Beard Care Kits: How to Pick the Right Kit (or Gift One)

Midnight, and someone was knocking on my tower door. I don't open it for most. This one had snow on his boots and a list in his fist. "My brother's beard looks like a dropped bird's nest," he said. "There are four kits on your shelf. Which one?" I let him in. A man who asks the right question at midnight deserves an answer before one.

Here is that answer. A beard care kit is a set of matched products in one scent, and the right one depends on beard length and how much routine the man will actually do. Short beard or unsure about scent: the $29.99 sample pack or the $39.99 oil and balm kit. Medium to long beard: the $39.99 oil and balm kit is the core. Long beard, or still washing his face with bar soap: the $79.99 complete balm kit. Full routine down to the cologne: the $135.99 ultimate bundle.

What's actually in a beard care kit

Call it a beard grooming kit, a beard kit for men or a gift set. Strip away the ribbon and it's some mix of four jobs:

• Clean it. A beard wash, which is gentler than the bar soap most men use. Ours are 8 oz, sulfate-free, with aloe and five oils.
• Soften it. A conditioner (ours are 8 oz rinse-out formulas with shea butter, aloe and plant oils) and a beard oil (1 oz, a blend of castor, coconut, sweet almond, argan and jojoba).
• Control it. A balm. Ours come in 2 oz tins, and the beeswax gives light hold for flyaways and stray hairs.
• Finish it. Cologne, if he wants the scent to carry past his own nose.

Plenty of kits on the market pad the box with scissors, a comb and a cloth bag. Those are fine. They're also the cheapest parts to make, so count the products, not the pieces. If you want the long version of oil versus balm, read beard oil vs beard balm.

The four kits compared

Rule one of power: know what you hold. Here's the full table.

For reference, the pieces on their own run $18.99 for oil, $23.99 for balm, $21.99 for wash, $24.99 for conditioner and $39.99 for cologne. Browse the whole lineup in beard care bundles.

Which beard kit fits which beard

Length decides most of this. Habits decide the rest.

Stubble to about an inch

A short beard needs oil for the skin underneath and very little else. The itchy early weeks are when oil earns its keep. The Adventure Pack is my pick here: five scents to test while the beard fills in. If he's sure what he likes, an oil and balm kit works too, with the balm used sparingly. More on that stage in short beard and stubble care.

One to three inches

This is where the beard starts making its own decisions. Hairs curl sideways, the mustache wanders into the mouth, and a hat leaves a dent. Oil softens. Balm puts things back where they belong. The Oil & Balm kits are built for exactly this. The Wizard Oil & Balm Kit is the old man's bourbon-and-buttercream blend, and it's a good one, though I won't say that to his face.

Three inches and beyond

Long beards trap everything: dust, food, smoke, last night's ale. They also dry out at the ends. Oil alone can't fix a beard that's being stripped every morning by bar soap or regular shampoo. That's when the wash and conditioner matter, and the Wizard Complete Balm Kit covers all four steps in one scent. If you're not sure he needs conditioner, read do you need beard conditioner.

The man who wants one signature scent

Some men want their wash, beard and neck to smell like the same story. The Wizard Ultimate Bundle runs from wash to cologne in a single scent, and other characters have their own. Check the product page for the exact lineup in each bundle before you buy. This is the kit for a man who already knows what he likes. Guess wrong on scent at $135.99 and he'll smell your mistake every morning.

How to choose a scent (the part most guides skip)

Most kit guides compare boxes and never mention the smell. That's backwards. The scent is what he'll live with two inches under his nose for months. Here's how I sort it:

• Woodsy and outdoorsy: The Marksman (crisp pine, warm cedar, mystical amber).
• Warm and sweet: The Wizard (bourbon, buttercream, orange zest) or The Baker (fresh doughnuts, vanilla sugar, cinnamon).
• Tobacco and dark: The Hero (warm tobacco, light cologne, amber), Dr. Wolf (blueberries, tobacco, mahogany), or mine (dark tobacco, brown ale, citrus, cherry).
• Bright and beachy: Captain Crimson (coconut, sea salt, vanilla) or Rum Runner (bay rum, lime, coconut).
• No fragrance at all: The Barkeep's unscented line, for sensitive noses or men who already wear a cologne they love.

Three questions narrow it fast. What cologne does he wear now? What candle or drink does he reach for? Does he work somewhere scent-sensitive? If you still can't answer, don't guess. Give him the sampler and let him pick his own. There's a deeper walkthrough in how to choose a beard oil scent as a gift.

Gifting a beard kit: budget tiers

Gifts are a ritual of their own. Spend to match how well you know the man, not how much you love him.

• Under $30: the Adventure Pack. Safe for coworkers, Secret Santa and anyone whose scent you don't know.
• Around $40: an oil and balm kit. The core routine for a beard that's past stubble.
• Around $80: the complete balm kit. For a partner, brother or father with a real beard.
• $135.99: the ultimate bundle. For the man whose scent you already know.
• No idea at all: a Fable gift card, emailed instantly. He picks, you get the credit.

If you want to round it out, a sturdy comb or a good trimmer pairs well with any kit. For the hard-to-shop-for man, see gifts for men who have everything.

The ritual: using the kit

A kit only works if the steps happen in the right order. Here's the order.

1. Wash two to three times a week, not daily. Rinse well.
2. Condition after washing. Leave it a minute or two, then rinse.
3. Towel dry until damp, not dripping.
4. Oil: 3 to 5 drops for a short beard, more for a long one. Work it to the skin, then through the ends.
5. Balm: a pea-sized amount warmed in your palms, shaped with your fingers or a comb.
6. Cologne last, on the neck or chest, never sprayed into the beard.

On days he doesn't wash, start at step 4. For the balm technique in detail, see how to use beard balm. One caution: sweet almond oil comes from a tree nut, so anyone with a nut allergy should check the ingredients and patch test first.

FAQ

One last thing

The man with the snowy boots left with a complete balm kit under his arm. His brother's beard is four inches and has never met a conditioner. A week later a note arrived at my tower: "He smells like a bourbon bakery and won't stop touching his beard." The ritual took. They usually do, when you pick the right one.

Your beard, your story.

— The Warlock

Keep reading in the Wizard's Library

• The beard shampoo and conditioner routine
• Best beard oil: how to pick your signature scent
• Elements of a beard care routine