[General Stalin]

I live in the Denver area and there are way too many soft men with big beards here. I'm not a big beard guy myself, but in my neck of the woods a big beard is just another trendy hipster badge. No beard is the new beard as far as I'm concerned.

Lets talk a little bit about why beards are "in" these days. I think it goes along with tattoos and body art also being more acceptable. In the 1900's we had a lot of wars and young men were drafted into service. The policy of the military post-civil war was to be clean shaven with short hair, no piercings, and little-to-no visible tattoos. This became the "look" of the modern man in the early part of the 1900's and onward. Times have changed, young men are no longer forced into service, and we live in much more peaceful times. Therefor, men are able to grow their hair out and get whatever body art they desire. Long hair and beards are no longer consider the mark of someone who is irresponsible, unkempt, and unsuccessful.

On the flipside, because we live in such peaceful and prosperous times full of convenience and a lack of self-reliance; these same men who are growing beards and long hair are also not forced to do hard labor and make a living by the sweat of their brow. They are not forced to kill other men on foreign soil in the name of their country and freedom. They are not required to grow strong and acquire a wealth of knowledge about how to strip a rifle, repair an engine, plant and harvest vegetables, or build a shed. Instead we have soft men who wait tables, make coffee, type away on keyboards, and would rather send a text or email instead of pick up a phone because having to talk to a stranger is socially uncomfortable.

Because of this, the beard is becoming equated with men who do not know how to be "men." Obviously you own your look and if you're a bearded man who is in good shape and knows how to gut a deer in the field and rebuild a transmission then that's just fine, but the vast majority of men don't.

I just find it interesting that the baby faced men of yesteryear were far more independent, masculine, and life experienced than the bearded and tattooed gruff looking men of today.

[TheSergeant]

^

I'm in agreement with this. I was a big beard man myself for a number of years...had a pretty close approximation of Stonewall Jackson going for awhile (and somehow managed to hold down a Corporate office cube job which includes interaction with senior executives every day). I loved my beard, even after beards were appropriated by the weak and useless a couple years ago.

As time went on, however, and this goddamned hipster/SJW beard trend refused to die out, I started to loathe the idea of having anything in common with the degenerates whatsoever. Not because I was worried about my being mistaken in public as one of them, since I share none of their other physical or mental traits, but because I couldn't stand the thought of even a single commonality with them, however insignificant. Maybe I overreacted, but in the end I began to associate their slithering filth with the flowing mane on my face.

So I shaved it, and have been going clean-shaven for awhile now. I wasn't happy about it at first and still consider bringing it back from time to time, but I remind myself that clean-shaven men rampaged through Normandy, Peleliu, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Inchon, and countless other engagements throughout history, and every last one of them could curb stomp your typical modern man without much thought or effort.

All that aside, I applaud all of you who continue to represent and honor the traditional masculinity and dignity of the beard in the face of a cultural onslaught to turn it into the bastion of societal decay. Maybe in the future, when all of these fucks have been buried and banished into the dustbin of history, I'll rejoin you.

[roberto]

(02-01-2017 01:06 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

Because of this, the beard is becoming equated with men who do not know how to be "men." Obviously you own your look and if you're a bearded man who is in good shape and knows how to gut a deer in the field and rebuild a transmission then that's just fine, but the vast majority of men don't. I just find it interesting that the baby faced men of yesteryear were far more independent, masculine, and life experienced than the bearded and tattooed gruff looking men of today.

Not to blow my own trumpet too hard, but check.

I get where you and Sergeant above are coming from, but the beard is just one hipster tell. Do you think any single person looks at the guy in Cr33pin's 'Motivation' post and thinks 'hipster faggot'? Or a Hell's Angel and thinks 'soft cunt'? Hell no.

You can't describe any soldier who went through a war as baby faced, clean shaven or not. War does something to men, it changes their faces subtly. Like a righteous version of the thousand cock stare. And I'd not describe any hister as 'gruff'. They're all about sensitivity, feelings and getting pegged

Some men are congruent with wearing a beard. Some men are congruent with being clean shaven. If you shaved it because you were worried what people might think, then maybe it wasn't congruent with who you are.

Sergeant, come back to the fold brother.

[weambulance]

You know, I've never had occasion to rebuild a transmission. I'm sure I could manage it, but I would definitely be following the manual. On the other hand, if you want me to fix your fucked up M2HB in the pitch dark in the middle of a mission, I'm your guy. BTDT.

