13 Sure Signs That You’re a True Pogonophile (Explained)

You probably had your doubts but were never quite sure if you are a pogonophile.

You like beards, you wear one, generally notice other people with beards around you, and love the feel of a beard underneath your fingers.

Is this what it takes to identify as a pogonophile?

Actually, there is a bit more to it and we explain it all within our article.

After you’re done reading, you’ll know exactly what this term stands for, what are the exact ways of defining a person who is a pogonophile, and also bust the myth whether girls, even though they don’t have facial hair, can be called pogonophiles.

What Is a Pogonophile

A pogonophile is a person who loves beards. It refers to any man who loves to grow a beard or a woman who finds men with beards of any kind rather dashing and attractive.

If you are a pogonophile man, you cannot bear the thought of having to shave off your glorious facial hair – that is, of course, unless there is a very damning reason that forces you to do so. As a pogonophile, you will do anything to maintain the health and look of your beard.

What Are The Benefits

Believe it or not, you will be able to discover quite a lot of benefits from becoming a pogonophile. Although it takes a lot of time and discipline to grow a majestic beard, you will realize that it will all be worth it in the end. To convince you to take the plunge, here are some of the biggest benefits that you can expect from it:

Makes You Look More Masculine

It is not surprising to see women who find men with beards to be a lot more masculine than those who are clean-shaven. In general, people find a man with facial hair more dominant and seems more mature than one who does not rock any facial hair whatsoever, but there is still something about facial hair that makes you more masculine. Moreover, growing a beard will instantly make you look more manly and mature if you have a weak jawline or a baby face.

Saves Time in the Morning

Being a pogonophile who grows facial hair is also beneficial. It is hassle-free since you no longer have to shave the area. Although you will still need to treat your beard with certain products to keep it looking neat and clean, it is still faster than having to go through all the motions of shaving.

Teaches Patience and Discipline

Your decision to grow a beard because you being a pogonophile is also good for you as it teaches you patience and discipline. Note that the whole process of growing a full beard is not as easy as most people think. It will take months before you can start to form the foundation of a good beard.

Between then and now, you will be going through quite a lot of challenges, like the urge to shave it all off because it itches a lot, or the growth seems patchy. Moreover, you will be grooming your beard a lot, but you can rest assured that it will not be as hassle as daily shaving.

Despite that, you will need the discipline to push through with that, which is a great way to practice this important life skill. If you are a beginner in growing your beard, you will find out how hard it is for those men with full, lush beards to go through the whole process and get to where they are now.

Benefits of Growing a Beard

Aside from being a full-blown pogonophile, many other benefits of growing a beard should motivate you to give it a go. The following are just a few of them.

Your Beard Can Be Your Trademark

If you are the only bearded gentleman in your group of friends, then you will be much easier to identify. If someone new joins your social circles, the odds are that they will remember who you are even after just meeting with you once.

You Will Stand Out From the Crowd

Growing a beard is a bit difficult, which is why not all men do it. For this reason, you and your beard will easily stand out in a crowd. For instance, your supervisors will most likely remember you in your workplace and focus on your contributions compared to the other clean-shaven, generic-looking men in your office.

You Will Learn Temperance and Discipline

During the first few weeks of growing a beard, you will be suffering from extreme itchiness as the short hair with stubble will be causing your face and neck to itch. If you are adamant about growing a beard, you will learn to think through the discomfort for a long enough time until the discomfort will be gone. People who have weak discipline will shave off their beards at the first sign of discomfort.

Can Be a Great Hobby

Growing and maintaining a beard in itself can be an excellent way to pass the time. You can learn about skin and facial hair care while researching products that you can use. It is also a great way to gather many helpful tips that will help make the beard-growing process a lot more bearable.

You can discover new and exciting ways to style your beard. It is even possible for you to join beard contests and various conventions. Aside from that, you can interact with other like-minded pogonophiles.

Health Benefits of Growing a Beard

Offers Warmth During the Winter

Your fully grown beard can help keep you warm during the winter. You no longer even have to wear scarves during the winter if you could grow a full and thick beard successfully. You might think that this is a joke, but you will discover that a beard can provide quite a bit of warmth.

Filters Allergens From the Air

Another great advantage of having a beard is that it serves as a filter to keep pollen and other allergens from reaching your nose. If you have a walrus mustache, it will be thick enough that it can prevent particulate matter as large as pollen from getting in your nose and triggering your allergic reactions. However, since the particles are stuck in your mustache and beard, you need to wash and brush them off as soon as you can.

Offers Protection to the Skin Underneath

A full beard provides an effective barrier against the harmful UV rays of the sun. A beard is better than any sunblock lotion as it can prevent even a bit of the sun’s rays. If you work long hours under the sun, you may end up with wrinkled and leathery skin after a while. Growing a beard and applying proper skincare products to the exposed skin on your face can surely protect it from irreversible damage.

