should i grow a beard?

there have been far, far too many examples of erroneous facial hair over the years. why add to them?

Whatever you do don't have a goatee. You have all the problems of a beard (i.e. looking a fool) and you STILL HAVE TO SHAVE. What is the point in that?? Also people will think you like acid jazz. If you do like acid jazz then may God help you Sir for I surely cannot.

my face itches.

Also, I've heard that moustaches can tickle clits nicely.

I say grow one.

I love winter when I can get away with no leg or underarm or bikini- line shaving for a whole SEVEN MONTHS!!!

i want confirmation of this, RIGHT NOW.

For all the talk of it being great for cunnilingus, if you have a beard 99% of women are never going to let you get close enough to find that out.

Beards, eurgh.

What's weird is that Nicole's future husband has a beard down to his waistline to go with his shaven head. He brushes it lovingly when not saying mean things about Scott Walker.

and anthony, propecia is an ultimate GOOD. godbless those heartless drug multi-nationals.

I had to give up and grow one cause I cant get hot water for a bath let alone shaving in the morning. + After a week or so they become addictive to scratch. +When your sick of it you can always get a shave from a barber. - If you have a cat it may get freaked out, cats dont like bearded men, neither do most sane women.

Just don't let the "90% of women won't touch a bearded man" myth get to you. If memory serves me right, this was born from an exaggeration of some poll in a high profile singles magazine asking what women thought of beards... and it was a preference, not a deciding factor for dateability. Even then, while I'm sure more women prefer clean-shaven -- 9 to 1? Come on! Maybe 6 to 1 in major Western cities, but that ends up being a regional thing.

Besides -- if you were to replace "clean shaven" with "nice car", "rich", or "watches Friends" in that same poll, I'm sure the ratio would be just as high.

And how often does Mr./Ms. Right end up fulfilling all the traits and attributes of one's "dream person" anyway? This goes both ways.

(I mean, I'd like to believe the "90%" myth. Most Seattle men have goatees, and if they are all indeed stupid, then that would increase my chances these days -- given that I've long abandoned the goatee that most of the photos in the link I posted in the picture thread show.)

If worse comes to worse, Jess, it's Halloween season. I'm sure you could go buy a fake beard somewhere if Olympia girl ends up being a facial hair fetishist.

Also, growing a beard hides yr double chin, yes, now we're getting to the real truth (grumble)

xoxo

Dear god, the images in my head just get worse, you fucking weirdos. ;-)

And I prefer to refer to the scrubbery on the chin as a King Tut, Mr. Wheeler, regardless of what Mr. Timberlake might have on his chin :-)

How did anybody ever understand one word I typed back in '01?

Why 19 days?

so, who else has a ginger beard?

can we make it er... 14...15... um... however many days to teh 'ween, please?

logic, innit?

k thx bye

there, all gone.

As a beard? What are you, a gorgon?

Tag, grow it long and wild.

but now i go entirely hairless

(even though mine is now long gone.)

http://static.flickr.com/30/52420263_19033dd1fe.jpg

an ex had a stubbly beard, and now when i see corny indie fuxors in half profile with stubbly beards, i think this is sexy. individuals conditioning our sense of what's sexy, c or d?

my halloween pirate party is tomorrow. this is the beard i have cultivated. hurrah. how did you other beardies do?

I am jess in the first post, not shaved for a week and thus I have a "beard".

alternately, go to a bro salon

what's my prize?

but yes

yasir arafat?

Your friend probably means "yasir arafat, when he was alive".

scratch scratch!

(Had it for 18 months, the last time it was cut back was about in October)

how did you learn how to trim it? i've had a beard for awhile, but I look like a homeless guy. I'm trying to figure out how to get it so that it grows longer from the chin part, and have it shorter on jaws/cheeks and still looks good. I haven't ruled out that my facial hair pattern just naturally sucks.

i'm jealous.

