Beards - yay or nay?

So I've had my beard for 7-8 months now and gotten complimented on it - some people who hadn't seen me in a long time couldn't even recognize me. However, for some reason one particular coworker I share lunch hour with made a comment - completely out of the blue - saying "You need to color your beard or shave - you look old". So being me, I told her to trim her mustache. She knows me so she knows I'm joking but what she said still kinda stung, even though my beard is probably 10% gray at most. Another coworker told me her husband is much hotter since he shaved his beard. And here I'd always thought women thought beards were hot, not the other way around. But that's just a couple of women out of billions.

Anyway, I'm at a crossroads. Keep or shave. I don't want to go through the crap of coloring constantly, getting the right shade and all of that. It's not a Zach Galifinakis or your typical hipster beard, in fact it's a lot like this one, down to the amount of gray.

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What do you think? When I used to shave and leave a 5 o clock shadow I'd often get told I look like a kid. Now I'm being told I look old.

Yes, yes, yes, lol. I am a huge fan of men with facial hair, anything, goatee, mustache, 5 o'clock shadow - anything, as long as they have some facial hair. Hate the clean shaven look, lol.

I like both the clean shaven look and a beard! I also like the stubble look. It depends on the individual guy to be honest.

I actually find a bit of gray in men's hair/beards very attractive.

Personally I don't care for the very long beards that are (still?) in fashion as of late - short neat beards are my preference. We are all different in our likes/dislikes. I say go for what YOU want!

The gray doesn't bug ya, Cap?

Mines, I hear ya. That's what I meant by hipster beards I guess lol

I'm not a fan of men with beards, however, I love the preppy look of a five o'clock shadow.

The gray doesn't bug ya, Cap?

 

Mines, I hear ya. That's what I meant by hipster beards I guess lol

Missed that! Exactly what I was thinking - the "ironic beards"! lol!

The gray doesn't bug ya, Cap?

Nope, not at all.

mines - Personally I don't care for the very long beards

Oh, I agree 100%. Neatly trimmed is good, but long, bushy, unkempt, .... no. ugh, lol.

Thanks for the opinions, gals. Maybe I'll keep it after all.

I like clean shaven. My man is a military man. Clean shaven and short hair.

To be honest, I do associate those kinds of beards with older men. It makes me think 'married, with a few kids, works on the boat on the weekends'. Lol

My preference is clean shaven or stubble. I'm around the same age as you. I find the specks of grey kind of sexy now. I don't mind that part one bit!!!

It's a strange age we are at. Not old, not young. A few tweaks in how we groom ourselves, style our hair, clothes we wear, facial hair tweaks for men - can tilt the appearance of age quite a bit. I do think it's possible being clean shaven could shift it to 'young looking' for some, and something as simple as a beard could appear aging , making you look 'old' to some.

End of the day, rock what you feel confident in and like on yourself. It's just a beard... You might wake up one day and think ' to hell with it, let's switch it up!' and you can always grow it back again.

Yes beards....grey, black, brown, red....it doesn't matter. I saw a meme once that read "I like beards the way men love boobs".....

 

End of the day, rock what you feel confident in and like on yourself. It's just a beard... You might wake up one day and think ' to hell with it, let's switch it up!' and you can always grow it back again.

facial hair is fine, as long as it's not a moustache and bumfluff.

(mind you those handle bar mo's are becoming a new hipster thang... )

IMHO I have no problems with tidy beards or goatee's as long as it's not a ZZ Top down to the belly button beard.

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(mind you those handle bar mo's are becoming a new hipster thang... )

Hey now some of us have had handle bars before hipsters..... Great now that sounds worse haha.

Seymore,

Keep the beard. Maybe trim it mildly so it looks more even/few fly away hairs.

Hey now some of us have had handle bars before hipsters..... Great now that sounds worse haha.

 

Seymore,

 

Keep the beard. Maybe trim it mildly so it looks more even/few fly away hairs.

Thanks, I will. I brush it every day and use conditioner on it so it's not scraggly or anything and I try to trim it once a week or every other week.

