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This post serves double purpose. Advice, and Poll.
I've been considering growing my facial hair out for a while. Since I could, I've almost ALWAYS had sideburns, and have had some limited syles of goatees. I have this dang genetic thing that keeps me from being able to grow any kind of mustache, leaving me looking like some amish guy. Both my dad and brother had a hard time growing one until they were past 30 and it looks like I'm no exception. Now my question is, are there any "do's" and "don't's" for facial hair, or are they just the same as that of head hair i.e. "Be gentle and be patient"? This question is directed more towards people like Victor and Paddy, or anyone with experience in this.
Now, my question for the rest of the board is: What do you think of facial hair? I personally wouldn't mind something like Victors (although I realise that mine won't be like that), but without a mustache, would it look bad? There was a guy in Illinois that I saw that had a foot and a half long goatee braided in a five strand braid. Since I can grow hair on my chin, should I maybe "play to my strengths" so to speak?
Any advice, comments, opinions would be appreciated.
Hey...I've been reading up a lot of the posts and articles here, thought I'd reply to your question.
Yes, just be patient. Only it's better for facial hair, as it seems to grow faster. Don't shave for at least 4-6 weeks. There will be the "awkward stage" but you'll get through it quickly. It won't be long until your beard (goatee, whatever) looks good. It'll take a bit of practive to style it and get a nice shape you'll be happy with.
I've had a goatee for ages, a year ago I decided to let it grow into a full beard. Unfortunatley the hair on my cheeks isn't as thick as the hair on my chin, so much as I like a full beard, I'm condidering going back to a goatee, moustache and sideburns.
BTW, a goatee without a moutsache isn't so bad. Lots of guys have it that way. Good luck man!
Hi, I'm 15 years old and I started shaving at 14. When I started shaving it took me about 6 weeks to get a decent mustache growing, but now it takes me 3-6 weeks to grow one. I always wanted to grow a goatee, but it takes a while. I grew one for about 5 weeks, but it wasn't that thick and also you could see it. I'm thinking about growing one for as long as 4 months. I could grow decent sideburns, a mustache, goatee, neck, and there's alot of hair on the cheeks. But there seems to be a problem because some of it is light hair. Do you think light facial hair grows to be long if I keep my goatee as long as 4 months? How long would it take to grow a goatee to be at least 2" long? Thanks.
I want to grow my facial hair. I have been growing my facial hair for about 4 weeks and I dont like the results. Its short and light. Do you have any tips on growing my facial hair longer and thicker.
royalovernights
I would say go for it,grow what you can.
a goatee without a mustache does not look bad
and also be patient in time your face hair will fill out
This post serves double purpose. Advice, and Poll.
Perhaps in your case it is wisest to keep all smooth. Smooth isn't such a bad look...........in fact it is ever so clean!
Facial hair if all un-even and ragged certainly doesn't do much for a Longhair image except make him look a bit un-kemp to the public, even if this isn't true. The problem here is probably inherited genetics.
But be sure to experiment if you DO want facial hair. There "might" just be something that will work to your benefit. Good Luck!
I think facial hair is a good thing. Give different styles tries. I'm 19 and I can't grow anything near a full beard, but I still work with what I can. I also like the long gotee look. The braid is nice, but my preference would be two thin braids (i.e. pirates of the carribean). I've been growing my chin hair for about five months and it is about 2"-2.5" so far. It is also very curly and isn't that thick. I don't think I am old enough to grow much longer than this current length given my thickness.
In short, go for it and keep us posted.
I knew one guy to have his beard not come in until he was 26. He had no beard one year and a full one the next. Therefore the "no mustache" situation may be temporary. But of course you want to know what to do with what you have now.
Someone mentioned an awkward stage with your beard, but the main problems are not really the awkwardness we get with our hair because there is less of a battle between the "growing straight out" of shortness and the "growing down with gravity" of longness, since both are in the same direction - down. The irritating stages you'll get are an Arafat stage and then an itchiness stage. One may bug other people and the other will definitely bug you. These will pass in a month or two (thicker strands will itch longer) and then the main worry is to never cut your beard so short again that it itches.
