# Male Dopers: How old were you before you could grow a full beard? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183 "2007-10-10T06:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/41 "2007-10-10T17:02:38Z")
I can’t grow anything on my face that doesn’t look like shit. No mustache, no beard. I’m OK about it as I logically decided the things suck and no decent man would have one. 😉 Not _you_, of course. You’re the exception that proves the rule. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/42 "2007-10-10T17:07:24Z")
[QUOTE=JohnT] Not _you_, of course. You’re the exception that proves the rule. 😉 [/QUOTE] If I prove the rule, doesn’t that mean I suck? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/43 "2007-10-10T17:15:40Z")
D’oh! :smack: I hate it when I do that. :o ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/44 "2007-10-10T17:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] I’m a blonde guy and 24, I can grow in a full beard, but it takes like 2 months or more before it looks really solid. It’s been slowly getting more solid, probably since around 20, most notably on the chin area. I still have the aforementioned “Y” area around the soul patch where hair doesn’t grow, and the corners of my mouth are pretty sparse. Zero back hair and zero chest hair. I’m gonna credit the Scandinavian genes. [/QUOTE] I’ve been trying to figure out where my husband gets his hairlessness. He’s Cuban on his dad’s side, and mostly Irish & German on his mom’s side. I have not partcularly noticed any of these ethnic groups having a lack of hair! Maybe there’s some ethnicity lurking in there we don’t know about, yet. He does look like the Irish side, mostly, I guess. And he says his beard pattern might actually be more Hispanic looking, but I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/45 "2007-10-10T17:33:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I’ve been trying to figure out where my husband gets his hairlessness. He’s Cuban on his dad’s side, and mostly Irish & German on his mom’s side. I have not partcularly noticed any of these ethnic groups having a lack of hair! Maybe there’s some ethnicity lurking in there we don’t know about, yet. He does look like the Irish side, mostly, I guess. And he says his beard pattern might actually be more Hispanic looking, but I’m not sure. [/QUOTE] My heritage is Norwegian/Swede on my mother’s side and German/Polish/English/something on my dad’s side. The general view is that I got all her genes and none of his. 😛 My dad tends to be on the…hirsute side, completely unlike me. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/46 "2007-10-10T17:55:11Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] My heritage is Norwegian/Swede on my mother’s side and German/Polish/English/something on my dad’s side. The general view is that I got all her genes and none of his. 😛 My dad tends to be on the…hirsute side, completely unlike me. [/QUOTE] Funny how genes work…my husband’s only brother has thick, dark, curly hair on his head, and lots of hair everywhere else. It’s the funniest thing to see them together…you would never guess them to be brothers in a million years. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/47 "2007-10-10T18:55:03Z")
I’m 29 and can grow a wicked neck beard. With some trimming I can turn it into a bearly grown in pathetic chin strap. I ‘can’ grow a jungle thick fur coat on my back though…so it all evens out. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/48 "2007-10-10T19:18:28Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] I’m 30 and I still can’t. [/QUOTE] I’m 67 and I can’t either. ---
**Author:** ![Aioua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Aioua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aioua)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/49 "2007-10-10T19:38:41Z")
20, with naught but a scraggly, thin mustache and a Shaggy type soul patch. Oh, also a few random hairs on my cheeks and neck. No sign of sideburns yet, and if my father’s any indication, I shouldn’t be expecting to grow much more. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/50 "2007-10-10T20:04:38Z")
Full beard at age 16 over Christmas break. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/51 "2007-10-10T20:15:50Z")
Scraggly by 17. Had a decent mustache and beard by 19, but the mustache and beard did not connect on the left side until I was 23 or 24. So if I had a full beard, I would grow the mustache long and droopy to cover the gap. After 24 I was able to have a trimmed and symmetrical full beard with full coverage. (on a hair-related note, I have been shaving my head for the last 8 years. For a pirate-themed birthday party earlier this summer for my 4-year-old granddaughter, I didn’t shave for a week so I’d have piratical stubble all over. When my granddaughter saw the stubble on top, she was surprised and announced, “You don’t \*have \* hair!” When I said that, yes, really I do, I just shave, she was insistent: “Nah, you \*don’t \* have hair!” At least she accepts the gray goatee.) ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/52 "2007-10-11T01:50:05Z")
32 and still waiting. My neck stubble is pretty thick as well as my chin and mustache, but my cheeks are rather patchy. If I don’t shave for a few days it looks like I started to shave here and there and then changed my mind. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/53 "2007-10-11T02:20:33Z")
About 16. I was an early bloomer. I was the only guy in my middle school gym class who had hairy legs. I’m 22 now and if I don’t shave for a month or so I’ll have a hobo beard. It was cool at first because I could demonstrate my testosterone laden manliness, but it’s just a pain in the ass now. I’d rather not have to shave at all. And now I’m starting to slowly but surely get hair on the back of my shoulders. Ugh… ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/54 "2007-10-11T02:25:18Z")
I’ve had mine since I was 18; I can’t recall exactly when I started shaving, though—15, maybe? I’d developed a bit of a whispy mustache when I first started. Now I’ve got something between a handlebar and a walrus, depending on the time of day. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/55 "2007-10-11T02:51:42Z")
22 Still fairly thin through the cheeks, and I am sixty now. But, it’s a full beard. [I am the one on the left.](http://www.triskadecamus.com/gallery/Tris&Sarah.jpg) Tris ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/56 "2007-10-11T04:09:03Z")
Mustache ( light ) by 13 or 14. Beard? Maybe 16 for a whispy goatee. I didn’t shave my chin until after my 17th birthday, never have shaved my upper lip, ever. Probably could have grown a full beard by 18 or 19, but I didn’t until I was almost 30. Strangely enough, despite my early facial hirsutism, I’m not otherwise unusually hairy ( except a bit on my upper back, thank you Lord :rolleyes: ). In fact I’m one of those who got the worst of both worlds - probably squarely in the middle of the hairy spectrum. But the early facial hair has meant I’ve never been carded, anywhere and at any age. In High School on a couple of occasions different friends of my older step-brother asked if “his older brother ( me ) could go buy them beer.” And when I was 17 and a first semester freshman in college, I was quite awkwardly hit on by a 30-something grad student who guessed my age at 32 and was utterly horrified to find out otherwise :D. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/57 "2007-10-11T04:37:10Z")
[QUOTE=Baracus] 32 and still waiting. [/QUOTE] Ditto on both counts. Not that I’m itching (heh) to grow a beard. I shaved for the first time when I was 20, and I think that was a mistake. I could probably still go without shaving if I hadn’t started. The men in my family are not known for facial hair. As is, I usually go for about 5 days before I become conscious of the fact that I’m scratching my chin and remember to shave again. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/58 "2007-10-11T04:43:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Asimovian** > I could probably still go without shaving if I hadn’t started. Incorrect. Hair does not grow faster or thicker no matter how often you shave it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/59 "2007-10-11T04:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=pool] Incorrect. Hair does not grow faster or thicker no matter how often you shave it. [/QUOTE] Old wives’ tale? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183/60 "2007-10-11T06:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] 22 Still fairly thin through the cheeks, and I am sixty now. But, it’s a full beard. [I am the one on the left.](http://www.triskadecamus.com/gallery/Tris&Sarah.jpg) [/QUOTE] Thank you for the clarification. I’m not sure I would have gotten that without it. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-dopers-how-old-were-you-before-you-could-grow-a-full-beard/422183.md?page=4)