Mikkel L.

Bearded since: 2002 I am a dedicated, permanent beard grower.

Comments:
The mustache was a childhood dream that I aimed to fulfill as soon as my growth was convincing enough. It primarily derived from watching old musketeer and pirate movies in a weekly TV show and as a result of growing up amongst bearded men in the first half of the seventies, a time where both real and fictional villains were the clean shaven guys...
I went for the full beard when my then-wife encouraged me back in 2002. It was not possible before. My growth had always been to sparse and sporadic and depressingly slow...I only needed to shave every second week or so, it took me about a year to reach a satisfying look...my dedication and patience ultimately brought me through and I have never wanted to remove it. Not many of my contemporaries had beards back then and I am still pretty lonely in a world of my-aged playmobil-men, but it has brought me so much good on so many levels and I definitely enjoy the standing-out part. We struggle on behalf of humanity's right to follow individual paths and act according to heart instead of uniform.

How do I feel about my beard? For several reasons I feel incredibly great about my beard. First of all, it shapes my face into a person I like. I definitely feel as if I am more me with this beard than without it. For instance my chin and jawbone is not entirely Flash Gordon and the beard beautifully compensates this flaw...and then, the real success...it has become my profession...I was hired by national television to host a program for children and the beard became a trademark. I am now known as Mr.Beard to thousands of Danish children and suddenly springtime has arrived for a whole new generation of beard growers...even little girls wants to have one and I feel sad thinking about the disappointment they shall be facing further ahead in life...nevertheless, the result of promoting the Mr.Beard figure has for one thing eased the grim image that terror and the war against it has brought upon facial hair.