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Why I Started Making My Own Beard Products

Discover why I started High Desert Grooming Co. and how frustration with beard products inspired me to create handcrafted beard care in New Mexico.

BUILDING HIGH DESERT

Martin Molina

7/28/20265 min read

High Desert Grooming Co. beard oil bottle outdoors at sunrise near cacti and a leather journal.

Why I Started Making My Own Beard Products

By Martin Molina

People sometimes assume I started High Desert Grooming Co. because I’ve always had some grand vision of owning a business.

The truth is, that’s not really what happened.

I didn’t wake up one morning thinking, “I’m going to start a beard company.” Honestly, I just got tired of buying beard products that kept letting me down.

For years, I relied on a specific beard oil and balm that I absolutely loved. But little by little, things started changing, the price kept climbing, and the quality just wasn’t what it used to be. Eventually, I found another company that reminded me of what that first brand used to be, and their products were great.

The problem wasn’t the products; it was getting them. They’d be sold out for weeks at a time, shipping took forever, and I’d go to reorder only to realize I'd be waiting almost a month to get a bottle of beard oil. So, I started looking for alternatives. I bought products from Walmart, ordered from Amazon, and tried just about anything I could get my hands on.

Honestly… I wasn’t impressed.

The Oils: Some felt like 30-weight motor oil.
The Balms: Some made my beard feel like I'd rubbed candle wax all over my face.
The Rest: Left me looking like a greasy mess..

But the worst part wasn’t even my beard; it was my skin.

I started getting beardruff so bad it looked like I’d aggressively housed a dozen powdered donuts before walking out the front door. Considering I wear a black T-shirt every single day, it wasn’t exactly subtle.

I remember looking in the mirror one day and thinking, “There’s got to be something better than this.” That’s when I had what was probably either a really good idea… or a really dumb one.

“What if I just made my own?”

I Had No Idea What I Was Getting Into

I figured the whole process would take a weekend. My plan was simple: watch a few YouTube videos, read a couple of articles, order a couple of bottles online, mix them, and call it a day.

Yeah… that didn’t happen.

Instead, I disappeared down one of the deepest rabbit holes I’ve ever fallen into. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I realized I probably should’ve taken a left turn in Albuquerque.

I started obsessing over carrier oils, learning:

Why some absorb faster than others.
Why certain oils leave your beard feeling soft while others just sit on top of it.
How the skin beneath your beard is just as important as the beard itself.

The more I learned, the more I realized I didn't know nearly as much as I thought.

The White Label Shortcut

Then I stumbled across something that completely caught me off guard. I discovered that there are companies that will sell you finished beard products in bulk. All you do is order a pre-packed beard product, slap your own label on the bottle or tin, and boom, you’re a beard company.

I remember sitting on my couch, eating a powdered donut, staring at my computer, thinking:

“Wait… seriously? Is that how a lot of these brands get started?”

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing inherently wrong with white labeling if that’s the route someone wants to take. Every business must make its own choices.

It just wasn’t what I wanted for High Desert Grooming Co. If my name was going to be on the bottle, I wanted to build the formula myself. I wanted to know exactly what was inside every product that carried my name.

Keeping It Close to Home

The more I worked on my formulas, the more I realized I wanted them to reflect where I’m from. New Mexico isn’t just where I live; it’s home.

So, I started looking for ingredients that tied the products back to New Mexico:

Locally sourced New Mexico beeswax for my balms.
Prickly pear seed oil for my beard oils.
Prickly pear extract for my beard wash.

I didn't choose those ingredients because they sound good on a label. I chose them because they belong there.

I’ve never been interested in making an ingredient list longer just so it looks impressive. Every ingredient should have a purpose. If it isn’t actively improving the product, it doesn’t need to be there.

My Favorite Part: The Scents

Then came the scents, and honestly, this is still my favorite part of the entire process. Anyone who knows me knows I’ve always been into cologne and fragrances. I’ve probably spent way too much money over the years collecting them.

So, when it came time to create scents for High Desert Grooming Co., buying pre-made fragrance oils just wasn’t an option. I wanted to build them myself.

Not because it was easier, it definitely wasn’t. Every scent I make spends about 30 days maturing before it ever goes into a product. It’s a slower process, but I think it’s worth it.

More than anything, I wanted every scent to have a story behind it. One day, I started asking myself what most people would probably consider a weird question:

“If you could bottle a New Mexico sunrise… what would it smell like?”

The cool morning air before the desert starts warming up.
The quiet before the rest of the world wakes up.
That moment when the first sunlight begins stretching across the landscape.

That idea eventually became Desert Sunrise.

It didn’t happen overnight, either. I mixed it, changed it, let it sit, smelled it again, changed it again, and repeated that process until it finally felt right. That’s honestly how every scent starts. Not with a recipe. Not with a marketing idea. With a place, a memory, or a feeling, I’m trying to capture.

Looking Back

Looking back now, it’s funny how all of this started. I wasn’t trying to build a company or become an entrepreneur. I simply wanted a beard oil that worked.

Somewhere along the way, that turned into something much bigger. What started as frustration became curiosity. Curiosity turned into countless hours of research, experimenting, and more trial and error than I’d like to admit. Eventually, those late nights and lessons became High Desert Grooming Co.

Today, every bottle that leaves my workshop reminds me why I started this journey in the first place. Not because I wanted to sell beard products, but because I wanted to create something I could genuinely stand behind. Something where I know:

Every ingredient has a purpose.
Every formula has been tested.
Every scent tells a story.

I’m still learning. I’m still tweaking formulas. I’m still finding ways to make the products better, and honestly, I hope that never changes.

Thank You for Being Here

This is only the beginning of the story, and I’m looking forward to sharing the rest of it with you.

Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to spend with me. You could have been doing just about anything else, but you chose to read this journal entry, and that means more than you probably realize. I hope you’ll join me for the next entry here in The High Desert Journal.

Until next time…

Stay rugged. Stay refined.

— Martin Molina

Founder, High Desert Grooming Co.

P.S. If there’s a beard topic you’d like me to cover in a future journal entry, or if you know a talented New Mexico maker, craftsman, or small business owner whose story deserves to be told, send me a message. I’d love to hear from you. If I don’t know the answer to your beard question, I’ll do the research and learn right alongside you.