Movember Beard Balm, Take 2

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week of facial hair care products in support of men’s health. Please remember to visit The Movember Foundation online and learn more!

The Copycat Beard Balm is in the larger tin at the right side of the photo. All the Movember series products are pictured: Beard Oil (in glass dropper bottle), Moustache Muscle (in slider tins), Beard Conditioner (in bottles), and Movember Beard Balm in two smaller tins in the foreground.

Number 5 of Things Men Need to Know and Do: Move, more. Add more activity to your day. Do more of what makes you feel good.

• Take a walking meeting
• Park further away from the station
• Get off the bus a stop or two earlier
• Instead of the elevator, take the stairs
• Cycle to work instead of driving

And one last fun fact: Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí published a book dedicated solely to his mustache. (But did he paint it??)

Finding a fifth product for facial hair was a bit challenging. I ended up deciding to attempt a copy of a beard balm that my husband likes, but that has an unfortunate problem – it’s gritty. Every morning he works at warming the balm well enough that the grittiness disappears.

After checking the ingredient list on his jar, I believe the shea butter in the formula had become fractionated due to overheating in the manufacturing process. That’s a common problem when using shea butter; fortunately, it’s really simple to fix! High Melt Point Shea Butter to the rescue! HMP Shea has a melting point of 104-113 degrees F, vs. regular Shea Butter, which melts at about 89-100 degrees F. When you consider that beeswax was also in this beard balm list of ingredients, it’s easy to see how fractionation could happen. Beeswax melts at 140 degrees F!

I also added Illipe Nut Butter to my recipe, because it is a great hardener with a lower melt point of 90-105 degrees F.

I decided to call this Copycat Beard Balm to help me keep it separated mentally from the Movember Beard Balm I made earlier in this series. Shall we gather our supplies and get busy?

Recipe:

INSTRUCTIONS:
Weigh first 6 ingredients into a microwave-safe container or top of a double boiler. Heat gently until liquified. Add extract, fragrance, and Vitamin E Natural. Stir well to combine, and pour into tins. The test batch written above should fill about 4-5 of our 0.75 ounce screw top tins.

My husband said he thinks this beard balm is superior to the one he had purchased. But now he has a new favorite – the Movember Beard Balm. Go figure! I just laughed.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed this focus on facial hair and men’s health. Please encourage the men in your life to be screened for prostate cancer.