Whiskers or Sans

Where are you?

[tangor]

Pushing 61. Been growing Billy Gibbons for a while. Wacked those long hairs last week. Then again summer is coming on...

Are you bushy type or clean shaven? These days I see more bushy types (ie, put the dollars to use keeping electricity flowing rather buying blades to shave the gray chin just to chase women you won't catch anyway...)

Do I need to attach a smilie?

[Old_Honky]

Nothing worse than an old man with a beard or moustache especially if he's bald or even worse bald with a pony tale on the last vestige of hair at the back.

When I was in my 20s and 30s I had facial hair in all sorts of combinations and shoulder length hair as well it was black back then. Now as I'm rapidly approaching 60, I've still got my hair but it is grey now. If I go a few days without shaving the grey/white stubble make me look about 20 years older. Don't believe what people say about a "salt and pepper" beard looking distinguished. It doesn't, it just makes you look older and scruffier.
If you ever consider a beard as an older man then as a warning take a look at the disgraceful, scruffy archbishop of Canterbury. Is that a role model? I think not.

Also beards are unhygienic and high maintenance, I found them itchy and had to shampoo mine at least twice a day.

[piatkow]

I am of a similar age to the previous two posters and keep my full set closely trimmed. When I have to shampoo it rather than use soap and a flannel I go back to my barber for a trim.

[LifeinAsia]

I had a mustache in my 20s. When I was overseas, my non-expat friends complained for a long time to shave it. One day, out of frustration for other things (I'm not one to usually bow to peer pressure :)), I shaved it. Not a single one of the complainers noticed anything until I specifically pointed it out.

However, since the pony tail (at times reaching down to my lower back) was an even bigger source of "irritation" for them. So, of course, it stayed! ;)

A few times I've tried letting the rest of my facial hair grow. Each time it looked like crap and I gave it up. For whatever reason, my chine/cheek hairs just won't cooperate.

[vordmeister]

I find after about 3 weeks my beard starts becoming uncomfortable and untidy so I shave it off. Then 3 weeks later I'll shave it off again. That approach seems economical on razor blades.

Reminds me - it's been far too hot today so time for the beard to come off again. I have a trimmer for DIY hair cutting too - also economical.

[grandpa]

Well you guys are a bunch of **********. Wait, did I say that outloud!?! :D

What I meant to say was that I like my Gibbons beard and dready tail. I'm almost to the point of shaving my head and starting over. But the beard stays. To the world I'm the perennial rebel, the outcast, the dirty old man, the wizardly sage, or whatever else the look may signify. What someone thinks of me is none of my business. I'm content with who I am and how I appear. I love to braid the sideburns and the beard (hence the occasional nomen '3 Beard'). I've been called Father Christmas, Santa, bin Laden, and ZZ Top more times than I care to remember. If I turn a corner I'm as likely to scare you as anything else. One thing remains constant - I'm happy.

[tonynoriega]

I use the clippers on the sides, usually a zero (0). I let the goat grow to about a 4 on the clipper guard, then i trim 'er down...

i try to keep the side stubble the same length as the sideburns... keeps a smooth transition to the face.

Neck has to be a low and clean as possible...

nothing like my neck hair blending into my chest.... or around the neck to he back... ends up being all one beast after a while...

not much longer than a 5 on the clippers on top... Navy... gotta keep it short.

[lawman]

My wife hates the stubble just as much as I do so I shave every day - even on weekends. My 70th decade begins December 17th.

[claus]

Dang, I saw the thread title and thought "wiskers" was a typeface...

I'm with the beard(ed) crowd. Full, trimmed. As for soap/shampoo I mostly avoid that as it's generally not good for your skin. I rinse often with water. There's no itch at all. Never had one. Your soap usage may be the cause of the itching. Twice-a-day shampoo use will certainly harm your skin, regardless of brand.

[encyclo]

My 70th decade begins December 17th.

Holy smokes, it's a wonder you survived Black Death and the 100 years war!

;)

[LifeinAsia]

Holy smokes, it's a wonder you survived Black Death and the 100 years war!

It was the beard that helped him. :)

[akmac]

I'm 669 years younger than Lawman, but we're alike in that both our wives dislike stubble. We're dissimilar in that I only shave once every 5 days (that's when it starts to bother my neck). Full sideburns though. And a soul patch.

Where were YOU when Joan of Arc was killed?

[wheel]

In the 90's a coworker asked if I was trying to grow a moustache. No. I've HAD one for two years. That's not 'trying to grow one', that's actually it, grown. Geesh.

I kept the poor thing for probably 15 years. Then one day Oprah's doing makeovers for men (if you can use that word for a male that appears on Oprah, but I digress) and one thing they indicated is that shaving a beard/moustache will take 5-10 years off of men. My wife mentions this and I was in the mood for kicks so I shaved it off. Haven't had one since.

The once or twice I've tried to grow a beard have been unsuccesful, too many bare patches. The good news is I can get away with shaving every other day. My best friend has to shave twice a day if he's going out that evening. what a pain.

[piatkow]

In the 90's a coworker asked if I was trying to grow a moustache.

I briefly shaved off my beard and just wore a tash for a few months in the 8os. A co-worker commented in subprise "you have grown a moustache!".

[wyweb]

Had the ponytail during my construction years. I was a drywall contractor for 25 years in the North Texas area. This was back when they were actually building houses. Mustache long on the ends. Never a beard because they're way too hot. Plus my beards have always had some off color in them, usually a shade of red, that I can't stand.

These days my philosophy is simple. Cut it in the summer. Let it grow in the winter. I'm much more practical than I used to be.

[gpilling]

40 and I shave twice a week, even though I could go a week at a time. It just don't grow. It is starting to gray, but won't grow. Not even a mustache.

[tangor]

Had a chuckle sticky asking why I'd give up the Billy Gibbons (about 2.5 feet) which takes a bit of time to accumulate: My reply is my only transportation these days is a bicycle. Just imagine the wind resistance a fuzz of that size produces! Cropped to one inch now. Still white, still thick... and I picked up 3.4 mph with the same effort!

I've had a beard since I was sixteen (and had trouble getting through high school with it) and have been balding since I was nineteen (and that is pretty much done).

[tangor]

Oh... secondary... Willie Nelson just cropped off his braids and his beard.

Maybe, after a LONG while, we just get weary...

[travelin cat]

I have had a beard and mustache for about 35 years. I shave the beard off occasionally then I remember how much I hate to shave.

The last time I shaved off the 'stache was over 30 years ago. My wife has never seen me without it... and probably never will.