Beard Balm vs. Mustache Wax

Beard balm vs. mustache wax explained: what each does, why balm won’t curl your mustache, and how to choose the best product for your needs.

Source: The Neat and Tidy Man

As a man with a particularly dense mustache, I’ve been through my fair share of balms and waxes over the decades. I want to keep it in good condition, tame whiskers that won’t lie flat, and create a decent, long‑lasting curl when wearing a handlebar.

But discovering the right product through trial and error can be expensive, whether you’re a facial‑hair novice or an old hand—with age and graying, we experience a dry, wiry frizz that’s difficult to control.

Expecting to find the solution at the drugstore is where the confusion begins.

Beard Balm

Beard balm is essentially beard oil in solid form. It works as a leave‑in conditioner. But through no fault of their own, many men want it to condition and sculpt.

Beard Balm Is Not an All‑In‑One Product

If you wear a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, a balm adds condition and shine, preventing frizz and flyaways.

But once your beard is bushier, you’ll notice it doesn’t offer much in the way of shaping or hold, despite marketing claims. And it certainly won’t support the curl of a handlebar.

Why Some Balms Claim to “Hold”

Balms that promise shaping or hold usually contain 5–40% beeswax—the more beeswax, the “waxier” the product feels. This is why some firmer balms market themselves as “beard wax.”

Beeswax can set and provide hold, but not when 60–95% of the formula is made up of oils and butters.

At most, these products may weigh down an immature whisker, but they have no perceptible grip on a fully matured beard or mustache.

Why Do Beard Balms Contain Beeswax?

Low‑percentage beeswax isn’t intended to set whiskers in place. Its main purpose is to give the balm its texture. Without it, the mixture would melt into a soup.

Manufacturers could just as easily use:

• firm butters
• hydrogenated oils
• plant waxes
• fatty alcohols

These thicken and solidify the balm while helping to lock conditioners into the hair shaft without the beard appearing greasy.

When Balm Isn’t Enough

If your beard becomes increasingly wavy or curly with length, you’ll need a beard flat iron to smooth it out, plus balm and rinse-out conditioners to keep it healthy. Balm alone won’t straighten or shape.

And if you’re growing your mustache into a walrus or handlebar, only mustache wax will smooth and sculpt, not balm.

Source: The Neat and Tidy Man

Mustache Wax

The most logical place to buy mustache wax is a drugstore. But you’ll rarely find anything labeled as such. So, you take what seems the nearest thing: a beard balm that promises hold. Let’s call it a “strategic marketing ambiguity.”

Don’t let the packaging confuse you.

You need a product that actually calls itself “mustache wax.” It isn’t usually intended to condition, but it will sculpt, shape, and smooth.

Look for it online or ask your barber.

Which Mustache Wax Do You Need?

Not suffering from allergies and being oblivious to added essential oils, I can use practically any beard balm with the same result: a well‑conditioned mustache.

Mustache wax is a different story. There are two factors to consider.

First, the wax you choose should depend on the density and texture of your whiskers and what you intend to do with them. Unlike balms, mustache waxes bind hairs, but to varying degrees.

Second, if a balm leaves residue, it’s water‑soluble and washes away with plain water. Some waxes behave the same way, but others require oil‑based cleansers.

It means choosing a wax that achieves the mustache style you want and fits your routine.

Texture and Growth: The Key to Choosing Wax

Before choosing a mustache wax, think about texture and growth inclination.

Mine, for example, is thick and bristly with an inwardly inclined curl.

If I curl the ends upward without wax, the left side soon coils back while the right side droops.

Now I’m older, many of the whiskers on the main body of my mustache grow horizontally outward rather than downward. Because I seek volume, I don’t want to keep snipping them off.

I therefore use a very strong-setting wax to curl my ends and a softer product for the body. The latter would be enough to curl finer or more compliant whiskers than mine.

But how do you establish which wax will do what?

How to Choose the Right Mustache Wax

Most balms claim to provide hold, and most waxes claim strong hold. In most cases, this is no indication of real performance.

Instead of the label, look at the list of ingredients before deciding.

The higher the component appears, the more dominant it is. Here are some examples based on products I’ve used.

Brother’s Love Clear Wax

This is a polymer-based stiff-setting wax.

It works well after a week or two of growing out the ends of a chevron, which are usually too springy for a softer setting product. A week’s growth should give you upturned ends similar to Stalin or Tom Selleck in some of his Magnum-era photos. After two weeks, you’ll get a defined handlebar, as in the photo of me below. Give it a month, and you’ll have an enviable coil rather than just a curl. Only this sort of product can do that.

The first ingredient listed is water (aqua). Second and third are the polymers poloxamer 407 and VP/VA copolymer, which are found in hair gels.

The curl lasts all day without touch-ups: a good thing because, like hair gel, it tends to pill if disturbed.

Brother’s Love Hazelnut

This is a water-based tinted cream with beeswax.

Water is first in the list of ingredients and beeswax (cera alba) second. Further down is the polymer VP/VA copolymer.

If a product has beeswax lower than second place and polymers are absent, it’s more likely a balm than a wax.

Unlike the clear product, it doesn’t pill when disturbed and gives a softer curl. For blond and redheaded men, it offers more definition due to the colorant acid red 27, listed here as CI 16185.

Even though Brother’s Love Hazelnut contains beeswax, it washes out with plain water. This is because the wax is blended into a soap‑based, water‑soluble formula, listed as sodium tallowate, sodium palmkernelate, and sodium cocoate.

Firehouse and Similar Traditional Waxes

Firehouse uses only beeswax and a petroleum-based ingredient to make it soft enough to handle. This also keeps the mustache flexible in spite of a strong hold.

It became my favorite during a nautical stint on a pleasure boat several years ago. Being waterproof, it resists even heavy rain and constant spray. I applied it to my whole mustache—not just the ends.

It comes in three shades derived from the beeswax itself: light for blond, gray, and white hair; and two darker shades to play down grays while enhancing perceived volume.

To properly remove it, use an oil-based cleanser. The easiest option for tired men at the end of a hard day is a two-phase micellar water.

Source: The Neat and Tidy Man

The Surprising Alternative

To demonstrate just how different mustache wax is from beard balm: glue substitutes wax in a pinch, but not balm.

In the above photo, I’ve actually used Pritt Stick to create that fantastic two-week-old handlebar.

Although its ingredients aren’t even similar to mustache wax, it still binds hairs, achieving the same result as a stiff-setting wax like Brother’s Love Clear.

Apart from being cheap, Pritt Stick offers a safe-to-use, non-toxic, water-soluble alternative that washes out easily without damaging the hair. It’s ideal if you’re eager to see how you’ll look with an upturned curl, but were misled into buying a drugstore balm instead of wax.

How to Combine Beard Balm and Mustache Wax

Beard balm and mustache wax do two completely different jobs, in spite of marketing claims.

Balm conditions, lending beards and mustaches a healthy luster rather than the greasy sheen of plain oil.

Wax allows you to style your mustache while keeping noncompliant whiskers in place over long periods. Like glue, it binds hairs and cannot be absorbed.

Nourish your beard and mustache with some kind of oil at night—among others, choose coconut, castor, jojoba, or argan depending on skin type. Condition during the day with balm.

Wax loses its grip on an oiled mustache, so use balm only on areas you don’t intend to wax. For example, if you wear a handlebar, wax the ends and apply balm only on the main body.

© 2025 J. Richardson