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ZZ-top provided the template for my recent image change

12:15 / 23.04.02

Well, not quite, but currently dabbling in the whole facial hair arena at the minute (beard) and just thought I’d counsel the board for its own tales of hirsute misadventure. In general the response has been divided between those who think it’s quite cool and makes me look loads better (including the companion, most importantly), and those who think it’s a bit sinister or a ploy to cover-up scars or general unattractiveness.

13:39 / 23.04.02

Never grown any facial hair and fingers crossed I never will.
But yours suits you, it looks good. Sinister, yes, but still good...

MaximusOverdrive

14:00 / 23.04.02

occasionaly i rock the goattee, but i always seem to get frustrated with it after a while, so it always winds up being cut of and washing down the bathroom sink. i do like facial hair though, except for moustaches by themselves. most poeple wearing them look like the moustaches are waiting for some other facial hair to sprout in to complete the package. but hey, if the companion likes it, adn you enjoy it as well, then keep that thing going.

14:04 / 23.04.02

I've done both the goat and full beard in the last little while. I find the beard lends an air of age, where the goatee is the refuge of the young. Hence, I wear a goatee. Honestly, without the facial hair I look about 12 years younger. When I'm 50 that might be cool, but not right now.
I think the trouble is that there are some men who look like their beards are stuck on with spirit gum. I'm not sure why, or whether there's just a particular facial structure that doesn't suit a beard. I've been told that I suit mine, and generally get laughed at when I shave. Hence by beardedness for the last 8 or nine years.
Though the fuckers can be itchy like crazy some days.

Zoom.

14:35 / 23.04.02

You would do well to use ZZ Top as a template; beards should be extravagent or not at all. I'm afraid I could never trust a man with a goatee, they are the beard equivalent of a flowerpot hat.

There is an excellent suggestion here for the licensing and control of beards:

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Beard_20licence#1013598761

14:46 / 23.04.02

I've always wanted a goatee but I always give up half way through growing one because it looks horrible.

I heard yesterday that moustaches are back in "fashion". What a horrible thought.

15:31 / 23.04.02

I've always wanted to grow my beard out to a length that would allow me to braid it.

Goatees? Oh...wait you mean those silly little things people grow because when they try to grow a full beard it comes in all patchy and goofy looking.

Jack The Bodiless

15:46 / 23.04.02

Currently 'rocking' the chinstripe and long pointy sideburns. There's shavin' issues, fer shoor, but I look sexy as all fuck. According to my girlfriend AND my mirror. And I speak as one who's never really liked the way I look. Experiment, my friend. And OI! you and pacha are always welcome to come visit again, you know...

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

16:19 / 23.04.02

Hey, there's nothing wrong with using properly placed hair to hide a physically unattractive trait. I wear my hair long so no one notices that my ears stick out a bit.

My goatee is pretty pathetic if you take a good long look. It's mainly there because I hate shaving so much.

Tuna Ghost: Pratt knot hero

16:21 / 23.04.02

It should also be noted that I've been told I look older with it, and that I don't get carded for anything anymore. Which is amazing, really, when you consider that except for the facial hair, my face looks like it did when I was thirteen. I just have one of those faces. And yes, I have been accused of being an elf. The lanky frame doesn't help much.

16:46 / 23.04.02

Occasionally, people say to me "are you growing a beard?" and I say "No, what gave you that idea?" and they say "feel your chin" and I say "hmm.." and reach for my shaver.

Otherwise I'd likely never give a thought to facial hair and the ugly process of shaving and eventually end up looking like Alan Moore.

17:16 / 23.04.02

I love beards. I have a full one from time to time and even when I don't I'm usually several days into stubble-land. There does seem to be quite a social stigma about beards however. 'he must be hiding something' etc... I just don't dig the whole 'scrape your face with a sharp piece of metal' thing.

I also don't get the societies obsession with hair removal at all. With women or men. Could someone explain?

I did see a ginger guy on the train once who had a 0 shaved head with a braided goatee of several inches. Looked very cool (& hot).

17:32 / 23.04.02

I love my beard, although with my shaven head I've been likened to Stone Cold Steve Austen, Moby, or an Escaped Mental Patient (although not necessarily in that order).

20:05 / 23.04.02

it's like having a hamster or kitten near at hand, whenever you need something soft to touch.

mmm.

20:17 / 23.04.02

i'm still waiting for god to grant me the ability to grow a full beard. i went with a beatnick style goatee this past winter. now that i've seen pictures of myself with it i'm glad i shaved it off!

20:41 / 23.04.02

Ahh, goaties - requires a certain sunken-cheeked Marxist thing to pull it off, I feel. It's not for me.
Rizla, it would be highly amusing if you went for that Alan Moore image. But you'd look more like John-boy from the Waltons trying to be Alan Moore, which would be absurd I suppose,- ah well.

There's only so many things you can get away with when it comes to beards and moustaches. I wouldn't mind being able to grow a mad handlebar moustache (a la Lord Kitchener/Gurdjieff/Greg Norton from Husker Du) but when it came to going to work and stuff, it would just not be happening at all.

09:27 / 24.04.02

I can see now that episode of The Waltons..

"Pa, I think it's time we admitted something ain't right with the boy."

(bellowed from a distant room)"A SKELETON HORSE!!"

"I think you've got a point there, Ma."

Mad handlebar moustaches / mutton chop whiskers should always be happening in any kind of decent world.

But let us spare a thought for the scariest facial hair ever devised:
sideburns leading into beard, but no moustache.

09:58 / 24.04.02

I also don't get the societies obsession with hair removal at all. With women or men. Could someone explain?

smooth skin and no stubble rash. s'a tactile thing.

i really don't get the current penchant for men of my generation to grow beards -- it's disconcerting; it makes them look like they're trying to be taken seriously as adults and most of the time all it is is sheer laziness because they can't be bothered with shaving (i have a lot of male friends, so this isn't just an assumption so much as an observation).

what's even more disconcerting is when you see someone who used to be in the class two years below you at primary school, and you haven't seen 'em since you moved up to secondary school. that's always disconcerting enough, trying to figure out where you recognise them from, but it's even more so when they have a beard and all you've got to go on is the eyes. plus, it makes you feel really old when there's a guy with a beard who you last saw aged 9 crying his eyes out coz he scraped his knee playing football...

10:11 / 24.04.02

i really don't get the current penchant for men of my generation to grow beards -- it's disconcerting; it makes them look like they're trying to be taken seriously as adults and most of the time all it is is sheer laziness because they can't be bothered with shaving

You get this sort of thing a lot if you have a beard. Someone assumes that you are doing it to be taken seriously and then is all dismissive when its more about convenience. Its like you are being asked, "What are you trying to prove?" the whole time. I mean, ffs, its only a beard. I quite like 'em, but I don't have a serious point to make by having one.

What certainly happens if you have a beard is that you get reactions to it. I had some random woman stroke mine for a good couple of minutes at a club on the weekend. But I equally get barely restrained expressions of disgust that I would ever consider having facial hair. Its odd, to say the least.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

10:16 / 24.04.02

I'm sometimes beardy out of pure laziness. Hate the damn things, but don't trust myself with a blade either. (Electric one's broken, doncha know.) BUT I am gonna start making the effort, ever since Sunday when one of my oldest friends said "doesn't [insert your best guess at Stoatie's real name here] remind you of Shane MacGowan... and I don't mean in a cool way."