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What makes the Best
Mustache Wax?

Things to consider when choosing a mustache wax.

Mustache wax side by side photo comparison.
Author: Michael Pollock
Update:
Originally posted:

Best Mustache Wax Hold & Texture

In the world of mustache wax, you'll typically encounter medium and strong hold options. Strong hold waxes are harder than medium hold waxes.

Strong Hold Mustache Wax

Strong hold waxes contain a higher concentration of beeswax or ingredients like pine resin. One common drawback is that strong waxes can be challenging to apply straight out of the container. To make application easier, many people opt to warm them up using a blow dryer.

This is where SavvyJack Mustache Wax truly shines. Thanks to its carefully balanced ingredient ratios and innovative production methods, SavvyJack offers an all-day strong hold that remains easy to apply. However, during colder months, it's a good idea to keep it in your pocket for a few minutes to warm it up before use. We’re so confident in SavvyJack’s performance that if you find it doesn’t provide a remarkable hold while being easy to apply, we’ll gladly buy it back through our 'Handcrafted & Warranted for Life' Guarantee.

Medium Hold Mustache Wax

While medium holds are easier to apply than their strong hold counterparts, they fall short in terms of lasting power and overall effectiveness. You don’t need a medium hold wax for a natural look; instead, a small amount of strong hold wax can give you the desired effect, just work it in with your fingers or better still, a comb.

Best Mustache Wax Ingredients

This is where the real difference lies. Most mustache waxes are made from 3-5 key ingredients (excluding scents), typically a combination of waxes, butters, and oils. For example, SavvyJack includes beeswax, pine rosin, cacao butter, shea butter, and jojoba oil. Below, you'll find more details on the various ingredients commonly found in mustache waxes and what makes each one unique.

1. Beeswax or Other Wax

Nearly all mustache waxes contain beeswax, a natural ingredient with excellent properties. Generally, the higher the beeswax content, the stronger the hold. You may also encounter plant-based waxes like Candelilla or Carnauba (from palm trees), which are much harder and more brittle than beeswax. If you come across paraffin wax, a petroleum-based option, it’s best to avoid it.

As with any natural product, beeswax quality can vary significantly. The best beeswax comes from the light cappings of the newest sections of the hive, producing a richly golden wax with a wonderful scent. Older hive sections accumulate impurities over time, making their wax less suitable for sensitive skin and reducing product longevity.
Furthermore, different extraction methods can lead to beeswax with varying properties, since the refinement process can leave behind varying amounts of beeswax's natural chemicals. Lower quality beeswax can also be diluted with cheaper waxes.

The finest beeswax I’ve found comes from a century-old, family-run apiary right here in Florida—Beeswax From Beekeepers.

2. Pine Rosin / Pine Resin

A handful of mustache waxes use the tackiness of pine rosin to enhance hold and durability. While "pine rosin" and "pine resin" are often used interchangeably, they are actually different substances. Pine resin is the sticky sap we commonly see oozing from damaged areas of coniferous trees. (For more interesting uses, check out Pine Resin Survival Uses.) When pine resin is distilled to remove turpentine, the result is pine rosin—a much harder substance that has long been used to improve grip on violin strings.

At SavvyJack, we’ve extensively researched the various pine rosins available on the market, as quality and characteristics can vary significantly. For the best results, we highly recommend sourcing from Creekwood Naturals, another outstanding small American business.

3. Shea & Other Butters

Some mustache waxes include plant butters, which have a texture and spreadability that falls between waxes and oils. This makes them ideal for softening harder waxes and creating a smoother, more manageable blend. Butters also provide excellent benefits for your hair. Shea butter, commonly found in both mustache wax and hair care products, is particularly nourishing for both skin and hair.

At SavvyJack, we also incorporate the firmer cacao butter, which helps bridge the gap between the hardness of beeswax and the fluidity of oils. Additionally, cacao butter is well-known for its moisturizing properties, enhancing both skin and hair health.

4. Jojoba & Other Oils

The beeswax tempering process is completed with the addition of various oils. The range of oils suitable for hair and skin is extensive, but some of the most common include jojoba, castor, and argan oils. Notably, jojoba (pronounced ho-ho-ba) is unique because it is technically a liquid wax, consisting primarily of mono-esters rather than triglycerides. Jojoba "oil" closely resembles the sebum produced by our sebaceous glands, which helps keep our skin and hair healthy and moisturized.

4. Lanolin & Petroleum Jelly

Some mustache waxes contain lanolin and petroleum jelly (also known as Vaseline), which are grease-like substances with properties that lie between wax and oil. Lanolin is a natural secretion from sheep's sebaceous glands, while petroleum jelly is a synthetic product made from the paraffin wax and mineral oil byproducts of crude oil refinement.

Both are primarily used as sealants to lock in moisture for the skin. However, they tend to make your mustache feel greasy. While some popular mustache waxes include lanolin, I recommend avoiding petroleum jelly. It not only gives your mustache a greasy texture but is also an unnecessary synthetic ingredient. In our view, both lanolin and petroleum jelly are best left out of mustache wax, allowing for a more refined balance of natural waxes and oils.

