# Males of all persuasions: When did your beard stop getting thicker? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813 "2006-10-09T16:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/1 "2006-10-09T16:33:22Z")
I suppose women can answer too, if they are so inclined. :dubious: Anyway, I’m 26, and, as Calvin put it, I seem to be cursed with a thin beard. Not that this bothers me overly; in fact it’s very useful, because I can get away with shaving twice a week - timesaver! Just out of curiosity, though, I was looking for anecdotal evidence as to whether I can expect any change in this happy situation, being the age I am. My dad, for what it’s worth, often has to shave twice a day if he goes out in the evening. I’d like to be able to grow a beard, you know, not because I really want to or anything, but just because I’d like to enjoy the thought that the possibility exists. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/2 "2006-10-09T16:40:13Z")
I will turn 34 this weekend and I decided to celebrate that by starting to grow a beard on October 1st and letting it go all month. Let me tell you, it is a pretty sorry excuse for a beard. I have big empty spots all over the place, my sideburns don’t seem to exist. Frankly, it is embarassing to walk around looking like this, but I will persevere. I have noticed in the past that it seems that if you let facial hair grow, the hair nearby seems to “wake up” and start growing. I have a passable goatee right now, I’m just hoping the rest of my face gets in gear. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/3 "2006-10-09T16:47:39Z")
I’m twenty eight in a couple days my facial hair has been getting thinker for the past 3 or 4 years. It still isn’t good enough for a beard. Might never be. Up until I was 25 or so shaving once a week was my norm. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/4 "2006-10-09T17:01:06Z")
I’m in my 40s and beard and moustache seem to be thicker than ever before. I’m not sure that they’ve slowed down any either. The only difference I can tell is that there’s no soft to 'em now… and a lot of salt with the pepper. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/5 "2006-10-09T17:42:19Z")
27 here, and my beard is getting thicker all the time. My thinnest place is actually my 'stauche, and that is seemingly thicker every week. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/6 "2006-10-09T18:16:17Z")
28, and it seems to be gathering strength while I’m sleeping. Every day it’s a bit thicker and darker in the morning than before, and I’ve been able to grow somewhat of a beard since I was 19 or so. Now I think I could go ZZ Top in maybe two, three weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/7 "2006-10-09T18:20:22Z")
Mine got thicker until the mid thirties, and then nothing more. Completely bald areas won’t likely fill in, sparse areas get a a bit less sparse. Mostly the finer hairs became thicker and darker, so as to actualy contribute something. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/8 "2006-10-09T18:56:27Z")
It probably depends on how hairy your family males are and when the hair comes in. For me: Hairy men in family - comes in around age 14 = easy-to-grow beards by college; any remaining fill-in by early 20’s… ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/9 "2006-10-09T19:03:58Z")
I’m 28, blonde, and from a decidedly non-hairy family. The neck and 'stache come in thick-and-wiry, but my cheeks/sideburns are pretty pitiful. It also doesn’t help that my facial hair color varies from white (on the soul patch) to nearly black (on my neck), with a dark-strawberry blonde moustache. I go around with a few days worth of stubble most of the time. I know it’s time for a run with the beard trimmer when I look like a cross between a teenage dirtbag (moustache) and white supremacist (neckbeard.) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/10 "2006-10-09T19:15:01Z")
17 ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/11 "2006-10-09T19:29:37Z")
I’m in the two shaves a day camp, and I’m sick of it. I vascilate between clean-shaven and full-on sasquatch every few weeks because it’s such a pain to keep up with. If I didn’t have to conduct business in person I’d probably never shave again. Now that I’m in my 40s it’s noticeably thicker, and definitely grows quicker than when I was in my 20s/30s. Quite the reverse of the cruel joke happening on the top of my head (sigh). What the heck is that about? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/12 "2006-10-09T20:33:12Z")
At age forty you can start the hair transplants from the ears. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/13 "2006-10-09T20:37:37Z")
[Former worldest hairiest man had to have surgery to remove hair from his ears.](http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/20-09-2006/84538-hair-0) His not a pretty sight. I couldn’t find one of the close up photos of his ear hair. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/14 "2006-10-09T20:42:42Z")
:eek: Third? He’s only third? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/15 "2006-10-09T21:23:46Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] :eek: Third? He’s only third? [/QUOTE] [Here’s a better picture of him and an Indian with the world longest ear hair.](http://jayrey.blogspot.com/2005/10/worlds-longest-nipple-hair.html) The woman with the beard likes like Al Borland. I wish I could find the picture of the man with the longest nose hair. I looked like a mustache. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/16 "2006-10-10T02:32:51Z")
At 19, mine’s still continuing to get thicker. I can grow a respectable goatee now, and after Halloween, when I’m going to have to shave it off (for a costume, don’t ask because it involves me in women’s clothing), I’m going to secretly start growing a beard. (Secretly because the boyfriend doesn’t like beards. He didn’t like my goatee until I slapped him and told him I was keeping it. Slapping here meaning that I made a sad face and begged to keep it.) ---
**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/17 "2006-10-10T03:34:22Z")
I’m 20, and I’ve recently decided that I am finally ready to grow a beard. I haven’t shaved for 11 or 12 days, and it’s coming in pretty well. I estimate that within 20 days I’ll have a respectable beard. It’s still getting thicker, though. I always get a wave of acne and my beard gets thicker at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/18 "2006-10-10T03:38:09Z")
When I shaved this morning. But it started getting thicker again this afternoon. ::grumble:: ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/males-of-all-persuasions-when-did-your-beard-stop-getting-thicker/375813/19 "2006-10-10T16:32:49Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] When I shaved this morning. But it started getting thicker again this afternoon. ::grumble:: [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t that be longer rather than thicker? Hmm, so it looks like there’s hope for me yet. That does not bode well for a friend of mine who disapproves of beards, and goatees especially.