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I wear a beard, because I always hated to shave. When it gets about an inch long, I go to my barber and have it cut back to about half an inch.
When I retired and no longer had a reason to shave, I just quit doing it. I love the freedom of never having to attack my face with a "razor-sharp" blade. I love the freedom of never having to buy blades, cream, lotion, etc. No, I do not trim the edges with clippers or razor. I simply do not shave, at all, ever!
My wife puts up with my idiosyncrasy. If anybody else doesn't like my beard, it is THEIR problem, not mine.
It really depends. I'm on the side of thinking many men look great with close, neat beards. Some men (my husband among them) look a lot better with some facial hair. Some men look a lot better smooth shaven. Several of the men I've dated (and one I married) grew facial hair because I thought they looked great that way. I also kept my hair longer for a long time because my husband loves longer hair. It's all good.
I am enjoying growing a long beard now that I do not have a wife that beaches about such things. I am not trying to impress anyone. My face, my rules.
I wanted to grow a long beard at least once in my life so I did it. I’d walk out in the breezeway between my house and the garage and face the wind and that beard would blow straight back on either side of my face. It felt awesome.
I’m a tall guy and keep in shape and going out in public in southern cal I’d sometimes get strange looks. Like is this guy some mountain man? Didn’t bother me.
Only thing I didn’t like was when it got so long it ended up in my soup or sometimes caught up in a jacket zipper. I have a short beard now, clean cut maybe 1/2 an inch but I loved that long beard. Always kept it clean and trimmed.
Didn’t care what others thought. I dress for myself, not others, and the same went for my hair/beard. Got a great wife that just wants me to be happy and do what I want and I want the same for her.
Some guys try to grow beards and it just ends up looking like weeds. Some guys can grow great beards that look like they were molded. To each his own. Whatever makes you happy.
I grew one about 3 years ago and still have it. Let it grow full and lower last winter, but i trimmed it up for the summer. I still like it. It kind of softens the turkey neck I have developed which isn't pretty. As I get older, I don't care what anyone else thinks about it. Since I smoke pipes, it kind of fits my image.
Since thread got merged and guys are posting about their own beards, I will too.
2+ years ago I ran clean-shaven, smooth baby face, and even short clippered/fade hair. I feel this is a more "generic look", that makes you look younger, and has somewhat more "mass appeal" to a variety of women. And, you're only a week away from a solid 5 o clock stubble look to mix things up. I did not have good luck with this look, romantically.
However, then I went for a beard. Started with the 'chin strap' which requires a fair amount of maintenance to keep a sharp line. I find the moustache "tickle-ly / itchy" so for a while I went no-moustache with a short "chin curtain" until a girl I liked told me it looked "Amish". I let the full beard grow in, and the hair on the top of my head get wild and wavy. On my best days, I imagine I either look like King Leonidas in 300, or Frank Zane in his beard -era.
So nearly 2 years of growth later, I find it's a very "polarizing look". Girls who like it, like it alot. It does hide a weak or double chin, and it accentuates your jawline because you are literally underline your jawbone with a dark shadow. However, you honestly turn huge swaths of girls off and away, if you look anything like an old dirty biker or a drunken sea captain. Centuries of writers, professors, pirates, lumberjacks and wisemen would testify: stroking your beard does raise your IQ.
You have to get into 'beard oil / beard balm / beard-specific shampoo", specialized clippers with a variety of attachments, a steady hand to hold a comb and rasp away the cat-whiskers and curly mutton chop sideburns with the electric clippers. (some parts of your beard and individual hairs grow dramatically faster than others, but the itchy DOES go away after a certain time/length). My platonic + business relations simply say "it makes you look older to have a beard"
Last girl I met where the relationship progressed to the physical, she just giggled and punched me in the stomach and climbed ontop me saying "you look like a caveman with that hair and beard!" - but that's my point - I got a dramatic and emotional reaction out of my look - whereas the norm, is to be one of the silently ignored, non-descript average guys who can't even get anyone to swipe right on their online dating app profile, or care that they are single. Couple months into a relationship, I like to shave it all off, just to shock her - the same thing as a woman who dyes her hair to flip from blonde/redhead/brunette.
Although C-D is a PG-13 forum, I want to say certain activities that consenting adults do between the sheets are 1000% better with NO FACIAL HAIR. Some women are too ticklish, or DONT like the feeling.
There are SOME looks which dont match a round face or certain head shapes, and I think things like waxed curly moustache or the forked-devil-chin makes a hipster look like a villian who ties damsels to the train tracks. Or worse, a badge of celebacy. I offer these kinds of mens fashion websites to see what's trending:
You think that three day beard makes you look like Don Johnson (does anyone know who he is, anymore?) but it really just makes you look like Yasser Arafat (does anyone know who he was, anymore?)
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