Everything you want to know.

Il Belga Barbuto is a Belgian premium beard care brand, founded in Antwerp and developed in Salento, southern Italy. The first product is Olio da Barba No. 01, a 30 ml beard oil. The brand is still in development and nothing is for sale at this time.

Edition No. 01 arrives when the scent is ready, not before. The scent panel chooses first, production follows, and the product only leaves the door once it is genuinely finished. As soon as we can give a date, you will read it here and in the Journal.

A small scent panel smells the finalists and picks one. The panel meets once; the chosen scent then goes into production. The twenty-three candidates were developed in Salento, together with an Italian laboratory.

The panel is a small group personally invited by founder Robin De Schutter. You cannot apply for it online. The tester programme is entirely separate from it and is open for applications.

You leave your details on the tester page and then fill in the short questionnaire you receive by email. From all applicants we choose a limited group of thirty to fifty testers. That selection is made by hand, once the scent is settled and the first production run is ready.

No. The scent is chosen by the scent panel, before the testers are selected. As a tester you receive the finished product and give your honest impression.

You will hear by email, once the scent is settled and the first production run is ready. We cannot give a date yet, because the scent panel sets the pace. Everyone who applied receives a reply, including those not selected this time.

That you use the oil for a few weeks and then honestly say what you think of it. If you like it, you are free to tell whoever you want. A critical impression is just as welcome as an enthusiastic one, because that is what we learn most from.

No. Testers receive their sample free of charge and pay no shipping either. There is no obligation to buy anything.

In the Journal on this site, where every step of the development is recorded. We also share images on Instagram, at @ilbelgabarbuto. Those who receive the newsletter usually read it first.

Beard oil first and foremost cares for the skin under your beard, and only then the hair itself. It replaces the moisture lost through washing and showering, which reduces dryness, flaking and itch. It also makes the beard hair softer and easier to comb.

Put a few drops in your palm, warm them between your hands and massage the oil in from the skin towards the tips. Do this on a clean, slightly damp beard, preferably after showering. Comb or brush afterwards, so the oil spreads evenly.

For stubble or a short beard three to four drops are enough, for a full beard six to eight, for a long beard more. Start with less than you think you need, because you can always add. Too much oil makes the beard greasy and heavy.

Once a day is enough for most men, ideally after showering. With a short beard or oilier skin, three to four times a week is often plenty. In a dry or cold season you can happily use it more often.

Often yes, because most beard itch comes from dry, tight skin under the beard. If the itch persists, something else is usually behind it, such as ingrown hairs or seborrhoeic dermatitis. In that case oil alone will not help and a GP or dermatologist is the right step.

No. How fast and how thickly your beard grows is determined by your genes and your hormones, not by a care product. Beard oil looks after the skin and the hair that is already there, which makes your beard look fuller and healthier.

No. In a controlled study from 1970, men shaved one leg for months and left the other untouched, with no difference at all in thickness or coarseness. It does feel coarser, because you cut a hair at its thickest point and leave a blunt end instead of a fine tip.

No. Growth speed is set in the follicle and shaving does not change it; beard hair grows roughly one centimetre a month. It only seems faster because stubble is visible and noticeable from the very first day.

Beard oil cares and hydrates; beard balm cares and also holds, because it contains waxes and butters. Oil sinks in and lets the beard fall loose; balm shapes it. If you are starting out, start with oil.

For every beard type, from stubble to a full beard. With a longer or coarser beard you simply use a little more oil. The oil is as good for the skin underneath as it is for the hair itself.

With normal use usually not, but anyone who uses too much or has oily skin can get spots. Use fewer drops in that case and apply the oil to clean skin. Wash your beard two to three times a week with a mild cleanser.

You can, as with any care product containing plant oils or fragrance. Test a new product first on a small patch of skin, for example the crook of your elbow, and wait a day. If a known allergy makes you doubt, show the ingredient list to your doctor or pharmacist.

Usually yes, though it depends on how your skin reacts to fragrance. With sensitive skin, apply less oil and build up slowly. If you have a skin condition such as eczema or rosacea, ask your GP or dermatologist first.

A base of natural plant oils, with a fragrance composition developed in Salento. We will publish the full ingredient list according to the INCI standard as soon as the formula is final, here on the site and on the packaging. As long as the scent has not been chosen, that list is not fixed.

The base consists of natural plant oils, without synthetic fillers. The scent is a fragrance composition, so the oil is not entirely natural, and we do not claim it is. The full composition follows at launch.

In Puglia, southern Italy, at a specialised cosmetics laboratory with ISO 22716 certification. The brand itself is Belgian and based in Antwerp. We will name the producer at launch.

