Can you use beard vitamins for facial hair growth? Most of us at GentlemanHQ.com like to change up our facial hair styles a lot: stubble, ‘stache, clean shaven, etc. We also like to grow a mean beard, so we went ahead and reached out to Brandon at Grow a Beard NOW! and jumped right in.
So I wanted to find out: do beard growing supplements really work? If so, what are some good vitamins for beard growth? Are there other ways to stimulate beard growth? You get the idea. I’m sure there’s not a super secret beard growth formula, but I know from experience that vitamins can work wonders in other areas. So, I’m very excited that Brandon stopped by to enlighten us!
Interview with Brandon Dennis
Howdy there gents, this is Brandon from Grow a Beard NOW!. I’ve been invited to come on over and talk a bit about beard growth vitamins—how they work, whether they work or not, and whether they are worth the money.
First Things First
Let’s start by making it clear that beard growth vitamins do not grow new beard hair. They only improve the growth and health of existing hair.
What Can Grow New Beard Hair?
If beard growth vitamins can’t grow new beard hair, you might be asking, then what can? Simple: Minoxidil. Minoxidil is a medication that dilates capillaries and other small blood vessels in the skin, making them larger, and allowing more blood to flow to the follicle. This increase in blood flow brings much-needed nutrients and oxygen to the follicles, which improves the thickness and health of existing hair, and can even cause new hair to grow in dormant follicles.
There are many forms of minoxidil. You are probably more familiar with the name Rogaine, which is just a brand of minoxidil. It is available over the counter (you do not need a prescription), and it has proven to work in men over decades.
The only drawback of minoxidil is that you must use it forever. If you stop using it, the blood vessels shrink back to their original size, and the new hair that benefitted will become unhealthy and even fall out. Please note (I get this question a lot): existing beard hair you had before the treatment will NOT fall out if you stop using minoxidil. The only hair that disappears over time is the new hair that grew because of the minoxidil.
Back to Beard Vitamins
So then, if minoxidil is the best cure for a non-sprouting beard, how does this relate to beard vitamins? Simple, my classy chum. If your blood is unhealthy because your diet is unhealthy, then increased blood-flow to your follicles will do little benefit.
This is where beard vitamins come in. Beard vitamins come with nutrients designed to make hair grow healthier. Existing beard hair that already grows well will benefit greatly from beard vitamins, and look thicker, get stronger, and look richer. But follicles that have little blood flow won’t gain the benefit of your new beard-growing-nutrient-rich blood.
This is why minoxidil and beard vitamins make such great companions. If you already have a full beard and just need to make it healthier, take the beard vitamins. If you have bald patches in your beard, use minoxidil AND take the beard vitamins. Easy breezy.
What exactly is in beard vitamins?
There are only a handful of beard vitamin brands out there. One of the most famous is Vitabeard. This brand has the benefit of being endorsed by Jack Passion, who is probably the world’s most famous beard growing champion.
Vitabeard shares its ingredients on the bottle, so it is easy to discover what is in it that helps your beard. However, it includes a rather cryptic secret sauce called the “Vitabeard Proprietary Blend”, which I suppose they keep secret to prevent people from stealing their recipe. Thus, there is no way to know all that is in Vitabeard.
However, I will list each ingredient that is disclosed and explain exactly what it does:
- Beta-carotene (vitamin A) – Thought to slow aging and reduce the risk of cancer, yet there is no evidence to back this up.
- Cholecalciferol from lichen (vitamin D3) – Has huge array of health benefits, ranging from preventing colon cancer to increasing bone health. While not explicitly a beard-enhancer, it is an all-around health supplement.
- Asorbic acid (vitamin c) – An “antioxidant”, this is another basic essential nutrient for humans. It helps prevent scurvy.
- d-Alpha Tocopherol from sunflower oil (vitamin e) – Another “antioxidant” which is thought to slow the effects of aging. It was once thought that it has more positive health effects, including cancer prevention, but modern research has not borne this out.
- Thiamine HCI (vitamin B1) – Thought to improve brain function. Once thought to prevent a number of neurological diseases (including the prevention of dementia) but research hasn’t shown any evidence for this.
- Riboflavin (vitamimin B2) – A basic human nutrient needed for life. It helps keep skin healthy and prevent skin cracks (like cracked lips).
- Niacinamide (vitamin B3) – Another basic human need, it prevents a host of symptoms, including digestive trouble, fatigue, mental “fogginess”, thickened skin, and on and on.
- Pyridoxine HCI (vitamin B6) – A basic human nutrient, which prevents neurological disorders and keeps skin healthy.
- Methylcobalamin (vitamin B12) – Used to treat cyanide poisoning. A basic nutrient, it’s often marketed as a weight-loss supplement, though its success has never been proven.
- D-Biotin (vitamin B7) – Often used as a hair-health vitamin. This helps prevent hair loss and red, scaly, flaky patches of skin.
- Calcium D-Pantothenate (vitamin B5) – Thought to prevent fatigue, apathy, and muscle cramps.
- Thallus (iodine) – Helps prevent goiters and mental handicaps.
- Zinc amino acid chelate (zinc) – Helps prevent digestive issues and brain injuries.
- Copper amino acid chelate (copper) – Helps produce red blood cells and keep body tissues healthy.
- Methyl Sulfonyl Methane (MSM) – Helps prevent arthritis and keep skin healthy.
- L-Methionine – Thought to help reduce age-related diseases.
- Horsetail Extract (silica) – Helps prevent balding and keeps fingernails and hair healthy.
- L-Cysteine HCI – It is used to make hair keep its shape, and to make hair softer.
- Choline Bitartrate – Keeps kidney and liver healthy.
- Inositol – Helps breakdown fats and helps molecules communicate with each other.
- Para Aminobenzoic Acid – Helps prevent irritable bowel syndrome and keep skin healthy.
As you can see, few of the ingredients say “Makes Beards Grow Better”. However, some of them are proven to keep hair and fingernails healthy (like Biotin), and when combined, it produces a pretty compelling over-all men’s health cocktail, with an emphasis on skin health and hair health.
Which, we must admit, is important to we beardsmen.
Many thanks to aPennyShaved.com for giving me the time to chat with you all. If you’d like to read more beard grooming and care guides, check out my selection at growabeardnow.com.