Looking for beard growing tips? Excellent. You’ve come to the right place. Because even patchy beards deserve a chance. So stop doomscrolling on your iPhone for five minutes, and let’s see what we can do.
First things first, a little more length can help cover thin areas, while a different shape might suit the way your facial hair grows. It’s certainly worth giving yourself a chance to find out before deciding you can’t grow one.
And after all that, you might end up preferring short stubble anyway. The aim is to find a beard you like wearing, without an itchy face or a daily battle with the trimmer. With that said…
Give it a few weeks
Give it around four to six weeks before deciding how your short beard is shaping up. That’s the rough timescale Philips suggests, though your face is under no obligation to stick to it. You can tidy the edges in the meantime. Just resist taking the whole thing back to stubble before you’ve had a chance to see what grows.
A bit of extra length may help disguise thinner patches, too. The American Academy of Dermatology also suggests letting neighbouring hairs grow long enough to cover them, then using a little beard wax to keep them in place. It won’t fill every gap, but it gives you something to work with.
Naturally, your genes have more than a little say in the coverage. If your moustache and chin grow well but your cheeks stay sparse, try a goatee rather than spending months waiting for a full beard. A barber can help you choose a shape and show you which areas to leave alone when you trim at home.
Shaving it all off won’t make the next attempt any thicker, either. The Mayo Clinic explains that a razor leaves blunt ends, which can make regrowth feel coarser. The hair itself doesn’t grow any thicker or faster. You’ve just given yourself another few weeks of waiting.
Trim a little at a time
Before buying a trimmer, have a look at its comb lengths. Fine adjustments are useful for stubble, but the longest setting matters just as much if you want a fuller beard. A trimmer that stops short of your preferred length isn’t going to be much help.
When it’s time for a trim, wash and dry your beard first. Start with a longer guard than you think you need, then work down through the settings. Check how it looks between passes. You can always take more off, which is considerably easier than putting it back.
The neckline deserves a little caution, too. Keep it beneath your jaw for a fuller beard – Philips suggests starting just above the Adam’s apple and working out towards each side. Bring your head back to its normal position to check the result. As for your cheeks, tidying the odd stray hair may be all you need. There’s no need to carve a new line into them.
If your moustache is creeping over your upper lip, comb it into place and snip the overhanging hairs with grooming scissors, or use a narrow trimmer head. Leave the bulk above it alone unless you want to shorten that as well.
Don’t forget to moisturise
It’s easy to fuss over the beard and forget about the face underneath. Dry skin can get itchy and flaky, so work a gentle cleanser through to it when you wash each day. Rinse well, pat dry, and apply moisturiser while your skin is still slightly damp. It needs to reach your face to do its job.
Beard oil is mainly there to soften the hair and help keep the skin underneath from drying out. Conditioner also softens the hair and makes it easier to comb, so you don’t automatically need both. Check the instructions when buying one – some conditioners rinse out after washing, while others are designed to stay in.
Your skin type can help you choose. The AAD recommends beard oil for normal to dry skin, conditioner for acne-prone skin, and a fragrance-free moisturiser for sensitive skin. Start with a small amount, working it through to the skin, and use a comb to distribute it through a longer beard.
Wax does a different job. It gives you hold, helping keep hairs where you’ve combed them – useful for shaping a moustache or keeping longer hairs over a sparse patch. You only need it if you want that extra control. None of these products will give you extra coverage by growing new hair.
Also, there’s a difference between cheeks that have always been a bit sparse and a smooth bald patch appearing where hair used to grow. If you notice the latter, speak to your GP or a dermatologist. Get persistent irritation checked as well, rather than carrying on buying products in the hope that one will sort it.
And if you’re tempted to try minoxidil, get advice from a dermatologist first. You may know it as a hair-loss treatment, but the AAD warns that applying it to your face can leave the skin raw and irritated.
Once you’ve found a shape you like, take a couple of photos after a good trim. They’ll give you something to work towards next time, or show a barber if you’d rather leave the shaping to them. Then you can get on with enjoying the beard, rather than constantly wondering what to do with it.
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