Rookie Grows a Beard

[RookieGuy]

Hey everyone. Welcome!

So a little background. Way back in 1996, a 16 year old Rookie decided that shaving my chin and upper lip kind of sucked. Lucky for me it was the 90s. Also lucky for me my heritage left me some pretty killer beard growing genes. I graduated high school with a full beard.

And then I enlisted. Bye bye beard. But I got to keep the mustache at least. Standard military issue light brown lampshade mustache. Then I got out and lost my razor! Search high and low, it was nowhere to be found! So I grew a wonderfully thick and full beard.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I'm a fairly healthy guy, 40 years old with wife and kids and all. Two weeks ago I had a dental surgery which I had to go clean shaven. So now my face is half for the first time in 26 years, a little more than half my life.

And shaving my upper lip and chin still kinda sucks. I think it's time. For the good of, well, everyone I'm growing my beard back. March 1st looks arbitrary enough to start. I figure I'll go throw the process in real time. Hopefully someone reading this one day finds hope or answers. Sees that awkward phases happen to everyone. Or at least we'll get to hang out and chat about something our clean-shaven brethren won't quite get.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Full or partial?

I've done full beard in the past, but my hair was shorter then.



I didn't have your genetics, and always had that thinner growth on the chin front. I was happy with it though. However, I decided to grow my hair, and the two together didn't work for me. I felt that something needed to look kempt, rather than everything allowed to grow wild. Partially bearded let me have the best of both worlds to my mind.

So the beard got reduced to just goatee and tache...



... while the hair was allowed to run free, and now reaches the bottom of my rib cage.

 

[RookieGuy]

Oh, full beard all the way. I think that looks better on me than a goatee.

 

[RookieGuy]

Oh man, this will get interesting. I just realized I'm in the FFFMM thing. I won't be able to use the Facon to keep the edges straight. And I'm the type that given a ruler, I might maybe give you a straight line. I'll do my best while avoiding a chin strap beard.

I'd like to elaborate on the full beard vs goatee. I started replying earlier, looked at the time, saw I had to be in the door 2 minutes ago, and hit send reply. Anyways, a goatee on my really elongates my face. The full beard adds just enough proportion that my face will look more full rather than stretched out. It's that and not I'd rather not shave my cheeks.

AimlessWanderer, I'm very jealous of your hair. Whenever I try to grow my hair out, it grows out. Not down but out. I make it to the beginning of the awkward phase and get discouraged. I have the beard genes, but not the hair genes. So we grow what we got, wind through it feels just as good.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

AimlessWanderer, I'm very jealous of your hair. Whenever I try to grow my hair out, it grows out. Not down but out.

Mine used to do that too. Or at least it did the first time I grew my hair, in my late teens. The second time (in my late 30's) two things helped. Ditching shampoo and conditioner, and using straighteners till it got long enough for gravity to take over.

Point taken on the goatee. It's not for everyone. Face shape tends to dictate what works well for us. If I go for full beard, I have to keep the sides trimmed quite short, otherwise it just looks all wrong on me.

 

[Badgerstate36]

Hey everyone. Welcome!

So a little background. Way back in 1996, a 16 year old Rookie decided that shaving my chin and upper lip kind of sucked. Lucky for me it was the 90s. Also lucky for me my heritage left me some pretty killer beard growing genes. I graduated high school with a full beard.

And then I enlisted. Bye bye beard. But I got to keep the mustache at least. Standard military issue light brown lampshade mustache. Then I got out and lost my razor! Search high and low, it was nowhere to be found! So I grew a wonderfully thick and full beard.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I'm a fairly healthy guy, 40 years old with wife and kids and all. Two weeks ago I had a dental surgery which I had to go clean shaven. So now my face is half for the first time in 26 years, a little more than half my life.

And shaving my upper lip and chin still kinda sucks. I think it's time. For the good of, well, everyone I'm growing my beard back. March 1st looks arbitrary enough to start. I figure I'll go throw the process in real time. Hopefully someone reading this one day finds hope or answers. Sees that awkward phases happen to everyone. Or at least we'll get to hang out and chat about something our clean-shaven brethren won't quite get.

I like this. I think that a lot of men who want to grow beards give up on it way too soon because they think it doesnt look good at first. I know that for me personally, my beard would take at least 2 months before it would start to look anywhere close to its best.

 

[RookieGuy]

I like this. I think that a lot of men who want to grow beards give up on it way too soon because they think it doesnt look good at first. I know that for me personally, my beard would take at least 2 months before it would start to look anywhere close to its best.

I've known quite a few men who started a beard and got discouraged very quickly. Since I'm cheating a little bit, I know what it'll look like once full beard is achieved, I can hopefully give someone hope. Or at least show that awkward phases happen to everyone. And, Badgerstate, 2 months for a full beard is pretty good! Usually 3 months, 12 weeks, is what's recommended to see what can be grown.

 

[RookieGuy]

Well, today I'll shave my upper lip for the last time. Hopefully the last last time. I'll start off tomorrow "clean shaven" and start letting it grow. After my shave this afternoon/ evening I'll start posting pictures. How frequently should I post? Weekly, every 2 weeks? It may be a silly question, but it's been almost 20 years since I grew a beard. I'm not sure what to expect, just that I know it'll end well.

