If you are wondering about how to grow a beard, here are some useful tips for you.
How to Grow a Beard: Make a Commitment
It requires a commitment to grow a beard. The entire beard-growing experience can be a test for your character, and also a pleasantly surprising encounter with your “self”.
If you or anyone near you have a question like”Why to grow a beard?” ideally it should be “Why not grow a beard?” But because shaving has become a norm, growing beard is looked at as an exception. Therefore, it needs a little courage to make a determination of growing a beard. Once it is made, it can easily be reversed upon a second thought and a prospective beard vanishes before even appearing. Thus, when you find a man who has a beard, you can understand that he has a determination to stick to his decision of growing a beard.
Another major factor influencing your decision about whether to grow a beard is genetics. Growth of beard is genetically decided and there is nothing much one can do than accepting what he has got. If you are bestowed with enough facial hair which can easily allow you to grow a beard, you should grow one at least once in life, at least as an experiment. You may be so delighted with the experience, that you may decide to maintain the beard permanently.
The most important thing is, to grow a beard and keep it, is entirely your decision. The opinion that matters is only yours. So, try it! If you love it, carry on, and if not, shave it off. At least, you will have the experience and you will come to know about how to grow a beard.
But you will have to make a commitment and start growing a beard while remaining firm with your commitment.
Stop Shaving
Once you make a commitment, you may wonder how to grow a beard? After all, how to do that? You may be feeling shy of your friends, or wife, or colleagues. Here are some tips:
Start growing the beard while you are on a vacation. You might be alone or accompanied by only your family. So, you might feel more relaxed while growing the beard.
Don’t think much about the possible reactions of other people about your beard. If you have a nice beard, others will react only favorably, rather much more favorably than you would think of. So, just relax and enjoy growing the beard.
Set a date and commit to yourself that you won’t leave the effort before that, for example, six weeks. Commit not to shave before the target date. After this date, you may give it a second thought whether to continue with growing the beard or not.
When you start growing the beard, stop shaving totally, at least for the first four weeks of the process. Men make the commonest mistake of sculpting the beard too early. Even though you plan to grow a goatee or Van Dyke style beard, you must first let everything grow. The reason for this is, you might cut off probably more than you desire, if you try to shape it before four weeks of growth. Also, after growing an oversized goatee, you may strike with its impressiveness, which you had not thought of before and may want to keep it. Once you grow it fully, you can always trim it down later to a smaller size.
Start shaping the beard after four weeks. You may want to define the “neck line” around the neck, along the bottom of the beard. This should be done by a professional barber or stylist. It is hard to find one who has plenty of experience of styling beards, but you will definitely get one when you try hard.
Usually the cheek line, which is the upper border of the beard on cheeks, is left neutral. Some men spoil an otherwise excellent beard by shaving the cheek line into weird shapes. Unless the beard starts making its presence just below your eyes, you better not shave or sculpt it on your cheeks.
Don’t get deterred if itching occurs. Keep the beard clean by using a mild shampoo. You can also use a conditioner if you want. Slowly the skin will get adjusted with the new scenario. Itching should only be temporary. If it persists and is hard, try applying a moisturizer or some baby oil to the affected areas.
Maintaining Your Beard
Once you know how to grow a beard and achieved a sufficient growth, you can invest in a quality beard trimmer and learn and practice how to use it.
Generally the beard should be washed with the same shampoo which you use for your hair on head. But some men use soap for this purpose. You can try both and see which one you like more.
After a wash, pat the beard dry gently with a towel. Blow drying is unnecessary and not recommended anyway.
If at all you decide to get rid of your beard, do it with your trimmer or hair clippers. Trim as much hair as you can with the trimmer or clippers. Do this with a regular shave with extra care.
Learning how to grow a beard is an enjoyable experience. Be a man and have it!