At a glance
- Oil
- A lightweight liquid that hydrates the skin and softens the hair; no hold
- Butter
- Creamy and thicker than oil, with little or no beeswax, so little or no hold
- Balm
- Oils and butters plus beeswax, which adds shape and control
- Hold a balm gives, by brand
- Light (Badass Beard Care) or medium (Weatherbeard Supply, Fresh Beards): there is no shared scale
- Balms here that state a hold
- 93 of 313 on 3 Oct 2026: 46 say light (or soft), 47 say medium, none says strong
- Checked
- Oct 3, 2026
There is no standard that says what a beard “balm”, “butter” or “oil” is. The words are what each brand chooses to call a product, and the three brands quoted here, which each sell all three, draw nearly the same picture.
What each one is
Oil is the thin liquid. Badass Beard Care says it “hydrates your skin and softens hair”. Fresh Beards calls it “the go-to starter: lightweight, easy to apply”.
Butter is the creamy one. Fresh Beards says it is “thicker than oil, but unlike balm, it has little to no beeswax, so it doesn’t offer much hold. Instead, it’s all about deep conditioning.”
Balm adds beeswax to the oils and butters. Weatherbeard Supply says “the beeswax is what separates balm from beard butter. It gives the product more structure and provides styling control once it is worked through your beard.”
Where the brands disagree
Not on what balm is, but on how much it holds. Weatherbeard Supply says its balm “provides a medium hold”. Fresh Beards says “balm gives medium hold”. Badass Beard Care calls balm “a cross between a conditioner and a very light styling wax” and describes a “light hold”.
That is why this site prints the hold a brand states, in the brand’s own word, and prints nothing where a brand states none. On 3 October 2026, 93 of the 313 balms listed had a stated hold: 46 light (or soft) and 47 medium. No brand called a balm strong. Filter for either on the finder and read the ingredient lists: a balm with more beeswax in a smaller tin will feel different from the same word on another label.
Using them together
Weatherbeard Supply suggests oil first, then balm. Fresh Beards says balm works best after oil or butter. Badass Beard Care says many men use both, butter in the evening for deep conditioning and balm in the morning for all-day control.
Balms to look at
- Woodsy balms: 131 balms from 50 brands, side by side.
- Citrus balms: 98 balms from 39 brands, side by side.
- Fresh & Cool balms: 61 balms from 28 brands, side by side.
- Unscented balms: 36 balms from 31 brands, side by side.
Questions
What is the difference between beard balm and beard oil?
Oil is a thin liquid that hydrates the skin under the beard and softens the hair. Balm is a semi-solid that adds beeswax to oils and butters, so it also shapes and holds. Brands describe it this way: Badass Beard Care says oil hydrates the skin and softens hair while balm locks in moisture and adds control, light hold and shape.
What is the difference between beard balm and beard butter?
Hold. Weatherbeard Supply calls it the biggest difference: balm combines oils and butters with beeswax for styling hold, while butter focuses on softness and conditioning without hold. Fresh Beards says the same of butter: it has little to no beeswax, so it does not offer much hold.
How strong is a beard balm's hold?
It depends on whose word you take. Badass Beard Care describes balm as a cross between a conditioner and a very light styling wax; Weatherbeard Supply and Fresh Beards both call their balm medium hold. Of the 93 balms on this site whose brand states a hold, 46 say light (or a plain synonym such as soft) and 47 say medium. A balm whose brand states no hold shows a dash here; we do not guess.
Can I use oil, butter and balm together?
Brands suggest it. Weatherbeard Supply says to apply beard oil first, then balm for styling and control. Fresh Beards says balm works best after oil or butter, depending on the beard's texture.
Answered from the sources below. How we compare.