Beard dye for men UK: Dye the beard with our pick of the best facial hair dyes
We’ve handpicked the best moustache and beard dyes for men to give natural-looking coverage whatever your budget
JUMP TO SECTION
Click a link below to jump straight to each section:
W hen you first grew your beard you probably presumed the colour would match the hair on your head, but beards, as you may well have found out, don’t always grow exactly how you want them to.
Maybe you’ve found that your beard is a little bit redder than you expected, or maybe it’s grey hair that is making an appearance in your whiskers.
Thankfully, the colour of your beard is something you can take back control of and if you don’t like the colour of your beard, then beard dye is going to be your saviour.
It will help camouflage any unwanted colour tones and help make the colour of your beard more uniform, but still natural looking. Changing the colour of your beard may also help make it look fuller and less patchy.
With this in mind, we’ve put the best beard dyes to the test to suit all men’s skin types and budgets. We’ll be adding more products to this list as we get the chance to test them properly.
FURTHER READING: Become a ‘beard man’ this year with these top short, medium and long beard styles
Best beard dye for men UK
1. Best beard dye for men: Just for Men Moustache and Beard Brush-in Colour Gel – £7.95: Jump to review
2. Best beard dye for sensitive skin: Grizzly Mountain Beard Dye – £19.99: Jump to review
3. Best nourishing beard dye: Shiny Moustache and Beard Dye – £7.19: Jump to review
4. Best fast-acting beard dye: Cameleo Men Hair Colour Cream – £5.50: Jump to review
1. Just for Men Beard Brush-in Colour Gel
£7.95 | Buy now
You’ve likely heard of Just for Men. It’s one of, if not the most popular hair dye brands for men and this expertise extends to facial hair.
This Just for Men brush-in colour gel is subtle and it’s easy to control how much you’re using, or how dark you want to go. It’s also semi-permanent so should last for up to a month but the more you wash your beard, the quicker it will fade.
There are various colour options, so you should be able to find one that matches your beard colour and they range from blonde to jet black.
To look as natural as possible we would recommend picking a colour that is similar to the colour of the hair on your head.
You get a little brush in the box, which is easy to use to cover all your beard hair. As well as changing the colour of your beard, the conditioners in the product should leave your beard feeling softer and looking healthier.
The Just for Men range does use chemicals for colouring agents, which can cause some men’s skin to be irritated or have an allergic reaction. That’s why doing a patch test 24 hours before is crucial.
FURTHER READING: Beard styles for men with every face shape from round to square and everything in between
Buy now from Boots
2. Grizzly Mountain Beard Dye
£19.99 | Buy now
If you’re looking for a chemical-free beard dye then this one from Grizzly Bear ticks all the boxes. It’s a vegan beard dye, as well as being gluten-free, cruelty-free and sulphate-free.
Be aware this is a permanent facial hair dye, so try to pick a colour option that best matches the mid-tones of the hair on your head so that it looks as natural as possible.
This beard dye has been designed to help make your beard look natural. That’s because the oxidisation process responds to the coarseness of your beard hair.
This means that thinner hairs, which would typically take on dye more quickly, don’t look too dark compared to thicker hairs.
This is a great alternative if you’ve found Just for Men products (or other beard dyes) have irritated your skin. The only downside to this beard dye is that it doesn’t come cheap, and you have to wait 30 minutes between putting the dye on and washing it off.
FURTHER READING: Best beard trimmer UK: Our pick of the best beard trimmers for men in 2022
Buy now from Amazon
3. Shiny Moustache and Beard Dye
£7.19 | Buy now
If you want a beard dye that won’t stain your skin then give the Shiny Moustache and Beard Dye a go. It’s also a really good beard dye for sensitive skin because it’s made without ammonia, parabens and is alcohol- and fragrance-free (although still make sure to do your patch test before use).
This is also a vegan-friendly beard dye.
There are four choices of colour, ranging from dark blonde to black.
This beard dye is also designed to protect and nourish your beard hair with eight pure organic herbal extracts.
We really like that the bottle can be reclosed, meaning you don’t waste any product and can use as much as you need each time.
Shiny beards also offer a beard filler pencil that you can use to fill in any patchy parts of your beard. You’ll need to keep applying it as and when you need to, but it should last over 18 hours each time after application. That’s helped by it being waterproof.
FURTHER READING: Beard oil for men UK: The best men’s beard oils and how to use them
Buy now from Shiny Beards
4. Cameleo Men Hair Colour Cream
£5.50 | Buy now
If you’re wanting to cover your grey beard hair then the Cameleo Men Hair Colour Cream is a great option for you.
We love the fact it’s so quick to use – it only takes five minutes – and you can use this one on your beard, moustache or sideburns to make your hair look more uniform and natural. Don’t be tempted to leave it on for longer because it does really work that quickly, and it lasts for weeks.
It’s available in black, dark brown, medium brown and light brown, we recommend choosing the colour closest to the hair colour on your head rather than trying to match the often different colours in your beard.
FURTHER READING: Best hair dye for men UK: 7 of the best men’s hair dye for grey hair and beyond
Buy now from Amazon
Best beard dye for men: What to look for
When shopping for dye for your beard, do not presume that a hair dye for your head will work well on your beard.
ALWAYS DO A PATCH TEST
A crucial thing you must do before using any beard dye is to perform a patch test.
Put a small dot of dye on your neck behind your ear, or on the inside of your wrist or elbow, at least 24 hours before using the dye.
If you have a reaction then you may be allergic to that dye.
It’s much safer to test a tiny area than deal with a reaction across your whole face. Always read the packet or instructions carefully.
This is because beard dye is more gentle, which is needed because the skin on your face is more sensitive than your scalp.
The way beard dye works is different too. The hair in your beard is more coarse than the hair on your head, so it’s likely the hair dye will work differently and not take as well on beard hair.
A hair dye designed specifically for beards will also make the final result look much more natural.
That’s because beard dyes camouflage the unwanted colour, making it subtly blend, rather than be a blanket, uniform colour that has a tendency to look fake.
We would also recommend using beard dyes that are semi-permanent. Your beard hair grows at around half an inch per month so if you pick a permanent dye and it doesn’t look like you intended then you’re either going to have to shave it all off or have an unwanted colour for a long time.
Semi-permanent beard dyes last for 3-6 weeks, which is a good amount of time and the colour will disappear gradually, again making it look much more natural.
If you have sensitive skin under your beard then we would advise avoiding synthetic beard dyes because they will likely irritate your skin. There are plenty of natural and chemical-free options to choose from instead.
MORE LIKE THIS