Help me grow a beard

RUNN1NGMAN

Yeah, I know, pretty easy right? Stop shaving. Lock thread.

So here's the deal, I stopped shaving about 10 days ago, things are going fine, but I was wondering if anyone could say how long things take to fill in so that it's not all patchy and shit. Thing is, I'm starting law school next Wednesday, and I don't want to be weird guy with a half-grown-in beard. And I don't necessarily want that look immortalized in the student directory and on my student ID.

And advice from the bearded men out there?

If I can figure out how to post an attachment, I'll post a picture of my awesome beard.

Drew_9999

Sorry man, I think you're out of luck. After ten days you should be able to see pretty clearly where your beard grows. If you don't have enough growth in an area by now, you're probably not going to get any decent growth later. Your best bet is to figure out what kind of facial hair options you have with the hair you see right now.

CoJoeTheLawyer

You need to wait at least 4-5 weeks before you'll have something to work with. And there's a chance it might not come in right at all. Facial hair isn't for everyone.

While you're growing your whiskers, don't try to trim them at first. You'll need to let it grow out at least a half an inch before you can do anything creative with it. How long you'll go without shaving will depend on how fast your facial hair grows. In the meantime, use a barber's comb to keep your beard whiskers looking as neat as possible. Also, to properly grow a beard, keep it clean, especially around your mouth and nose area.

Moobly

You're not alone. I'm geneticaly doomed to forever have patchy spots. It's just part of being you, accept it and work with it. If you're set on having something, just find a way to "manscape" the spots that aren't patchy. That being said, if you've just got rubbish on your face, don't deny it and shave it clean. Nothing says "I wish I was tough," like a Rosie O'donnel beard.

Darkewolfe

If you're starting law school and aren't going to have a professional looking beard, I'd shave it off and start again on your next break. This is one of those important "lasting impressions" times, and a half-filled in beard just looks terrible. I shaved my beard for a job interview (beards are always a bad idea in job interviews, in most opinions) and had to wait for the next serious amount of time without a boss around before I could grow it back in. It's just a tricky situation.

Also, some people grow beards more quickly than others. Some guys just can't ever grow beards that don't look overly scruffy/patchy. This often depends on your genetic background. I wouldn't sweat it too much. While I'm really fond of having a beard, you really do sometimes receive negative points on the professionalism-meter for having them. And in a field like law, you want to ooze professionalism and sincerity.

wallabeeX

More importantly:

My school was rather flexible on student ID pictures. I could walk down to admissions and have a new photo ID taken whenever I wanted for like $10. And it's a short leap from that to talking to the system admin to have that picture and put it online.

YourFatAuntSusan

Growing a beard is very genetic. If you're not wired to have a good quality beard, you won't have one.

While I have a decent beard, there are places high on my cheeks I will never have hair.

Basar

YourFatAuntSusan wrote: »

Growing a beard is very genetic. If you're not wired to have a good quality beard, you won't have one.

While I have a decent beard, there are places high on my cheeks I will never have hair.

Being Turkish helps.

Grenn

What everyone else said.

If you have patches that are simply not growing hair, then don't hold your breath.

BUT, as they say, the grass is always greener and every cloud has as silver lining. As someone who's face is a veritable HAIR FARM, I have to shave hairs so far up my cheeks that I might as well be growing beards on my lower eyelids...

Moobly

Take solace in the fact that, often, these bastards with magnificent beards also sport magnificently hairy backs.

lifeincognito

Step one is to determine what facial hair grows the fastest/slowest on your face. My mustache grows in last so I can't just stop shaving to grow a beard. I'm sure you'll have some similar issue. Already mentioned is that some people just can't grow a beard because certain parts of their face don't grow hair so check yourself out in the mirror. Use these unshaven days to figure out how your hair grows in because you'll have to work with it to grow a beard without looking like a derelict. Get a beard trimmer and be prepared to have an itchy neck in some cases. Use napkins like wildfire to keep food out of it at meals. Enjoy being called Grizzly Adams.

Zek

Since you're starting school next week I'd say you should just shave it off and wait for a later break to try it again. Some guys just can't pull off a beard, others might take a while before it looks at all respectable.

RUNN1NGMAN

Well, "patchy" might have been a bad choice of words. what I mean is that it's very thin, in that it's going to take a while to thicken out because of the natural cycle of how hair grows.

All genetic signs point to me being able to grow a sweet beard, at least if my dad is any indication. I also had the hairiest back in the world before getting laser treatments.

I think I'll shave it off, if only because it might be a bad first impression, and I don't want a two-week-old beard immortalized in the student directory.

Darkewolfe

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

Well, "patchy" might have been a bad choice of words. what I mean is that it's very thin, in that it's going to take a while to thicken out because of the natural cycle of how hair grows.

All genetic signs point to me being able to grow a sweet beard, at least if my dad is any indication. I also had the hairiest back in the world before getting laser treatments.

I think I'll shave it off, if only because it might be a bad first impression, and I don't want a two-week-old beard immortalized in the student directory.

My bare-faced employee ID (which contrasts completely with my wooly-bearded face. ok, not wooly. neatly trimmed) stands in solidarity with this decision. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

YourFatAuntSusan

I have a beard now and I cannot shave it due to the fact i've had it since the spring and spend a fair amount of hours outdoors. If I shave, i'll be all pasty white underneath and tanned everywhere else.

Darkewolfe

YourFatAuntSusan wrote: »

I have a beard now and I cannot shave it due to the fact i've had it since the spring and spend a fair amount of hours outdoors. If I shave, i'll be all pasty white underneath and tanned everywhere else.

The fact that my fat aunt susan posted this just makes it infinitely amusing to me.

YourFatAuntSusan

Darkewolfe wrote: »

YourFatAuntSusan wrote: »

I have a beard now and I cannot shave it due to the fact i've had it since the spring and spend a fair amount of hours outdoors. If I shave, i'll be all pasty white underneath and tanned everywhere else.

The fact that my fat aunt susan posted this just makes it infinitely amusing to me.

:winky:

cloudeagle

This cartoon is so goddamn true:

That said, if your family is naturally hairy, you just might have slow-growing hair. I can get away with shaving every other day because mine grows so goddamn slow.

So you might want to wait for a longer break, then try again. Maybe it'll work.

wasted pixels

If you're not the kind of guy who gets a good five o'clock shadow going, it can take as much as a month for a full, swarthy beard to come in. I'm a redheaded German-Irishman, so facial hair is theoretically impossible for me, but I can get a decent beard going if I let it grow for a solid three or four weeks (this phase is nice if, like mine, your girlfriend has a viking fetish. ), then I trim it back from there. It gives the thinner spots a bit more time to "bloom", and gives you more control over the overall style of your beard.

Wash it daily with shampoo, comb it if it's long and thick (they CAN tangle), and keep it neatly trimmed.