Tag Archives: natural

growing a beard

Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow

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Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Brian 002
Grow your beard the way that you want. Want to grow your natural full beard? Then let it all grow. Chill and enjoy the pleasure of having a natural full beard. Natural full beard: Brian. Click on image to view larger.

The natural full beard should be a valid beard-growing option.

There is nothing wrong with growing a natural full beard. It should be a valid beard-growing choice for any man. However, too many men are too intimidated to grow their natural full beards. There is a lot of societal pressure against the natural full beard, both real and imagined. Plenty of men self-censor and don’t even consider allowing themselves to grow a natural full beard. But it’s worse than that. Far too many are reluctant to even grow a minimal beard, fearing that growing beyond a minimal beard would be “too much”. Some won’t even grow beyond a stubble-length beard.

Natural full beards are seldom seen these days because the bias against them is pretty strong. And because the natural full beard is so uncommon, it attracts a lot of attention. Much of that attention consists of outdated negative stereotyped comments. Just the fear of these negative stereotypes is enough to scare men into avoiding the thought of growing a natural full beard as well as limiting the amount of beard growth they allow themselves.

What is a natural full beard and why is it important for more men to grow one?

The natural full beard is simply a full beard with the cheek lines and neck lines left naturally defined. Some may not prefer this look and that is fine. But those who like the look should be free to grow their beards this way. When more men grow natural full beards, they are not seen so much as rarities and gain more public acceptance. If natural full beards are more accepted, acceptance of all other beard styles improves. All men should feel free to grow the style of beard that they desire.

Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Vicente 001
Vicente’s natural full beard is immaculately clean and well-groomed. His natural cheek line is high and attracts a lot of attention. Because of the length of his beard, the position of his natural neck line is largely irrelevant because it is hidden from view. Click on image to view larger.

Much of the time, natural full beards are reflexively and automatically dismissed as “too much”. But they are only “too much” because people are not used to seeing them. Many people immediately want to reject them. Similarly, people are quick to instantly proclaim that certain beards are “too long”. Really? How is the standard determined for a beard being too long? Is an eighth of an inch too long? How about a quarter of an inch? Two inches? Three? Of course, the definition of what an acceptable beard length should be is simply arbitrary and subjective. Beard length should be determined by the grower’s preference.

Judgments on beard cheek lines and neck lines are similarly based on arbitrary and subjective whims, reinforced by negative stereotypes. Who decides when a cheek line is too high and a neck line is too low? It’s not a question of neatness or good grooming because natural cheek and neck lines can be cleanly and neatly maintained, just like the rest of the beard.

Don’t be shy about growing your natural full beard.

As long as natural full beard growers are rarely seen, these uncommon brave growers are targets for undeserved negative comments and negative stereotypical remarks. Increasing the number of natural full beards in the world will help improve the acceptance of natural full beards as well as all other types of beards. Consider growing your natural full beard!

Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Brian 003
Brian’s full natural beard. Click on image to view larger.

Tips on natural full beard design.

Natural full beards are easy to maintain. However, a strictly natural full beard may not produce entirely desired results at first and may need some slight adjustments to achieve your best look. In no time you’ll having your natural full beard looking its best with a minimum of extra effort. See the following examples.

Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Brian 004
Here Brian’s natural neck line looks just a little bit ragged. Often this occurs when the neck line and the area immediately above have been maintained at a shorter length than the rest of the beard. This can typically be smoothed out by allowing both the rest of the beard and the neck line area to grow out more, filling in and blending together. If you try this and still have not achieved satisfactory results, sparingly use a trimmer to eliminate any remaining ragged edge. Alternatively, allow the overall beard length to increase until the ragged edge is no longer visible. Click on image to view larger.
Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Brian 004
Brian’s natural cheek line produces a good look and does well without any manual touch-up. Click on image to view larger.
Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Conner 001
Conner’s cheek line has had only the slightest manual intervention and is close to being its fully natural shape. If you feel you must tidy up your natural cheek line with a bit of trimming, keep it to the minimum to produce a pleasing line that’s as close as possible to the natural growth. Conner’s neck line is essentially left natural. Click on image to view larger.
Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Conner 002
Conner’s neck line is looking smooth and natural. Click on image to view larger.
Natural Full Beard: Your Freedom To Grow -Conner 003
Happy beard, happy man: Conner. Click on image to view larger.

Join the natural beard cause and contribute to beard freedom for all!