OH NOES!!!11 i shaved it off last night!

http://www.kittenrecords.co.uk/slypics/gkitnobeard.jpg

i just lit part of my beard on fire :(

"light your beard on fire (feat. spliff star)"

SO into my beard right now

i am now 17 days w/o shaving and i look patchy but decent imo

oh right except for THE SINGES

I misread that as THE SHINGLES and was a bit worried!

lmao

so uh how did you accomplish this?

better your beard than your eyebrows, as I always say

v windy today and my nearly gone cig went out

i am poor and need to salvage my cigs, so i tried to relight it despite it being v short

wind blew flame at my beard instead

i was on fire

that is the story of how i came to be on fire

i have done this thing

hoos i am v surprised that u smoke!

both beard growing and fire face that is xpost

after shaving a couple of weeks ago, i am regrowing my beard now, but this time not trimming/shaping it at all to see what happens. it looks pretty bad, my facial hair grows slowly and doesn't appear to come in it all right under my chin

haha your beard looks bad

hoos i am v surprised that u smoke!

― plaxico (I know, right?), Tuesday, November 17, 2009 1:46 AM (44 minutes ago) Bookmark

if i had to choose b/w smoking and anything else the anything else would win

thankfully i am young and immortal so

Man, I wish I could grow a beard.

I really want one. A big gingery beard.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2414/2168095877_39cc27cfc5.jpg

sorry

Beards are the only thing I hate about winter. I still shave my legs in the winter -- get with it, males of the species.

i had to put my beard to sleep

rip my beard 1989-2009

This is the best photo of my longest phase with a beard (2003-05):
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1239/1425004025_0b1eace3d2.jpg

i've had a beard since i could

the jacket/beard combo A++

i've had a beard since i could

having a beard > being concerned about having an ID beard

wsn't really an issue ever BTW I stopped getting IDed when I was 17

ive had a "beard" since may 2007. but i keep it at like a 2-3 w/ trimmers

'the panhandler'

i shaved my beard, but it looked terrible, so i grew it back. i am now thinking of shaping it so that it's shorter on the sides but long from the chin. i am not exactly sure how this is done.

scissors?

good call.

my moustache keeps falling into my mouth

That is a mustache, not a beard.

Actually my hair is v. dirty today. Perhaps tonight I will try painting on a full ginger beard.

i like the idea of having a beard a lot more than actually having one

Do they itch?

I always wondered if that beard-scritching thing that boys while thinking do is an affectation, or if they do actually itch.

if you use a shampoo & conditioner it helps the itching. the itchiest part is like weeks 2-4 imo

i grow a beard every few months, but i've never had a really long one. next time i'm single, maybe. i can grow a respectable 'short' beard in a week.

So it's like any other kinda hair - itches when it's new, but settles in after a few weeks.

Damnm, I want a beard.

And I don't want to have to get a boyfriend to experience beard fun. I want one of mine own.

have never had itch from a beard but like to scratch anyway, is a comfort thing rilly

THIS IS THE MOST TERRIFYING THING I'VE EVER SEEN.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2730/4115270731_1c957e1e1d_o.jpg

Maybe I should get a sex change. I'm *much* better looking as a man than I am as a woman.

come to mommy

That *really* disturbs me. But the more I thought about it, the more it made me laugh, which only made me look like him *more*. :-O

just some fyi to you young beardos, when yr gray beard hairs start coming in they will be wirier than regular beard hairs and they won't go in the same direction

i just did some shaping and i fear it was premature

yea premature shaping can totally ruin a beard imo

can make it look a little douchey

tho hoos i'm sure you don't look like a douche

huh i always thing its good to shape early and then let nature work with the seams

i shaved my beard, but it looked terrible, so i grew it back. i am now thinking of shaping it so that it's shorter on the sides but long from the chin. i am not exactly sure how this is done.

this is kinda how i went when i was sporting a beard (that i think i'm ready to grow back). i kept it a little longer around the 'stache & chin than the sides. i'm cheap and used scissors (very carefully), but i suppose the multiple settings of decent beard trimmer could be employed.

just some fyi to you young beardos, when yr gray beard hairs start coming in they will be wirier than regular beard hairs and they won't go in the same direction

Last month, I grew a three-week beard for the first time in a few years and was amazed at how gray my chin was. Not terribly surprised, because I can tell from the stubble, but it was still fascinating.

