The Best Beard Oil on Earth. My Favorite for YEARS!
By Steve Huff
UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2025
Since November of 2022 I have been trying out various beard products for my beard and not all are created equal!
I have spent over $5,000 on beard products over the last 3 years from over a dozen companies, testing their oils and butters so YOU DO NOT HAVE TO! Honestly, I just wanted to find what worked best for me and I was also curious as to just how different these oils and butters would be from each other. I went down the rabbit hole from several companies and saw the good, the bad and the ugly. One was amazing, some were very good, a few were decent, a couple were awful and one stole my money for a while.
I have tested products from boutique companies like BeardBrand, Live Bearded, Honest Amish, Artius Man, Fable, Kuhn (ripped me off), Black Rebel, Beard Octane, Luxurious Bastard, Bearded Bastard, Dr.Nicks, The Beard Struggle as well as many others that have been in use by me for the last 36 months.
Of all of these, I have one clear stand out fave brand for 2023, 2024 & 2025
(and yes, I paid for everything I own. This is not a sponsored post)
BLACK REBEL BEARD FOR THEIR UNIQUE SCENTS, THEMES, ARTWORK AND INGREDIENTS.
To test each brand over the last 3 1/2 years I used each brand exclusively then would trim down and start again with the next brand to find my fave.
What does beard oil do? Butter? Balm? Well, over my 55 years on this earth I have tried to grow a beard many times. In the years past I would stop and shave due to one main reason. My skin would get irritated, dry, flaky and beard dandruff would be awful! It would get so bad at times the skin under my chin would be raw. It was either that or I started it all wrong and didn’t let my neck beard grow out. Chin Straps do not make for a good full beard when grown out, lol.
The DB5 scent from Black Rebel is pure class and one of the best beard oil scents I have ever used. Click the image or HERE to read the real user reviews! 
I was not aware at the time that all I really needed was some beard oil to combat the itch, irritation and flakes. The oil soothes the skin, keeps it from drying out and promotes healthy beard growth, and also helps the beard to grow faster. Since I started using beard oil, my beard grows so much faster fuller and softer though not all brands help your beard. I have found a couple that seemed to harm it!
After finding the right beard care I have no more itchy skin, dandruff, rawness or issues, just perfect smooth and hydrated skin under the face fur. I use Beard Butter mainly at night to nourish the beard and skin while I sleep. I sometimes use it with oil during the day. When using specific beard wash, conditioner, oil and butter/balm my beard really started to get bigger, fuller, softer and looking so much better.
Not all oils are created equal as some use an inferior carrier oil blend that can irritate your skin or even cause breakouts. I had major issues with BeardBrand oil that would cause a rash on my skin with two of their scents, Black Sails and Bold Fortune. So bad it would scab over under the beard. That il also did not soften my beard as some others do, it seemed to have the opposite effect. Black Rebel uses ingredients that soften and make even my white beard much softer and manageable.
My skin is super sensitive to some oils like coconut (causes me to breakout) and I have looked for a blend that soothes rather than irritates. One that nourishes the skin and beard both. Black Rebel tallow butter is not a product that brings hold to your beard but rather it softens it, and makes it feel more luxurious. It is also amazing for the skin under the beard. Since using Black Rebel my skin has had zero breakouts. I can not say the same for a few other brands.
Just before starting my beard journey. Bare Baby faced!
I have also found most department store brands (wal mart, etc) use ingredients that are not natural (bad for our skin) or use inferior quality carrier oils (bad for our beards). Some of these messed with my skin, even the expensive brands.
Here I am at the age of 54, growing a big full beard for the first time in my life.
Here I am with a 4 1/2 month beard in 2023.
Black Rebel is my #1 Fave Beard Care Company after trying all of the big names extensively for 2023, 2024 and 2025.
I have had a love/like relationship with this brand over the last few years but have grown to love them most of all, especially now that they have improved so much for 2024 and 2025. They are now the only brand I use, period. My beard doesn’t want the others, lol.
Black Rebel has upped the game this year and now offer a full tallow butter without the wax and shea butter of their standard butter, making it much smoother in beard (though less hold). The new Tallow formula is not nearly as firm or thick but it smells just as amazing as the standard yet does truly nourish my beard and skin, and this tallow is amazing for the skin underneath the beard. It even has anti inflammation properties built in, and this is awesome. It doesn’t have much hold as the standard butter (which Black Rebel still offers) but I use the butter with the oil and my beard has never been softer or fuller.
My old complaint with the standard butter (for me) was that the wax/shea butter was a bit heavy and sticky in a longer beard, and the all tallow version has fixed this 100%! For those who prefer the original, yes indeed they kept the OG version as some do prefer the wax version for the hold. A friend of mine had the new butter and I tried it and loved it so I started placing orders with Black Rebel again due to the new butter, the new wash and even new packaging of their oils and cologne. They have also been creating some otherworldly great scents lately and my regular scents include DB85, The Seasmoke, The Hypnosis and Senna, which is such a smooth manly type of cologne scent.
In August 2025 Black Rebel released “THE X” for their 109t5h anniversary. In my opinion it is the best scent they have crafted, hands down…as in..ever! A better CASH and Bronco Buster? YES!
