No-Shave November

[Roland99]

been doing it for the last few years...despite my beard being pretty much solid grey nowadays.

I kinda like it but certain things bug me. Things like:

Liquid/food getting in there
Feeling my breath or the wind thru it

I guess because I rarely have one and even then I rarely let it get as long as I do during this time.

Guys with beards...is this something you just get used to or eventually just manage to ignore over time?

[Docreed2003]

1. the easy answer is yes, you get used to it

I keep my beard fairly trim, just because of the nature of my job, but the worst to me is not the itchiness, or the food/water in the beard...that I can get used to. What I can't stand, especially during the winter months, is blowing my nose, because invariably some of those bogies get caught up in the hair making a gooey mess.

[Roland99]

2. lol

[unblock]

4. personally, i use a tissue; but i guess that's just me, lol.

[Docreed2003]

6. Oh I do too...

Perhaps I'm just not as gifted with keeping it in the tissue...lol

[unblock]

7. it gets everywhere -- studies have shown a tissue is rather poor at blocking/containing.

but you can use it to mop up afterwards

[unblock]

3. i keep mine trim. you have to trim the upper lip, that helps with eating issues.

if you dribble down your chin, that's a problem you can't really blame on the beard, lol.

in any event, a napkin or quick rinse takes care of it.


i've gone back and forth. i like the clean-shaven feel, but i also like the feel of a beard, particularly freshly trimmed.

maybe that's why right now i have a goatee -- best of both worlds, lol.

[Roland99]

5. I've been doing the goatee for a while but kept it really trimmed

And yeah. I’m not the most graceful eater sometimes!

[OriginalGeek]

8. I've had a beard for years now

just a goatee* but it's maybe 6 or 7 inches long and curly (would be longer if I straightened it). Not sure how long it will get (or if it will even get longer - it seems like it's been this long forever).

My main issue is not food in my beard but food in my mustache. Anything with condiments gets up in there. I go through a shit-ton of napkins almost every meal. Meatball sub is a tree-killing affair. I only eat soup at home where they HAVE to love me regardless of my sloppiness. I tend to eat food I can cut into bite-sized pieces but then I always manage to get even that on my face somehow. I love to eat tacos and sandwiches but I just have to plan to either be a mess during the meal or I get things I can condense down. Like getting soft tacos instead of crunchy so I can roll them up to cover the hot sauce and/or sour cream.

There is an occasional drip down to beard level but since I always have napkins at the ready anyway, it's just a quick wipe.

I rather like the wind in my beard. I haven't had the itchies in forever so I reckon I've gotten past that.

*If I could grow a full beard I would. But my cheeks just stay almost naturally clean except for a stray here and there which I do shave a couple times a month. I believe I inherited an almost child-like body-hair condition as neither my dad nor my grandpa were particularly hairy. My cousin (on my mom's side) has a jungle coming up out of his v-neck shirt but I'm smooth as a baby.

[Roland99]

9. I'd keep it year round but I'm honestly having issues with the grey

Only 52 and feel younger but starting to look like (a really skinny) Ol St Nick!

[OriginalGeek]

10. lol my son is only 42 and full-on grey beard

I guess his granddad (my wife's dad) had white hair from just after high school on so it might be that. Mine is about half and half brown and grey right now with an occasional fiery red one (thanks Scottish/Irish/Viking ancestors!). It just doesn't bug me - and since what's left of my head hair is long I'm wondering if I might get to be St Nick in the not too distant future! lol. I don't think there's much money it but damn, milk and cookies! I'm only 54 (he's my step-son) and I thought I would hate the grey but I'm just happy it hasn't all fallen out yet...I'll take the grey over empty lol.

When I first started getting grey I tried one of those mustache coloring things but it was horrendous. WAY worse than the grey on its' own. My wife keeps coloring her hair but I'm not sure why. I like the pretty shade of silver she gets when she doesn't.


I stay young by going to death metal shows at small clubs.

[Roland99]

11. Silver on women can look amazing

Emmylou Harris
Lucinda Williams

[Roland99]

12. One minor positive....

If (er, well, *when*) I manage to drink a bit improperly and a few drops of water or coffee or whatever spill around the rim, the beard has a tendency to delay the spillage long enough to where it doesn't hit my shirt!

lol

[DFW]

13. I've been used to it and managed it for 48 years now

I have the Yassir Arafat syndrome (as we used to call it). I have very sensitive facial skin, and if I shave it, even with an electric razor, I turn beet red like a boiled lobster. There wasn't much choice, but I don't really give it a thought after all this time. It's Nature's Way, like the song says...........