A Beard - do you have one?

[The_J]

When the pandemic started last year, I decided to grow a beard, since I've anyways always hated shaving. I hadn't done it before, since I wasn't sure how it'd look like on me, but since anyways nobody would see me, I thought it was a good opportunity.
Currently I prefer the beard, since it's easier than shaving all the time, and I think I also look better with it. Although it starts looking messy when it grows too long, and I need to trim it regularly.
I'd like to pull off something like this:

but not sure how I could maintain it and look okay-ish on the way to this. Trimmed 3-5 mm looks good on me, so I'm still okay .

So... who else does?
Poll should reflect your average status within the last 2 weeks.

All possible poll options, because hey, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...d-to-love-herself_uk_575931eae4b0069193651be1 .

 

[tjs282]

Tried growing a goatee in my last year at Uni. I think I lasted about 4 weeks before I scraped it off again, because I didn't like the sensation.

So I don't maintain a beard as such, but I also (still) don't much like shaving, so (barring those rare occasions when I actually need to look presentable in public) I only do it once a week these days — usually Saturday or Sunday morning, when I can hog the bathroom without anyone complaining.

Trimmed 3-5 mm looks good on me, so I'm still okay .

3–5 mm is about what I have by most Friday evenings...

 

[fy00sh]

I chose "I identify otherwise and I do not have a beard" but it's moreso that I shave my face about once every 2 weeks and in the meantime I do usually have some facial hair, but I tend to shave just before I'd feel confident calling it a "beard".
I'm not opposed to having a beard per se, but I find that it's when my facial hair length is somewhere between "none" and "definitely a beard", that strangers are at their most unsure of what my gender is, which is exactly the response I prefer.

 

[Angst]

I want to look feminine, but since I've put on weight the beer helps to hide my double chin and generally slims my face. It works so well people don't know I'm overweight. If I was underweight, I'd keep it clean shaved. My facial hair grows fast, so it's also easier just have it do whatever it wants. Voted "I identify otherwise and do have a beard", since that's my situation. I identify primarily as female, but don't have enough dysphoria to mind being a good-looking dude.

 

[Samson]

Since the lockdown started I gave up shaving, and I now have something that looks somewhere between these 2. Now it is ending I shall have to do something a bit more normal with it.

Spoiler Beards :

 

[Lohrenswald]

I just don't shave often enough, so there's a bit of a boom and bust cycle

never have shaven often enough

don't know how people who think beards look attractive would evaluate me at the point I have it longest

I don't like having it and like if I could do something to make it go away forever I probably would

 

[Gori the Grey]

Have grown one during Covid. Not sure why, actually. Don't know if I'll keep it or not.

 

[The_J]

So I don't maintain a beard as such, but I also (still) don't much like shaving, so (barring those rare occasions when I actually need to look presentable in public) I only do it once a week these days — usually Saturday or Sunday morning, when I can hog the bathroom without anyone complaining.3–5 mm is about what I have by most Friday evenings...

I did it before also once per week only. And yes, the 3-5 mm looks like roughly 1 week of growth for me too. But now I can keep it for 2 weeks without dealing with it, afterwards it becomes a bit too obviously messy.
I've grown it longer in between, because nobody sees me, but I'm not sure if I like it. Would definitely need a proper beard comb for maintenance.

I want to look feminine, but since I've put on weight the beer helps to hide my double chin and generally slims my face.

Same with the double-chin here.
I read that there's a general recommendation for beard-wearers to shave 2 fingers above the adams apple, but I think with my fat chin this would only look a good part worse.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I stopped shaving in June 2010 and have never looked back. My 'natural growth' provides me with a goatee and moustache and nothing more. I trim it now and again.

 

[Kyriakos]

I shave, every two or three days.

 

[amadeus]

Nope, I’ve shaved almost every day since I was 15 years old. I do not have a beard face.

 

[thetrooper]

I shave, every two or three days.

This. Any longer than 3 days and the complaining starts from gf, daughter or both.

And, FWIW, I switch between wet and dry.

 

[Arakhor]

I shave my goatee maybe three or four times a year, but it's only in the last few years that my sideburns have joined up with the goatee. I shave my moustache every fortnight or so, which is about as quickly as it becomes an irritant.

Having maintained my goatee for a decade now, it helpfully curls under my chin when it gets too long, so the two-fingers thing isn't violated.

 

[bernie14]

I shave completely every 4 to six weeks but shave my neck and lower cheek regularly to appear decent.

 

[emzie]

Answer: it's complicated.

I used to have a beard, and a gruff one at that. I've posted this picture before because it makes me laugh. When I took it, I had zero clue what changes were coming. I thought the pink dollarstore wig and my wife's sun glasses would make for an odd juxtaposition.

Spoiler 2014 :

In 2016 I spent C$1,000 for 6 sessions of laser hair removal and almost all of what you see is now gone. Maybe 25% of this still grows, maybe 80% of which has no colour. I have a bit of facial hair on my neck and on either side of my neck that grows in brownish. It takes 4-5 days before it becomes noticeable to others. My personal tolerance is 2 days. I intend to do a few more laser sessions at some point, but it's not been a pressing issue for me.

During a lockdown, I didn't shave for 10 days just to see what it would look like. The red is all gone. You could see the transparent hairs in strong light, though the small areas with some colour left were pretty visible.

 

[Ajidica]

I grew a beard during lockdown last year and I've largely kept it. It grows in fairly well apart from one section on my left cheek where it just refuses to grow in correctly. I keep it fairly short, though not helped by me being too lazy to buy a proper beard trimmer. Not sure I'll keep it once covid is over. A number of people say it looks good on me, but it also makes me look a lot like my dad, which I don't know if I want to look like him.

 

[Birdjaguar]

@emzie SOB what a change!

 

[BirraImperial]

I have a beard... a red beard.

 

[Kyriakos]

I have a beard... a red beard.

Better than a blue beard.

 

[Josu]

I shave everyday
I like beards if well kept, they are stylish if you take care of them, I hate them if scruffy
I am clumsy for taking care of hair, beards or sideburns, in consequence, no beard,no sideburns and short hair.