How Do You Know If You Can’t Grow A Beard?

How do you know if you can’t grow a beard if you have patchy hair growth?

Stop shaving and monitor your facial hair growth over the next few weeks. Each man is different and hair growth isn’t the same for every guy so you may need to let your hair grow out for up to several weeks or longer. Observe any patchy or thin areas that you may need to address. Even if your beard is patchy to start with, the more you let it grow out the more you can potentially hide the thin spots with future hair growth. Don’t give up too early as men often do even if your beard becomes itchy which it may.

Having said that, does a beard even suit you? What if another facial hair option might look better?

Facial hair doesn’t suit every man. Ask people close to you for their honest advice if you’re not sure.

How do you know if you can't grow a beard? Other facial hair options to consider. — Just a few facial hair styles. Which one(s) suit(s) you?

I Can’t Grow A Beard But I Want To

If you’ve already tried to grown a beard and failed, there are a number of things you can try to deal with your personal situation. Having said that, growing a beard isn’t something that happens overnight even for guys who grow facial hair quickly.

It may take several weeks or longer to grow a full beard and if you have patchy or light facial hair growth, it might take longer.

Give it time and have patience.

Even if you have patchy facial hair, if you give up too soon you’ll never know how well you can grow a decent beard. Growing a beard takes time. The longer you grow it, the more hair you’ll have to cover up patchy parts.

Below are a series of thoughts for when you have already tried to grow a beard and failed.

What To Do If You Can’t Grow A Beard

There are a number of ways to grow a beard or other form of facial hair that may better suit you. Here are a sequence of options to try.

Stop Shaving and Don’t Give Up Too Early

Maybe you’re never tried to grow facial hair before.

Step one: Stop shaving.

Step 2: See what you look like after 2, 3, 5, 7 days or how ever long it takes to grow enough facial hair to see if you like the look and if you have a problem with patchy or thin facial hair growth.

And if you did grow a beard previously but gave up, try longer this time. How do you know if you can’t grow a beard if you don’t give your facial hair a chance to fully grow?

Growing a beard takes time even for fast facial hair growers. And it might take longer than you think.

Try The Stubble Look

So now you’ve stopped shaving for at least a few days. How does it feel? The so-called 5 o’clock shadow suits many guys. And the 5 o’clock shadow look is also pretty easy to maintain. You just don’t shave! You do use clippers to keep the hair at the desired length, though.

If your hair is patchy and can’t grow in fully, it’s a possibility to consider. As with baldness on your head, the shorter your hair, the less you will notice hair loss. Same with facial hair. You can still grow the facial hair but just not into a full beard where patchiness or thin facial hair is as noticeable.

Stubble is a facial hair option if you can't grow a beard. — Here’s a stubble look that suits the face and overall look very well.

Try To Grow a Goatee or Mustache

So you tried the 5 o’clock shadow option and maybe you didn’t like the look. Or perhaps patchiness and thin facial hair growth is still noticeable and doesn’t suit you.

Try a goatee or mustache.

They’re easier to grow (ie. less hair to worry about growing in) and may suit you better.

A simple mustache is easy to maintain. Honestly, I’ve never thought about growing a mustache by itself as I think that only certain men look good with one. And I’m not one of those dudes.

These days, it feels like an outdated look unless you go for something unique. Long handlebar mustaches are quite unique and cool looking in my opinion.

A goatee is a modern, popular look with many styles (see the graphic above for a short list) that probably won’t go out of style. It’s popular with athletes, celebrities, business people and the general public alike.

Patchy facial hair growth often grows around the cheek areas and since a goatee doesn’t have to grow on the cheeks, you might be home free.

See a Doctor

Looks for underlying issues that might inhibit hair growth and get a professional opinion before taking medication or other topical hair products as mentioned below. Maybe you have a nutritional deficiency to address or supplement you can take. It’s better to find an underlying issue to address and to find out whether paying for a hair growth product is even worth the time and money first.

Ask About Minoxidil

And while you’re at the doctor, ask about the possibility of taking Minoxidil. You probably know this chemical better as ROGAINE. A number of men suggest they’ve experienced beard growth in previously hard to grow areas after using Minoxidil. While not approved specifically for beard growth, ROGAINE seems to be used frequently by men for this purpose.

A hair growth product may assist you to grow a more substantial beard.

Considerations

What to do if you can't grow a beard? — A goatee is a great look combined with a shaved head.

What if you’re balding but can’t grow a beard? Losing hair on your head is often a great time to consider shaving your head and growing a goatee which is what I did. It’s a popular, modern look and the facial hair tends to put the focus on your face and not your bald head.

A shaved head takes care of the balding and a goatee – as mentioned above – might take care of the patchy beard problem.

The lighter your hair colour the less noticeable your beard will be. Consider dying your beard if you don’t like the color or to fix a two-tone hair shade.

Don’t forget to brush your beard. You can use a regular plain old black comb or grab yourself a beard brush. It’ll help keep your beard clean and nicely formatted.

Consider using beard oil. Beard oil helps to moisturize your skin and facial hair. Scented oils leave a nice fresh smell too. It can also help make coarse facial hair softer and easier to manage.

Bonus #1: Growing a beard is easier on your face. A beard = less/no shaving = less irritated skin and ingrown hairs if either are a problem for you.

Bonus #2: You look older. If you have a babyish face, a beard or other facial hair tends to make you look more mature.

How do you know if you can't grow a beard? Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was this beard. — How do you know if you can’t grow a beard? Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was this beard.

Conclusion

Growing a beard takes time, maybe up to several weeks. How do you know if you can’t grow a beard if you give up too early?
The more you let your beard grow, the more likely the growth can cover up bald or patchy spots and make them less noticeable.

If you simply can’t grow a full beard – many men can’t – consider growing stubble, a goatee, mustache or other popular facial hair style that might better suit you.
Consider going to the doctor to check for underlying health or nutritional issues before buying a topical or other hair growth product.
Your beard hair color might not match the hair on your head so consider coloring your facial hair if you don’t like the look.

Growing facial hair has benefits such as being easier on your skin (ie. no shaving) and making you look more mature.