Every man desires to grow a long and thick beard at least for once in his lifetime, as it is a style that has been on trend for decades. Some studies have also shown that evolved beards help in boosting the confidence in men. Moreover, women find full-bearded men more attractive than the ones with a clean shave.
Apart from these, men also like to grow beards to cover up their acne, razor bumps or uneven skin complexions. Whatever the reason might be, since you are here to know how to grow your beard longer, we will surely help you with that.
But before proceeding to the doable tips and tricks, we would want you know about certain natural factors that impact the growth of your beard:
- Genetics: The kind of beard you have is basically dependent on your genes. The colour of the beard, thickness, coarseness and length are all the blessings from your ancestors. So, if you don’t have a family history of thick and rich beards, you may or may not be able to grow a long beard.
- Age: The typical age group when facial hair growth is in abundance is from 25 to 35 years. The growth will slow down as you cross this age.
- Testosterone Levels: Men who have higher levels of testosterone have the ability to grow thick and long beards. This hormone is already linked to causing baldness in men. Which is why you find men with long beards with bald heads.
So, can everyone grow a beard? The answer lies in the above pointers. If all these factors are in check for you, you can easily grow your beard with all the tips we provide you in this article. Let’s dive in!
How Long Does it Take for a Beard to Fully Develop?
There is no certain answer for it. But, several studies suggest that on an average a man can grow his beard up to 3-feet in length, if it is left untrimmed. Also, for most men the growth of the beard is ½ inch in a month. Combining all these factors, we expect that you can grow a full beard in between 2 to 4 months.
Now that you have an idea about the time frame, let’s have a look at what all things you should and shouldn’t do during this time period to let the beard grow to its fullest.
10 Effective Tips for Growing a Long Beard:
No matter what type of beard style you choose, getting the exact shape and size requires a lot of patience. Especially, when you are looking out to grow a long beard like the viking beard or a full bush one, you need more patience and resilience. While having it, here are some of the necessary precautions and practices you need to follow to get the desired facial hair look.
1. Your Food Habits Play a Key Role
To ensure you get a healthy-looking and voluminous beard, you need to eat right! There are certain foods that really support you in your hair growth journey. Here are some of those:
- Eggs: As you might already know, eggs are a rich source of protein. Also, they contain a huge amount of biotin that helps in cell reproduction thereby leading to more hair growth either on your scalp or on the face.
- Spinach: Spinach is not just rich in protein but also potassium, iron and calcium, which are very important in keeping your health in check. Also, spinach tastes great in any form, either sauteed, boiled or even when used in smoothies.
- Sweet Potatoes: This is an easily available vegetable that is well-known for amplifying cell production. When you consume sweet potatoes, the beta-carotene in them turns into vitamins, leading to a better hair growth.
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is one ingredient that instantly uplifts the taste of any food. Coming to its benefits, it improves the flow of oxygen into your hair follicles. However, make sure you don’t consume it directly. Use a pinch of it everyday in your milkshakes, breakfast and dinner.
While these are mandatory to include in your diet, you can also try and eat nuts like almonds, walnuts and soybeans. Also, try and have a banana everyday.
2. Exercise
As we said earlier, higher levels of the testosterone hormone promotes hair growth. While it is naturally produced, you can boost its production in the body by working out daily. In particular, exercises like push ups, squats, and overhead presses are the most effective. However, if you are new to exercising, consult your gym trainer before starting complex workouts.
3. Proper Sleep
Your quality of sleep decides your overall health, be it physical or mental. Also, most of the growth hormones are released during your sleep. Moreover, the circulation of the blood from the top to bottom is more during this time. So, the blood flow even reaches the follicles and the roots leading to better hair growth.
4. Refrain from trimming or shaving the beard
To mould your beard into any shape or size you want, you need to first stop trimming and shaving it, no matter how irritating it is to not do that. You need to follow this till the beard reaches the desired length. However, you can properly care for the beard using the right shampoos and moisturizers to make it feel less irritating.
