My husband’s beard is growing full and healthy these days, and I couldn’t love it more. I can’t say if I ever met a beard I didn’t like…I really do love me a good set of facial hair. It’s been a process though, talking Caleb into letting it get as long as it is. I understand that the growing-out process can be quite uncomfortable at the beginning…itchy, sensitive, and downright unpleasant.

A beard of such epic proportions necessitates dedicated maintenance and tender care. A soothing, moisturizing, cleansing concoction is key to any beard’s health, growth, and general well-being. I bought one online a couple years ago, and when it ran out recently, Caleb talked me into making one myself, using essential oils. I cleaned out the bottle he had been using and recycled that, but here’s a link to this type of bottle, if you want to buy empty ones. Lemon essential oil worked like magic for cleaning off the persistent residue from the original label after I peeled it off. (Seriously, if you haven’t tried lemon for this purpose yet, go find some stickiness on something somewhere right now — it’s that fun.)

And the recipe is this simple:

• 2 drop Lemon essential oil (for scent + purification)
• 6 drops Tea Tree essential oil (for healthy skin)
• 6 drops Lavender essential oil (for soothing, healing, and even an aphrodisiac)
• 12 drops Cedarwood essential oil (for cleansing + manly scent)
• grapeseed oil to fill the rest of a 2-oz. bottle (full of Vitamin E, sweet-smelling + non-greasy)

(Learn more about essential oils and sign up for a wholesale membership from Young Living, where I purchase mine, here.)

Graphic for your pinning convenience:

And there you have it! Long live great beards.

On a completely unrelated side note, get ready for The Realization of Good‘s inaugural giveaway, coming soon! I love giveaways and am sure this will be the first of many. Stay tuned next week. 🙂