John Hubler • 18 Apr, 2022
Avoca is a tobacco & vanilla scented beard oil from the Savage Mane Beard Company.
As someone who has tried dozens of different beard oils, balms, creams and elixirs over the years, I have come to appreciate the nuances that distinguish a lot of these beard oil companies from one another. At first glance, most people will ascertain that at the end of the day, all beard oils are about the same. And to a large extent this is true. But, if you look a bit deeper, there are a lot of nuanced factors that separate one beard oil from the next. To that effect, I have devised a system that allows me to evaluate and review beard oils based on seven different factors.
These factors are:
So how does Avoca stack up? That's exactly what I'm going to be discussing in this unsponsored review. Let's dig in...
When it comes to beard oils, scent is typically the primary factor people use to decide which beard oil is right for them. I am no exception – when I am evaluating any beard oil, I place heavy stock on how it smells.
Up to this point, “tobacco & vanilla” was one of those scents that I think I’ve always loved the “idea” of, more than the actual scent.
My first foray into the tobacco & vanilla fragrance was with Tom Ford, when I purchased a sampler of their cologne, Tobacco Vanille. I desperately wanted to love it – but at the end of the day, I just... couldn’t. It was just too potent and peppery for my taste. And in that moment, I was incredibly glad that I didn’t pony up the $270 for a full bottle.
After some time had passed, I decided to give another tobacco-scented product a shot. This time, it was Four Vices from Beardbrand. Once again – I found myself wanting to like it more than I actually did. It honestly wasn’t bad... but, it was far from my favorite fragrance of theirs.
So – here we are, a few years later, and I saw that Savage Mane was offering a Tobacco & Vanilla scent. My curiosity was piqued. Could the third time be the charm? After reading some of the on-site reviews, I decided that I would give it one last go.
Color me surprised then to find that these guys were indeed the ones to finally crack the tobacco code. This was it! Avoca proved to be the perfect blend of tobacco and vanilla. Neither the tobacco, nor the vanilla was too strong, and neither one overpowered the other. The magic is in their blending of the fragrances. Savage Mane perfectly nails it with a blend that is pleasant and bold... yet not overpowering. This is what I’ve always wanted tobacco scented items to be!
But, as a fragrance junkie, how did it compare to some of my other favorite beard oil scents? I must confess, I am a bit of a strange bird when it comes to fragrances. I tend to lean towards fragrances that are unique, and smell like nothing else. EZ-Blade, Beardbrand, and Detroit Grooming Company have all pulled this off for me. Avoca, however – while it is definitely a pleasing scent that I enjoy wearing, and will continue to wear… I don’t know that I would say that it is amazingly unique or original.
To their credit, they don’t make the claim that it is – so it seems silly for me to hold that against them. Never-the-less… I reserve my 5-star ratings for the scents that knock my socks off. The best I can give Avoca in terms of scent is a 4-star rating. Still really good. Definitely the best Tobacco & Vanilla scent that I have found... but maybe not a scent that I would stock up on, should it ever be discontinued.
Avoca primarily uses Argan Oil, Jojoba Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, and Vitamin E Oil as the key ingredients for their beard oil – which are all fairly common ingredients found within most beard oils. I do give them credit for using Argan Oil, which I am always a fan of over just jojoba oil. The only ingredient that might bump it into a five-star range for me would be the inclusion of abyssinian oil – which is usually only found in premium beard oils at a much higher price point. Overall though, this is a solid list of quality ingredients. I tend to think about beard oil the same way I do about food: the less ingredients listed on the box, the healthier and more natural it is. So, I appreciate the fact that Savage Mane keeps it simple, and doesn’t overload their products with a bunch of unnecessary things.
One thing that Savage Mane does incredibly well is provide what very well could be marketed as a premium product, for a very reasonable price. The quality of ingredients, packaging, and fragrance are all on par with other, more expensive, premium beard oils. So the fact that you get everything you do for $15.99 is actually quite impressive. This is definitely one of the better beard oils you can get for the price.