5. Use a beard oil regularly
As you use moisturizers to keep your skin soft and supple, your beard hair too requires good moisturization to prevent breakage thereby leading to more hair growth. So, you need to make a beard oil your best friend and apply it at least once in a day to condition the beard hair. This means your beard will remain free from all the damage caused by sun exposure or pollution.
6. Brush the beard on a daily basis
Grooming is essential not just for your scalp hair but also for your beard hair. In the case of your beard, grooming is nothing but combing it in regular intervals to prevent knotting and to make it look nice during the typical growing phase. For this combing purpose, invest in one with broad bristles. It tends to cause less hair fall, split ends or breakage.
7. Use a beard shampoo
Shampooing the beard is also a very important part of the grooming routine. So, you need to invest in a proper beard shampoo, not the regular shampoo with which you wash your hair. A beard shampoo is designed in a way to not strip your beard from all the natural oils, so it is safe to use. Also, this beard shampoo will lock in the moisture and prevent the hair from becoming dry.
8. Stop judging your beard growth
Not everyone can grow their beard at the same speed. For some, it’s fast and for some it takes time. So, do not compare yourself with others in this matter. Let your beard hair grow at its own pace. You just ensure that you are taking proper care of it in the meanwhile.
9. Have Patience
Growing the beard long or in the desired style you want is not a one night game. Beard growth is not constant, sometimes it grows too fast and sometimes it is too slow. So, you need to be patient and wait till you get the look you want.
10. Track the growth of your beard
To know how much you progressed from day 1, we suggest you take a selfie of yourself at least once every month. This not only boosts the confidence but also helps you know your growth cycle. So, the next time you want to grow your beard long, you know how much time it would take.
How to Trim your Beard once it’s Fully Grown?
Once you reach the last stage of beard growth or once you have attained the desired length of it, the next thing is to trim it till you get the desired shape or style. Here’s how you do it:
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Comb it in the direction of hair growth
Your beard is now long enough. So, before you apply any grooming product, you must first brush it through. But, there’s a method to do it. You must only use a comb with wide teeth spacing and then start brushing from the tip of your beard downwards. In the similar way reach till the jaw line and the cheek. Once the beard is tangle-free, go on to comb your mustache.
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Shave and trim for the right shape
First, decide on the style you want to finally see your beard in. Once you are sure about it, then take beard scissors and cut down the unnecessary ends of your beard. Even if you grow a long beard, you must take the help of an electric shaver to keep the area between your neck and the Adam’s apple neat. You can even use an electric trimmer for this purpose. These trimmers have many attachments, helping you shape the beard as you want.
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Next, trim your cheeks, sideburns
Finishing touches play a major role in the way your beard and your face looks. And, by finishing touches, we mean, your cheek line, sideburns and mustache. To trim your cheek line, draw a line starting from one corner of your mouth till the sideburn. Now start trimming it to get a desired straight shape. A well-defined cheek line gives proper definition to your face and makes you look handsome and professional.
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Now, trim the mustache
For a perfect beard look, your mustache must also be defined. For that, take a comb and brush it first and then trim it using a trimmer or a scissor. Trim it enough so that it looks shorter than the beard. To create some dramatic effect, you can even use some beard wax to your mustache.
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Moisturize
Once you are done with the trimming part, then comes the maintenance part. Aftercare is very important to keep up the good condition of the beard. For this, take some beard oil and massage it on the entire beard. For a polished look to the beard, you can also invest in a good-quality beard wax or cream and apply it whenever you step out.
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Trim the beard once in every 5 days
In order to maintain the beard in the same shape as you want, you must trim it every 4 to 5 days. If you have grown a long beard, then you can choose to trim every alternate day to stay in the best shape always.
Conclusion:
Growing a full length beard is a herculean task and requires a lot of interest and patience. There are also certain myths about growing a beard that many men tend to follow. For instance, your peers may suggest you to use beard growth oils or creams. Don’t fall prey for them. These oils can only improve the health of the beard but will not enhance the growth of the hair.
So, we suggest you to only follow the tips and tricks that we have exclusively provided to you in the article. We are sure you will achieve the best results in no time.