Beards; yea or nay?

Love them! I've always encouraged various men to grow them.

I don't have any preference, really. It's the person behind the beard that's more important, to me. My Dh has been clean-shaven and also had beards at various points through our married life. He has psoriasis and shaving is painful for him so nowadays he mostly keeps a short beard. It's certainly not dirty and he doesn't have food in it!

I'm so used to him going from bearded to clean shaven and back again that I don't notice anymore which it is.

Neither of my sons has ever had anything more than a bit of a designer stubble from time to time.

My eldest son (36) had a beard for a few years, and it really suited him. His children and wife like it too. He shaved it all off a few weeks ago and looks younger - but fatter and chinless-in the face. He's now in the process of growing it back!
I think if beards are kept in good condition (my son uses various oils and waxes) they can look good.

NAY! Capitals at risk of offending but I really can't stand most beards!
Why do they do it? Ok, an extra 10 mins in bed. For what? To look 30 years older, to look as if they are still drunk from a bad boozy night, to look a terrible mess, scruffy, unkempt, dirty, and, I say it again, to look really old!

Plus - kissing all that wire-wool? Yuk! It gave me an awful rash. Late husband, when he grew an untamed huge wiry lumpy mess on his face, also started to behave to match - aggressive, boorish, loud, vile, rude and thoughtless.

It's true, with a couple of very rare exceptions, - I hate beards!

I like a man with a full beard - not keen on just a moustache or anything overtrimmed like a tiny goatee. Luckily my husband's beard is naturally very neat.

hildajenni the men are allowed a beard in the RN but it has to be 'a full set'.

None of your neatly trimmed beards without moustaches (can't stand that look) or the George Michael type beard.

Jalima my parents had a friend who was a policeman. He decided to grow a beard but you had to ask permission in those days.

Back came the response; permission granted but beard must only be grown in his own time.

Having been married to my bearded DH for 36.5 years and with him for 40 I am definitely pro-beards! My son also has a beard which suits him.

It's a matter of personal taste and if you don't like them tough!

I absolutely love a proper beard, kept under control, but HATE a moustache on its own, and hate goatee beards and silly trimmed lines down the jaw line leading to a tufty goatee. Grow a proper beard, guys, and use conditioner on it.

Like SueDonim’s DH, my DS swaps about between full beard, designer stubble and clean shaven so often I barely notice. Though I must say he looks years younger when he’s shaved - I don’t think that at his tender age that’s a look he’s aiming for.

DH has a lovely beard. Really suits him and is quite sexy. ?

Another fan of the clean shaven man here.?

I watched a young man in the pub the other day ( hard not to see)
He had to keep cleaning soup from his beard.He had a full set and it was clear to see why long moustaches/beards were called ‘soup strainers’!

Beards are incredibly hard to keep clean I should think.
Where we live there are about four neighbours who we can barely tell apart with their grey Corbyn beards.

Jalima, my SiL had the full set when he was in the Navy, but it was short and neatly trimmed. Now he looks like Grizzly Adams.

I think beards and moustaches are aging - a man always looks younger when he shaves it off. Especially if it was grey or greying.

In my dim and distant youth I dated a beardy bloke and, fanciable as he was, kissing him was a scratchy and uncomfortable experience. I'm very glad that my hubby never wanted to grow one, he's sexy enough without, lol! .

I like them, and I found kissing much more comfortable when DH grew a full set, MillyG - no more stubble scratching! I do like him to keep it trimmed neatly though. It has saved him a lot of time in the mornings over the years, and was handy when he had to go out on urgent calls in the middle of the night, as he didn't look untidy and stubbly or have to waste time shaving.

One of my sons has a beard and moustache, it makes him, in my opinion, look extremely scruffy, but his wife likes it, so my opinion matters not a jot!

When I was young I had several boyfriends with beards and rather liked them. I was surprised when, on our wedding day, my bridegroom turned up without his goatee but he never did get rid of his moustache.

It’s Greeks versus Romans isn’t it? I am philosophically inclined to Greeks but I can’t stand beards so it has to be Romans.

It surprises me that so many young (single) men grow beards. Do they realise that they will turn off a huge number of women?

I agree Grandma especially the long bushy kinds, like Hells Angels or The Taliban.

I hate them, especially the extra long variety. I used to work alongside a man whose beard often harboured crumbs from a previous meal. It wouldn't have surprised me if I'd seen a mouse in it.

A beard you could lose a badger in?

My son sports a minor growth ( 3 days) of beard mostly and it suits him.... on the other hand mySIL sports a full beard.... A REALLY full beard.... and very long wavy hair... he's a surfing hippy in another life ,and got the 'look' when he lived in Australia in his earlier life! I hate it but his kids love it. They say he looks like a white Jesus.... and he does!!!

My husband has had a beard since about 1980 - except for a few weeks in the late 90s when he inexplicably cut it off!
Our oldest daughter wept inconsolably and the younger children found it scary.... their father’s voice and body but someone else’s face!
I’m glad he re-grew it.