Now step up and grow your full natural beard. It’s easy. Don’t wait any longer to grow your beard all natural and show it off to its fullest advantage. Happy natural beard growing!

beard photo shoots

Vincent again!

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Vincent was kind enough to participate in a second beards.org photo shoot yesterday. Regarding Vincent and his beard, he is bold. He has the courage to grow the kind of beard that he wants, with a natural cheek line that reaches fairly high. And contrary to the fears expressed by others that higher cheek lines or natural cheek lines will bring a storm of criticism, Vincent has only received compliments, support, and appreciation for growing his bold beard. His beard pretty much demands admiration and respect!

Here are some sample shots from Vincent’s second beards.org photo shoot, starting with the very first shot of the afternoon.

Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard
Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard
Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard
Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard
Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard
Vincent with his mighty, mighty beard

Thank you, Vincent!

beards, growing a beard

don’t be afraid of heights

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I hear from far too many beard growers, especially new beard growers, that they are afraid of the cheek line of their full beards being too high.  So they butcher their beards into unflattering shapes in their misguided attempts to make their beards look more “acceptable”.  Some use the excuse that their beards grow all the way up to their eyes and that they will look like the much-feared “wolf man” should they leave the cheek line natural.  They say that even when there are actually inches (or even more centimeters) between the natural upper cheek line of the beard and their eyes.  The beard-growing-all-the-way-up-to-the-eyes fear is almost always an exaggeration and a misperception, likely based on shaky self-confidence with respect to the new full beard.  In uncommon cases, the beard nearly does grow all the way up to the eyes.  In such a case, the cheek line could be lowered without butchering the beard by not going  too low.  The main point here is not to jump to the conclusion that your beard nearly grows nearly all the way up to your eyes when the reality is that it does not.

Another common rationalization for butchering the beard’s cheek line is that it somehow makes the beard less objectionable to potential naysayers.  Don’t fall into that trap.  You’re growing a beard.  Embrace that fact.  People are going to see it.  You are already stepping out from the norm by growing the beard.  Why not grow your beard to its full potential, which is usually its best look?  That’s a lot better than butchering it down to some unattractive and amateurish shape.  Again, you’re growing a beard.  Do it right!  Don’t ruin the shape of it just because you fear that leaving the cheek line natural is just going too far.  It almost never is.

Another common fear is that the natural cheek line does not look “professional”.  The “professional look” is subject to interpretation.  In general, however, it would likely mean maintaining a neat and tidy appearance by following good grooming habits and practicing good hygiene.  A natural cheek line does not contradict good grooming and hygiene.  There are countless full-bearded professionals who maintain natural cheek lines, yet project a completely professional appearance.  Just keep your beard well-groomed along with everything else.

What if you’ve given the natural cheek line a truly fair chance and you just can’t stick with it?  You feel that you really must give the cheek line some sort of “clean-up” or definition.  Well, if you are convinced that you must, then just take off the minimum amount to smooth out the cheek line and give it a more defined look.  This keeps your beard the closest to its natural shape while giving the cheek line a more precision look.  In other words, you’ve created the best-defined cheek line possible without needlessly butchering the beard.

Fear of the cheek line breeds fear.  Don’t spread it further.  Butchered beards set bad examples.  Great beards inspire.

Don’t be afraid of heights!  Let your full beard’s cheek line go natural with confidence and pride.  And if that’s just not for you, at least define your cheek line by taking the least amount possible away from the natural.

beards

going natural, again

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Last night during a brief visit to a major shopping mall (Westfield Valley Fair, Santa Clara / San José), within about fifteen minutes I saw two different full beards with natural cheek and neck lines. In a post last year, I commented on how full beards with both the cheek and neck lines left natural are rarely seen. The perceived social pressure to shape them — at least the neck line — is pretty powerful. It’s so powerful that guys are often so quick to shape them that they do it prematurely and wreck their beard-growing attempts. About the only ones who let the beard go all natural are the homeless. It need not be that way.

Both of the full beards seen at the mall were neat and well-groomed. They looked completely respectable and presentable indeed. The natural cheek and neck lines gave them a distinctive and, well, “natural” look. The men were not scroungy at all. They were well-dressed fathers with young children.

The all-natural look with natural cheek and neck lines may not work for every guy, but guys should not be so afraid to try it. Give it a try and see how it does. When giving it a try, don’t make a half-hearted attempt and give up after a few days. Let it grow out enough to catch up with the rest of the beard. If more guys have the courage to go for the all-natural full beard, the look will gradually gain more acceptance. Go for it.