I wear mine like this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2761/4120784568_66559f316e_m.jpg

I shave around it every day to keep the shape, and trimmed once a week to keep the length close. If I had a more casual work environment, I would just go for this:

http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/inthemix/9189160-9189164-slarge.jpg

after 3 weeks, v disappointing. i look like someone covered my neck and jaw in pritt stick and dipped me in hair.

Hey look, it's me.

i swear i'm going to shave this summer. i swear this often. it's been eight years, i was a teenager when i was last clean-shaven. i can't escape.

i did that a while ago. it was pretty good (i was super scared to do it before for pretty deeply ingrained slightly Samsonesque neurotic reasons)! i have a small mouth, i'd forgotten.

at this point i refuse to do it because of the nightmarish thought of a week of ppl i know being like "OH MY GAAAWWWWD! you SHAVED!"

my beard is the longest it's been in awhile. i like it (and my hair) trimmed close usually but i'm enjoying being a hairy mess for a change

i bought a comb

you know it's long when combing it makes it look better.

i shaved mine recently, after 6 months of being pirate-level. i look like a child.

I haven't shaved in a while. Normally I'm clean shaven. Sometimes I forget - especially at the moment since there's no proper mirror in my house and I tend to shower at work. For a while I just look halfway between a stud and a slob and then a tramp depending on the angle and what I'm wearing. Then I shave and my top lip goes all fat and weird.

I grew a beard through last winter after I did Movember. I'm planning on doing the same this year - I enjoyed it, and got an awful lot of compliments.

how do people maintain a beard at regular length? I grow one and then I have to shave it all off...

you trim it

that way you can regulate the length

imagine, if you will, that the beard is say, a hedge in someone's garden. as the hedge grows, the owner uses a hedge-cutting device to remove the unwieldy branches that sprout ever higher.

now imagine that that hedge is on your face, the branches the hair that grows there, and you the hedge owner. in place of a hedge-cutting device you have another device, let's call it a facial hair trimming machine. you apply to this to your face, as the hedge owner the hedge-cutting device to the hedge, and shape or "trim" away the excess hair.

thanks LG. Very helpful. But my razor cuts to zero and so does my electric. do you have to buy a whole new thing?

Yes, you do. You can buy a specifically-designed beard-trimmer from Boots or Amazon etc etc etc for anywhere between £20 and £100.

Or probably a diamond-encrusted one from harrods for £2000.

buy a beard trimmer and you'll prob only need to buy one pack of disposable razors a year, unless you need to be cueball shaved on the reg.

cool. my world has been changed!

haha, I know that was a pretty dumb question but other than the 3 months when I jsut didn't shave, I've always been completely clean-shaven and it never struck me that beard trimmers existed!

I clean-shave once a week, generally on a Monday, unles I've got an important meeting or something later in the week, when I might shave again. That's less often these days - I deal much more with academics and students these days, and they're seldom clean-shaven.

^ Broken Britain

The answer to this question is always yes.

i always lose my enthusiasm for this look at about 8 weeks. which is now.

hi beardos, i have an embarrassing issue so i'm going to state it publicly and ask for advice because it's 2014.

i'm trying to grow this beard thing. first time. it started off looking like a really bad teenbeard, as i knew it would, but after a few weeks it filled in a little. things are ok. oh yeah, except for one thing:

it doesn't grow up at the top, starting at about an inch beneath my ears. there's a gap. it's embarrassing. people are asking me if i'm doing it on purpose. what a fucking disaster.

what should i do? is this is a sign from above? do i just keep waiting? do i fake it and do some sort of blended thing where i trim it so that it gradually fades in? do i ditch the teenbeard and just go with the mustache alone? give it another 15 years and try again? wtf is wrong with me?

