Uneven Facial Hair

Keybored

Hi,

Lately my facial hair has been bothering me. I'm 19 and a half and right now I get hair growth on my chin and above and below the lips. I also get a small amount of stubble in the higher sideburns area and a patch or two here and there on the right side of my neck. Along with that there's a rogue hair or two here and there on my cheeks, but otherwise nothing.

My hair is black and somewhat coarse, so to avoid looking like I'm constantly half way through trying to grow a really pathetic moustache I go clean shaven (Once with the grain, then once against the grain, takes forever if you don't want to cut yourself -_-). The next day though it's grown out a bit and looks stupid again, and the skin is still a bit too sensitive for another go against the grain.

My older brother (30 yrs old) has good, full facial hair so it mustn't just be that we're both 1/4 Japanese, 3/4 Australian. I must just be a late bloomer, but in the meantime does anyone have any suggestions for looking less ridiculous?

desperaterobots

Really, you may have to put this down to an awkward phase. Also, your brothers hair might not be the best way to judge; i've had a full beard since I was 21, my brother is 33 and he still doesn't!

Willeth

I had a similar thing at your age. Just keep shaving where appropriate. It won't speed up hair growth, but it also won't inhibit it, so it just stops you from looking patchy until the smaller areas fill in.

It might be that you can pull of that kind of Asian semi-goatee thing in the meantime. It's likely that you've just not fully got there yet, and you'll have an even beard soon enough, or it could be that you never will. Not really a lot you can do either way except wait. I wouldn't necessarily use your brother as comparison, as it sounds like one of your grandparents is Japanese, and the other three Australian - with the way that genes work, your facial hair growth could well share a lot of the traits of Japanese men and be very sparse.

Also, it sounds like you might be shaving wrong, if you feel like you're taking an age to shave. Wash your face with hot water first, which makes your skin supple and opens the pores to allow the hairs to be cut easier, before applying cream/foam. Keep your cheeks wet at all times when shaving - this will cut you less, make it a lot easier and quicker, and will actually mean your blade lasts longer. After you're done, wash your face again with cold water.

Seattle Thread

Brace yourself for the possibility that it's just going to be the way your beard grows. There's no way to increase hair growth, or create hair where there was none before, aside from possibly waiting to see if it gets thicker as you get older.

Fireflash

It's just how things go for some people. I'm 25 and most of my facial hair is on my chin and above my lips. I don't have any hair on my cheeks and barely anything on the sides of my jaw. I'll never be able to grow a big hobo beard

Trentus

I'm in the same boat as you man. I started shaving before one of my mates, but he managed to grow these awesome sideys in highschool. I've never really been able to get mine to thicken up, except for on my chin. And there are just some bald patches in places. It shits me to no end. I attributed it to my spazzy shaving, as I was self taught, and through trial and error... I always seem to get a closer shave if I don't use cream or jell. Though I suppose there's probably a good reason I never saw my dad or grandad with a beard.

Anyway, I just find that if I shave regularly, every now and then I'll notice a few new hares here and there. It certainly isn't as full as I'd like, and I still have patches here and there, but as long as I keep seeing improvements, I stay positive. But we may just have to acknowledge that not all of us can grow beards like a unix kernel programmer.

Seattle Thread

It is a common myth that shaving helps to make hair grow faster. It's also completely untrue. It might make your hair appear thicker, since the first day or so of growth is uniformly even and flat-tipped, but there is no way that running a razor over your face can somehow magically make your hair grow.

Trentus

Makershot wrote: »

It is a common myth that shaving helps to make hair grow faster. It's also completely untrue. It might make your hair appear thicker, since the first day or so of growth is uniformly even and flat-tipped, but there is no way that running a razor over your face can somehow magically make your hair grow.

Yeah, I know this now... but I still hope that by keeping that mentality I can trick my body into growing decent facial hair... Really, I'm just jealous of people like Hugh Laurie, who can say "Hey, look! I haven't shaved for a few days, but I still look awesome!" rather than having to say "Avert your eyes! I haven't shaved for a few days!"

corcorigan

I outgrew my gf's brother's 3 weeks of fluff in a couple of days. And he's got about 4 years on me...

