To Facial Hair or Not To Facial Hair?


EarlJibbs
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I have a silly blog that I do not keep up very much and wanted to share my post here with my pals. It is Mustachemayforever.blogspot.com.

I have been growing out my beard now for quite some time. I actually trimmed it about a half inch a week ago and I regret it. There are those of us that struggle with the indecision of keeping our facial hair. I have composed a list of Pros and Cons of keeping your facial hair. Since I currently sport a beard. I will hit on those points. Please consider carefully.

Pros:

If your beard is full, it gives you an intimidation factor wherever you go. Combine your beardiness with a mustached brother and you will obtain an ultimate intimidation factor.

You will appear even more religious at church. Even if you do not know the answer, run your fingers through your beard, close your eyes and nod. No one will bother you.

Your beard can hold up to an extra 10 lbs. of water for emergencies.

If you are unsightly to begin with, a beard covers most of your face.

In others eyes you will automatically know how to chop down trees and build a house. Your strength will also double.

You do not have to shave.

By not shaving you do not have razor rash.

It holds in the warmth in the winter and keeps the sun off in the summer.

What woman doesn't like a beard? It only irritates a ladies face in its youth. After that, it is silky soft.

If you have a chubby face, it not only hides it, the extra chub only makes the beard look that much larger.

Cons:

If your beard is not full or thick, you will just look like a creeper.

A not full beard combined with a not full mustached brother will land you in jail.

Your beard can hold up to 10 lbs. of drool.

If your beard is not full, it will not help with unsightliness, it will only magnify it.

You may be asked to do more heavy lifting and help with projects around the neighborhood.

Eating anything that has sauce in it, will surely end up in your beard.

Drinking too fast out of a glass will result in water spilling out of the sides of your mouth. You no longer will have that seal.

You very well be mistaken for a homeless man. (maybe not a con?)

So there you have it. Mostly, your cons of having a beard have to do with how nice it comes in. If your beard is too juvanile and thin, the beard and mustache may not be the best fit. Unless, that is, if you are going for that creepy bring me your children look.

What other pros and cons can you think of?

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I like a well-kept beard on a guy. My late husband had them off and on during his life and they didn't bother me. Sometimes the son grows a beard. At his age, when he has a beard, he looks like the perfect grad student. It's a nice look.

On the other hand, I've been in school with guys who had 'Duck Dynasty,' 'ZZTop' kinds of beards and they're awful. Food in the beard is a real turnoff.

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My ex told me that kissing me with a beard was like kissing my arm-pit, although how she knows what it's like is a mystery to me. In any case, whenever I grow a beard it's out of laziness. Goatees are a different story, that's out of rebellious feelings so when I have the hankering to do that, I have analyze why.

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What other pros and cons can you think of?

It's related to sauces, but the pleasure of blowing bubbles with bubble gum will be denied you with a beard.

Con: My wife won't kiss me.

Pro: It itches something fierce. No, wait, that's a con, too.

Have you grown a beard in fully? I find whiskers will itch for a week or two and then it subsides. I can understand not wanting to put up with breaking past the itch barrier, I'm just curious if your itch observation is based on having had a beard or trying to grow one?

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I think I've said so before, but I LOVE my husband's beard. I do prefer him to trim around his mouth to make smooching easier. :) He keeps it neat though, and a neat beard makes me swoony. I think it goes back to my childhood crushes on Josh Lewis of Guiding Light, my mom's "show":

Posted Image

Strangely, I remember him with a full beard, but now I can only find images of a scant beard or goatee on him. My husband has a full beard and while I like a goatee on him, I think the full beard (thick but well-trimmed) is my favorite.

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How awesome we have this thread right now. I have been worried about beardedness lately. As you know, I don't really know a lot of things about church/lds culture. Well, my hubby has been working insane hours lately, just so much over time. Really he worked 77 hours last week and has been at it for a few weeks now. Next week looks the same. He works for a major electronics and appliance chain that you are probably familiar with if you live in the U.S. He is also a full-time student. Christmas season is usually crazy, so yes he has been working on Sunday....and has not bothered to shave for a little while now. He tried one night at my behest, but after running the water and getting the cream on he was so sleepy and wobbly I told him to just forget it, spare his face and go to bed.

He actually was only awake for about 1/2 hour after he got home today. About 5 minutes for greetings, dinner, a quick shower and bed. Whew.

Well, the point is he has a beard now. At first I cringed completely, prickly yuck, and it may seem really weird to you, but he is cranky when he has a beard. Now it is all soft and if he trimmed it up around the edges a bit it would look really nice too. But I don't think he is really supposed to have one. Actually I got the sense that it would be a kind of no-no. He has been fairly clean-shaven since he was called to EQP right after getting the priesthood.

He plans to shave it off whenever he gets a day off, until then we do have the occasional member stop by for something, he goes by the church to sign checks and things, and we still have the missionaries with the investigator/new member they are teaching over once a week or so, sometimes he needs to give a blessing. How bad of a thing could this potentially be? Personally, the longer he has it the more attractive I find it.

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Have you grown a beard in fully? I find whiskers will itch for a week or two and then it subsides. I can understand not wanting to put up with breaking past the itch barrier, I'm just curious if your itch observation is based on having had a beard or trying to grow one?

I once grew out my beard for six weeks. Scraggly on the sides, but I shaved it into a very creditable goatee. Never stopped itching. Granted that I have a slow-growing beard, you would still think that six weeks would be enough time for it to stop itching.