When I was younger, I had that problem. As I got older, hair started growing in that little area between sideburn and beard and has done so ever since. I don't know how much that had to do with shaving and how much that had to do with just biological aging or what.

Just keep waiting. It will come. Unless it doesn't. Then I don't know what to do with you.

It took until my 30s for the mustache to come in. It's not the thick, luscious Selleck like mustache I desire, but it suffices.

visual representation of the problem:

http://i.imgur.com/DJhb2jG.jpg

Oh dear, that's much more severe a hair deficit than I had ever suffered, but my brother was sort of in your boat and his finally started coming in after he turned 32 or so.

this morning's division meeting took an excruciating turn when someone mentioned the gap, and then someone else said something about it looking like abe lincoln, and then someone else who felt sorry for me tried to make me feel better by reminding everyone that abe lincoln was a great president

i mean seriously, should i just shave off this monstrosity, deal with a few more days of awkward comments at work about how it's not there any more, and move on with my life?

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/j/Anchor_Beard.jpg

Looks kind of neckbeardy. I would lose it.

Revisit the idea again in a year or two and see how things develop. Don't go around looking like Andrew Luck, though.

is there anything happening in the gap at all? any hopeful blonde shoots?

if not, you need to shave it.

like...just a few? not too many! i wish i could just go off to an island for a few months and see what happens, away from the judging eyes of humanity

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gs8ryNQPGsg/UaUo28LYCQI/AAAAAAAAAew/JWk_6zVzh7k/s1600/Hannibal7.jpg

ok. think i'm going to shave it. leave the stache for an evening, but maybe ditch that as well. RIP 2014 halfbeard. i'll try again when i'm even older

i'll probably be able to grow a full beard on my butt before i can grow one on my face

happens to the best of us

another decade or two and you can grow your ear hair out to cover the empty spots

it is done.

what a nightmare

Oh man - had excellent advice to give. If only I had seen this sooner

what was the advice?

Shave it. Shave it all

i felt your advice waves enter my mind before you even projected them, and carried out the task

i think you have to go past the point you would feel comfortable with elsewhere on your face, until everything you need bearded is bearded

then trim the rest to suit

and never shave it again

that's how to do it

then other men will know that you are a patient man who can be relied upon when things are really important (e.g. growing beards)

So is growing a beard really a painstakingly slow process for some men?

i had completely forgotten about my abandoned factory/bustling courtyard dilemma until this thread, unlike the hair that hypothetically would grow near my upperjaws, popped up

it is a very uneven process for me. I could have a very full midwestern goatee very quickly, but everything else is pretty sparse.

Mine seems to have reached a peak where it won't grow much further. It's okay though.

Just keep trying guys.

i tried growing a beard a while ago and got the same factory floor problem. i can grow a pretty legit mustache, though, but it makes me look like I'm trying out a Sgt. Peppers costume for Halloween. i've just resigned myself to no facial hair at all.

Don't think I can shave again in case this happens:

http://www.webburgr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/shave-beard-001.jpg

(with thanks to pfunkboy)

You know, there may be a point in your life where looking younger, one might even say "boyish," will be feature not bug.

haha, it's the next day after shaving though - it takes your face a while to recover and until then you get this weird puffy top lip and your face looks like a marshmallow.

So glad my current bf can't grow a not-laughable beard and I will never have to have this conversation with him.

this arbitrary thing about my body gives me points in the man club scam, yaaaay

i am never growing a beard

you should grow a beard

Grow a beard.

Stop hiding behind that beard, it alternately mutes and distorts your facial expressions

existential beard problems.

why does the beard exist? what is the purpose of the beard? can one truly be fulfilled by achieving the perfect beard?

that cartoon is v accurate to my experience, was surprising to shave for the first time in eight years and be faced with the me of eight years ago.

shaved mine this morning (not because of this thread)

People with beards should be put to death

yeah that cartoon way otm. just cut mine off for the first time in a couple years cuz i'm in a play and it took me from like 35 to 18. (i am neither of these ages.)

