Gents* - do you have any? How much and for how long?
Ladies** - do you like it? Why (not)?
Me? - I have had a goatee since 1997. I grew it as an expression of “freedom” when my then girlfriend (now wife) and I broke up. I decided I liked it, and when we got back together she agreed…
Grim
[sub]* Any ladies with facial hair are welcome to respond…
**Any gents who are interested in other gents are welcome to respond…[/sub]
Have had a moustache for about 30 years and a beard for about 10.
I’ve had a moustache for some 30 years now and the beard goes on and off depending on how lazy I am. Presently I have a goatee.
Full beard from the time I could grow one (about 8 years now). I think it looks pretty good with my shaved head (although the head shave predates the beard by about a year or two). My wife has only seen me beardless once when I dressed up as Uncle Fester a few years ago for Halloween. She couldn’t wait for it to grow back in. Said I looked about 12 with no head hair and no facial hair.
I grow a full beard about once a year just to change my look for the hell of it. I’ve had this one for about a month now. My girlfriend (after she gets used to it) likes it and I think it makes me look … wait a minute. A * grey * hair?
Ok, who’s the wiseacre who put this here? I’m too young to look this distinguished.
I have a beard (short-cropped and trimmed every two to three weeks, and my throat and mid-to upper cheeks are clean-shaven, giving me a beard along my jawline plus a connected moustache.) My wife seems to like it. I’ve had it about 8 years and most of my friends have never seen me without it. Once in a while a shaving accident will cause me to go a few days with a goatee instead, but the beard makes a rapid return.
Just the other day I was noticing how few men I see regularly - commuting for example - have any facial hair - including a stache or significant sideburns. My guesstimate would be around 7%.
Personally, I could not grow any convincing facial hair if I wanted to. When I go a while w/o shaving, my kids start saying “Zoiks!” and comparing me to Shaggy.
One reason I’m not a big fan of facial hair, is it strikes me as too much maintenance. Especially the more intricate styles. Either shave it all or none. I guess I favor the - uh - more ungroomed look. I always notice it kinda unfavorably if it looks like a guy - and most women for that matter - put a whole lot of effort in making themselves look a certain way. I mean, I’m all for looking neat and clean and reasonably well groomed. But it is a turnoff to me if someone looks like they spent too much time looking at themself in a mirror.
I’ve been growing beards and shaving them off since I was 16, which was a while back. I grow them until they get beyond my ability to keep neatly trimmed, at which my wife (former pet groomer) gets kind of snarly with me, so I shave it off until I get tired of shaving (which usually doesn’t take more than a month or two, then I grow it back.
Currently, I look like this. I’m the one on the right.
Mr S. has had a beard since I’ve known him. He’s shaved it off twice in those 14 years: once shortly after we met and again a few years ago when he dressed up as a woman for Halloween. Both times I begged him to grow it back ASAP. He has a slightly receding chin and tends to break out when he shaves his whole face regularly, so he prefers to have the beard. I like the beard because (1) it’s usually “different” compared to other men and (2) while he looks so-so to OK without it, I think he looks quite handsome with it. So it stays, and we’re both happy with it.
Another reason to keep it: Last time he shaved it off, he discovered that he’s starting to look a lot like an older brother that he hates.
Beards on men in general: Depends on the man. Some look great with beards, others don’t, other look much better without. When my dad has a beard, he looks like there’s a dead muskrat on his face.
I think goatees are, in general, knee-knockingly sexy. I dunno why, and it’s not a necessity, but I tend to love the look.
grumble I feel like I kind of got shafted in the genetics department. When I started growing facial hair, I wanted to have a beard. But it would only grow on a certain part of my chin, and mostly on the right side. By letting it grow out I have this scraggly mess that even trimming cannot work into a convincing beard. I thought it would just take a little more time for the rest to grow in, then I realized something- my dad never grew a beard. Well, I found out that was because his facial hair grows in the same pattern mine does-scraggly and sparse. Worse, what little excuse for a beard I could grow undergoes pigmentation changes- the hair starts out brown, then as it gets longer, turns BLOND, then brown again, then blond…its freakishly bizzarre. So, to avoid the hassle, I just shave it off. I wanted a beard to look more like an adult (I’m 21) because people mistake me for being much younger.
I love my goatee. I started growing it when I graduated high school and it’s stayed ever since, except one Halloween when I dressed up as the crow. I just recently shaved my hair off (I had it way past my shoulders before), so I look even more menacing now.
I prefer smooth faced guys. And I especially dislike kissing stubble, as it HURTS! That stuff can be razor-sharp!
Smooth faced or not, it doesn’t bother me. It just depends on what suits each individual guy.
My dad looks like Sean Connery when he has a beard and mo. I wish he would grow it back.
My husband (a Japanese guy) looks really dumb with a mo. He tried it once, but it just didn’t suit him. But now he has a goatee, which looks SO cool!
Hey elshatan, how you doin’? 
I had a full beard in college when I was too busy to bother with personal grooming. Luckily my girlfriend at the time liked it.
I started shaving down to goatee a few months after graduation. I went clean-shaven before my England trip because I was afraid my 'lectric razor wouldn’t work over there. Now I’m not sure what to do, but I’ll go back to the goatee if Cosmopolitan wanders back in here…
Anybody wanna see a picture?
Chicks dig the facial hair. 
But to all you guys out there who’d look good with it, I suggest shaving your head to a nice stubble layer. Girls love touching it. I keep getting petted.
Of course, the usual way to find out if you’d look good with it is to actually do it…
I’ve been wearing a full beard and 'stache, on and off (mostly on) since 1978 or so (when I joined the Navy. This was when you could have facial hair, the rules have since changed).
Since about 1982 or so, I’ve worn a full beard & 'stache. Every so often, about once a decade, I’ve trimmed it down to sideburns that run along the upper cheek and meet my 'stache and goatee.
Over the past 5 years or so, the grey has really started showing. shrug it doesn’t bother me.
With the guys I date, I like them to have some facial hair, too. With very few exceptions, I think guys just look much better sporting facial hair.
Depends on the guy. I definitely prefer clean and well-groomed, but beards and moustaches can fit in that category. One of the most adorable men I know has no hair at all on his head, but about eight inches of bright red (and bushy) beard on his face. I’m not too keen on the shaggy, unkempt look, and MOST goatees and soul patch thingies I’ve seen seem to fall into that category.
But y’all have to remember too that you’re talking to a woman who detests body hair on either men or women, and who thinks grey hair is terribly sexy. So maybe I’m not the best judge.
I like a well maintained goatee or beard on a man. No scragglies.
There is just something appealing about a beard or goatee.