[Philly.com] Freeway, who is Muslim, keeps his beard for religious reasons and hasn't cut it since it sprouted. And though he's used natural oils, shea butter, and different beard products, he "was always trying to find something good" for his beard.

After trying a homemade beard cream, he was inspired to develop a line of his own. Freeway teamed up with longtime business partners and bearded brethren Gary Parker and Jason Hertzog. Hertzog, who says he's "crazy in the kitchen," became the chemist behind the cream.

It took Herzog a few months to perfect the recipe of raw shea butter, raw mango butter, raw beeswax, and a mix of natural organic oils, But once completed, Freeway says, "it was just as good as the other stuff I was using, if not better."

Hertzog says he uses all-local and all-natural ingredients, attributes important to Freeway, who says he once tried a beard cream that made his beard look scraggly.

"There are a lot of products out there and a lot of them have a ton of chemicals; you can't even pronounce half the stuff that's in it," said Hertzog. "I don't like that feeling. For me, it just turns me off of a product."

After a year was spent perfecting the formula, consistency, labeling, and packaging, now "we can't make it fast enough," Parker says. The cream is sold locally at Mecca Unisex Salon in North Philadelphia and Status Shop on South Street, as well as online. The pocket size is $5 for a half-ounce; a 2.5-ounce can sells for $13.95.