Guest post from Michael Wallage on beard balms

Michael Wallage BeerdFest WINNER 2014 Photograph Kayley Cope 

I`ve been making my own beard balm now for quite some time. It`s a Lanolin based balm that both myself and the few people who have tried it think is excellent. I toyed with the idea of producing it in larger quantities and selling. However... I think that there are so so many people producing excellent beard care products that the venture would take a great deal of hard work and time to see very little in return.

So for what it`s worth I`m going to share it with you good folks and you can make up your own minds. I use 4 parts of pharmaceutical grade Lanolin (I`ve been using Lanisnoh but this is expensive, (i`ll deal with that issue later) 3 parts organic virgin coconut oil and 1 part of a light carrier oil. Simply weigh out the ingredients into a bowl, stand this bowl in another larger bowl of hot (not boiling water) When the Lanolin and Coconut oil has melted i just give the solution a good stir and leave to set.
I then fill some little containers i bought on the internet (pennies each) and bob`s ya uncle. Put a small amount on the palms, rub your hands together and ....well you know the score, you`ve had a beard for long enough. If you want some scent you can always drip a few drops of your favourite beard oil into the palms with the balm and combine the two before application.

Now to the cost of that Lanolin... Lanisnoh around about £10.00 for a small tube. I did a little bit of research and found this company, based in Reading who sell pharmaceutical grade Lanolin very reasonably...amongst other products you may find useful http://www.hfoster.co.uk/ prices start at £9.00 for 500g falling pro-rata to as little as £75.00 for 5kg. 

This balm works really well for me and the few who have tried it, it`s not been tested on lots of people and may not suit everyone. I just thought i`d share it with everyone, you can make up your own minds.


Thanks Michael for sharing your winning expertise on the blog! ^_^