The only way I'm shaving my beard is if I need some kind of facial surgery or I need to start wearing a gas mask regularly. Hipster fashion will come and go, but my beard will be glorious forever.

...I also have conservatively about 40 pounds more muscle than the typical hipster my height. I doubt anyone would look at a lumbersexual, then me, and decide we're of the same ilk even though we wear similar clothes and both have beards.

[Alsos]

No longer have to deal with the aforementioned clients. Left it mostly alone since Thanksgiving apart from one cleanup trim on Christmas morning.

It's now past where it got to last year, and sometime in the past two weeks it abruptly made me look very different - my face looks a little more square and a lot more serious and every facial expression now has a vaguely menacing element to it.

Since I also have shoulder-length hair I was actually more worried about looking like a dirty hippie than a nancy-boy hipster. Instead it's a Rob-Zombie-as-cult-patriarch look. Which has me wondering what exactly made dirty hippies look like dirty hippies, when they too had big beards and long hair...

[Sidney Crosby]

Gave mine about 4-5 weeks and trimmed it back with a guard every once in a while. It was a bit patchy and then gave up after blaming my genetics.

[Hypno]

(03-04-2017 02:15 AM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  

Gave mine about 4-5 weeks and trimmed it back with a guard every once in a while. It was a bit patchy and then gave up after blaming my genetics.

SC, I had the same problem but someone encouraged me to give it a full 14 weeks. I am glad I did.

[churros]

(02-01-2017 01:06 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

I live in the Denver area and there are way too many soft men with big beards here. I'm not a big beard guy myself, but in my neck of the woods a big beard is just another trendy hipster badge. No beard is the new beard as far as I'm concerned.

In much the same way that hipsters adopted the signifiers of female fashion to embellish their look, they have now adopted the male signifiers.

They are so alienated from their own masculinity that beards and tattoos are nothing but an ironic reference. The worst offenders are often the most effeminate.

[Hypno]

(03-04-2017 11:16 AM)churros Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 01:06 PM)General Stalin Wrote:  

I live in the Denver area and there are way too many soft men with big beards here. I'm not a big beard guy myself, but in my neck of the woods a big beard is just another trendy hipster badge. No beard is the new beard as far as I'm concerned.

In much the same way that hipsters adopted the signifiers of female fashion to embellish their look, they have now adopted the male signifiers.

They are so alienated from their own masculinity that beards and tattoos are nothing but an ironic reference. The worst offenders are often the most effeminate.

the hipster beards also reek of "try-hard," especially when paired with a flannel shirt, skinny jeans, a man bun, and a giant hipster ear piercing.

[ShotgunUppercuts]

My cheek hair is filling in. The biotin pills have been working well for me.

[Hypno]

(03-07-2017 08:58 PM)ShotgunUppercuts Wrote:  

My cheek hair is filling in. The biotin pills have been working well for me.

thanks for the reminder!

[ShotgunUppercuts]

No doubt. Make sure you take em after a meal. Preferably breakfast.

[Investment Bro]

Wanted to bring this important thread back to life.

I've finally started growing my beard again. My corporate field has a less than favorable view of beards and bearded men, but following a string of successes I've finally built up the capital to let it grow. Will be 3 weeks in as of tomorrow. So my question to you guys, do you notice your beard growing in cycles? I grew it out a couple of times when I was in college, and it seemed to come in thicker initially than others, and certain areas came in at different stages. I ask, because I need my beard to get full as quickly as possible so I can get it groomed in line with the suit and tie work life.

[Zona]

(06-25-2017 10:09 PM)Investment Bro Wrote:  

Wanted to bring this important thread back to life.

I've finally started growing my beard again. My corporate field has a less than favorable view of beards and bearded men, but following a string of successes I've finally built up the capital to let it grow. Will be 3 weeks in as of tomorrow. So my question to you guys, do you notice your beard growing in cycles? I grew it out a couple of times when I was in college, and it seemed to come in thicker initially than others, and certain areas came in at different stages. I ask, because I need my beard to get full as quickly as possible so I can get it groomed in line with the suit and tie work life.

I've definitely noticed this with mine. Certain spots are a bit denser and/or grow in quicker than others. I also sometimes get a spot here or there where the hair seems to temporarily thin out for whatever reason. It's usually a phase, but it's annoying when I'm first growing it out. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do other than keep growing so that everything fills in.