 

[Badgerstate36]

I've known quite a few men who started a beard and got discouraged very quickly. Since I'm cheating a little bit, I know what it'll look like once full beard is achieved, I can hopefully give someone hope. Or at least show that awkward phases happen to everyone. And, Badgerstate, 2 months for a full beard is pretty good! Usually 3 months, 12 weeks, is what's recommended to see what can be grown.

Yeah, Im pretty blessed when it comes to my moustache and goatee area, my sides and kind of thin though. I work around that by letting the moustache and goatee areas grow out and keeping a stubble on the sides. It makes it look like my patchy sides are because I keep it trimmed to a stubble, not because I dont have thick growth in those areas. LOL

 

[RookieGuy]

This was the results of my last shave ever! My chin and upper lip can rest easy. Tomorrow is Match 1st, the day I get started. So the full shave to even the field.

I'm looking forward to this. Being clean shaven feels... weird to me. I miss being scruffy. But I guess I'm taking care of that.

Badgerstate, that's a good workaround. I've always liked that look. I've tried it a couple times, but the upkeep to keep that looking right. I admire your dedication.

 

[RookieGuy]

Ok, the past 2 weeks keeping it clean shaven, my stubble would come in so fast and thick! Now that I'm going for the beard, the 5:00 shadow decides to take its time filling in. But that's ok. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

 

[RookieGuy]

Well, I ignored my own advice and shaved. Just WTG, not anything beyond that. But my neck was starting to feel scritchy. It turns out my face has changed a little bit in the past 20 years. I screwed my neckline up a little bit. But that's ok. If I'm going to make that kind of mistake, day 4 of this adventure is a good time to do it. Plenty of time to recover.
Not the best picture, but you can see on the front of my neck, right there in the middle. At some point before Monday, whenever I shave next, I'll have to clean that up a little.

 

[RookieGuy]

Well, it's been a week. And what a week! But that's behind us now.

Last night's shave took care of the patch of skin that didn't used to be visible but in fact is now. I was able to clean the lines better. And I predict it'll get easier as I go. In fact, once April 1 rolls around and I once again have access to my Facon, it'll be even easier. But I did pretty ok as is.

My cheeks are still a little scritchy according to my three year old daughter. But my other two girls, and Mrs. Rookie, at its getting softer.

After shaving last night, I tried the boat bristle brush. I want to start training my mustache right from the start. Just a few down strokes, I like having a mini walrus. Nope, too early. Too early for a lot I guess. But it'll happen in due course.

 

[Lefonque]

My motto has always been “let it go let it grow”. About six weeks in I get the urge to shave it off.
I think it is mainly due to my wife saying how much older it makes me look. Not a good thing at my stage of life. That is followed by my 13 year old daughter coming to my defence saying how good it looks. Let me say currently I only have a pencil moustache. Happy wife, happy life

 

[RookieGuy]

My motto has always been “let it go let it grow”. About six weeks in I get the urge to shave it off.
I think it is mainly due to my wife saying how much older it makes me look. Not a good thing at my stage of life. That is followed by my 13 year old daughter coming to my defence saying how good it looks. Let me say currently I only have a pencil moustache. Happy wife, happy life

In this case, I'm very lucky. Mrs. Rookie and I aren't the same age, and she's not younger than I. My "problem" is clean shaven highlights that unforgivable error. So that almost month of looking clean and respectable, she's glad that's going away. And the kids, this is the first time they've seen my chin. "It's weird seeing that!"

Your pencil tin mustache, I'm a little jealous of that. That's a look I've never been able to pull off. I tried a couple times and it just didn't work. But we can all enjoy our varying milages! And appreciate each other's style.

And speaking of pencil thin mustache, last night I met Baltimore, Maryland's most famous pencil stache. It's unprofessional to drop names, especially when it's through work. But "Gohn UUaters" was a perfect gentleman, the kind of gentleman you'd expect from said classy style. Creepy as anything, but a prefect gentleman.

 

[Lefonque]

So cool in so many ways.

 

[Lefonque]

With goatee

With pencil mo

with beard

 

[RookieGuy]

You really look good in that van Dyke, Lefonque.

 

[RookieGuy]

Ok, so Tuesday afternoon I stepped into my shaving den. I went to turn the light on and the circuit breaker tripped. My electrician friend assured me the most common problem was the fixture itself, but it could be the switch. So the new fixture just arrived today. Monday evening he'll be by to install it. And Tuesday I'll rebuild his toilet flange. Sometimes it's helpful to work in the trades*.

Anyways, this morning I had my first shave since Monday. The itch on my neck was pretty bad. But I took advantage of the morning sun and was able to enjoy a relaxing shave, after the first pass. My beard is coming along well in this early stage. Pics will be posted soon.

*If you ever need fixtures in your house, consider shopping at a supply house where tradesmen shop. It's more expensive than the big box stores for what looks like the same thing. But the ones tradesmen get are of such higher quality. You're talking about the difference between a 10 year lifespan and a 50 year. Not to mention the better quality and availability of components.

 

[Lefonque]

Look forward to the photos