Offers Protection From Bacterial Infections

Different types of bacteria naturally exist on the surface of the skin. Every time you shave, your razor can create many tiny cuts on the surface even though the result might look smooth. These tiny cuts are enough for bacteria to get in and cause various kinds of infections, like acne and other blemishes.

Signs That You Are a Pogonophile

Just having a beard does not automatically make you a pogonophile. Any man, to a certain extent, can grow a beard. However, to become a true pogonophile, you have to subscribe to the bearded lifestyle.

To be certain, here are the seven sure signs that you are a pogonophile and must embrace the fact you can not change your ways:

1. Finding the Man in the Room

There you are at a crowded party; everyone seems to be having fun conversing with one another. You have had your share of fun and flirty conversations, but nothing has really rocked your world yet.

Then it happens, that bearded wonder strolls to the center of the room and every non-disabled female in a 100-foot radius just went on high alert.

When you talk to people, you can only hear muffled tones as his beard is like the beacon on a lighthouse, calling you to talk with him.

Regardless of his relationship status or yours, you can not resist the idea of getting up close and personal and listening to him talk.

2. Facial Hair Obsession

For guys growing a beard, it really is a labor of love. Most guys are not up to the task and begin shaving at the first signs of discomfort.

This is more than a labor of love; it is an all-consuming passion that takes over his everyday life.

This guy wakes up in the morning and cares for his beard, he takes breaks at work to clean out any food trapped in the facial hair, and he makes sure that his beard is ready for a night out on the town, slaying all those ladies.

His beard isn’t just facial hair. His beard speaks about his personality; it’s his friend and his wingman.

3. That Irresistible Itch

One of the ways you can tell if you are a pogonophile is how you feel about your man’s beard.

If you find that you spend more time online shopping for beard oil, beard wax, beard balm and beard shampoo, then you have what it takes to join this elusive club.

When the hair on your man’s face gets you all warm inside, when you dream of snuggling on the couch so his beard can rub you the right way, and you often find your fingers lost in his facial hair, it is time to admit to yourself that you can no longer control the fact you are a pogonophile at heart.

4. Lost in Love

Take a good look at your choice of music in the home or car. Do you find that you are gravitating towards Axel Rose, Jerry Garcia and ZZ Top?

Perhaps your fascination is with the beards on these talented musicians and not so much their music after all.

Have you recently transformed Country music and are not sure what is happening to your taste in music.

Perhaps it has nothing to do with age and it is more about you falling for those guys with the dark stubble, long beards, cowboy hats and chiseled abs.

Take a closer look at the covers of all those CDs you play on a loop in your car; you might discover that they all have one thing in common after all, guys with beards rocking their instruments and hitting all the right notes with you.

5. Changing Your Routines

The days of playing golf with friends or taking in a football game are replaced by watching lumberjack competitions or strong men championships.

You would rather stare at guys with thick, gnarly, wild beards chopping down trees or lifting 1000 pounds over their head than take in a local sporting event.

If you notice that all the sporting events you are starting to watch have guys with no helmets and long beards, you might want to clear a spot on your mantle for your pogonophile trophy because you are definitely part of the club now.

When soccer, rugby, and weight lifting replaces football, golf, and swimming, you got the bug.

If you find that November is your favorite month of the year because most guys are not shaving for the cause, admit it; you are obsessed with everything beard-related.

6. Definition of Insanity

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different result. When it comes to beards, however, there has to be an exception here to the rule.

Have you found yourself at the local hardware store buying things you will never use in your life only because the guy working the counter has a studly man beard?

If you are driving to the store again and again and again, hoping one day this bearded wonder will rip off his shirt, carry you to his pick-up truck and drive away with you to his log cabin in the mountains, you are in the higher class of pogonophile.

Your desire for a good-looking beard has consumed you to the point you have lost control of all rational thinking.

7. Your Choice in Films

With blockbuster movies costing millions to produce and ticket prices on the rise, are you spending more time watching certain movies again and again?

When your selections in movies and television shows revolve around Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt, it might be time to look at the men and their beards and not so much the subject matter.

When you find yourself watching more romantic shows on the Hallmark Channel with shirtless actors who have beards and a sculpted frame, you are no longer able to think with the working part of your brain.

8. You Want to Pay for the Best Beard Care Products

You know how hard it was to grow your beard to a length and thickness that you like. Because of that, you have no qualms about spending money on effective beard care products. Money is no object when it comes to keeping your beard nice and healthy.