[Hypno]

You definitely have to give it 14 weeks.

If you are older, don't be surprised if you have gray in your beard even if you have little gray on top. Just for Men for beards works well.

As you begin, you'll probably want a bigger beard. Once its grown in fairly full, you can trim it back.

If you are in a corporate job, or if you are older, shorter hair on the sides of your head look better, especially if your hair is thinning. With a shorter haircut, a more trim bear probably looks better. The downside is it will show more gray, which just means you have to color it. Its OK to show the gray if your beard is thick, but if it grows in patchy the gray will just accentuate the patchiness. Its probably different from person to person, but for me the gray in the beard looks pretty bad. I have some at my temples which I don't dye.

[The Wire]

Beard definitely lost it's power due to the over saturation. I thought 2015 was the last year where the beard seemed to have coolness points but it was losing steam fast because guys were catching on fast and started growing them out and by 2016 it peaked where you had a lot of guys in corporate positions having them.

2012-2014 were probably the best years because it was mainstream in the sense of being an in thing but it wasn't completely oversaturated like you see today. Any guys who think they get a lot of compliments today you got a lot more 4 years ago. A guy like Ricki Hall lost most of his popularity fast once the rest of the male Instagram models started growing out beards.

[Zona]

^Can confirm...I first grew mine out around 2011-2012 and have rocked it at various lengths ever since. During those first few years it wasn't uncommon to receive compliments on it from random strangers, particularly women.

Now? Not so much. I'm just another dude with a beard, albeit in better shape than most of the hipster faggots who have one. Part of me is glad that the trend is losing steam though, and I can't wait until these effeminate dorks jump ship to the next trendy look. The less I have in common with them the better.

[Cr33pin]

(09-04-2017 01:08 PM)The Wire Wrote:  

Beard definitely lost it's power due to the over saturation. I thought 2015 was the last year where the beard seemed to have coolness points but it was losing steam fast because guys were catching on fast and started growing them out and by 2016 it peaked where you had a lot of guys in corporate positions having them.

2012-2014 were probably the best years because it was mainstream in the sense of being an in thing but it wasn't completely oversaturated like you see today. Any guys who think they get a lot of compliments today you got a lot more 4 years ago. A guy like Ricki Hall lost most of his popularity fast once the rest of the male Instagram models started growing out beards.

[sonoran_]

Today just for shits I used Toppik in my stubble. Usually I hate my facial hair as it makes my face appear darker and blemishes to stand out compared to my preferable 12 o clock shadow.

Toppik filled in some patchiness and made the beard look a lot more defined. I also put on some accessories and felt like an edgy mofo overall lol.

Im 24 but have a couple grey hairs on my head and face. I honestly cant wait to go full grey and go for a Gianluca Vacchi look ( google him).

Anyone know if I can introduce more greys into my facial hair to give it even more of a salt and pepper look?

Ive seen people use a grey hair spray on their head so I was thinking of trying that shit out on my beard.

Yes it sounds gay but whatever.

[Rhyme or Reason]

I'll cosign; I used to get far more compliments on my beard than I do now, and it's stayed pretty much the same. Hopefully more guys start to go clean shaven because I'm not going to shave, ever.

[roberto]

(09-04-2017 06:46 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  

Cr33pin, you know I'm fully on the beard train. But that guy is a low T hipster check-shirt model who clearly can't even perform the most basic of manly tasks such as sharpening an axe.

[Alsos]

(09-05-2017 10:58 PM)sonoran_ Wrote:  

...Im 24 but have a couple grey hairs on my head and face. I honestly cant wait to go full grey and go for a Gianluca Vacchi look ( google him)...

Thanks for that name. That's the shape I've been aiming for. Now I have a reference.

[sonoran_]

^ no worries.

Honestly, grey can look good on majority of men if they have the fitness and style to match.

One thing I noticed was that Gianluca Vacchi has receding hair but you cant really tell with white hair. If there is a big color contrast between hair and skin then it is easier to see receding hairline.

[Cr33pin]

(09-06-2017 04:02 AM)roberto Wrote:  

(09-04-2017 06:46 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  

Cr33pin, you know I'm fully on the beard train. But that guy is a low T hipster check-shirt model who clearly can't even perform the most basic of manly tasks such as sharpening an axe.

I know but I liked the message that was on the photo and didn't have time to find a better pic......

Beard bleach:

[kirdiesel]

Joining the beard gang now.