The main concerns with having a beard and long hair at the same time are:
How hairy overall do you want to be? You can get to where people see very little of your face if you grow enough hair.How unkempt do you want to look? If either your beard or hair or both are curly or a bit wild, you may not want that look all over your head because it would be "too much", so you may opt to cut one or the other short.Do you care which one dominates the other? I, for example, want to look more "longhaired" than "bearded" and I can grow a far fiercer beard than mane. If I grew both to terminal, people would mostly notice my beard, and I'd rather have my hair be noticed, so I keep my beard short.
Beard hair will grow at about the same rate as your scalp hair, but it will seem to come in faster because there is no awkward stage, and you can get a good feel for what you will look like in months rather than years. So why not just try it out? It won't take that long, and you can always change your mind. Just remember the two week rule. :-)
The "awkward stage" is much shorter for facial than scalp hair. In as little as a few weeks, it will no longer look scruffy and should you decide to "shape" it then, it will look really neat and tidy. I've known many guys who gave up after a couple of weeks (or less) becuase it looked "too messy." Had they waited another two to four weeks, it would look like they were growing a beard, and not just too lazy to shave.
I don't know if facial hair grows faster on average, but I really belive mine does. I need to trim my beard every week or two. If I let it grow longer than that, the hair that comes off is quite long, there's no way my scalp hair would grow that much in the same amount of time.
As for itchiness, if you've never had facial hair before, it likely WILL itch. Remember, you've never had hair there, and now you do. It takes some getting used to. For me it took several months. Again, another reason some guys give up is that they say it itches too much. I doubt any special shampoos will help, it just takes time to adapt to the new feel of having hair on your face (more than just stubble anyways).
Good luck! :)
I've always grown my sideburns - although I dropped the "Elvis" look by the time I reached my thirties. I've tried beards from full thickness to designer stubble. Generally, this looked better if I kept my hair short. As I prefer long hair, I shave my beard. Having tried all sorts, this is my preference.
thats cool
I guess the thing to do is look at other hair and beard styles and see what styles you like and what works for you. For over 10 years I've kept my hair long enough to put in a pony tail and most of the time have a short full beard. I'd like to grow a long beard but I worry what others would think.
I like the idea of having a clean shaven face with a very long goatee that would compliment having long hair. Maybe have sideburns to.
Just because you can grow some hair on your chinnie chin chin (sorry coudn't help myself), doesn't mean you can grow a foot-long multibraid super-gotee. I'm not saying you can't neccisarily. I've been growing a little one (I tried the full beard before, so I know the 'Amish' thing ), and it seems to have reached it's 'terminal length,' of somewhere like 3 inches. Okay, maybe it's just because it grows damn slow, but that's upwards of a year and a half, with an itsy trim in there somewhere.
Ahem drone drone drone. Point is, I don't think eveybody can grow huge gotee's like that.
I'm only 20 though, so what do I know.
Mr. Lowe
Facial hair may not be fully developed at 20. Mine was for the most part (right around age 20 or so), but some guys are sooner, and some guys can be much later, like late 20s even late 30s in some cases.
Actually, the facial hair on my cheeks is not as dense as on my chin, and has always been like that, and I'm 30. Who knows, maybe by the time I'm 40 it will be more dense, but it's good enough for a full beard nevertheless.
I truly think you shouldn't cover those lovely dimples. hehehe
My somewhat ex (we're separated) had/has a goatie and 'stache. I used to remind him during winter months to shave the "cheek" area, between sideburns and goatie. It would really start looking "scruffy."
I'm not put off by facial hair...I didn't like it when he shaved mustache and/or goatie, but didn't like the bushy cheek area.
But, some look good clean shaven, some look good with full beard/mustache, and any variance in between. As long as it looks "neat," ... each person is individual, and what looks good on one person may not look good on another.
I say try it out, get some pics, and we'll tell you what we think!