Can You Use Beard Oil on the Bald Head (Pros and Cons)?

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Beard oil is designed as a skin moisturizer. So, it’s expected for many men to wonder if they can use beard oil on their bald heads. Below is an in-depth answer to this.

Men with bald heads struggle with two common things, dryness, and dandruff. Also, it’s worth noting that most men continue their skin care regimen on their bald heads instead of using a hair-care routine.

Like many bald men, you own beard oil and are tempted to use it on your scalp. But before you proceed, you are concerned about the effects of beard oil on your scalp. Below is an explanation of what to expect.

Beard Oil Vs. Hair Oil

Hair oils and beard oils have a lot of similarities. At the top of the list is that they contain hydrating carrier oils, including coconut, jojoba, sunflower, macadamia, and argan oil.

These oils also act as carrier oils for the essential oils, including pine, cedarwood, and eucalyptus, which add scent and other properties to the oils. If you have sensitive skin, you should prefer unscented oils to avoid skin irritations.

The essential oils also have distinct benefits. For instance, Tea Tree essential oil has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. But with all these benefits, there’s no evidence to support the claim that beard oils help with hair growth on bald heads.

Despite these similarities, hair oils go an extra mile and contain potent chemicals. This is mainly because the scalp is tougher than facial skin and can withstand these chemicals. Also, the scalp generates more natural sebum than facial skin, adding a thicker layer of protection.

Based on the similarities, beard oils has some benefits for your scalp. But on the flip side, hair oil might be too harsh to use on your beard.

Can You Use Beard Oil on Your Bald Head?

By now, you already know what we’ll say.

Yes, you can use beard oil on your scalp. However, your satisfaction from using it depends on what you need the beard oil to accomplish for your scalp.

Beard oil is used to moisturize, nourish, and soften the skin under your beard. As such, it’ll transfer some of these benefits to your scalp. However, there’s no scientific proof that beard oil will help regrow hair on your bald head.

There’s a common misconception that bald people don’t have to use hair oil to moisturize their skin, and this could not be further from the truth. Hair helps the scalp retain moisture throughout the day.

With hair gone, the scalp is left vulnerable to the elements. As such, it’s important (now more than before) to moisturize the scalp with a quality oil to avoid getting dry or flaky. Hair or skin oils are recommended since they also hydrate and give a beautiful shine.

Benefits of Using Beard Oil on a Bald Head

As we’ve pointed out, beard oil nourishes the beard and the skin under it. The goal is to keep beard hair healthy, soft, smooth, and glossy. Beard oil is mainly made up of essential oils and carrier oils and stimulates sebum production.

Aside from these, below are the benefits of using beard oil on your bald head.

Alleviate Itchiness

Having an itchy bald head is annoying and uncomfortable. In some situations, the itchiness can be chronic. Yeast infections, seasonal fluctuations, dryness, or a sensitive scalp can contribute to itchiness. Applying beard oil to your scalp will help eliminate itchiness and irritation, and it does this by keeping the scalp skin hydrated and free of flaky skin.

Prevents Dandruff

Dandruff results from skin flaking from your scalp, which various things can cause. For instance, it can be due to irritation caused by shampoo, skin products, or extreme weather.

Some persistent dandruff also called seborrheic dermatitis, manifests when the scalp generates a lot of sebum. Sebum production continues even when you go bald. When this happens, a fungus microbe called Malassezia feeds on the extra oil and multiplies, leading to even worse skin irritation.

Using quality beard oil on your bald scalp helps keep the scalp hydrated. Quality beard oil rich in essential oils and carrier oils target inflammation and hydrates the skin preventing dandruff.

Healthier Scalp

With the nutrients, beard oils contain, your skin gets nourished and is healthier. Moreover, the skin is moisturized and cleans the scalp skin without clogging the pores.

Smells Great

Another reason why men purchase beard oil is that it smells great. Beard oils have natural perfumes and a range of organic scents to enhance the smell of your beard. But with so many scents available, it can be difficult to choose the best scent.

You’ll find one matching your needs, even if you prefer a woodsy aroma or a light citrus scent.

While there are some benefits to using beard oil on your scalp, there are also some potential side effects you should be aware of.

Allergic Reactions

Beard oil formulas contain many different essential oils and carrier oils. As such, it’s possible to be allergic to one of the ingredients, if not all.

When you use beard oil for the first time, you should start with a small amount on a small portion of your scalp. Observe how the skin reacts to the beard oil and be on the lookout for symptoms including hives, coughing, skin irritations, or feeling sick. Many allergic reactions are caused by nut oils as a carrier or potent essential oils used to infuse nice scents.

Dry Skin and Dandruff

We’ve pointed out that one of the benefits of using beard oil on your skin is hydrating the scalp and preventing itchiness and dandruff. So how is it that we have dry skin and dandruff listed as a side effect of using beard oil on your scalp?

Let’s put it this way, high-quality beard oils hydrate and prevent itchiness and dandruff. However, poorly formulated beard oil can have the same results but side effects.

