Beard Advice

[Pleater]

Purely from an onlookers point of view, beards should always be clean and look neat, never straggly or unkempt.

I have known some men who looked far more attractive with a beard than without one as they trimmed it to compensate for and disguise their face, mouth or jaw shape.

Careful trimming and a little shaving is well worth the bother if it creates an improved outline and profile, the 'wild man' image is best avoided.

I always chose bearded men as husbands.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Piper]

I've been bearded most of the time since the mid 70's. Had to shave it off twice, once due to an unfortunate cigarette incident, and another time due to a regulation change at work which has fortunately been reversed. I generally trim it back a bit twice a year. A minor trim in late May, early June, and then around Dec. 26th I'll take 3 or 4 inches off of it. I've portrayed Santa for 34 of the last 35 years now, so by the end of December I have a beard you could hide a badger in. I still need a bit of help from Ben Nye theatrical hair coloring to whiten it, but my wife and grandkids are striving mightily to negate that need.
My trimming tools are a regular pair of scissors, a brush and my old straight razor. As mentioned earlier, its' usually a two or three day project. I'll crop it back and think it looks ok, but then the next couple of times I get out of the shower and brush it out I find a couple of errant patches that need attention.

[AstroBen]

For your face, you should invest in electric trimmers at keep your beard trimmed at 3/4 of an inch, and trim your mustache so that it does not hang over your lip.

[DryFly]

For something different you might consider the mighty mutton chop. Trim the center of the stache to the upper lip line then follow the lower line of the mustache to the bottom of the beard. shave the chin hair. It would definitely be unique. Not too many fellows with mutton chops.

[cormacmacguardhe]

Having been bearded for the better part of the last 40+ years, I can only say that you are the best judge of how your beard should look. My wife likes my beard, but we do have a slight disagreement about length. I prefer to let it grow until the cows come home, and she wants it a little shorter. That being said, for the most part I let it grow until she complains really loud. My hair is also long, I pull it back into a ponytail when I am doing something that the hair could get in the way of, otherwise I let it go unencumbered. I am just an olde hippie at heart.

[ohiopiper]

I've never had good luck with the electric trimmers. I use a comb and surgical scissors to trim mine. Comb it as described by others, downward to the neck, then upward. This gets most if not all the hair going the same direction. Then just trim what's getting out of proportion to the rest.

Were I not such a nincompoop, I'd post pics of mine. Not short by any stretch, but all the stray ends kept in check.

There are posts of several men on this board who have rather lengthy beards. They are kept neat and most people would comment on the kilt before noticing the beard. Unlike my brother in law. Half his teeth gone, the other half turning greenish black and a short whipsy beard you expect to see some creature peering out from. As the beer commercial says, "Don't be that guy".

[Mike_Oettle]

Riverkilt wrote: “Beards are natural. They go well with kilts.”

I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Mind you, the first time I wore a kilt, I had not yet grown a beard. I didn’t have enough growth on my top lip at the time.
But on the next occasion I had to remove my beard before reporting for duty, which was a chore. However, I did not remove my moustache, which has grown unhindered for 40 years.
After that beards were permitted for the South African Army, so I went to camp bearded, only to be told to remove it.
The next time I was armed with a medical certificate (which admittedly was fraudulent) and kept the beard for the next two camps. It was also at that fourth camp that I dressed in the kilt for a church parade and was hauled off by the regimental sergeant-major, because he didn’t like beards. So I watched from the side of the street.
But at my last stint of duty I was cross-examined by the medical officer and again obliged to remove it. However, in addition to my moustache, I left the tuft in the middle below my bottom lip, and nobody ever remarked on it!
Since the morning before I returned home after that spell, I have not shaved.

I have no problem with men who grow only part of their facial hair, or who remove the whole lot daily.
But I am puzzled when I see a man who constantly keeps his beard short (as has become fashionable with the trimmers available today). My brother does this, and he (in my eyes) only looks decent when he is on the point of trimming all over again.
Sometimes a guy with permanent or semi-permanent stubble is just someone who hasn’t yet discovered that one can get past the itchy stage (am I glad I have not had that kind of itch for 32 years!).
And one of the weirdest kinds of beard is one where its owner trims his chin down to stubble, but lets it grow more or less wild on his throat!

The point has also been made that a moustache should not get in the way of food.
It is not for nothing that some moustaches are called soup-strainers!
I tried moustache wax for a couple of years, but I found the results unsatisfactory. I also did not want to look like some of the sergeants-major in my regiment who had the ends of their moustaches going out into points on either side, sometimes at quite sharp angles!
For many years I chewed the ends of my moustache off, but after losing an incisor crown during that exercise a few years ago I bought a trimmer designed for use in ears and nostrils, and run it along my top lip once a week.
Well, gentlemen, I have (I think) said all I need to say on the subject.
And to the ladies: Enjoy your bearded man (if you have one) or put up with stubble!
Regards,
Mike

[DamnthePants]

thanks for all the tips and hints. I have begun to settle on something which I feel, feels and looks nice:





Those were Before

Here is Current






Note: The Glengarry and Vest may be swaying the after pictures towards better; so I will be forced to never be without them

[Lallans]

In my 20s, I grew a beard for the sake of the freedom, but I never felt so free as I did a few years later when I cut the d*** thing off.

Of course not everyone will have the winter icing problem that Canadians do.

[Tobus]

But I am puzzled when I see a man who constantly keeps his beard short (as has become fashionable with the trimmers available today). My brother does this, and he (in my eyes) only looks decent when he is on the point of trimming all over again.

I agree. The "permanent stubble" look may be in fashion because it makes men look rugged without making them look like cavemen (according to the fashionistas, anyway), but I personally think it's a travesty.

I keep my beard somewhere around 3/4" to 1" long. It's long enough to be a beard, but doesn't get out of control. Sadly, my facial hair is very curly and wild if I let it get long. Instead of laying down and hanging, it will point straight out. And to make matters worse, I have a "cow lick" on both sides of my jaw, so the hair grows in a circular swirly pattern there. Some of it grows upwards, instead of it all growing downwards. So I have to keep it trimmed to the lengths mentioned or it just gets silly looking.

I usually will shave my cheeks and neck once a week, using the electric clippers to trim it back between shaves. The rest of my beard just gets 'maintained' with the electric clippers when the wild ones start to poke out from the crowd. I have a tiny pair of scissors I use to keep my mustache trimmed off my lips. All in all, the maintenance is a heck of a lot less trouble (and a lot less discomfort) than shaving like most men do.