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Hi everyone. I am coming up to my 18th birthday and have been shaving since I was 15. I have stubble cover over most of the normal area but it doesn't grow much past about half a centimetre. So I'm wondering, from adult members of the board, at what age did you start being able to grow a nice face of hair, and how did it develop in your case?
FYI I am the youngest male in the extended family, all the males of which are able to grow nice beards and do. So I'm not worried about my potential, I'm only wondering about how it generally develops in men around my age (the tail end of puberty).
Cheers, Charlie M
Well facial hair is very interesting:
Some people can grow full beards by the time they start high school, and some people can't even attepmt them untill they're well into their 30s or above.
So my advice is to go to your male blod relatives (perferably the ones who either had or atleast attemped to grow beards around you age) and ask as many of them as you can when their beards started comming in & how long it took before they were happy with both the speed & consistancy of their beard growth.
At the every least that should give you a good idea of what to expect.
As for my beard developement: Im just afew years older than you & am still in extremely uneven teritory.
(any given lengths in the next section are just aproxomate guesses, no actuall meauring took place)
-my sideburns grow just as fast as my regular hair
-my mustache practically showed up overnight when I was 12,
-most hairs on the bottom grow over an inch a month
-the hairs on the right cheek can grown roughly a centimeter a month
-the hairs on the left cheek take atleast 2 or 3 moths just to reach 1 centimeter
-and I once let the hair in the front middle (or gotee area) grow for THREE MONTHS, and still some of those hairs weren't even 1/2 a centimeter.
But I'm not worried, because I too come from a very fully bearded family. its just going to take a while.
So my next advice to you, if you REALLY want to start your beard this young, is to get rid of the razor & invest in an adjustable beard trimmer with small setting.
This early into the life of your facial hairs, gowing for lenghth is just going to cause headaches, instead ignore hair lenght & go for coverage. It will take longer in these early years, but a short beard that covers the entire facial hair region (little or no skin showing between the hairs) will look better than a longer one with random gaps in it.
There are way too many factors involved in this to make any kind of prediction, especially by using the experience of non-relatives. For example, I didn't start shaving until I was 22, and still can't grow anything resembling a mustache or a beard at 37. My brother, who is 4 years younger than me, has been shaving since he was in high school and can grow a full beard. My son has been shaving since he was 12. Now, if three members of the same family can have that much of a range, there's no telling what's possible outside a gene pool. Unfortunately, you'll just have to wait and see what happens. The years will go by faster than you think. :-)
I too started shaving around 15 or so, but it wasnt until I was 22 or 23 that I had a real "manly" looking thick beard. Now that Im 30, it grows thick and crazy fast. I look like Wolverine if I skip shaving for only a few days LOL
You say that like it's a bad thing... [grin]
Ages at which men grow beards vary tremendously so you have nothing to worry about.
Patience is all it takes.
Hmm... I grew goatees when I was 18, and while the mustache and beard part didn't connect incredibly thickly, all of the hairs involved were very thick and not the thin peach fuzz type hair. Now at 24 it's filled in a bit and looks more full, but really hasn't changed that much. For me, my facial hair hasn't really changed from when I was 18, although I now go with the full beard and not a goatee. I have friends at 23 and 24 who can't still can't grow a good full beard, some of which have other family members that can grow full beards. I do know all of my friends that can grow full beards now, could grow decent beards around 18 too. I'd say at 18, you've got a pretty good predictor of how your beard will be. Some people might grow full beards after 18, but I can only speak for myself and the people I know. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear.
I found a website yesterday I think. It's beards.org something like that very informative site, photos and dialog. James
Hey Charlie,
I couldn't grow a full goatee/mustache until I was in my early 30's. I have buddies that are the same way. I wouldn't worry at all. It sounds your genes are just fine and be patient. I've always thought the longer it takes you to grow facial hair, the longer you'll have the mane on your head! :) - John
Hey Charlie M,
Remember the "awkward phase" of the process of growing out your crainial hair. You just pushed through it. I suggest that you do the same with your facial hair.
Raymond
Beard Board is a good community for facial hair questions.
http://jefffsbeardboard.yuku.com/
--D
and here is another place with good beard info
and beard discussions
Thanks for the input everyone, I figured it would just be a matter of waiting to see how it goes. And that's totally cool :)
Happy growing,
- Charlie M
Hi Charlie,
At 18, I could barely grow a goatee.
My beard started to really fill out in my mid 20's.
Happy Birthday! I just celebrated my 47th this weekend, Feb 19.
- Oren
I think facial hair is the last thing to develop, to the extent that I'm not really sure you can call it a sign of puberty. Well, the first wisps of facial hair may be, but often there isn't much for a long time after that.
I didn't have any serious facial hair until I was 17, and I was well into my twenties with my beard extending only under my chin and not onto my face. I think I was 23 before I could grow a full beard.
OTOH, I would say puberty happened for me when I was 11.
However, I took until 16 to get within an inch of my eventual height, and I'm not quite sure exactly when I stopped growing in height. That is, I was 5' 7" on my first passport at 16, and I stopped at 5' 8". When I was 11 I think I was maybe about 4' 2" !!!
I don't think I'm completely atypical, but YMMV.
Hi Charlie,
First of all, Happy B-day!!!
It was a long looooong time ago that I first attempted growing my beard, growing just a mustache as my first experience at trying out any kind of facial hair. I looked PITIFUL -- it looked more like a mis-placed eyebrow than a mustache!
That first attempt was when I was 19. Three years later, I was able to not only grow out a fuller-looking 'stache, but also grew out a decent-looking beard during that summer that I turned 22... and I've been attached to having both ever since!
No worries, just hang in there, as others have also said here -- and happy growing until then!
- Ken in SF