They have repackaged their mainline scents into black bottles with the same cool artwork as ever. They improved the beard wash. They lowered prices a bit (now Black Rebel is cheaper than Live Bearded, BeardBrand and Beard Struggle when buying a package of oil, butter, wash, etc yet have superior ingredients and art) as well and come out with a new scent (or three) every month! You no longer have to sub to get the new releases and they can once again be bought as a one off.
Pricing. It seems high but is it?
A great pricing example is that I order the oil, tallow butter, cologne, wash and conditioner when I order a scent from Black Rebel. This costs around $80 or so shipped (May have gone up a bit in 2025). I did this with another company and the cost was $95 for the same set yet an inferior scent that only lasts an hour or so, and a more sticky paste like butter. Black Rebel scents last hours if not the whole day and use Ostrich Oil and Tallow within their blends, which cost them more to make. One brand cost me over $120 for the set, and was far inferior. I mean, very inferior.
Another popular beard company that offers Cologne sells their Cologne for $80-$120 and it is no better than the Black Rebel cologne, in fact, that pricey cologne from the other brand wore off after MINUTES! The fact that I can get a complete set of premium oil, butter, wash, conditioner and cologne for LESS than the other brands bottle of cologne is remarkable. When I paid $90 for a bottle of Cologne from another company I felt I was ripped off, and never ordered from them again. With Black Rebel, their cologne is always potent and smells just like the oil. Perfect for date nights ; ) If you grand a bottle of DB85 I highly recommend the cologne and butter as well.
I have purchased quite a few scents from Black Rebel over the last few years. This company uses Ostrich oil as their base, 75% to be exact. I do not know of any other beard company that does this as it is expensive to implement I am sure.
This means the oil from Black Rebel is thicker and it seems to go quicker as well. In beard it feels nice and keeps my beard super soft and I like what it does for my skin with its anti inflammatory properties. Ostrich oil will not clog pores either. It makes for a great carrier oil.
SENNA is a clean, smooth full on manly cologne vibe that is not overpowering nor too weak. I love this scent and it can be found HERE.
I also bought many of the colognes on offer from BR and they are nice to have when you truly love a scent. When I wear any of them I get many compliments. My wife loves the Black Rebel scent collection above all others as well.
Black Rebel does indeed offer something for everyone but it can get expensive trying scents as special drops and monthly’s are a gamble. You will not know what they smell like until you get them but black rebel has a solid track record for pumping out some great stuff.
After a trim I started using Black Rebel exclusively. These products use Ostrich Oil as the main carrier oil. It does feel heavier in beard but performs great. Just a thicker feel in beard. With that said, the beard looks great with Black Rebel products! This was when I started using Black Rebel, after a self trim.
I like BR and feel they make a super product that does what they claim.
UPDATE: My current BLACK REBEL faves as of October 2025 out of the 20 scents that I now own (they change as I acquire new scents) from them:
- DB85 – Possibly the best oil scent ever.
- THE X – This is a special edition and a mix of the classics CASH, Bronco Buster and others.
- SENNA – Addictive and the more I use it the more I love this one. Manly, smooth and unique.
- SEASMOKE – A deep rose aquatic like scent that is manly, refreshing and light but packs a punch. Smoooooth!
- HYPNOSIS – This is new for 25 and was the “Terrifier” special edition. So different! See it here.
CONS? None in 2024 or 2025. They have lowered prices (package deals are great), improved their formulas, changed up the scents, improved the packaging of the cologne, now make a full tallow butter without the wax that is AWESOME (new formula)…wow, Black Rebel has improved A LOT over the last year alone. They have moved back t0 #1 for me and even though I still try other brands, I am almost always a bit let down and always return to Black Rebel.
UPDATE OCTOBER 2025. The BEST BEARD BUTTER made TODAY.
Black Rebel has released a new premium beard butter and skin conditioner and let me tell you that this is a butter so freaking good I bought to more after the first one. This product is their new Bison Butter with EMU Oil and it does wonders for not only my beard but my skin as well.
I use this butter for my skin and it keeps it supple, soft and with a glow. It has also removed discolorations and eased scars in just a few weeks of using this daily. It’s amazing and keeps my skin smooth and moisturized. In beard this is next level as it makes my beard super soft and manageable. It makes the beard look fuller as well. With this said, I use only a tiny amount on skin and beard and I mean a little bit so it will last a while, one jar. This stuff is not cheap at $40 but it is now used by me in the AM and at night. My beard has never felt or looked better. As much as I love the Tallow Butter the Bison Butter is better. The bison butter is also unscented and has no smell at all.
Don’t just take my words for it. Read the reviews of this elixir zt the BR website.
Some of my cologne collection from BR in 2024.
Again, this is not an affiliate link as I paid for all of my bard products from BR. I make not a penny if you buy anything. I just wanted to write this as I am sure that there are many out there like me, looking for the right beard product that is worth the cost and offers up variety. I’ve not seen any out there quite like Black Rebel!
To see what Black Rebel did in 2025 to their mainline, see my write up on their 2025 scents here.