Best Mustache Wax Scents

Mustache waxes come in a variety of scents, ranging from natural or unscented to woodsy, leathery, and musky, as well as citrus, mint, and vanilla. Choosing the right scent is all about personal preference and sensitivity to fragrances, but there are a few things to consider.

Unscented Mustache Waxes

Most mustache waxes are considered unscented, meaning they don’t contain ingredients specifically added to create a fragrance. However, nearly all waxes have a subtle scent from natural ingredients like beeswax. These natural scents typically dissipate quickly, leaving the wax effectively scentless once applied. The strength, character, and longevity of the scent can vary depending on the source and preparation of these natural ingredients.

High-quality, less-processed beeswax retains a pleasant honey-like scent, while more processed beeswax may lose much of its aroma. Low-quality beeswax often lacks any scent to begin with, or even has an unpleasant scent. This principle applies to oils and butters as well. Cold-pressed oils, for example, typically have a different scent profile compared to their chemically extracted counterparts. The scent strength and character of mustache wax also depend on the production process. Higher temperatures and longer exposure during production reduce the scent as aromatic compounds evaporate.

Scented Mustache Waxes

Scented mustache waxes can be infused with either natural or synthetic compounds. Depending on how much of these compounds are used, and whether the base recipe is properly adapted, they can negatively impact the holding power of a mustache wax.

Naturally Scented Mustache Waxes:

While essential oils are the most well-known natural fragrances, there are also absolutes, tinctures, distillates, and other isolated aromatic extracts from the things we enjoy smelling—trees, grasses, animals, and even unusual substances like ambergris, a waxy secretion from sperm whales. Though ambergris has a foul odor when fresh, it is dried and aged to produce a highly prized musky scent.

Natural scents, like synthetic ones, are regulated for safety. For example, coumarin, a naturally occurring compound with a hay-like aroma, has strict concentration limits in cosmetic products. That said, when considering a naturally-scented mustache wax, your only real concerns are the scent description and perhaps a slight dip in performance relative to the unscented version.

Synthetically Scented Mustache Waxes:

Many scented mustache waxes utilize synthetic fragrance oils. These synthetic compounds are designed to mimic natural scents and often last longer than natural blends. You can identify synthetic fragrances by looking for “fragrance oils” or even just "fragrance" on the ingredients list.

The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) regulates the allowable chemicals and their concentrations in cosmetic products. While synthetic fragrances are commonly found in perfumes and colognes, some people find the characteristic “chemical” smell off-putting.

Some synthetics, like vanillin (the main compound in vanilla beans), are identical to their natural counterparts and can even be derived from natural sources such as clove oil. Other synthetic aroma compounds are entirely novel and can create unique, fascinating scents. However, it’s important to note that some previously approved synthetic chemicals, like the nitro musk ambrette, were later found to be harmful and banned.

At SavvyJack, we opt for natural ingredients, but it is possible to create safe, high-quality scents using synthetic molecules. Still, the potential long-term risks of synthetic ingredients are why we believe natural is the better choice.

Best Mustache Wax Color

Mustache waxes typically come in some shade of yellow or brown. There are also a few black and white mustache waxes.

Yellow or Gold Mustache Wax (Natural)

This is the most common mustache wax color and for good reason. A good all-natural yellow wax goes on essentially clear in all but the darkest and lightest mustaches. Unless your mustache is jet black, a high-quality yellow wax is what you want.

Brown Mustache Wax

Brown mustache waxes are also fairly common. As far as I have seen, this is the result of ingredient choice rather than pigments. Higher temperatures during production can lead to this. A brown wax is fairly universal like a yellow wax, but will have more visibility in light mustaches.

Black Mustache Wax

SavvyJack introduced the first black mustache wax to the market in January 2023. This is because truly jet black mustaches will have some wax visibility with any non-black wax.

There are several black pigment options. We tested them extensively—black iron oxide is by far the best. Colorants like charcoal or dye do not provide a deep black color at low enough concentrations to avoid diminishing the hold of a mustache wax.

White Mustache Wax

White mustache waxes are uncommon, and a high quality yellow wax looks great in a white mustache. SavvyJack natural wax has many great reviews for its invisibility in white mustaches. In order to build a white wax, you need to use either a synthetic wax like paraffin, or a highly purified natural wax. That goes for the butters and oils too. This purification process is fine, but it does also remove the natural scents and some of the hair-nourishing natural components of these ingredients.

No need to risk it!

I hope this article has helped you make an informed decision on choosing the best mustache wax. I truly believe SavvyJack is the best option available, and we back that up with our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you're not completely satisfied, we'll buy it back—no questions asked.
Natural mustache wax - 1oz tinNatural mustache wax - 0.15oz tubeBlack mustache wax - 1oz tinBlack mustache wax - 0.15oz tube