Bleeder's struggles with facial hair

[soyperson]

I have decided to begin a blog documenting my hopeful ascent into Beard-Valhalla. I am a freshman in high school, and have not shaved in a week or so, and will continue to not shave until beard-dom is achieved, or I give up. Thanks to @Quadrophenia for the idea of this thread. 

Disclaimer: If you do not like my face do not partake in this thread

Entry one, from a week or so ago: 

Spoiler

Me from literally 4 minutes prior to this post: (sorry for sideways; also, taken from opposite directions, to explain the hair difference)

Spoiler

If remotely anyone cares, I will continue to post on this thread. 

If not, I apologize for the inconvenience and will cease and desist.

[Assassin in Burgundy he/him]

YASSS! I will upvotes your photos until you are mini Gandalf. 

[soyperson]

1 minute ago, Assassin in Burgundy said:

YASSS! I will upvotes your photos until you are mini Gandalf. 

Thanks! I'll try not to let you down. Operation facial hair is a-go.

[Mestiv he/him]

Ok, an honest word of advice. You are young, you may be still going through puberty. I don't think it's a best idea to try and grow a beard right now. The first hair that will appear on your face will be soft and rather sparse. It will not look good IMO.

However! If you start shaving, the hair on your face will get thicker etc. Let testosterone end it's job.  When you can grow stubble you can scratch yourself with, you will be able to grow a nice beard

Thrust me on that, I made the mistake of not shaving for too long when my facial hair started to grow. It did not look good or attractive in any way

Of course, I might be wrong and your case might be different, so you may want to see for yourself how it will go. Good luck!

 

Btw. Every time I see a photo of you I think you are cosplaying Alcatraz

 

[A Joe in the Bush]

I agree with mestiv. I was desperate to grow a beard, and from the ages of 13 to 16, i never once shaved. I looked hideous the whole while, with very bad stubble. It's better to just wait. You're not going to get a good beard until you're about 17, and possibly, not at all.

Seriously, I want to slap myself every time I see a picture of the time I didn't shave.

[soyperson]

7 hours ago, Mestiv said:

Ok, an honest word of advice. You are young, you may be still going through puberty. I don't think it's a best idea to try and grow a beard right now. The first hair that will appear on your face will be soft and rather sparse. It will not look good IMO.

However! If you start shaving, the hair on your face will get thicker etc. Let testosterone end it's job.  When you can grow stubble you can scratch yourself with, you will be able to grow a nice beard

Thrust me on that, I made the mistake of not shaving for too long when my facial hair started to grow. It did not look good or attractive in any way

Of course, I might be wrong and your case might be different, so you may want to see for yourself how it will go. Good luck!

 

Btw. Every time I see a photo of you I think you are cosplaying Alcatraz

 

I've been shaving for a couple of years or so. 

And I've never read Alcatraz... Or the Reckoners...

Edited September 21, 2016 by bleeder

[Mestiv he/him]

1 minute ago, bleeder said:

I've been shaving for three years or so. 

And I've never read Alcatraz... Or the Reckoners... 

Oh, then your appearance has fooled me, sorry for that  

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

I'm about his age, and I grow beards to rival arabian sheiks

[soyperson]

Just now, Mestiv said:

Oh, then your appearance has fooled me, sorry for that  

I am still fourteen (nearing fifteen---come on, January!) but I have been shaving for a couple years. I used to shave, like, religiously. Every other day or so.

Then a week ago I just stopped or forgot or something. Now I'm passing it off as an attempt at facial hair. 

[Delightful]

3 hours ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

I'm about his age, and I grow beards to rival arabian sheiks

I know a guy who had a very full beard at .....14, I think. Exception not the rule obviously, but still possible. 

[Argent he/him]

I am kind of with @Mestiv on this one. If your stubble is not hard enough to scratch you a little bit, it probably won't look good on a full beard. Might be able to accomplish a nice stubble though, they are not only popular these days, but also look good and are easy to maintain.

At the end of the day it's obviously your call, and I don't want to try to take the choice away from you. But I think there is value in giving advice about something I've had a very similar experience with. 

[soyperson]

50 minutes ago, Argent said:

I am kind of with @Mestiv on this one. If your stubble is not hard enough to scratch you a little bit, it probably won't look good on a full beard. Might be able to accomplish a nice stubble though, they are not only popular these days, but also look good and are easy to maintain.

At the end of the day it's obviously your call, and I don't want to try to take the choice away from you. But I think there is value in giving advice about something I've had a very similar experience with. 

I will accept and acknowledge any advice given.

I probably won't go with a full beard anyhow. I haven't attained "mountain man" status and am rather thin and stick-like. 

I'm aiming more for some visual stubble, if that is possible. 

