Gerard

Bearded since: 2004. I am a dedicated, permanent beard grower.

Comments:
I grew a beard because I really liked the look of a beard on other men, and wanted to try if it looked good on me. At first I was a bit insecure about it, but after a few months I decided I liked it, so I kept it. About two years later, I changed my full beard into a goatee and mustache, which I like much better.

How do I feel about my beard? I think the goatee thing works better for me than the full beard. It used to bother me that it is red, but my partner thinks it makes me look like Vincent van Gogh, so that's cool. One thing I still don't like about it is a small strip on my upper lip where no hair grows because of a scar (as a child I split my upper lip wide open by running at full speed into some barbed wire). You can barely see it, but it would be visible if my mustache was any shorter, so it keeps me from trimming my mustache a bit shorter, which would be nice, but alas. Apart from that, I'm happy with it.