5 reasons you NEED to grow a beard

There are many reasons to grow a beard but here are the top 5.

1. No more cutting yourself shaving:

Oh god, I remember the days I had to wake up an hour early to shave my damn face.  I remember trying literally every single razor out there.  I remember being tired and bleary eyed and staring in the mirror watching with disgust as the blood dripped down my neck after cutting myself yet again.  I hated the little squares of toilet tissue that I had to place on my face to sop up the blood as I drove to work.  I DESPISED the many times I was dressed and ready to leave for work only to see blood spots now seeping into my crisp white oxford.  Or waking up in a rush, having a quick shave and hopping into the car only to notice I had missed a spot and now looked ridiculous.

What an absolute waste of time!

These days, I jaunt out of bed, grab a workout and a shower, comb my beard, grab a cup of coffee and away I go.

2. No more painful and unsightly razor burn

The second reason you should grow a beard is to get rid of that terrible razor burn.  

In addition to being a large man with a ginger beard, I also have the ultimate misfortunate of getting horrific razor burn.  Yeah those stupid, horrendous little neck bumps that are the bane of dried out skin and crappy razors.  When I was cleanshaven, I was never been able to get rid of them, ever.  I’ve done dry shaves with electric razors, wet shaves with the Mach 73 or however many blades they use, I’ve used the safety razors and finally settling on learning to shave with a straight, cutthroat razor and a boar bristle brush.

But the bumps persist.

I even began taking ice cold showers as I read they were healthier and shaved in the cold water which honestly did reduce my razor burn but nothing ever got rid of it.

Then I grew a beard and my neck is now baby soft and hasn’t had a bump in years.

3. Growing a beard saves you a TON OF MONEY

Growing a beard at its most basic form, you only need a comb and some form of conditioner.  Forget buying razors, shaving cream, aftershave, styptic pencils or pretty much anything.  For those of you that had to buy those horrendously overpriced, multi bladed razor attachments that come 3 for $30 or so , my heart goes out to you.  Such nonsense because you know as well as I do, no one ever tosses those blades when they’re supposed to, we try to milk as much life out of them as possible which only ends up shredding our face even worse with its dullness.

4. Having a beard preserves your face

One thing no one ever tells you about aftershave is that alcohol dries out your face and makes you look wayyyy older than you actually are.  And for the younger gents reading this, it’s not a good look.  You end up looking like a used up football.

The beard also preserves the oils around your skin and keeps your face hydrated. 

5.  Having a beard improves your self-confidence and increases your social circle

As any social dynamics or psychology book worth the paper it’s written on; people are naturally curious and they are drawn to things that catch their eye.  In other words, people are drawn to those who are interesting looking, those who stick out. 

If you've ever perused through the pick-up community, no doubt you've heard of the concept of “peacocking” where guys would dress ridiculously to stick out like sore thumbs in the crowd. 

Sometimes it worked, most times it failed miserably. 

These days, those guys would be referred to as “try-hards”, people who look like they’re spending way too much effort to stand out in the crowd.  They look pathetic.

However, growing a beard naturally allows you to discern yourself from the crowd and be an individual.  This, done to the correct extent, makes you far more memorable in life and being remembered for good things like your impeccable style, epic beard and poignant courtesy are the things that get you hired, get you promoted, get you your dream partner and get you a far more diverse friend circle.

On top of all this, people are less likely to intimidate you.

Probably one of the biggest things I’ve noticed is that having a beard has a strange effect on people.  They are less likely to be a dick to you, they are more polite to you.  You naturally command respect among peers and strangers alike.

On the flip side, you are not seen as a threat to other genders.  Middle aged, clean shaven men won’t make eye contact with you but every dude with a beard or a large moustache ends up being your friend wherever you go.  The female gender in general, despite what all the women’s magazines would have you think about the beard "trend" being dead, will find you FAR MORE APPROACHABLE than you probably ever thought possible.  You will automatically have a leg up over any clean shaven competition. 

And that also goes for whoever you may be trying to attract.  Bearded always trumps cleanshaven.

Now, I’m not saying that just by growing a beard, you’re going to be all kinds of cool, it’s not magic.  But it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Until next time- BG.