” and “Minoxidil” and assume that derma rolling is used to increase the absorption of Minoxidil. That is not the case. While derma rolling can indeed increase the absorption of Minoxidil, it is definitely not recommended to do that. This will not result in increased results from Minoxidil, this will simply allow more Minoxidil to be absorbed into your bloodstream, meaning more severe side-effects and the increased potential for hair growth all over your body. Not only that, but Minoxidil has been shown to inhibit the production of collagen, so applying Minoxidil too soon after derma rolling will simply defeat the entire purpose of derma rolling in the first place.
The scientifically approved and recommended way to include derma rolling into your Minoxidil routine is to derma roll and then wait at least 24 hours before applying Minoxidil. This will give your skin enough time to produce that extremely beneficial boost of collagen and will allow the micro-wounds created by the derma roller to close-up, reducing the risk of absorbing too much Minoxidil into your bloodstream. Using this method, people who have little-to-no progress with Minoxidil alone have been able to see progress for the first time in years.
Ok, Cool. Derma rolling, so is that it then?
Well, let me take a step back here for a second. While I may have essentially strangled and beat down the possibility of any oils helping to promote facial hair growth. There is at least one essential oil that has shown some promise. Peppermint essential oil has been observed through at least one study to increase follicle count as well as the thickness of pre-existing hair. Now, while it’s not necessarily clear if this means it can help to produce new hair, the main difference between Peppermint oil and almost every other essential oil that is utilized for hair growth is that peppermint doesn’t stimulate hair growth by inhibiting DHT. At least, not when applied topically.
Now, let me be clear when I say this, there is not really any solid-proof that peppermint oil can make your beard fuller or thicker, the properties and mechanisms of peppermint that allow it to work would lead one to believe that its effects should work universally for both pre-existing hairs as well as hairs that have yet to be produced. The main mechanism is that of vasodilation. Vasodilation, in case you forgot already, is when your blood vessels dilate to allow for more blood to flow. Like I mentioned before, this is actually one of the main mechanisms of Minoxidil that allow it to work. An increased blood flow means more blood being delivered to your hair follicles. In theory, this should allow for inactive hair follicles to receive enough blood to begin producing hairs. The best thing about peppermint oil is that the menthol content of peppermint oil has been shown to increase vasodilation without any toxic-signs. Which means, unlike Minoxidil, peppermint oil can stimulate blood flow to the hair follicles without all of those nasty side effects I mentioned before.
The good news is, there’s no real limit to the amount of peppermint oil you can use in a day and, unlike Minoxidil you can apply it to your face immediately after derma rolling. One important thing to note, however, is that peppermint oil should never be applied directly to your skin without first diluting it in a carrier oil such as jojoba oil, castor oil and meadowfoam seed oil. Pure peppermint oil is caustic, so applying it to your skin undiluted can cause irritation, not only that, but the cooling effect of the menthol may be way too intense for most people to tolerate. Especially when applied to the face. It’s recommended to dilute peppermint oil down to at least a 5% solution. Below you’ll find a chart that explains how much peppermint oil to add to your carrier oil of choice to achieve the desired concentration.
For example, if you want to achieve a 5% PEO (Peppermint Essential Oil) solution, you would put 30 drops of PEO into 30ml (1fl oz) of Jojoba oil, or whichever non-DHT inhibiting carrier oil you choose to use.
Well, there you have it. That’s plenty of information to get you started on your own beard journey. Let’s quickly recap what I discussed in this article.
- Beard Growth Oils are usually a scam and will not give you a fuller, thicker beard. Instead, most contain anti-androgens that are bad for beard growth.
- Beard Supplements are just over-priced multivitamins and will not give you a fuller, thicker beard.
- Minoxidil has been proven to increase facial hair growth and has been used by thousands of men to achieve fuller, thicker beards.
- Derma rolling can create the perfect environment for hair growth and can improve your results.
- Peppermint oil shows some promise for hair growth, but it’s not a sure thing. Doesn’t inhibit DHT and doesn’t cause severe side effects like Minoxidil does.
If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them down below in a comment and check out some of my other articles to learn even more about improving your facial hair!