should i grow a beard?

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/