All posts by Steven Wilson

beard photo shoots, beards

Chris: beard thick and strong

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Chris is a great guy with a really great beard. Chris’ beard is one that some would rightfully call a heavy beard. His beard is exceptionally thick and the area it covers is broad. With beard growth so dense, Chris prefers to keep it trimmed short during the months of hot weather. Even with his beard trimmed short, it’s always impressive. His beard growth is so strong that after just a couple of days without shaving, it looks like he’s grown a proper beard already.

Last month, I saw Chris by chance at the Tulsa Tough cycling event. An avid cyclist, Chris has participated in the Tulsa Tough race in the past. This year he just came to watch. He kindly offered to do some more photos for beards.org that afternoon as well as the following day. The weather on both days was bright sunshine and brutal heat. But Chris cheerfully braved the heat so that we could get some new photos. Some sample shots from both days appear in the gallery below.

It had been quite a while since I’d last seen Chris. This time his beard had just been freshly trimmed down short for the summer heat. Along with the trim, his beard had been shaped down a bit with the neck line a little higher and the cheek line lower, presenting a crisp, well-defined short beard. During the photo shoot, he showed me a photo from last winter in which he had he had let his beard all grow, substantially. The difference was amazingly impressive. One of these days, we finally need to do a photo shoot with Chris’ full-on winter beard! Meanwhile, the summer version of Chris’ beard, thick and strong, is pretty impressive, too.

Click on any of the images below to view a larger version.

Chris at Tulsa Tough Riverparks Criterium
Chris at Tulsa Tough Riverparks Criterium Crybaby Hill

See more of Chris

View more photos of Chris with his incredible beard here:

Chris’ awesome, industrial-strength beard

Bearded at night: Chris

Maybe a great beard is just what you need this year

Beard update: Chris

growing a beard, shaving

The most important thing to do after shaving off your beard

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Maybe you had to do it for a new job. Maybe you were obligated to do it for some other reason. Maybe you did it in a moment of weakness and self-doubt. Maybe you did it on a whim. Maybe you did it in a fit of temporary insanity. But if you’ve just shaved off your beard, what’s the most important thing to do next? Start growing it back, of course!

Brock grew his first beard for a charity effort in the fight against prostate cancer. Quite a magnificent and splendiferous beard it was. After a year’s time, however, suddenly Brock’s big beard was gone, wiped out by a shave.

Here Brock answers some questions about his beard-shave-off experience.

Was it hard to shave off such a big beard?
I had to fight many other bearded members to stop me from doing it. After doing so, I felt I’d done a great injustice.

How long did it take to decide to grow it back?
A few months.

Why did I decide to grow it back?
Just wanted a free pillow when I got sleep.

While Brock went without the beard for a few months after the shave, don’t wait that long if at all possible. Start growing again as soon as you can!

In the gallery below, we see Brock shortly after the big shave. The next photo was at about three months of growth for the new beard. The rest of the photos are at about five months of new growth. Click on any image below to see a larger version.

Brock soon after shaving his big beard
Brock’s new beard at about three months of growth.
Brock’s new beard at about five months of growth.
Brock’s new beard at about five months of growth.
Brock’s new beard at about five months of growth.
Brock’s new beard at about five months of growth.

See more about Brock here: Brock: today’s beard, 2016/12/30.

shaving

When You’ve Gotta Do It: The Expert Guide to Shaving Off Your Beard

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Shave off your beard? Really???!!!

Sometimes it’s unavoidable. It could result from a change in your employment situation. It could be required for a medical procedure. It might be to benefit a charity fundraiser. Or it could be that a beard just doesn’t work for you. But one day you may be facing a need to shave off your beard.

Shaving off your beard doesn’t mean that you’re being disloyal to the bearded brotherhood. It could just represent a temporary time-out until your next beard-growing opportunity presents itself. It’s been said that one of the best things about shaving off your beard is that it enables you to experience the pleasure of growing it out again. Whenever a beard is shaved off, the potential for its return is always present.

