[runsonmagic]

I've been seeing a lot of news articles about beards recently.

Apparently they are "in," but like most forms of hipster masculinity they signal certain values without actually having to live them.

Example: Beards might be back, but not for long
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2...986073.htm

Supposedly, as they are a trend, they have the advantages and disadvantages of trends.

Advantage - you fit in. Disadvantage - you look like everyone else. If it becomes associated with neckbeards and all the cool kids stop doing it then it's associated with that.

Personally, I find I look best with light stubble. I've had some women argue strongly for the beard, and other for clean shaven, but most of those who love the beard, are more pleased with a thin one, than a mountain man beard, and the ones who like clean shaven, except for one or two, are okay with light hair.

[Truth Tiger]

Hey guys, first RVF post though have lurked for some time. I've gone back and forth on facial hair since high school.

(04-16-2014 02:25 PM)20Nation Wrote:  

there are benefits for all the styles. Beard = more manly. Scruff = more modelish. Clean shaven = you can look younger. But honestly it probably depends on how you look personally. A beard can hide a weak chin or double chins or a bad jaw line. However, if you have a great chin and jaw line, it will just hide it. Facial hair is also an indicator of health which is why it's not a bad idea. There are just a lot of factors, without knowing what u look like its hard to say.

Useful summary. After college going into a tech enviroment with ~90% being older engineers, I got teased at first as the new guy / baby face, etc. I decided to let my patchy beard grow out and keep it neat looking which helped in and out of work. Later, I played with goatees and switched to a soul patch for a while when a girl I was dating suggested it. As a Scott Weiland fan I liked the idea and definitely brought out a bad boy look. It also had other beneficial uses which are useful to consider.

In my late 20s/early 30s I wanted to look younger so I shaved regularly. Occasionally went about a week from laziness but crossing into full beardland was usually hindered by the itch and my dislike of the in-between look. A few times I did let a full beard grow in (usually when I was single and too busy working to care about picking up women). But now that I think about it, the two most intense LTRs I've had started when I was bearded. The first (about 6 years ago) really complained when I went clean-shaven: "I don't know who you are." She loved my chest hair, too, which wasn't true for many women I'd previously dated.

When I was clean-shaven and dated a 'pretty boy' lover, I sometimes got the "I want to wax your chest" shit test. No way! Bugged me when I found Shatner had to wax for those shirtless scenes - destroyed my image of him as a badass. Yeah yeah we all have our idols I also hate daily shaves and enjoy looking more mature now so while I push away the baby face lovers I pull stronger on those who dig us hirsute guys. My current FWB, a cute Filipina, likes the beard. Her ex is Scandinavian IIRC so I present a strong contrast.

I'll experiment with shorter hair along my jaw (good tip) to see how it complements my jaw. I don't care about current fashion when it comes to hair but tuning it to be just right is a good experiment.

My thought is for guys considering it, have fun experimenting and OWN it. Some guys won't ever have the balls. If you want to grow a beard to get respect, work on yourself to earn it. Then you're being congruent not trendy.

EDIT after re-read: I think I realized something about both those bearded LTRs - I just didn't give a shit what anyone thought, I had a lot on my plate at work, trying to save money/invest, had to travel internationally for business for emergency repairs, would go racing on weekends when I could all while wondering if a 2am call would come in from overseas needing tech support. A woman's opinion was way down on the totem pole so I did whatever I wanted to maximize my time and minimize hassle. My attitude more than anything else was reflected in the presence of facial hair. When I was single and looking', getting ready for a first date, going out to a club / party, I'd shave since I thought it was expected. Mindset shift. Damn.. just put some dots together for myself.

[Teppei]

For me it's necessary because otherwise I'd look like a 20 year old or something.

[game_ethic]

Wanted to bump this thread because I recently just had a crazy experience.

So I've been growing my facial hair for maybe a month now. It's not a crazy, Grizzly Adams type, but I have a lot more facial hair than guys my age. It's like this:



Anyways, in the past couple of weeks I've been getting eye fucked a lot by older women. Earlier today I was in the supermarket and a older lady who was maybe in her 30's approached me and started a conversation with me. She was completely oblivious to the fact that I'm 20(there's a lot of hairy men in my family haha) until I told her.

Girls have even personally told me I look better and I should keep it. I haven't had any complaints so far, except from my mom who thinks I look better clean-shaven, so I think I'm gonna keep rocking it until I get tired of it.

[redbeard]

beard life is the best life

[The Wire]

(04-16-2014 09:45 PM)runsonmagic Wrote:  

Advantage - you fit in. Disadvantage - you look like everyone else. If it becomes associated with neckbeards and all the cool kids stop doing it then it's associated with that.

Personally, I find I look best with light stubble. I've had some women argue strongly for the beard, and other for clean shaven, but most of those who love the beard, are more pleased with a thin one, than a mountain man beard, and the ones who like clean shaven, except for one or two, are okay with light hair.

I still don't see them as so common that you like look everyone else. I'm sure this varies on locale....I haven't been to a huge hipster area like Brooklyn in a year or 2 but most areas i've been to clean shaven are more common than beards by a pretty big margin(though beards are at an all time high in modern times).