Thanks for the advice, everybody, and I'll keep you posted. 

[Zathoth]

The shaving a lot makes it grow faster is a myth, by the way.

Think about it, if you cut down the forest it is going to grow faster.

If you eat more you are going to lose weight faster.

Anyone else sees how little sense this makes?

[Mestiv he/him]

3 hours ago, Morzathoth said:

The shaving a lot makes it grow faster is a myth, by the way.

Think about it, if you cut down the forest it is going to grow faster.

If you eat more you are going to lose weight faster.

Anyone else sees how little sense this makes?

You are right, however, by shaving you do change how the hair feel. By cutting away their narrow tips, they have only the thicker part left, which makes them look and feel different. 

[The Invested Beard]

As a beard I can confirm that we are usually attracted to older faces. We find older humans more inclined to thoughtful stroking, which we enjoy immensely. There are those beardspren who do attach themselves to younger humans, but they run the risk of significantly shortening their lifespan as the human may tire of them before truly learning to appreciate them.

[soyperson]

47 minutes ago, The Invested Beard said:

As a beard I can confirm that we are usually attracted to older faces. We find older humans more inclined to thoughtful stroking, which we enjoy immensely. There are those beardspren who do attach themselves to younger humans, but they run the risk of significantly shortening their lifespan as the human may tire of them before truly learning to appreciate them.

I merely wish for a bit of stubble. Could you talk to the Beardfather and appease him to grant me a thin layer of facial hair upon my face?

[Argent he/him]

ohgod, now I have the image of Syl with a colossal beard, flying to and fro.

It's horrid.

[The Invested Beard]

20 minutes ago, bleeder said:

I merely wish for a bit of stubble. Could you talk to the Beardfather and appease him to grant me a thin layer of facial hair upon my face?

I'll see what I can do. He's a bit unpredictable.

[soyperson]

1 minute ago, Eccentric Hero said:

I need to say a new oath so that perhaps my beardspren will come more into the physical realm. Maybe, if I say enough oaths, I can wield my beardspren as a shardbeard.

I will let grow instead of shave.

[The Invested Beard]

39 minutes ago, Eccentric Hero said:

I need to say a new oath so that perhaps my beardspren will come more into the physical realm. Maybe, if I say enough oaths, I can wield my beardspren as a shardbeard.

Yes, but the oath that bonds is more along the lines of the alternative use of the word. Time to start cussing like a sailor.

[Mestiv he/him]

 

[PantsForSquares he/him]

Words of advice:

1) You've got a ways to go, and there's plenty of time to try growing out facial hair. While it's not unheard of for people to be able to grow facial hair around 14/15, I'd recommend waiting until you're at least 17, maybe even as late as 19. A lot of the freshmen I see in college try to grow facial hair and it's horrible when there's patches.

2) Know thine facial hair. This is absurdly important. If you don't grow facial hair beside your mouth, a goatee is out of the question. It's better to know what your genetics let you grow than to just try and do everything at once. Not everyone can grow a bushy lumberjack beard, and that's fine (I can't do a goatee, for instance). It's better to style around what you can grow than to pretend growing something you can't.

3) Proper shaving is incredibly important. I'm not sure what type of razor you use, but I find that a cartridge razor tends to give me razor burn, which isn't fun. I use a double-edged razor, which gives incredibly clean shaves, although I'm not sure if you want to try that at this point in time. Regardless, skin care and taking care of your facial hair are high priorities.

Growing a beard is like nurturing a plant - it's a delicate process that not everyone values. Take pride in it, and work to the best of your ability with what you have, and you'll have something good.

[Mistrunner]

4 hours ago, Eccentric Hero said:

Well, drynets. I think that beardspen value patience and that patience is a virtue of the Order of Beardwearers. So I'll try to be more storming patient.

(Yes, I said drynets. )

Eccentric Hero, I'm surprised at you.

Spoiler

 

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

6 hours ago, Mestiv said:

 

You just destroyed my concept of reality. Which was pretty screwed up in retrospect, but that's just a whole other level.

3 days, that's how long it takes for me to grow some decent stubble after shaving. Is that particularly fast?

 

[PantsForSquares he/him]

3 minutes ago, Darkness Ascendant said:

You just destroyed my concept of reality. Which was pretty screwed up in retrospect, but that's just a whole other level.

3 days, that's how long it takes for me to grow some decent stubble after shaving. Is that particularly fast?

If you're under 18, and it's the sort of stubble that you're going to want to shave off before it develops into a proto-beard, then yeah, it's pretty fast.

Otherwise, it's about average. It takes me about two/three days to get a decent amount of stubble, but that's because I shave my hairs extremely closely (smoothness in three directions!)