How to Grow a Beard – So you want to grow a beard? That is wonderful. Growing a beard is intensely challenging and incredibly rewarding. You know beard, and not Gillette, is the best thing a man can get. Beard has traditionally been associated with pure, raw masculinity.
Related: Beard Grooming Tips.
A well-grown beard used to signify the power and strength of an individual in older times. Larger and thicker the beard, better and stronger is the presence.
Moreover, let’s admit it, a man with a beard not only looks drop dead handsome but also exudes a certain amount of power. However, growing a beard is not easy. This is why you will not see many men with fantastic beards around you. Growing a beard is in itself a test of character, patience, and commitment.
Like any other endeavor, you will have to be patient and dedicated if you want to grow a beard- a beard that can make your woman go weak in her knees and other men healing their wounds of jealousy.
How to grow a beard- that question has been asked by many people in the past, and many will ask in future. Follow these 8 commandments on how to grow a beard which will never fail to give you great results:
Contents
1. Be Patient
In the list of how to grow a beard patient plays an important role. Many people look for phrases on Google like “how to grow beard faster”, “grow beard faster”, “how to make your beard grow faster”, and many more. Trust us on that- anybody who tells you that you can grow a full beard in a matter of few days is lying big time.
Similar to climbing a mountain, growing a beard takes time and patience along with focused work. Treat it as a mission which you have to complete by following a strict protocol.
People start growing a beard but often leave it in between after few weeks or are very impatient to trim and style it. Nope., It does not work that way. You have to be patient- and if we are repeating this point too much, it is for a reason- it needs to be stressed- Be patient while growing a beard. Like all great things in the world, it takes time.
2. No Shave
There is a widespread misconception among people that frequent shaving will cause your beard to grow faster. This is a plain, old LIE. Nothing can be further from the truth. You need to stay away from razors and even trimmers for initial 4-6 weeks. Instead of shaving regularly, take care of your facial skin to promote hair growth.
Regularly cleanse your skin using water and mild face wash twice a day. Clean skin is vital for new hair growth. Also, exfoliate your skin using a scrub or an exfoliate for men. Do this once in a week to remove dead skin cells as it will encourage the growth of the hairs.
However, never think of shaving to make your beard grow faster. Feed it permanently in your head that shaving will not make your beard grow any faster. If you want to grow a beard, STOP SHAVING. Period.
3. Genetics Matter But So Do Things Under Your Control
Let’s not beat around the bush. Some men do find it a lot easier to grow a beard than others. Beard growth has been linked to the presence of testosterone and few other factors attributed to the genetics of a person.
Chances are if you have someone in the family with a thick crop of hairs, you will find it perhaps easier to grow a beard naturally without any apparent effort.
However, genetics are out of your control, and you are only wasting your time if you spend too much time lamenting about it. There are many other ways which are under your control which can assist in beard growth.
So, stop complaining that you cannot grow a beard due to genetics and start focusing on things you can control. Read the next commandment to find out about them.
4. Three Pillars of Beard Growth
Focus on things under your control which are known to have positive effects on beard growth. Healthy Diet, Exercise, and Optimum Sleep are three pillars of beard growth on which you have full control. Diet, exercise and diet supplements can do wonders to assist beard growth. Like we mentioned earlier, testosterone, and other vitamins are essential for healthy beard growth.
However, you need to take commercial steroids or over-the-counter drugs to boost it. There are healthy ways to increase testosterone and other vitamins in your body.
Exercise, particularly strength training and high-intensity exercise, are proven to increase testosterone in your body. It will also reduce the extra weight from your body and increase blood flow to body organs.
Extra weight is not conducive for testosterone whereas enhanced blood flow will carry vitamins and proteins to hair follicles. Both these factors will naturally lead to hair growth.
Similarly, a healthy diet rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals will supply necessary nutrients to your body. Protein is widely known to be beneficial for hair growth, and it will also help in repairing of muscles after exercise.
