Mind your manners! It’s Monday and I’m back from a week off to deliver you another review and things are evolving all the time! Here is my Beard Manners Raspberry Ripple Review.
Who are Beard Manners?
Jason is the man behind this new brand that is taking on the already full and saturated market. He is a muscly tattooed beast of a man who looks more likely to give you a slap than a beard oil. But that is just his exterior! Inside he is an intelligent man who knows his stuff when it comes to running a business. He is also a fellow Essex boy like myself and not only that but he is also an Arsenal supporter as am I. Not that is anything to shout about at the moment!!
Jason is a family man who loves nothing more than spending time with his wife and kids. I spoke to Jason about why he started his company and the family was one of the biggest reasons. He originally wanted to find the perfect product for his own beard and decided to try his hand at making his own stuff and the rest is history! Except it isn’t. There is more to the story than that as Jason also used Beard Manners to try and drag himself out of a very dark place.
Sadly, Jason and his wife lost their baby daughter last year. As he tried to be the rock for everyone else his own soul, as he puts it himself, needed fixed. He turned to weights as a release. Over Christmas he really suffered and everything was a struggle. He was determined to come out of it a better person and in the New Year he did. Healthy eating, regular gym visits and a new challenge to occupy him. Hence, Beard Manners. In his own words “My beard helped me to reinvent myself and that helped me to start Beard Manners. So, in an odd way, maybe Beard Manners found me”
Do Beard Manners have their CPSR?
Of course they do. I wouldn’t be reviewing them unless they had it or I was testing a product for someone! Jason knows what he needs to do with regards to getting his CPSR for legal reasons. You can read my blog What is a CPSR and why is it important? Or, check out this blog from the one and only Docks Bearded Reviews, CPSR and the truth.
Okay, lets move on to the Beard Manners Raspberry Ripple Review.
Scent
Raspberry and Vanilla……need I say more, is the tag line for this oil. Does he need to say more though? Well, you can definitely smell the vanilla. No doubts about that. You also get a sweet smell 
which is very pleasant but I don’t really get the raspberry scent. Don’t get me wrong it smells very nice but try as I might I couldn’t define what it was that I was smelling other than the vanilla.
I normally have a good nose for things and can pick out a lot of scents. I’m not saying that out of 5 different fragrances I could pick out every single one. That would take a nose that could smell a fart from 100 miles away. The raspberry just didn’t explode in the way I had hoped it would. Still, a pleasant scent was there but how long would it last?
Durability
I was getting a healthy 6 hours from the oil which is a decent length of time. I used to really want to get 10 hours plus out of a scent but sometimes it depends on how strong the scent is among other things. This isn’t an overpowering scent but it is very sweet so 6 hours was about right.
It tended to fade quicker when out and about, walking in wet and windy conditions etc, giving me about 4 and a half hours. However, when I was at work it gave me the longer duration which was good.
Benefits
Beard Manners use 6 carrier oils for their products and all of them are tried and tested. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean that the carrier oils are regularly used by the majority of brands out there. Does it mean they aren’t very good? No! It means that they work exceptionally well. There is a reason lots of beard companies use the same carriers and that is because they work!
Some reviewers think that this is boring and I sort of agree. It would be nice to see a wider variety of carriers used but I totally understand why they don’t. After all, if something isn’t broken you don’t need to fix it!
My beard felt soft and bouncy and it also had a nice shine to it. The skin underneath felt well nourished and there wasn’t any itchiness. It did start to dry out by the end of the day but it really did last well! Judging by the list of ingredients on the bottle the Sweet Almond Oil made up the biggest percentage of the carriers. This explains why my skin felt so good. Here’s the list of the carrier oils with a brief explanation of what they do in the same order as what is listed on the bottle.
With a medium viscosity this oil blended in nicely after a good brush. There was no excess residue and it didn’t leave a greasy film on my beard which is what you want for a medium sized beard. It absorbed nicely into my skin as well which explains why it nourished it so well.
Sweet Almond
This is another oil that is great for both your skin and hair. Almond oil can help soothe and improve acne, especially good for when you first start growing a beard. It also treats dry skin which you can get under your beard if you don’t use the right products. There is plenty of vitamin E in this oil which is good for protecting and even repairing your skin from sun damage. For your hair, there is plenty of B-7 or Biotin which is great for keeping your whiskers strong and healthy.
Argan Oil
Argan oil is known to be beneficial to your skin and can help to moisturise your skin and hair. Hailing from the Argan Tree, which is endemic to Morocco, it is also used as a dip for bread etc. It is often used in face creams due to its potential to reduce wrinkles.
Avocado Oil
This is a great carrier oil for your skin. It claims to hydrate and moisturise as well as calm itchy skin. It doesn’t appear to have any benefits for you hair though but there are other carriers that do that. Avocado isn’t as widely used as the other 5 oils in the set which is a good thing.
Castor
Castor oil is rich in ricinoleic acid, a monounsaturated fatty acid. This really helps to mousturise and hydrate the skin under your beard which can be difficult to do, especially with a big beard. It can also help to reduce acne which can appear when you first start to grow your beard.
The main benefit for your beard is in helping to reduce beardruff. This is when your skin gets itchy and flaky, similar to dandruff. Castor oil will also lubricate the hair shaft which helps make it stronger and less susceptible to breakage.