No, nothing is for sale yet. The shop opens when Edition No. 01 is ready, not before. Leave your email address if you want to be the first to know.

With daily use, 30 ml lasts about two to three months. Exactly how long depends on your beard length and on how many drops you use. Anyone who uses the oil every other day will make it last noticeably longer.

As soon as the shop opens, we send orders carefully packed to your home address. We will set the concrete delivery times at launch. The conditions are in our shipping policy.

Yes, you have fourteen days' right of withdrawal from delivery. For hygiene reasons only unopened bottles in the original, sealed packaging qualify. The full arrangement is in our return policy.

Yes, but selectively: a limited number of addresses per region, by invitation, and only after launch. If you recognise your business in that, you are welcome to introduce yourself now through the contact form. Every introduction is read and answered personally.

Use the contact form on the contact page. We usually reply within a few working days. For a short message you can also reach us on Instagram, at @ilbelgabarbuto.

Dry or irritated skin also makes the beard hair rougher. That is why beard oil is first and foremost skincare.

Source: DermNet, skin conditions of the beard area

Terminal beard hair measures roughly 90 to 230 micrometres, scalp hair usually 80 to 120. That explains why a young beard prickles.

Source: Review literature on hair biology, structure of beard hair

Its cross-section is also often oval or irregular, with lengthwise grooves that make the hair stiffer.

Source: Overzichtsliteratuur haarbiologie, structuur van baardhaar

Measured growth rates lie between 0.27 and 0.47 millimetres a day, depending on the person, age and season.

Source: Measurement series summarised in the hair biology literature

In a measurement over three years, pigmented hairs grew on average 0.47 millimetres a day, white ones 1.12.

Source: Nagl W. Different growth rates of pigmented and white hair in the beard. Br J Dermatol, 1995

Testosterone and DHT drive the growth, but how sensitive your follicles are to those hormones lies in your genes. Little beard growth therefore does not automatically mean low testosterone.

Source: Randall VA. Androgens and hair growth. Dermatol Ther, 2008

In many men the hairs become thicker and darker between eighteen and thirty.

Source: Literature on the androgen-driven conversion of vellus to terminal hair

Androgens stimulate on the face and inhibit on the scalp. This is called the androgen paradox.

Source: Randall VA. Androgens and hair growth. Dermatol Ther, 2008

An Australian dosimetry study measured a protection factor between 2 and 21, roughly one third of the exposure of a clean-shaven face. It does not replace sunscreen, because the rest of your face is still exposed.

Source: Parisi AV et al. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2012

In a study of 408 hospital workers, the bearded men actually carried Staphylococcus aureus less often than their clean-shaven colleagues: 41 against 53 per cent.

Source: Wakeam E et al. Bacterial ecology of hospital workers' facial hair. J Hosp Infect, 2014

It causes flaking, redness, itch and greasy patches, and besides the scalp it explicitly affects the beard area too.

Source: StatPearls, Seborrheic Dermatitis, NCBI Bookshelf

Malassezia is part of the normal skin flora and splits fatty acids from sebum. In those who are sensitive to it, that causes the inflammation you see as flakes.

Source: StatPearls and DermNet, seborrhoeic dermatitis and Malassezia

Global prevalence is around five per cent; the milder flaking variant occurs in almost half of adults. It is more common in men than in women.

Source: StatPearls, Seborrheic Dermatitis

Ingrown hairs, bacteria and seborrhoeic dermatitis can also be behind it. If it persists, it is a matter for the doctor, not for an oil.

Source: DermNet

A curved follicle lets the hair curl back into the skin. In men with strongly curly hair, the prevalence of razor bumps runs up to between 45 and 80 per cent.

Source: DermNet and Merck Manual, pseudofolliculitis barbae

It is a foreign-body reaction: the skin responds to a hair piercing it from within. There is also a hereditary factor, in a gene for hair keratin.

Source: Merck Manual; Winter H et al. J Invest Dermatol, 2004

Hot water dissolves the fats that keep the skin supple. Lukewarm is gentler on skin and beard.

Source: Dermatological guidance on the skin barrier and lipids

The European list of individually declarable fragrance allergens grew from twenty-six to eighty-two substances. Every cosmetic product first placed on the European market from 31 July 2026 falls under the new rule; stock that was already there may still be sold until 31 July 2028.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1545, amending Regulation (EC) 1223/2009

In a population study across five European countries, 1.9 to 2.6 per cent tested positive to the standard fragrance mixes. In women that figure is about twice as high as in men.

Source: Diepgen TL et al. Br J Dermatol, 2015, EDEN Fragrance Study