I've grown mine into a corner, it's become too thick that I don't know how to extend length without it getting out of control. I guess the trick is to trim the sides and let it grow off thin jawline?

yeah i never mastered the late stage.

(it is easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine a change to my beard)

yea having a well-kept, maintained, long beard is a challenge. i find it easier to just keep a very short beard that is trimmed to stubble once a month or so. mine is super-thick, dark and curly and it gets unruly pretty fast.

thank god i stopped shaving a few years ago, my life improved dramatically. shaving was fucking miserable, especially w/ the beard my genes gave me. my skin is so much healthier now.

the lengths i went to try to get a smooth, comfortable, and irritation-free shave were painstaking, and i would never even call even the best shaves i had "comfortable"

Shaving is the worst. It's a never ending battle.

plus the money i spent on expensive, garbage razors from gillette. i bought a fancy german double-edge razor that you use with actual razor blades but i never managed to master it enough to get a good shave.

i don't even shape my beard any more, just trim it down with a 1/8 inch guard on hair clippers once a month. looks better and i am much happier.

I lose control and shave mine off once a year, and each year I say "I'll not doing that again!" because of how weird I think my face looks without it. I'd love to do a big Rick Rubin/Santa Claus thing when I'm an old man, but I'll have to overcome the hurdle of compulsively keeping it trimmed up.

I'll not *be

seems like shaping a neckline or a cheek line and keeping that maintained is as much work as shaving

haha by "compulsively keeping it trimmed up" I don't mean a whole lot daily maintenance. More like you with the clippers, except maybe once every two weeks instead of once a month.

clippers are the only thing i touch when bearded too. even when i want to shape a lil i just remove the guard and scrape the hair off with the clipper, which i'm not even positive you're supposed to do. actual shaving is such a fuckin production, or at least it would be if i were any good at choosing long-term happiness and painlessness over short-term convenience. when i was a kid my dad told me that shaving cream was a manufactured need (disguising as anticapitalism what in retrospect was probably just "men's grooming products are evil" or possibly "comfort is evil") and that all i had to do was take a hot shower first, and i was in my 20s before i was finally sure that while this may not have been bullshit for his face it was for mine.

not that i remember to buy shaving cream, now.

my trimming method is to every month or so hack away with scissors until it looks okay / doesn't get any shorter. variable results.

the fuckin production that is actual shaving is definitely one of my biggest reasons for being bearded, i have to treat the razor like sandpaper on the particularly gnarled piece of wood that is my face to be actually clean-shaven. or maybe i just don't know how to shave.

I came down with beard dandruff last week for my first time ever in beard ownership. That was an unpleasant surprise. Selsun Blue took care of it just fine, but it came to prominence on a day when I was wearing a black shirt.

My beard is mostly a way to avoid the perpetual chore of shaving, which I despise. That, and it compensates somewhat for the barrenness on the top of my head.

It comes and goes depending on the atmosphere/your skin/whether or not the day ends in a "y". One of the only perks of shaving off the whole beard is that you're finally able to scrub your face directly without whisker interference and it feels WONDERFUL.

a strong breeze is much improved too, unless this feeling is just novelty.

Does it take anyone else like half an hour to 45 mins to shave? It's always been like this. Granted, a lot of that is bathroom cleanup time. Shit goes everywhere.

I will be bearded most of my life.

oh yea, it was always a 45-minute affair. when i did shave i would still only do it twice a week, (say monday & thursday to cover the work week) because 1) i couldn't reasonably commit 45 minutes every morning and 2)my face would be ripped apart and 3) it would never give the facial hair a chance to grow out of my skin. curlier beards are much more prone to ingrown hairs and the more i shaved the more i would get them. i'm so happy not to have to deal with that. i still have my razor in my closet for some reason but i can reasonably say i will never use it again.

It's the summertime, it's too damn hot out even wo a beard.

Seen my dad once w/o a beard and it was WEIRD

brimstead, my dad shaved off his beard when i was about 8 years old. i freaked out and refused to talk to him for about two days.