9. Buying Products Specifically Because There Is a Beard

You might not notice it at all, but the images of a beard influence your spending habits. For instance, you might not have liked the previous releases of the God of War video game series, but you cannot help yourself from getting the latest God of War 5 because Kratos now has a beard. You also can’t help yourself from cheering for James Harden even though you are not a fan of the Houston Rockets.

10. Growing a Beard Is Your Passion

You would not have endured the nearly maddening itchiness that came with growing a beard if you are not passionate about having it. Now that you have a full beard, you cannot even imagine that a day will come when you have to shave it all off.

11. You Strongly Believe in Beard Attributes

You believe that your beard is a part of what makes you who you are. It is a permanent part of your personality. You also believe that having a beard is more than just an aesthetic choice. Moreover, you also believe that your life had improved greatly when you decided to grow a beard.

12. Actively Searching Out Other Men With Beards

Whenever you are invited to any social gathering, you find yourself actively looking for other people with beards while having the confidence to strike up a conversation with them – that is, aside from socializing with other guests. Whether sharing beard care tips, product recommendations, or others, pogonophiles will always have something to talk about.

13. You Always Carry Your Beard Brush/Comb With You

Check the bag of any pogonophile and you will surely find a beard brush or comb, maybe even both. Pogonophiles are usually seen grooming their beards and mustaches. It is because aside from being easily messed up, there is also something relaxing about running your favorite brush through your beard.

How to Identify If You Are One

There is a difference between someone who just grew a beard out of laziness to shave and a true pogonophile. Here are some usual steps and tips that will help in identifying a pogonophile:

Step 1 – Styling your beard before going out

Regular bearded gentlemen usually do not care about how their beards look. Their beards would usually look dry and disheveled. It actually makes your face itch just by looking at them.

A non-pogonophile beard looks uneven, and overall, the person looks very unprofessional. With that in mind, the first step to determining if you are a pogonophile is if you frequently style your facial hair.

Step 2 – You dress well

A person who lets his beard grow out usually does not care what he looks like. He does not put any effort into how he looks, and it definitely shows. A true pogonophile not only grooms the hair on his head and face but also wears clothes that complement their marvelous facial hair.

Step 3 – Your beard always looks shiny and smells great

Beard care products are quite expensive, and one of the reasons it is so is that true pogonophiles are more than willing to spend an exorbitant amount of money on them.

This is not to say that the product’s quality is not equivalent to their price. The materials used are actually quite expensive as well. So, if you are uncomfortable if your beard does not look shiny and smell great using certain beard products, then there is a chance that you are a pogonophile.

Step 4 – You often go to places where bearded men are in the limelight

Pogonophiles are usually supportive of other bearded gentlemen. It seems that they suddenly developed a bias towards men with beards the moment they started growing their facial hair.

Among those occasions and places where pogonophiles usually congregate are ZZ Top concerts. Start asking yourself if you frequent such places as doing so may indicate that you are indeed a pogonophile.

Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• Let the beard grow. This means you should resist the urge to shave your beard completely. Deal with the itch by using proper beard care products.
• Only trim when necessary. Trim your beard minimally and only if needed. It would be best to do the trimming only if your facial hair is getting out of control. It would also be good to have your barber do it for you.
• Purchase quality beard care products. Use the right beard and mustache care products. Avoid letting your beard get too dry. For instance, invest in good beard oil and balm. Such products can keep the hair moisturized and easier to tame.
• Own a good beard brush/comb. Invest in a good beard brush and comb. You will be using these implements quite often for training and styling your facial hair.
• Train your beard daily. Brush your beard in the direction that you want them to go.
• Be patient with your beard. Give your beard enough time to grow before you even think of styling it.

Don’ts

• Do not let your beard grow uncontrolled. Do not wait for your beard to grow out before you start brushing it. Even while the beard is in the early stages of growth, you need to start combing and/or brushing it so it will go the way you want it to.
• Do not use regular shampoo. Use the same product on your beard that you use for your hair.
• Do not forget about the skin underneath the beard. You need to take care of the skin underneath the beard so the hair will be healthy.
• Do not color your beard. Dying or bleaching your beard can cause irreparable damage.
• Do not give up on the growth process. Even if it is not growing the way you want it to, be patient and give it more time. Eventually, you will see successful results from the process.

FAQ 

Can a woman be a pogonophile?

There are actually quite a lot of women who are pogonophiles. It means they have a fetish towards men with beards. It is completely normal and is socially acceptable, just like “chubby chasers” or those who are only attracted toward plus-sized people.

You can easily spot a female pogonophile mainly because they will be the ones coming after you.

Where does the word pogonophile come from?

The word pogonophile comes from the Greek words “pogon,” which means “beard,” and “philia,” which means “love.” The dictionary definition of pogonophile is the love and/or study of beards. However, this is not entirely true. Pogonophilia is a lifestyle choice and also a passion for most pogonophiles.