Prepare to say farewell to your beard

So if you’ve got to shave off your beard, you ought to do it the right way.  Do you know how to shave off a beard?  Our guide will teach you how to shave off your beard easily, like a pro.  Before you get started, however, make sure you have all the necessary gear on hand:

  • beard trimmer, electric hair clippers, or scissors
  • optional: electric razor
  • towels
  • mirror
  • shaving cream or equivalent (Do not use soap!)
  • razor
  • moisturizer

Step 1: Shear off your beard

Before you actually do any shaving, your first task is to remove as much of the beard hair as possible. The easiest way is to use a beard trimmer with the trimming guard removed or use ordinary electric hair clippers.

Just ahead of the beard-shearing operation, you may want to use a towel or cloth to cover your work space to catch the hair cut from your beard. Or, if you’re working over a sink, you may just close the drain and let the sink catch all the beard hair. Then you can use some bathroom tissue to sweep all of it up and out of the sink for disposal.

Now, using the beard trimmer or hair clippers before the mirror, carefully shear off as much of the beard hair as possible. A more labor-intensive alternative is to snip off your beard hair with scissors. If you choose to use scissors, you’ll get better results with a good pair of scissors designed for cutting hair. At this point, an optional step is to use an electric razor to refine the removal of what remains of your beard.

After ridding yourself of as much beard hair as you can, you’re ready to move on to step two: the real shave. Your newly-exposed skin is no longer accustomed to being shaved, especially if you count your bearded time in years. This situation calls for taking extra care to prepare your skin. Proper skin preparation will help prevent or minimize irritation and ingrown hairs.

Step 2: Shave for the first time after shearing off your beard

Here’s some expert advice on carrying out that critical first post-beard shave:

First, use a hot towel which will utilize steam to soften the outer layer of the hair. Next, be aware that using too much or too little shaving cream affects how you properly prep the skin. Using too little of a product might not soften the hair enough, while using too much of a product can become a slippery mess just asking for nicks and cuts.

Now before putting razor to skin, it’s important to navigate your grain pattern. Slide your fingers across the skin to feel which way your hair is growing. When shaving, the first stroke of shave should go with the grain when the hair is at its longest. The next stroke should go against the grain when the hair is shorter. This will relieve any tug and pull on the skin while leaving the area smooth. It’s important to remember not to put too much pressure on your skin while shaving. Gently gliding the razor across your skin will work best for a close shave.

Step 3: Finish up by soothing your newly-shaved skin

Lastly, it’s important to remember that shaving can leave your skin dry. This is even more important to keep in mind when it comes to shaving off your beard. That skin on your face hasn’t experienced the elements in a while, so it’s likely to be even more sensitive. Don’t forget to apply a moisturizer after and you’re good as new!

You’re beard-free again…for now!

With that, you’ve officially returned to the beardless world. Be sure to take a good long look in the mirror and let it sink in what you have done. The bearded brotherhood bids a fond goodbye and wishes you well. We remain eager to welcome you back whenever you have the opportunity to grow your beard again!

Of course, whenver you are ready to grow your prized beard again, be sure to follow our proven guide on how to grow a beard.

beard videos, music

Nate Maingard, bearded singer performs

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Nate Maingard is a bearded singer-songwriter from South Africa. Nate first appeared on beards.org in 2008 with his first photo submission for the beards of the world gallery. Following that, Nate kept in touch and became a good friend of the site. We corresponded and discussed some of his struggles with staying bearded. Nate would quite successfully grow his impressive full beard. Then, he would get rid of the beard and subsequently come to miss the beard. Nate’s beard would come and go time and again. But in the process he became quite skillful in mastering the art of growing a beard. As a result, Nate became an expert on beard growing, beard styling, and beard grooming in addition to being a talented singer and songwriter. Music, clearly is Nate’s true passion. However, he certainly knows what he’s doing whenever he grows his beard.

With Nate being so far away in South Africa, I never thought it too likely that we would ever meet in person. He’s also lived in London at times. But London, too, is quite distant.

