Not understanding any coolness factor with stubble

[MrLara]

Not sure why some guys are offended by it. It's really up to the individual, and what kind of facial he likes to keep.

if you're my friend, stubble or not. You're still my friend.

even a stranger, i won't make any assumptions about their look.

 

[Toothpick]

I can hardly watch Jimmy Fallon now. What the heck is he doing!! It must be a stunt or lost bet I missed.

Ive been known to sport the stubble look but it's only because I'm to lazy to shave everyday.

 

[framos242]

I was having this conversation with SWMBO the other day, she said that the first few days when I don't shave she likes but after that she doesn't.

In general, I say that it's up the individual on the stubble length. Everybody is different and has their own likes so good for them. Personally, hitting that 2 day mark of not shaving makes me anxious for the DE razor and cream.

 

[Ron Scott]

I dont think its an age thing because I see old guys like me doing it. My engineering manager (mid-50s) came in once last year with a 3-4 day stubble and when I politely asked *** he explained that he enrolled in a motorcycle trip to DC with a bunch of friends and he had to look the part...

About the girls liking it however, THAT seems to be an age thing. I distinctly remember getting told more than once in the day by different girls that missing a day or 2 of shaving gave them what they called razor-burn and was a turn off to making out. I shave daily now.

 

[GrimmFu]

Every so often this comes up on the board, ostensibly so you can get a bunch of "Yeah! Slobby guys!" replies. But it's such a pretentious viewpoint. Seriously, you think people with stubble are high? Drunk? Unhygienic?

How about judging people on things other than facial hair?

Thankfully it is no longer 1957. We don't all have to look the same. Thankfully not every job is a corporate one where every employee has to be clean-shaven.

I have very sensitive skin. I shave every 2-3 days, and yes, that means I rock the stubble. Guys who would make a judgment on me based on that are tiresome. Very tiresome.

Agreed! I'm in the same boat; very sensitive skin, so I can only shave maybe 1-2x per week. As much as I love shaving and would LOVE to do it every day, I physically can't. Plus wife and friends have let me know they think I look best in a very short, well groomed beard (slightly longer than stubble), with which I concur. This is what feels like "me", and it's how I'm comfortable. My wardrobe is sharp, clean, and well put together, always.

If you're making sweeping inferences about a person based on just facial hair, you're probably doing it wrong. Perhaps it says more about the judge-er than the judge-ee...

To each their own I think. This life is stressful enough as it is; you've got to fly your own freak flag high and be proud. Someone wants to stress me over my facial hair, my butt is baby smooth. They're welcome to kiss it.

gf

 

[Relentless]

My wife likes a two day beard on me. I think it looks darn good as well, as long as I keep the neck line in order. I was growing a pretty fierce looking Viking beard before I stumbled on B&B and re-discovered DE and straight shaving. Or, I guess you can say plundered.
She misses the beard a bit, but I prefer a clean shaven face for the office now.

 

[chrisf8657]

I'll have to agree with some of the gents here and say it does make the guy look like he was on a bender the night before and needs a shave and shower.
When someone has stubble that's overtly visible like that, it almost says to me "Hey, I don't take care of myself".

 

[tm3]

I think it depends on two things:

1. How you feel about shaving vs. not.

2. Whether or not you're a bachelor.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2013/04/scienceshot-heavy-stubble-makes-.html

Women judged faces with heavy stubble as most attractive and heavy beards, light stubble and clean-shaven faces as similarly less attractive....Masculinity ratings increased linearly as facial hair increased, and this effect was more pronounced in women in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle, although attractiveness ratings did not differ according to fertility. Our findings confirm that beardedness affects judgments of male socio-sexual attributes and suggest that an intermediate level of beardedness is most attractive while full-bearded men may be perceived as better fathers who could protect and invest in offspring.

interesting. i wonder how facial hair stacks up against their subconscious rating of wallet size?

also interesting that women find it attractive yet complain about it being uncomfortable.

 

[sarimento1]

Ok, here's my theory.

I'll call it the Cartridge Conundrum Postulate

It goes like this.
Cool guys use 5 blade cartridges.... the latest, greatest.
Even cooler, they never change the cartridge so as not to succumb to evil marketing tactics of big corporate P&G.
So each time they shave, they have to use greater and greater pressure to clean the whiskers.
No one ever thinks to clean the razor other than a quick water rinse.
Or perhaps they wipe the blade, further dulling the blades.
And they get more and more razor burn.
So they wait longer and longer between shaves.
And more stubble.
And they get used to it and label the entire experience as 'cool'.

And wonder why P&G is seeing their cartridge sales going down??

Just my theory.

 

[The Dean]

interesting. i wonder how facial hair stacks up against their subconscious rating of wallet size?

also interesting that women find it attractive yet complain about it being uncomfortable.