I have actually met the owner of this company, and know that he’s a solid guy who cares about his business, products and customers – so I confess it’s a little hard for me to give three stars for customer service, when I know that it’s not an accurate representation of the owner or his business. So, what caused the three stars? It was two things really: dead links on their website, and them not adhering to their own shipping policy.
The dead links on their website wasn’t a “huge” deal – but as someone who runs a web & design agency, I am admittedly biased towards any type of website errors. In my case, I was interested in purchasing some other accessories, only to find that all of the non-beard-related product pages were broken.
The bigger issue for me however, was the shipping. According to their website, orders placed before 2pm M-F will be shipped the same day. I placed my order at 1:43pm on a Tuesday (admittedly, I was cutting it close). Unfortunately, my order did not actually get shipped until a full two days later. Again – this isn’t a huge deal. I understand that things happen. It’s not like I was ordering life-sustaining medications or something like that. It’s beard oil. I can wait a few extra days. But – in order for me to give a completely unbiased and honest review, it is something that I have to bring up.
Okay – the brand snob in me is going to come out a bit here, but as a professional branding consultant, it takes a lot for me to give a 5-star rating in branding. Admittedly, nobody is going to be analyzing their branding more than I am – but, it’s my site, so I can give myself that liberty.
Truth-be-told, there is nothing inherently wrong with Savage Mane’s branding. They have a cool logo. The packaging and materials used are inline with most other beard oils that I’ve tried. But, is it the best branding I have ever seen? Unfortunately, no. While it is true, they do a lot of stuff right – it lacks the polish & nuanced refinement of Beardbrand or The Art of Shaving.
For me, I think the biggest detractor is that the typography doesn’t reflect the boldness of the name & lion logo. On one hand, you have this fierce sounding name, with this cool lion head. But around it, you have these thin, serif letters that feel more “clean-cut bank exec” than “grizzly bearded viking”.
Admittedly – I think we have progressed enough as a culture that it is no longer just the “Warrior/Viking/Lumberjack” type of man who wears a beard. And so an argument could be made that the thin type helps to counterbalance the lionhead imagery – but I’m not convinced. As a stickler for good typography – in my eyes, I have a hard time ignoring the duality of tones that the logo gives. A slight rebrand & website redesign with a much greater attention to the small details would go a long way in upping this brands professionalism. I'm not suggesting that they should try to appear as a bigger company than what they are. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a boutique brand, or a small operation. But, if that's something you're going to embrace, then you almost have to be a tyrant for quality and detail.
In more positive news however – I have to give credit where credit is due. The fact that they use an eyedropper bottle, versus a drip cap or worse, a squirt cap, is a big plus, and the primary reason why I decided to give three and a half stars instead of three for branding & packaging.
When I talk about product duration, I am really just talking about how well the product lasts throughout the day. I wore this around for a couple of days before I wrote this portion of the review, and can report that it does a great good job of lasting throughout the day. This “may” be because it is a new fragrance for me, and my nose hasn’t yet acclimated itself to the point that it ignores it. Never-the-less, on my first few wears, I was still able to notice it several hours later – and my beard continued to have a nice shine to it by the end of the day. For this reason, I give this product a well-deserved five stars for duration.
It might have taken a few extra days to arrive – but now that it’s here, I can honestly say, this is one of the better beard oils that I have tried. It is certainly the best tobacco-scent that I have found. It is a well-made product, filled with common, but never-the-less, high-quality ingredients. The scent stayed with me throughout the day, and apart from the obsessive, ticky things that I mentioned earlier – this beard oil will more than likely land on the forthcoming list of my top 5 favorite beard oils.
The Savage Mane Beard Company is an impressive company, for being a smaller operation. It is clear that they care about quality, and the beard oil I received was quickly recognized as one of the better ones that I've tried. For the price, you will be hard-pressed to find a better beard oil. I am curious to see how the company continues to evolve and innovate in a market that is now arguably oversaturated. With increased competition, and an ever-changing society, small hiccups could lead to big problems down the road – but at the same time, tightening a few screws and making some smart strategic decisions could push them to a much bigger playing field.
