Cosmetic Scientists Develop New Type of Beard Moisturiser in Global First
Beard Milk looks like milk, applies like beard oil, but softens the beard more noticeably, and for longer, without the greasy downsides.
COOLUM BEACH, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA, January 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A small Australian cosmetics laboratory says it has created a new type of beard-care product that could change how men moisturize facial hair, in a market now approaching US$1 billion globally.
Milkman Grooming Co., based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, has developed what it calls “Beard Milk” — a milky, plant-based liquid designed to hydrate beard hair more effectively than traditional beard oils and balms.
The invention comes as the global beard care industry continues to expand. According to market researcher Grand View Research, the beard oil segment alone was valued at US$979.6 million in 2024 and is forecast to grow at 7.4 per cent annually through to 2030, driven by rising grooming standards and the growing popularity of beards worldwide.
Despite this growth, most beard-care products still rely on oil-heavy formulas that primarily coat the hair rather than penetrating it. Milkman co-founder and cosmetic scientist Dr Ben De Campo says this was the problem that led to the invention. “Hair behaves very differently to skin, but most beard products are designed as if they were skin oils,” he said. “We wanted to see if it was possible to build something that could behave more like a moisturiser, where water-based hydration could be delivered into the hair shaft and retained for longer.”
To achieve that, De Campo spent more than a year developing a manufacturing process that allows water, plant oils and conditioning agents to remain stably suspended in a milk-like liquid — something that is notoriously difficult in cosmetic chemistry, where such mixtures normally separate. “If the ingredients are combined in the wrong sequence, the product immediately breaks,” he said. “Getting it to stay stable and still feel light enough for beard use took extensive testing.”
The result is a fluid that looks and pours like milk but is designed for topical use on facial hair, with the aim of delivering longer-lasting softness and hydration without the oily residue commonly associated with beard products.
Milkman Grooming Co.’s co-founder Jackee De Campo says the project reflects a broader trend of small manufacturers attempting to innovate within mature consumer product categories. “Beard care has become a huge global industry, but very little has changed in terms of how the products actually work,” she said. “This was an attempt to rethink that from first principles.”
The company says it is now producing Beard Milk at commercial scale using plant-derived ingredients, with the process treated as a trade secret due to its technical complexity.
While it remains to be seen how the product will be received in the wider market, the invention highlights the growing role of independent Australian teams in developing novel consumer formulations — an area typically dominated by multinational cosmetic corporations.
Dr Benjamin De Campo
Milkman Grooming Co
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