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If the bishop or EQP hasn't said anything about it, don't worry about it. Actually long working hours pushed him to stop shaving, and we've both liked the beard, so he's kept it. He did keep himself shaven while he was in the EQP, but that was a personal choice, not a mandate by ward leadership. I think our EQPres might have a goatee. . . I can't remember.

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I heard a story once about a man, supposedly in our stake (though I suspect the story is really an apocryphal fable), who grew out his beard while in some calling or other. The bishop is said to have taken him aside and asked him, "If I asked you to shave, would you?" The man replied, "Yes, if you asked me to." Whereupon the bishop said, "Okay, that's all I wanted to know." Nothing more was ever said.

Whether this experience actually happened or not, it reflects my own feelings. Obviously, there is nothing intrinsically evil about a beard (unless you ask Sister Vort, who will insist that only Satan himself is bearded). But if we are too proud to shave when asked to shave by our Priesthood leaders, that's a problem -- not because of the beard, but because of the pride.

Missionaries, mission presidents, and General Authorities are all expected to be clean-shaven. It's possible that stake presidencies and bishoprics are, too -- off the top of my head, I don't recall any bearded bishops. I have heard that temple ordinance workers are also expected to remain clean-shaven.

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Missionaries, mission presidents, and General Authorities are all expected to be clean-shaven. It's possible that stake presidencies and bishoprics are, too -- off the top of my head, I don't recall any bearded bishops. I have heard that temple ordinance workers are also expected to remain clean-shaven.

We currently have a Bishop in our Stake with a goatee. I always thought Bishops needed to be clean shaven, however for some reason this young Bishop is allowed to have a goatee.

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My good friend's husband was unemployed for a long time. He's also had a beard for years. The night before he interviewed for a church job, his stake president asked him if he had faith enough to shave off his beard for the interview. He did, and got the job. Of course there's no way to know if he wouldn't have, had he kept the beard.

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That is so funny about Sister Vort :o

I'm starting to like his beard. I just want to scratch it and rub it. Though I do tease him about that 'Searching for Sasquatch' show. I told my sister that if she hears talk of 'Sasquatch Among Us' she is to notify us immediately so that hubby can go into hiding. :D

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Well, the point is he has a beard now. At first I cringed completely, prickly yuck, and it may seem really weird to you, but he is cranky when he has a beard. Now it is all soft and if he trimmed it up around the edges a bit it would look really nice too. But I don't think he is really supposed to have one. Actually I got the sense that it would be a kind of no-no. He has been fairly clean-shaven since he was called to EQP right after getting the priesthood.

The Church used to be more opinionated about facial hair. It is becoming less so. My current bishop has a beard (although he intends to wear it only through Movember, so I don't think that really counts).

If ever called to a bishopric or as a bishop, I fully intend to keep my goatee. I don't see that calling being extended anytime soon though.

For a list of anecdotal evidence:

Why Mormons love Movember? By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog

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I once grew out my beard for six weeks. Scraggly on the sides, but I shaved it into a very creditable goatee. Never stopped itching. Granted that I have a slow-growing beard, you would still think that six weeks would be enough time for it to stop itching.

Well, even if it would stop itching by week seven and you just missed crossing the no itch threshold, 6 weeks of itch is a hefty price to pay for facial hair. For my part I've had goatee for ~4 years now.

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Well, even if it would stop itching by week seven and you just missed crossing the no itch threshold, 6 weeks of itch is a hefty price to pay for facial hair. For my part I've had goatee for ~4 years now.

I found that using a two-in-one with conditioner helped ease the transition from scratchy and itchy to comfy and soft. But the first few weeks of growth are pretty miserable until it takes.

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In my Stake there was a mandate that if you were in a bishopric or stake calling you would have to shave. When I was EQP I had some facial hair and the Stake Pres mentioned to my bishop that my facial hair was getting long, where in my bishop simply said, "he is doing a good job, makes his meetings and does as I ask him to. He can have his face look like whatever he wants"

When I was called into the Bishopric I was asked to keep clean shaven. We thought it was church wide, untill we went to a regional bishopric training and about half of the others there had facial hair. Our stake president upon seeing this, sought guidence from his higher ups and they stated they never said no facial hair. Stake Pres stuck with his ruling that he would like you to continue to shave. Although, there were some dismayed that this did not come down from "the bretheren" as stated before.

I am now the YM Pres so I think it is my duty to show a good beard :) I actually like to dye mine a darker black since it comes in a little blond in places. It's about time to do that again. Just for men, here I come!

Would I shave again if asked? If I felt that the asking was due to inspiration from the asker, then yes.

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Pro: nothing

Con: it hides my husband's strong square jawline.

Beards are for hiding ugly faces. Since I found my husband's face ultra-attractive I want to see the whole face - not hiding behind carpet. Not even a small inch-wide patch on the chin. Nah-uh.

And about the too busy to shave thing - yeah, my husband has been through that phase. I got him an electric shaver that he used in the car on the way to work when he can't find time to do a proper shave. And I cleaned the shaver for him before I went to bed.

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To each their own, I guess. I find my husband extremely attractive with his gotee. And I'm sure I'll find him just as attractive with a full on beard or clean shaven. I like him with a gotee. I think he looks dashing with one.

I am in full agreement. Hubba Hubba (is it just me, or did it just get weird in here?)

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