Let’s be frank: every guy has had a moment when he’s looked in the mirror and wanted to get rid of his beard. Perhaps you’re young, and it’s coming in patchy. Perhaps it looks kinky, tangled, or mangy. It’s tempting to say, “This isn’t working. It’s time to give up!”
Sometimes it makes sense to give up on a specific beard, but as a general rule, you shouldn’t give up on beards in general. If your facial hair hasn’t fully developed, your beard is damaged, or you just feel like you want to go baby-faced, lose the scruff. Otherwise, consider other alternatives.
Still curious how to address your beard-related woes? Wondering if you are due for a full shave? We will break down some scenarios to help you decide if it’s time to throw in the towel on your beard.
Scenario 1: My Beard Always Comes in Patchy and Thin!
Some guys enter puberty, and immediately they can grow a thick, full, bushy beard. For most of us, though, developing the ability to grow strong, dark facial hair is a longer, more halting process.
As a whole, beard growth depends on blood flow throughout your face. This flow isn’t uniform, so sometimes hair grows faster on one part of your face than another. Some parts of your face will be relatively barren of hair when you’re young, but they fill out as you enter adulthood.
If you’re in your teens or early twenties, and your beard is coming in wispy and irregularly, you might want to consider losing the beard for now and trying again in a year. It’s not giving up: it’s hitting the snooze button.
Be aware, the contention that shaving makes your beard grow thicker is pretty much a myth. Don’t assume that if you shave off your patchy beard, a uniform, thick one will immediately replace it.
Here are some things to consider with this scenario:
| Reason to Shave it Off | Alternatives to Giving Up on the Beard |
| Your terminal facial hair might not have fully come in. | ● Alter your diet to encourage stronger growth with more protein and fatty acids. ● Trim away the patchy parts of your facial hair for a more geometric look. ● Try a supplemental hair growth product like Nioxin or Minoxidil. |
Scenario 2: I Can’t Control My Unruly Beard!
Sometimes having a beard can feel like keeping a wild animal. You spend so much time taming it, and the next day, it’s out of control again.
The pandemic brought out the madness in a lot of quarantine beards. Famous beardsman Jason Mantzoukas nearly broke Seth Meyer’s brain showing the mask he uses to contain his out-of-control COVID mane.
If your facial hair comes in wild, frizzy, and tangled, you might view giving up on it as the only option out there. There are other options, however:
| Reason to Shave it Off | Alternatives to Giving Up on the Beard |
| It’s a pain in the neck (and face), and a bare face will look more professional. | ● Go short. A nice stubble-length beard might be the right look for you. ● More regular conditioning can go a long way in taming your beard. ● Try at-home straighteners and relaxers. |
Scenario 3: I Don’t Have Time to Trim and Shape My Beard!
Even if your facial hair comes in lustrous and straight, you might find it a hassle to maintain it. Evening up the neckline, catching flyaway hairs, tightening and shaping it – this all adds time to your morning routine.
If you find yourself staring in the mirror and lamenting the time you need to dedicate to your beard, maybe it’s time to give up on it. Bear in mind, though, that some of your time saved will go back into daily face shaving. Also, there are some decent alternatives if you want to keep the hair but reduce the maintenance:
| Reason to Shave it Off | Alternatives to Giving Up on the Beard |
| It will simplify your morning routine. | ● Embrace the mountain-man look! Let your beard grow out, then invest in some good beard oil and a comb. ● Go short and even. Make your facial hair uniform, so you can set a number on your trimmer and clean it up fast. |
Scenario 4: I Fried My Beard While Straightening It!
If you fall into the category of men with unruly beard hair, you might have gone the perm route. This is a legit option for taming and straightening facial hair, but it’s not without its risks.
Straightening tools and products can seriously fry your beard. If you aren’t super careful, you can end up with a face of brittle, damaged follicles. In such a circumstance, your best bet might be to give up on that beard and start fresh. However, here are some things to consider.
| Reason to Shave it Off | Alternative to Giving Up on the Beard |
| It might be smarter to let your beard grow in fresh after damaging the existing hair. | Condition and moisturize like crazy. This will help mitigate the damage while your beard grows out. |
Scenario 5: My Beard is Going Gray!
Every guy likes to look young and virile, but there’s no denying that a graying beard will betray your age. For many beardsmen, the face is where our first white hairs emerge. Soon, that jawline is making you look older than you are.
Potentially, giving up on a beard will return a little youthfulness to your face. But think what you’ll be giving up!
Beards give a natural gravitas to a maturing face. You can’t turn back the tide of time, but you can make getting older look stylish. So, we recommend these alternatives to losing the graying beard:
| Reason to Shave it Off | Alternative to Giving Up on the Beard |
| No more fretting about gray in your facial hair. | ● Lean into the wise sage look, with a clean, mid-length, salt-and-pepper beard. ● Mask and/or blend the gray with a quality beard dye. |
Scenario 6: I Miss Having a Clean-Shaven Face!
Of all the reasons to give up on your beard, this is the best. Almost nothing in life is as personal to you as your grooming. At some point in your life, you decided that you wanted a beard. If one day, you feel like it’s time to lose the hair and go back to a smooth jaw, you should go for it.
After all, the nice thing about facial hair is that it grows back. So, if you decide down the line that you’re ready to join the bearded ranks again, all you have to do is stop shaving.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons a man might want to give up on a beard. On the other hand, there are lots of alternatives to shaving it off.
With that being said, if you’re dead set on shaving it all off, please check out our article on waxing your beard as an alternative to shaving.