Absolutely. One of my old girlfriends just loved the scruffy look. But she had very sensitive skin and would get red cheeks when we--well, you know. I tried to explain, I really couldn't be scruffy AND smooth at the same time.

Ok, here's my theory.

I'll call it the Cartridge Conundrum Postulate

It goes like this.
Cool guys use 5 blade cartridges.... the latest, greatest.
Even cooler, they never change the cartridge so as not to succumb to evil marketing tactics of big corporate P&G.
So each time they shave, they have to use greater and greater pressure to clean the whiskers.
No one ever thinks to clean the razor other than a quick water rinse.
Or perhaps they wipe the blade, further dulling the blades.
And they get more and more razor burn.
So they wait longer and longer between shaves.
And more stubble.
And they get used to it and label the entire experience as 'cool'.

And wonder why P&G is seeing their cartridge sales going down??

Just my theory.

I think you are spending way too much time thinking about this. I have many friends who use various tools to shave, have various degrees of facial hair, clothing styles, etc. I don't think any of them spend any time at all thinking about what is "cool". But then maybe I have secure friends.

 

[dparish1952]

Maybe the scientists will conclude that male shavers see the male stubbles as competition for the shavers' mates???

Just saying (clean shaven & married 40 years).

Dennis

 

[kingfisher]

The thing that's bogus about it is this: They spend half an hour very carefully grooming so that they can look like they don't care about grooming.

It's disingenuous.



And the vast majority of guys would look better without it.

 

[GrimmFu]

The thing that's bogus about it is this: They spend half an hour very carefully grooming so that they can look like they don't care about grooming.

It's disingenuous.

You mean kind of like all those guys who use various products in their hair to make it look like they just got out of bed and didn't put any product in their hair? Hmmm...

i think you're wrong here, by the way. It's usually pretty obvious by the state of the facial hair, neck, and cheeks whether or not any trimming / grooming is going on. Granted, some guys don't do any housekeeping and just keep overall length at a constant. But I don't think it's any more disingenuous than hair product, or even shaving daily. Anyone who sees you more than twice a week is not going to think, hey, this guy's facial hair NEVER GROWS! Ohmygosh, look at his hair, he must have JUST GOT OUT OF BED! Hey, this guy smells nice all the time, it must be his NATURAL ODOR! What, cologne?!? Disingenuous I says!

I think everyone is just looking for their own brand of swagger. Can you really fault people for that?

And the vast majority of guys would look better without it.

agree 100% there. Not everyone has the face or the facial hair or the whatever to pull it off. But, I fully support everyone's right to try and express themselves.

gf

 

[maich]

Looks better than anything except being cleanly shaven to me.

 

[Col Wilburforce Buckshot]

Listen to Bacall:

Ben

End of discussion here.

When the slinkiest woman who ever lived tells you to shave, even if all you have to work with is a brillo pad, an empty match book and a can of Raid, you make it work!

 

[The Dean]

End of discussion here.

When the slinkiest woman who ever lived tells you to shave, even if all you have to work with is a brillo pad, an empty match book and a can of Raid, you make it work!

Or some might say, he got her with scruff. Clean shaven he may not have had a chance. Seems to be a recurring dilemma.

 

[Kevan]

I'll have to agree with some of the gents here and say it does make the guy look like he was on a bender the night before and needs a shave and shower.
When someone has stubble that's overtly visible like that, it almost says to me "Hey, I don't take care of myself".

This literally makes no sense because you have zero basis for such a judgment, yet you and others are making it anyway. If you saw Steven Hawking on the street and had no idea who he was, would you also assume he was retarded? Would you automatically assume a guy in Islamic garb was a terrorist?

I don't mean to derail the thread but this is exactly the point....judgments based on superficial criteria damage society as a whole. I hope you guys teach your children to be more open minded about others.

 

[chris.hale]

I think it looks fine with casual clothes but unprofessional with a suit and tie. The caveat is that you need to have decent growth to pull it off, one of the guys at work is an infrequent shaver and his stubble is really patchy.

As to whether women find it attractive, my wife prefers me shaven and her opinion is the only one that matters to me.

 

[Kyle 3 Pass]

My wife loves it when I am scruffy. She likes the scratchy feel.

Before wet shaving, I would ask her to scratch under my neck for me. The scratchy feeling of week old stubble. <laughing>

 

[cb91710]

Keep in mind that typical men's magazines are not performing Gallup-level polling to come up with their ideas of what "women" prefer.

Most often, it's simply the feeling of one of the writers, who is most likely in his early to mid 20s, and has a close group of people he associates with regularly.
Have one of the guy's from the mail room write the article, and we might be stunned with the revelation that women prefer facial tattoos and eyebrow piercings.