Review (4/5): it does help soften
my beard is thicker than most and thus does not have a soft feel. i always used a beard brush with my beard balm (for which I've tried over 25 different types) to help style it. no beard balm made my beard softer which is my main goal.
a friend suggested using a comb instead of a brush saying that the comb would help make it softer. a few weeks in and having been using the same balm for months i can say my beard does feel softer.
the only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is that it doesn't style quite as well as a brush but know the benefits are good enough that I'm not going back to a brush