Somehow my facial hair started coming in much better than it used to, which I thought wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe it's an age thing. Anyway I've wanted to grow one all my life, so it's finally time. I feel a little late to the beard party at this point since it seems like every fucking guy under 40 has had a beard at some point in the last decade, but my plan is just to grow a nice, full but short beard that sticks with the profile of my face rather than adding much mass to it. Kind of psyched for it.

Yeah. It's a nice look. And it minimizes shaving, too!

So recommend be some kind of beard oil/conditioner/softener that isn't ridiculously expensive and overblown

But it opens the possibility of having to explain that you're not a terrorist

You don't need beard oil really, not unless you're planning to grow a full-on 2014 viking beard.
I was playing a client one of our video productions the other day and the actor/model in the video had one of those gigantic square beards and brown brogues and it looked SO of its time, even though that time was only 4 years ago

Always knew I could grow a beard, grew a beard for the first time a little over a year ago. Kept it. It's great. Better than shaving.

It's always fun to see what color it grows in. Currently I am rocking, in the words of a friend, the Michael Gross.

I was just thinking about how dated big beards already look right now. Whereas I think a nice trim beard is a solid look.

Another q: at what point should I start using a trimmer to neaten it up a bit. I’m def hitting a scraggly well more than stubble but not quite full beard phase now and I feel like it looks slightly unprofessional for the office. Do I need to wait it out?

Shape around the edges, but wait out the length.

'It's not a beard until you shave it off" is the rule i heard. so I'd wait until it's looking just a bit too long and then trim it

yes, but what jeff said

I think beard trimming is less about length and more about uniform length. Another important thing I have learned through experience is that you still need to exfoliate and scrub, especially if you are used to shaving.

Re tidying up even while growing out the length, it's advisable to trim those parts that are getting scraggly imo. Just trim to the average length every week or w/e

I’ve done the beard for over a decade now and my basic routine is to shave neck/edges every weekday morning and overall trim every week or two if I’m lazy.

Every weekday morning!

It takes about 10 seconds in the shower.

Yeah my instinct already told me to shave the stray hairs around my Adam’s apple and upper cheeks. I keep the top of it roughly in line with the top of my moustache.

i've had a very short, trim beard for about 5 years now. maintaining it is 100x easier than shaving. i hated shaving so much. i use a decent set of hair clippers and trim it to 1/8" every three weeks. i'm too lazy to shape it so i just trim the length. 1/8" is a little short, like longer stubble, and i'd probably have a better result doing 1/4" every week but i don't feel like trimming it that often. i've thought about growing a bigger garcia circa 1971 beard but it seems like it'd feel a little unkempt. mine's already pretty dark and thick

how is a beard dated fuck off

tbf I didn't mean so much "big beards" as overly styled steampunky big beards

Feel like it’s starting to fill out

https://imgur.com/a/uuBgR

ahh then yes agreed but that was never a good look to begin with

looks good imo. nice sleepy dad pic too lol

i just got into beard oil recently, i have a short beard but it def helps with the under-beard skin not getting dried out and gross and there are tons of amazing scents.

for trimming i just got this guy for xmas: https://www.usa.philips.com/c-p/BT7215_49/norelco-beardtrimmer-7200-vacuum-beard-trimmer-series-7000

and i'm a huge fan. it's precise and comfortable and the vacuum is a huge help with cleanup. i used to dread trimming but now it's a pleasure.

Every weekday morning!

― remember the lmao (darraghmac), Friday, January 19, 2018 1:32 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag PostPermalink

It takes about 10 seconds in the shower.

― Jeff, Friday, January 19, 2018 1:43 PM (two days ago)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Shower every morning!

i've decides the reason i have a beard is so i can spend zero time on facial hair care. it keeps itself to a reasonable length, bit straggly but not too bad, could shave my neck but fuck it i'm a dad now so i'm allowed to look a bit rough round the edges.

dad privilege

xxp otm

I think objectively I look better with a beard but I don’t want one.