Lisii, what's bum fluff? lol

I haven't read up on your current relationship status - but if you are indeed 37 and are looking to meet women ages 30-37, you might want to spot color the gray or shave it off. Beards work on younger guys if you are on trend fashion wise and keep it neat and keep a current, neat hairstyle. If you are wearing clothing that is ill suited to your body or are dressing overly casual all the time, it will age you. With the bit of gray - unless someone knows how old you are, you will be seen as "too old" by women in their mid or early thirties because they will assume you are older than you are. If you are willing to maintain the beard - then great, but if you regularly have food crumbs and its messy - nope.

I haven't read up on your current relationship status - but if you are indeed 37 and are looking to meet women ages 30-37, you might want to spot color the gray or shave it off. Beards work on younger guys if you are on trend fashion wise and keep it neat and keep a current, neat hairstyle. If you are wearing clothing that is ill suited to your body or are dressing overly casual all the time, it will age you. With the bit of gray - unless someone knows how old you are, you will be seen as "too old" by women in their mid or early thirties because they will assume you are older than you are. If you are willing to maintain the beard - then great, but if you regularly have food crumbs and its messy - nope.

^ abitbroken has a point - I'm old so I look at 45+ men in which grey is distinguished

Seymour, bum fluff is those soft wee thin hairs that are ... um unslightly... and sparse

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Hey now some of us have had handle bars before hipsters..... Great now that sounds worse haha.

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Bahaha... I'm sure you rock'ed them better ;-)

I haven't read up on your current relationship status - but if you are indeed 37 and are looking to meet women ages 30-37, you might want to spot color the gray or shave it off. Beards work on younger guys if you are on trend fashion wise and keep it neat and keep a current, neat hairstyle. If you are wearing clothing that is ill suited to your body or are dressing overly casual all the time, it will age you. With the bit of gray - unless someone knows how old you are, you will be seen as "too old" by women in their mid or early thirties because they will assume you are older than you are. If you are willing to maintain the beard - then great, but if you regularly have food crumbs and its messy - nope.

I have no relationship status, lol. I'm not exactly looking either. And I keep my hair buzzed very short as I really don't look good when I let it grow. I've been joked with that I resemble a slim version of Max Payne when I have my shades on:

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Although I've let my hair grow in a LITTLE more than him. But no bread crumbs or anything, I'm kind of obsessive about checking it after I eat, lol.

^ abitbroken has a point - I'm old so I look at 45+ men in which grey is distinguished

 

Seymour, bum fluff is those soft wee thin hairs that are ... um unslightly... and sparse

 

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The attachment doesn't come up, but I know what you mean now. It's not patchy and any wayward hairs I keep cut.

The attachment doesn't come up, but I know what you mean now. It's not patchy and any wayward hairs I keep cut.

I just reloaded it... (google has a fine assortment)

If you look like Max Payne, then I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I just reloaded it... (google has a fine assortment)

 

If you look like Max Payne, then I don't think you have anything to worry about.

I see it now...lol oh hell no, my facial hair is thick. Like I said, way more like the pic in my first post.

I see it now...lol oh hell no, my facial hair is thick. Like I said, way more like the pic in my first post.

Tehe!

You have nothing to worry about .

One of my exes had a speckled grey goatee, every now and again he borrowed my mascara and mask it for events where he knew there would be cameras ....

Tehe!

 

You have nothing to worry about .

 

One of my exes had a speckled grey goatee, every now and again he borrowed my mascara and mask it for events where he knew there would be cameras ....

Lol, I just hide when there are cameras!

With HeartGoesOn on this one:

I'm not a fan of men with beards, however, I love the preppy look of a five o'clock shadow.

Don't really like beards.

If you want to have a beard, own it.

If your beard has some grey in it, own it.

If you want to die your beard, own it.

If you want to shave your beard, own it.

Whatever you do, own it, but don't change how you wear your facial hair just to appeal to the highest statistical probability of meeting women's preferences. That's ultimately a losing game.