Polyunsaturated fats in beard oils have long carbon-carbon chains and are vulnerable to oxidation and volatile when exposed to heat, oxygen, and light. Because of this, if your beard oil formulation is rich in polyunsaturated fats and doesn’t contain vitamin E or other less volatile oils to balance the effects out, lipid peroxidation can cause rancid oil on your scalp.

When you use such beard oil, the oil will harden and dry up your skin, resulting in itchiness and increased dandruff creation.

To avoid this side effect, you should avoid beard oils with polyunsaturated fats. And if they contain these fats, they should at least have some Vitamin E oil to balance the effects. Vitamin E is a potent fat-soluble antioxidant that maintains volatile essential and carrier oils and protects them from rancidity.

Sensitivity to Sunlight

Some essential oils inevitably increase your skin’s photosensitivity. As a result, they increase the harmful effects of the sun’s rays. It does this by reacting to sun rays and allowing your skin to absorb more UV rays than normal.

If you work under the sun, visit the beach often, or lie on tanning beds often, you shouldn’t use beard oils that have photosensitizing essential oils. Some common photosensitive essential oils include:

• Angelica root
• Bitter orange peel
• Bergamot peel
• Cumin seed
• Lemon peel
• Grapefruit peel
• Lime peel
• Rue leaf
• Mandarin leaf

Choosing a Suitable Beard Oil

There are loads of beard oils to choose from, making it challenging to choose the right one. Most of the time, it’s often down to personal preference regarding how it makes you feel and the scent.

For instance, some beard oils provide a little more shine than other oils, depending on your hair and skin composition. When verifying the beard oil ingredients, you should have the following things in mind:

Carrier Oil

Carrier oils are one of the main ingredients of beard oils. Some choices include argan oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, and grapeseed oil, among others.

Carrier oils are oil bases and ‘carry’ essential oils and prevent them from irritating your scalp. Because of the carrier oils, the essential oils don’t block skin pores and are absorbed by the hair and skin easily, providing a nourishing and moisturizing effect.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is a popular carrier oil that is loved for its benefits on hair and skin. In addition, it penetrates the skin faster than other carrier oils, making it one of the best treatments for dandruff and itching.

Coconut oil has a long shelf life since it’s rich ins saturated fats. These fats work to moisturize the skin, while caprylic, lauric, and capric acid have anti-bacterial and disinfecting properties. Besides, the vitamin E and proteins in coconut oil help to prevent premature aging and wrinkles.

Jojoba Oil

Jojoba oil is another popular carrier oil. It’s a liquid wax closely similar to the sebum, the skin’s natural oil.

Compared to other vegetable oils, jojoba oil has a long and stable shelf life that includes some therapeutic components, including vitamin B complex, iodine, vitamin E, copper, silicon, zinc, and chromium. In addition to these, it’s non-allergenic and non-toxic and doesn’t leave your scalp feeling greasy like other carrier oils.

Jojoba oils also have anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial properties. Because of these properties, it’s recommended for use on sensitive skin.

Grapeseed Oil

Compared to grade seed, coconut oil is lighter. As such, it’s readily absorbed into hair and skin. One significant feature is that it’s odorless and has antioxidant properties. It includes Oleic and Linoleic acids and traces of vitamin E. Grapeseed oil also has some astringent properties that help in smoothing and tightening the skin.

Argan Oil

Argan oil is gotten from the kernels of the Moroccan Argan tree and is rich in fatty acids and vitamin E. it’s absorbed into the skin easily without leaving a greasy feeling behind.

Argan oil also has antioxidant properties that help reduce dryness, irritation, and itchiness. You also benefit from its therapeutic and anti-inflammatory capabilities.

Scent

Essential oils add a natural scent to products. Generally, it would help if you looking for a beard oil whose scent comes from natural ingredients instead of chemically formulations that often dry the skin. When checking your ingredients, consider beard oils that list essential oils instead of ‘fragrance’ since these aren’t made from natural oils.

If your skin is sensitive, then the essential oils will aggravate it. In such situations, it’s best to use unscented oils instead.

How To Apply Beard Oil On Your Bald Head

Although it’s not a complicated process, you must do it right to get the best results.

Step 1: Clean Your Bald head

Start by shampooing your bald scalp to eliminate the excess sebum, dirt, and other contaminations. Proceed to rinse your scalp with water and tap it dry with a dry towel.

Step 2: Apply Beard Oil

Add three drops of your beard oil to your palm. Rub and spread the beard oil on your palms and fingertips.

Note: you might think using a lot of beard oil will get you more benefits. On the contrary, using too much beard oil will only leave you with a shiny bald head and other complications.

Step 4: Massage the Oil into Your Scalp

Now you can progress to massage the beard oil into your scalp. Massaging the oil into your scalp helps it to penetrate the scalp for maximum benefit. While massaging the oil into your scalp, use circular motions.

Conclusion

Overall, beard oil isn’t specifically made to be used on your scalp. But even then, you can still use it on your bald head and reap some benefits. Bear in mind that men who suffer from pattern baldness will not get to regrow their hair follicles. However, beard oil does a great job of keeping your bald head in great shape.

We hope with this guide you have your answer to ‘Can I use beard oil on my bald head?’ if you need more information on taking care of your bald head or how to maintain a clean bald shave, read through our blog.