I get in a habit of letting it grow for a week and a half and I start to get compliments but then I always decide to shave it off

you should suit yourself. it's your face.

But you should also try to suit your face tbh

so far my fav thing about growing a beard is actually the tiny hands of my kids curiously feeling the beard

<3

I got that norelco vacuum trimmer as recommended and gave it my first trim tonight as it was looking scraggly -- used the 7.5 guard and it definitely has more of that neat "corporate beard" look to it now. Took several passes to get it even, my beard hairs are pretty thick.

man

you've sold out

lol yeah

I do want to grow it a little longer but I've heard it's better to trim it even from time to time while growing it out

I’m going to bring it back I think

I feel like people respond to me differently with the beard. Whether that's a result of its effect on my own psychology or on my appearance, it's a good thing.

is this the thread where we recommend a decent trimmer preferably retailing around 100 euros?

Get a Wahl if you can. I got the Peanut based on the wirecutter rec and it does a good job + super easy to clean.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-beard-trimmer/

that's very reasonably priced, thanks!

I feel like people respond to me differently with the beard.

Not noticed in my case, but when i went conventional stache only style for last 2 summers this seemed def true (plus family mostly _loathe_ it lol).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KenydTXfzvo

Does anyone trim their underbeard shorter than their beard? My beard is both wooly and a little patchy, so I need to grow it long enough to cover the patches, but if I grow the underbeard to the same length it starts to add volume that I don't want.

Yes, I trim to 3mm on the moustache and underchin area, 5mm for chin and jawline UGH TOO MUCH INFORMATION MAKES ME SOUND LIKE CRAIG DAVID

I shave in the direction of Joel-Kinnaman-in-The-Killing now, but I still refuse to use the trimmer more than once every couple of weeks so it sometimes gets a bit 1970s

man alive, I would strongly recommend you trim your beard in whatever way you think looks nicest on you and you're willing to put up with.

so basically RIP IT OUT ONE HAIR AT A TIME

FWIW I switched to a Wahl trimmer and find it works way better than the Philips -- takes less than half the time to do an even trim. I'm experimenting with lengths now -- gradually increasing the guard size I use and I'm up to the 16mm for the face and 10 or 13mm for the underside (plus a little spot trimming). Kind of curious to see whether it gets more or less bushy as it lengthens. I've also been combing it a lot with the tiny fine comb that came with the trimmer, which seems to help with the unruliness.

keeping a short covering in situ for a while now

ive hair like brillo tho

obv dont want to purchase anything that whiney would rightly mock on a thread about the immorality of marketing anything towards men

so can anyone tell me how to soften my beard while avoiding paying ten times whats necessary for something in a lumberjack tin

thanks x

Jojoba oil.

thks jojosh

I use conditioner. Also bought some beard oil and some beard balm, which I haven't used yet.

just normal conditioner?

I've always heard that conditioner, while it makes your beard feel soft, is actually bad for your face. Maybe that's bs.

yeah, just normal hair conditioner.

Hmm... Now I guess I need to look into whether it’s bad for skin. Haven’t noticed anything bad yet. I use some Aveena stuff.

The cheap coconut oil shampoo from the health food store does very well for me. Good for the skin too.

Sometimes I wonder: will I ever go back? I think not. Or at least not until my face looks much older.

I briefly shaved mine off and didn’t like the result. Have grown it back to 9mm and I think I’m just going to keep it there. I find a daily 2-min trim is the best way to keep it neat - catch those stray longhairs and give the edges a chance to grow in for a fuller shape.

This is more of a sideburns Q than a beard Q, but I have been trying to keep my beard neater and trimming it more regularly (I wear it short). As my hair grows, I've noticed it's really hard to trim my sideburns in a way that looks good without getting a bit of a toupee effect, i.e. the point at which my sideburns meets where my hair gets longer always looks fucked up. I've tried lifting the trimmer gradually and "fading" it, but I can't get it right. Any tips?