Mine wasn't ginger either.

Forbe!

Get an electric razor if your skin is too sensitive for wet shaving. There is a period of adjustment that your skin will go through: sensitivity and redness, but you can get a fairly comparable shave.

If not, quit shaving against the grain.

Use hot water when shaving, and apply a mild aftershave.

Nothing will make your hair grow faster, except time.

Daemonion

I used to have gnarly sideburns at 16-17 but could never grow a full beard.

Now, at 20, things just seemed to fill in and I have a mountain man beard. Give it time.

Casual

I'm 20 and I have fairly patchy growth but it seems to be getting thicker all the time. I would agree with Forbe and say go for an electric razor. It won't irritate your skin and is probably more suitable if you don't have major facial hair growth anyway.

JoschuaESQ

I'm 26.
Graduating law school.
And my beard is as patchy and retarded as they come. It is mottled, multi-colored, and quite simply ridiculous. I only grow out my stubble when I don't want someone to take me seriously.
I'm missing one part on my left cheek that is smooth as a baby's bottom, to not lie at all.
I shave regularly.
I suggest you do the same, not worry about it and maybe one day when we grow up, you and I can be filthy hippies together and grow beards down to our knees. The time for both of us, however, is absolutely not now.

And don't go against the grain, i do not and it works ok!

Enki

I would consider you lucky, since I've got ridiculous amounts of facial/neck hair (mine grows almost down to the top of my t-shirt), and it's a pain in the ass to shave, so I end up only shaving 1-2 times a week during the summer and have a beard during the winter. That being said, I would say just keep shaving, either it will grow into a full face of hair, or it won't. Question though, do you need to shave both directions? Also, what kind of razor do you use? using one with more blades has, in my experience, gotten a closer shave, with less irritation since you don't have to go over the same spot more than once or twice. In my case, shaving against the grain is incredibly painful, and causes red bumps to sprout a couple hours after I'm done, so I would suggest perhaps not shaving against the grain.

Uncle Long

Instead of shaving once with the grain and once against, try shaving once with the grain and then once across the grain (sideways). It's usually not as rough on the skin and gets as close to almost as close as against the grain.

Keybored

Trentus wrote: »

Really, I'm just jealous of people like Hugh Laurie, who can say "Hey, look! I haven't shaved for a few days, but I still look awesome!" rather than having to say "Avert your eyes! I haven't shaved for a few days!"

That's exactly what I'm looking for. I can't see myself ever growing more than a few days of stubble but it'd be nice not to look like I'm half way through trying to grow a pathetic moustache all the time.

The reason I go against the grain is to avoid the above effect. I think I'll give your once with the grain and once sideways method a go Uncle Long. As for the electric shaver idea, my parents got rather nice one (Probably around AUD$100, ~USD$90) for me last year for my birthday, but I prefer the closer shave from wet shaving against the grain to avoid the aforementioned pathetic moustache effect.

What really adds insult to injury as well is how thick my leg and head hair is.

Willeth

Yeah, sounds exactly like me in high school. Just wait.

Rook

Willeth wrote: »

Also, it sounds like you might be shaving wrong, if you feel like you're taking an age to shave. Wash your face with hot water first, which makes your skin supple and opens the pores to allow the hairs to be cut easier, before applying cream/foam. Keep your cheeks wet at all times when shaving - this will cut you less, make it a lot easier and quicker, and will actually mean your blade lasts longer. After you're done, wash your face again with cold water.

In addition, use a proper shaving cream, if it costs about as much as your deodorant, you're doing it wrong. I find a shaving brush helps a lot since I have pretty corse hair and sensitive skin, and replace your blade once a week. A proper shave should feel good.

corcorigan

You can get oils that soften hair too... That, combined with a hot shower, means I don't even bother with foam anymore.