However, Nate has also been a globetrotter, going between South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the USA, among other destinations. During one of his trips to California, we had the opportunity to meet up. This was back in December 2012. We did a photo and video shoot for beards.org. Many of the photos went into Nate’s beard feature. The video footage went into a video series, Nate’s beard story, that was published in 2013. In his beard video series, Nate shares his expertise in dealing with beard-growing doubts, successfully growing the beard, and he gives guidance on beard shaping and more.

While shooting video with Nate, he gave an impromptu, street performance of one of his songs, a ballad titled “Home”. Not originally included in Nate’s beard video series, I’ve recently published Nate’s performance of “Home”. Better late than never, this video provides a perfect ending to Nate’s original beard video series. For a real treat, watch Nate’s performance of “Home” in the embedded video below.

Today, Nate continues making music and growing his beard. The beard may still come and go. But Nate always returns to the beard.

For more on Nate and his music, visit Nate’s website, natemaingard.com.

about beards.org

Twenty-two years, all about beards

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Here we are again at another all about beards anniversary. Today marks twenty-two years since that little site started out on its mission to promote beards, share information about beards, and celebrate beards. During this time, we have helped thousands and thousands of men all around the world to grow their beards. This, “adding beards to the world”, is among our proudest achievements.

Adding more beards to the world is one of the best ways to increase acceptance, and even respect, for beards. The more beards there are, the more the general population becomes accustomed to them. The more the general population becomes accustomed to beards, the more accepting of beards people become. With that, more people are less likely to harbor that pesky old anti-beard bias that surprisingly and stubbornly resists fading away. The anti-beard bias was much stronger in the early days of all about beards. And it was even stronger for years and years prior to that. Anti-beard bias, however, still remains stronger than many may realize. Plenty of people still feel entitled to tell new beard growers and established beard growers alike that they should shave. A milder form of anti-beard bias allows for limited beard growth, but not too much, with the limit defined by the beard critic. Grow your beard a bit beyond stubble length and you may hear, “That beard’s too long. You’ve got to trim that down.” Here at all about beards, we think that beard critics do not have the right to dictate what restrictions must be imposed on a man’s beard.

Anti-beard bias will never disappear completely. However, we are happy to see that it is much weaker now than it was twenty-two years ago. In recent years beards have made great gains in numbers and in acceptance. We could not be happier, except for the movement to continue in favor of beards.

Ready to grow your beard? Be sure to check out our tried and true beard growing guide and start growing today!

We will always keep growing. We are all about beards.

beard photo shoots

Virgil, bearded barber at work

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Award-winning barber Virgil is seen here cutting hair at Tapered Barber Shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stay tuned for more on Virgil and his story in an upcoming feature. Thanks go to Virgil and Tapered Barber Shop for this photo opportunity.

beard photo shoots

Virgil, great bearded barber!

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Virgil is an award-winning barber.  He sports a majestic full beard and does great things for the community. Yesterday Virgil was kind enough to participate in a photo shoot for beards.org. Some sample photos from yesterday are below. Click on any of the images to view a larger version. Stay tuned for more on Virgil, his beard, and his story.

growing a beard

No-Shave November 2017: Welcome, new beard growers!

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If you’ve never grown your beard before, today is a great time to start. Today is the first day of No-Shave November. Did you shave today? If you did, it’s not too late to stop shaving and start growing your beard. You can easily justify your new beard-growing adventure by saying that it’s No-Shave November. And all about beards | beards.org can teach you everything you need to know to achieve beard-growing success. To get started, head on over to our guide on how to grow a beard.

We hope that growing your beard will be a satisfying and enjoyable experience. We are always pleased to welcome new beard growers to the ranks of bearded men worldwide. We’ve been doing it since 1996!

Be sure to keep in mind that once No-Shave November ends, you are encouraged to stay with your new beard and keep it growing. You have only just begun! Your beard deserves more than a month. We hope that you will keep on growing and will convert to a dedicated, permanent beard grower. And even if you end up shaving for whatever reason, you can always grow the beard again. And you probably should!

Happy No-Shave November and happy beard-growing to all!

Now head on over to our guide on how to grow a beard and start growing!