Brooklyn Beard Oil is a thing

Yes, the B-borough seems a little full of itself these days. Even Kim Hastreiter, New York City’s publishing and marketing alchemist, renowned for spinning gold from counter culture cool has had enough: “If I see another Edison light bulb or indie, vintage-furnished Ace-style hotel open up, or one more white, bearded, tattooed, apron-clad, work-booted hipster standing behind the counter of a shop selling pork bellies, small-batch gin, organic barber shop products or old-school, authentic, artisanal, heritage, sustainable, distressed-looking anything, I swear I will throw up,” she says.

And forget about beards being over. For those of us without any discernible chin, this isn’t a band wagon, this is a life long commitment

We get it. In terms of Brooklyn as a brand, we’ve reached saturation point. We’re over the over exposure. Just like Shoreditch in London when Boxpark opened and ruined everything. But hang on a mo… it’s not like Brooklyn has turned into Camden. Yes, it’s full of tourists. But then this is New York we’re talking about. There are always the sketchier edges of Bushwick to keep it real, and marketing aside, the true spirit of independence is still very much alive – something we should be championing. Which brings us neatly to our new favourite thing – Brooklyn Beard Oil by Brooklyn Grooming.

And yes, we have a sense of our own ridiculousness. And we’re darn sure they do too.

Now, admittedly we don’t love the product quite as much as we love that other location-specific beard grooming product, Sailors by Haeckels (“made of Margate”), but we’re still huge fans. We think it’s a fantastic idea, executed very well indeed. And forget about beards being over. For those of us without any discernible chin, this isn’t a band wagon, this is a life long commitment.

Brooklyn Beard Oil has a sesame and hempseed base and comes in four different varieties: Red Hook (Bay Rum with hints of cardamom and citrus), Fort Greene (with juniper, rosemary, bergamot and lavender), Williamsburg (with woody cedar notes) and, our favourite, Commando (without any added ingredients – allowing the nuttiness of the sesame to come through). Yes, that’s right, “Commando”. As in “going…” Do you see what they’ve done there?

If you need to question the need for beard oil, you either don’t have a beard (and have never experienced the horror of beardruff) or have never kissed anyone with a beard (and experienced a face full of oil-free wire wool). For the furry of face, Brooklyn Beard Oil is as much a practicality as it is a lifestyle motif. And don’t worry about the Zeitgeist: being over being over Brooklyn is the new thing. Trust us. C

Brooklyngrooming.com