In fact, your locks are made of proteins so you can understand its importance in beard growth. Include plenty of fresh, green vegetables in your diet to ensure proper intake of vitamins and minerals.
A good sleep of 7-8 hours is extremely necessary to give your body a chance to rest and recover. A well-rested body not only enhances your overall health but also provides ideal conditions to your beard to grow.
Moreover, insufficient sleep can also affect your testosterone levels in the body which directly affects your hair growth. So, do not neglect your sleep and aim to have a sound sleep of 7-8 hours which is ideal for most people.
In addition to diet, you can take supplements of zinc, iron, magnesium, vitamin E and biotin. Biotin is a popular vitamin, sometimes known as Vitamin H (H for hair) as it boosts the natural growth of hairs.
You can also increase intake of foods rich in Vitamin B6, beta-carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E as they contribute to healthy beard growth. However, remember to consult your doctor before taking any of these supplements.
5. Beards Do Not Like Stress
Beards are a symbol of manliness, confidence, and power. No stressed individual can ever grow a healthy, enviable beard. Stress not only wreaks havoc with your overall body system but also impede the growth of hairs.
This is because stress releases a hormone called cortisol in your body which induces a fight or flight response. Cortisol may also lower the levels of testosterone in your body which may further reduce the growth of healthy hairs.
A certain amount of stress in okay and even beneficial to push us out of our comfort zones and increase your efficiency. However, stress in modern times have gone past the acceptable level, and many individuals are constantly under chronic stress.
This also constricts the blood vessels affecting the flow of blood to various organs including hair follicles. Not only it can affect hair growth but can also cause hair loss which you would not want in any case.
So, manage your stress levels if you want to grow an impressive beard.
6. The Four Week Commandment
This is the greatest commandment after the No Shaving rule. Once you have got over your myth of “shaving to grow beard”, you need to allow your beard to grow. Let it grow naturally, be it in patches or in some weird way. It is going to get awkward, messy, and weirder.
Accept this fact. Ignore the advice or comments from your friends or family about how shabby or scruffy you look. Do not ever think of trimming it or worse, trying to style it in this period. It is the first real hurdle before most of the people as this is the time in which most people tend to give up.
Particularly during the first two weeks, things are going to get itchy and may be ugly. Have faith in the process and look for the ultimate goal- that dream of long, thick beard which made you start this journey in the first place.
7. Ignore The Itch
When you are allowing your beard to grow without interfering it in any way for a minimum of 4 weeks, you could start feeling an itch on your cheeks and under the beard. Do not worry about it as it is a sign that you are on a right path. However, resist the urge to itch as you can damage your skin and cause rashes on it by itching.
Instead, massage your hairs with gentle shaving oil or baby lotion or any moisturizing agent to get rid of the itch. Towards the end of fourteen days, you will notice the itch subsiding. Gently comb your beard hair to set them in a nice pattern. The first beard may look patchy in the beginning but do not be tempted to trim it yet.
8. Taking Care of Beard
Taking care of your beard is more important part than the question “how to grow beard”. Once you have passed the initial growth period of four weeks, the hardest phase is over. By now, you will have an estimate about the pattern of your beard growth. Now, you can start thinking about styling it and giving it a shape according to your liking.
If you are doing it for the first time, it will be better if you go to an experienced barber instead of trimming your beard yourself. An experienced hair expert will ensure a clean trimming process which would further aid the beard growth instead of removing too much hair.
As your beard starts to grow more, you need to take extra care to keep it clean and dirt free. Invest in good beard oil to keep your skin smooth and a gentle shampoo to keep a decent beard. This will not only make your beard hair smooth but also encourage further growth of hair.
The question of ‘how to grow a beard’ may fetch you several answers and suggestions which may or may not work. However, but these eight commandments are guaranteed to help you in growing a beard that will make you a beard rockstar.
Also Read: Men’s Grooming Tips.