thirteen!

Brian

all about beards made its first appearance on the web on the 17th of January of 1996. The site’s original objective was to promote beards in a positive manner. Thirteen years later, all about beards is the longest-running beard site on the web and the site remains dedicated to its original mission. We have come a long way, but there’s much more in store. With an eye on a bright future, our thirteenth anniversary year promises to be the best yet!

seven million!

At 8:42 PM PST, the counter in the galleries hit the seven million mark!  We hit six million back on October 22, 2008.  I would have liked to hit seven million by the end of 2008.  But I’m happy to start off this early in 2009 with such a great milestone.  Keep viewing those great beards in the galleries!

So which photo was the lucky number seven million?  Well, this time I was at the keyboard and was able to see which one it was.  It was this photo of Andrew:

Andrew at seven million!

Click on the image above to see the larger version.

the shape of the beard

Jason

When beards go wrong, one of the most common causes is poor shaping.  The most common example is defining the neck line too high.   What’s the problem with a bad neck line definition?  There are many.  Depending on the severity of the error, it may make to the beard look just a bit odd or it may make it look like a disaster.  In a way, the point of growing a beard is to cover the chin with hair.   So why carve out the underside of the chin and jaw, leaving them bare?  Why?  Perhaps not surprisingly, new beard growers have seen someone else do it and mistakenly conclude that must be the way it’s supposed to be done and emulate the misplaced neck line.

A properly shaped beard with a good neck line can usually hide or disguise a double chin.  A poorly-defined neck line, up too high, often does just the opposite: It can accentuate the double chin, often substantially, to the detriment of the beard grower’s appearance.

Defining the neck line too high can give the beard a comical look.  And if the error is sufficiently severe, the beard may almost give the owner the look of a permanent clown face.  Who wants that?  Not even a professional clown.

So please, take care to give your beard the proper shape.  You will be glad you did.  And if you know someone in need of help, send them here: Designing a neck line for your full beard.

Now what about defining that cheek line?  There are pitfalls to be avoided there as well.  That will be the subject of an upcoming post.

End of an era in beard history

The original All About BEARDS site:  January 17, 1996 — October 31, 2008.

Tomas

What is today the All About BEARDS site that resides here at beards.org appeared initially at the address http://members.aol.com/beardguy/ on the 17th of January 1996.  On the 20th of January of 2005, the all-new All About BEARDS site made its debut at its current www.beards.org address.  The old site was hosted on web space allocated to AOL members.

When the updated version of All About BEARDS opened at beards.org, I left the original up as a legacy site with pointers to the current site.  Today, AOL shut down all of its members’ sites, including the All About BEARDS legacy site.  So I am forced to bid a sentimental, fond farewell to the online presence of the early form of All About BEARDS.   Rest assured, however, that All About BEARDS will continue — stronger than ever — at beards.org: building the future by honoring the past.

I also have some housekeeping to do.  Actually, I never got completely weaned off of the old site, with a few features still residing there.  I have some extra work to do now to migrate those features here.

bearded ancestry

Leigh of Australia submitted his photo for the beards of the world gallery along with a couple of photos of bearded predecessors: his maternal great grandfather and great great grandfather.  All three are unquestionably fine examples of praiseworthy beards.

Walter Thomas

Dr. Walter Thomas (above).

John Thomas

Dr. John Thomas (above).

Now go to see Leigh in the beards of the world gallery.