Grape Seed
Grape seed oil is rich in linoleic acid, a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid. Essential fatty acids are the building blocks of healthy cells. They hydrate, moisturize, and soften skin. It absorbs into your beard and skin quickly as it is very thin and doesn’t leave you feeling greasy.
It is a very complimentary oil and works well with the other 2. The oil promotes healthy hair growth which doesn’t mean it will make your hair grow quicker! However, it will make your hair stronger and more healthy. Just like castor oil, it helps to reduce beardruff which can be a problem.
Jojoba
Jojoba oil is derived from the seeds of the jojoba shrub, a perennial native to the North American deserts. The oil of the jojoba seed is extracted by cold-pressing, a process that helps maintain the rich nutritional value of the oil. The oil has plenty of antioxidants including vitamins A and E.
These help to stop or reduce itchiness of the skin. This is particularly helpful in the early stages of beard growth. It is also great for your beard hair as the oil molecules are similar to sebum. It can also help to make your hair stronger which is very helpful when you brush or comb your beard a lot.
These carriers are all fantastic and together they do a great job. One thing that I am looking into is carrier oils in a series of blogs starting this week so look out for that!
Originality
Well, Beard Manners haven’t really stretched the bounds of originality with their carrier oils apart from having Avocado mixed in there. This isn’t a bad thing as I said previously due to the quality of them. The scent profile is quite simplistic with Vanilla and Raspberry as the fragrances. as I said before the raspberry didn’t really shine. I like the fact that they just went for the simple route as some scents can be over complicated
Logo
The Beard Manners logo is a beard with hair with the company name through the middle. It is a bronze like colour and it does stand out nicely on the black background. It’s not the most exciting logo but it does look professional. It fits in with other brands that use a beard outline or shape and actually stands out a bit more with the colour combo.
The amber bottle is widely used but the gold bottle top gives it a bit of bling that draws your eye to it. Overall the appearance of the bottle looks bold thanks to the gold lid and nicely drawn logo.
Labelling
This is the new section that I have added in as I feel that the labelling of products is often overlooked. It is extremely important to make sure that all the relevant information and wording is correct. This helps customers understand what they are putting in their beard and any potential allergens that might affect them and their health.
There are certain things that must be included on the label, the packaging box or a card that comes with the product. This is part of the EU legislature for cosmetic products and is a legal requirement. I know we are no longer part of the EU but the UK will continue to use this law until they have time to rewrite them. The essential things that must be on the label are as follows…
- The name and address of the company or responsible person and the country of origin (if imported into the EU).
- The net content by weight or volume if more than 5 grams or 5 ml.
- Date of minimum durability if less than 30 months. Longer lasting products should have an indication of how long they will last once opened plus any info on storage conditions.
- Any precautionary information such as instructions for use or allergens.
- Batch Number or reference.
- The function of the product if it is unclear from its appearance.
- A list of ingredients under the word ‘ingredients’ in descending order of weight when they are added. Not necessary if less than 1%. The names of the ingredients should use the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients. For example; Jojoba oil should be listed as Simmondsia Chinensis. The reason for this is because these names don’t change between languages whereas the common names can be different depending on where in the world you are.
Beard Manners Labels
Let’s start with the good things that they have done!
They have the weight in ml and oz and the date of minimum durability which in this case is 12 months. Jason has also added his business address and website. He has also added a short application paragraph to help the customer on how to use the product.
There is a list of ingredients but not in the INCI format which is required by law. They don’t list all of the allergens either but they do add a warning that it contains nut derived oils. There is no batch number on the bottle either which is an extremely important part of labelling.
Now, Beard Manners have actually updated their labels since I received my bottle. They now have the INCI ingredient names and batch numbers on the bottle. This is great to hear as Jason received some feedback from Docks and acted on it. Another reason why the UK Beard Portal is becoming more popular with UK brands. Jason is a big fan of the work that the portal is doing and it’s great that it is helping others.
Value for Money
At £13.99 it is slightly above some of the competitors but it still represents good value. When you consider all the additional costs that go into making the oils and the time spent creating everything, then £14 is a bargain.
What really makes the difference for me when it comes to price is the level of customer service. Jason is someone who is always available to help and support his customers with any questions or issues they might have. You just don’t get this level of service from big name brands. It is why I will always choose small batch, better quality, better service, just better!!
Conclusion of Beard Manners Raspberry Ripple Review
I really like the whole vibe of Beard Manners and that comes from the man who creates the product. He is a great person to talk to and is very passionate about the UK beard community. The care he gives to his customers is fantastic and his attitude is great.
As for the product, it is a good solid oil with some great carriers which really do help, especially with keeping my skin moisturised underneath my beard. The scent itself, although nice, needs to have more punch and I was disappointed that I couldn’t get any raspberry from it. It lasted a decent length of time but I really wanted to smell that tangy raspberry fragrance! Room for improvement here.
The logo design is simple but looks good with a great colour coordination to make it stand out from other beard style logos. With the new labels he has taken on feedback and changed things up which is absolutely great to see and not all brands would do this.
I can only see Beard Manners moving onwards and upwards. The basic ingredients for a successful brand are all there and I can’t wait to try more of their products. A big future lies in wait for Jason and his brand!
Thanks for reading the Beard Manners Raspberry Ripple Review. Let me know if you have tried any of their products and what you thought about them in the comments below. In the meantime check out my last blog What are Carrier Oils? More to come on carrier oils later this week so watch this space!
Take care and keep growing
Tony