Thing is most people can't grow a really good beard. I'm not talking about just letting your facial hair grow for a year+ like a Rikki Hall one, im talking about a kickass well maintain one where it looks full even at shorter lengths. MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski is an excellent example.

[The Wire]

A sidenote about facial hair, I've read multiple times about women bitching that the lead for the movie 50 Shades of Grey had to shave for the part and he looks much better with the scruff. I saw pictures and they are actually 100% right. Lesson is make sure you know what works best for your face because you never know you because you might have an easy way to boost your looks way up with just a little thought into your facial hair.

[MidWest]

(04-16-2014 09:32 PM)Jaysive Wrote:  

(04-16-2014 02:25 PM)20Nation Wrote:  

there are benefits for all the styles. Beard = more manly. Scruff = more modelish. Clean shaven = you can look younger. But honestly it probably depends on how you look personally. A beard can hide a weak chin or double chins or a bad jaw line. However, if you have a great chin and jaw line, it will just hide it. Facial hair is also an indicator of health which is why it's not a bad idea. There are just a lot of factors, without knowing what u look like its hard to say.

This.
If you have a feminine jawline (weak), facial hair will make it appear more masculine and strong.

With a piercing jawline (strong), a short stubble or clean shave would be best to look like a man.

How do you know if you have a feminine jawline or not? I'm very anxious to know now.

[Libertas]

(01-30-2014 03:30 PM)Sombro Wrote:  

It depends on your body and face type.

Correct. It also depends on the color of your hair.

Dark colors for example, pull things down and make them look narrower. If you have a baby face and dark hair, facial hair might be a good thing for you to have.

Me on the other hand, if I let my facial hair grow for two days it pulls my face down and makes it look less full than it is.

I can do some day-old shadow, but beyond that it just makes my face look elongated and as 20Nation wrote, it conceals my chin and jawline.

You just need to take into account your face structure, hair color, and your overall look. So it's either clean or some light shadow for me.

[Mikestar]

As a teen im growing out my facical hair, I havent shaved my moustache and a girl on tinder asked me no offense what the hell is that (my moustache). Should I disregard her opinion or keep it growing?

[Darkwing Buck]

I have a bald head and a weak jawline and round cheeks. When I shave my face I look like an ugly black baby.

When I have a beard I have women from 20-35 complementing my looks. NIGHT AND DAY. My beard hides my ugly mug and weak jawline plus like I said I'm bald. If you're bald and don't have an extremely handsome face facial hair is a requirement. Plus I'm buff with tattoos so my beard pulls my whole look together.

Facial hair is a MUST for me. One of the reasons I was happy to leave the military was ability to grow a beard. My SMV increases by 2 points with a beard no fucking joke.

[lonewolf1992]

(06-08-2017 01:09 PM)Mikestar Wrote:  

As a teen im growing out my facical hair, I havent shaved my moustache and a girl on tinder asked me no offense what the hell is that (my moustache). Should I disregard her opinion or keep it growing?

Do you like what you see on the mirror?, if you do, you can tell her that's not her bussiness. You don't like what you see on the mirror?, if you don't, you can tell her that's none of her bussiness.

[Mess O.]

After years of daily shaving, I've now been alternating maybe every few days. All this info on the appeal of stubble and the like - provided it's managed properly - has broken me out of the daily-shaving habit. Well, so far, for one, it is convenient not to feel compelled to carry out that particularly task so often. I'm simply letting the stubble come in for a few days, and then starting over.

[Sisyphus]

When it comes to female preferences on facial hair it's a pretty simple equation with 2 binary variables.

1) Did the girl have a good relationship with her father? 2) Did the father have a beard? If the answer to both is yes then the girl will like men with beards and vice versa regardless of whether or not it's the best look for you.

Most of the time there's no way to know the answer to those questions. If there are 20 chicks in a bar probably at least one falls into each of the 4 possible categories, so to echo what others have said you should just go with whatever makes you more confident. I have my hair cut very short (#1 clipper) and I don't have a very imposing physique so I find a beard as an easy way to add masculinity to my look, and I don't like how I look without it. I trim it every day.

FWIW I read a study once which concluded that straight women and gay men both preferred stubble to beard or clean-shaven. I would consider David Chocarro's length here to be pretty tasteful, but I doubt it matters much for him one way or the other.

[Remington]

(06-14-2017 01:57 AM)Mess O. Wrote:  

After years of daily shaving, I've now been alternating maybe every few days. All this info on the appeal of stubble and the like - provided it's managed properly - has broken me out of the daily-shaving habit. Well, so far, for one, it is convenient not to feel compelled to carry out that particularly task so often. I'm simply letting the stubble come in for a few days, and then starting over.

If you are sticking with the stubble look, get yourself a pair of clippers with a few guards so you don't have to completely shave it all off every few days.

I use one for my beard to keep it shaped and so I don't look homeless. I was at the gym the other day when this bigger guy came up to me and said I look like "a fucking Viking." My beard isn't that long, but it's full and extends about an inch and a half from my chin.

[realologist]

The best way to do this is simple. Grow your hair and facial hair out for a while. Get each cut progressively shorter mixing and maxing longer top, longer facial hair. Stop at which one you look the best with. If you go to far. Grow it out until you hit the point where you looked the best.

Edit: Make sure to hit a barber on a slow day for this and hit them with a heavy tip.