A lot of men have problems growing a suitable beard and it doesn’t matter if it is shorter or longer.
There are stages to growing a beard that we all have to respect.
This especially goes for a 3-month beard which has proven to be the trickiest to achieve.
A 3-month-long beard requires grooming and making adjustments and trims all the time.
You can’t sleep on this one and you definitely can’t disregard or skip steps.
It is easy to make mistakes and accidents that happen might ruin this entire endeavor for you.
We gathered all the most valuable pieces of information and made a step-by-step guide you can follow to accomplish the perfect 3-month facial hair style.
By the time you are done reading, you will know exactly how to start and those three months will simply pass like they were three days.
Table Of Contents
What Is A 3-Month Beard
A three-month beard is a beard growing continuously for three months. The beard grows at an average of half an inch in a month.
As such, the average length of a three-month beard is 1.5 inches. Of course, the beard growth rate differs from one individual to another.
Depending on your nutrition, genetics, lifestyle, and other factors, your three-month beard could be longer or shorter than 1.5 inches.
At three months, if you naturally grow a thick beard, you shouldn’t be able to see the jaw, chin, or lower cheeks.
However, men who grow modest beards could have some bald spots on the upper cheek area. The bald spots should continue filling as the months go by.
If, after three months, your beard doesn’t look like a natural beard in terms of length and thickness, this is a clear sign that you can’t grow a beard.
Benefits of Growing One
Easy Maintenance
Don’t get me wrong; growing a long and thick beard comes with its fair share of maintenance issues.
However, reaching that mark means never stressing about shaving the beard again.
No Ingrown Hairs
When you have grown your beard beyond the one-month or two-month mark, it also means never dealing with issues like razor bumps and ingrown hairs.
Ingrown hairs and razor bumps are rampant when you start growing a beard in the first few weeks. They can be annoying and discourage you from growing a beard ever again.
Versatility in Styling
With a long beard comes the ability to style your beard any way you choose. There are so many beard styles that you can choose from as long as you have the right tools and products.
With a one-month beard, there isn’t much you can do when it comes to styling, and you have to stick to a stubble until your beard is long enough to style.
How Does It Work
If you are thinking about not shaving your beard for three months, the result is a 1-to-2-inch unkempt beard.
The three-month beard is the most popular. With professional beard trimmers or a pair of beard scissors with an ergonomically designed handle, your three-month beard can look as good as you want it to.
Without trimming, however, at 12 weeks, such a beard will make you look unkempt and even homeless. And it’s even worse if your beard grows in patches.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A longer beard means never worrying about shaving it every other week. It cannot only save you money but time as well.
- With a longer beard, there is also the possibility of not dealing with ingrown hairs.
- A three-month beard does not come with razor bumps since you are not constantly shaving it.
- Such a long beard can also make you look more mature if you are going.
- You can also test out so many beard styles with such a long beard.
Cons
- A longer beard means an added time when it comes to everyday grooming.
- With a longer and thicker beard, you also use more products like beard relaxers and premium beard oils.
- If you don’t trim or groom your three-month beard, it can make you look homeless and unkempt.
Things to Do to Make It Grow Faster
Whether you’re growing your beard for the first time or a hundredth time, there is always that nagging question of how long it will take to achieve your desired length.
There are different beard growth stages, and beard growth rates differ from one individual to another. At the three-month mark, your beard may look completely different from another person’s.
It could be longer, shorter, thicker, or patchier. There are so many factors that affect the beard growth rate. So, what happens if, after three months, your beard has not reached the length or thickness you wanted?
Luckily, there are several measures you can take and products you can use to make the beard grow faster. They include the following:
Don’t Shave
The best way to ensure that your beard reaches the length and thickness you want is to leave it alone.
When you start growing a beard, you will have to deal with problems like itching and ingrown hairs in the first weeks.
However, if you can cruise past those and find ways of dealing with them, you are well on your way to a long, thick luscious mane.
One of the best ways of dealing with beard itch is using beard oil. While itchiness can occur even at three months, it’s nothing compared to what you will experience in the first few weeks of growing a beard.
Use Biotin
If your beard is not growing at the rate you want, you could try taking a biotin supplement. A biotin supplement is simply Vitamin B7, a water-soluble vitamin.
Biotin plays a vital role in the metabolism of glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids. But how does this supplement affect beard growth?
Biotin affects the production of keratin, a vital protein that makes up the nails, skin, and hair. When you have enough keratin in the body, your hair is healthier and thicker on the face and scalp.
Biotin also helps improve your skin health. The health of your skin is vital to support healthy beard growth.
Biotin also helps support the body’s essential functions, regulates blood sugar, and lowers cholesterol. A biotin deficiency can lead to skin problems, including dermatitis, acne, and itchiness.
When using biotin to speed up beard growth, you need to be very patient. Results won’t be immediate and, in some cases, you may not notice any changes.
Biotin works by strengthening your keratin structure to support healthy beard growth and that’s why you need to be patient.
Stick to a Healthy Diet
The saying, you are what you eat, could never be valid for beard growth. Your beard is affected by so many factors, including your diet.
A diet rich in vitamins A, B, C, and E is vital for a healthy beard. The same goes for iron, zinc, magnesium, silica, and selenium foods. Even more importantly, opting for a protein-rich diet will enhance the health of your beard.
Foods like eggs, chicken, fish, salmon, and yogurt should be part of your diet if you want a healthy beard.
Exercise
You don’t need to become a gym addict to grow a healthy beard. Regular exercise a few days a week will do.
Regular exercise helps improve your overall health and wellness, and when you are healthy, you shouldn’t have a problem growing a beard unless your genetics are the problem.
We cannot talk about exercising without mentioning testosterone levels. Testosterone is a male hormone responsible for sexual functions and hair growth. Testosterone also helps improve blood circulation, which is vital for facial hair growth.
Strengthening exercises like deadlifts, bench presses, rows, and squats can boost your testosterone levels, and the same goes with running.
Exercising also helps reduce stress, which can affect your beard growth rate.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep helps reduce stress, improves blood circulation, and enhances beard growth. How?
The body’s temperature drops when you sleep, leading to increased blood circulation, and accelerating beard growth.
Find Ways of Managing Stress
Stress can lead to all manner of health issues and it’s not something you want when you are trying to grow a beard.
Finding ways of reducing or dealing with stress can help improve your immunity which will, in turn, enhance facial hair growth.
Protect Your Skin
The health of your beard depends on the health of the skin underneath. One of the best ways to improve your skin health is using the right beard products.
Start by getting yourself the right beard shampoo that suits all your needs. Quality beard shampoo or beard wash can stimulate beard growth in the end.
Keeping the skin healthy is also important in getting rid of excess sweat, leading to skin irritation.
Apply beard shampoo or beard wash to the base of your facial hair and skin, massage it through the skin and beard and then rinse off.
Stop Smoking
Smoking puts your overall health at risk and influences how your facial hair grows. There is also evidence that smoking leads to hair loss.
If you are trying to grow a long beard, reduce smoking or quit altogether. If anything, this can be a great time to kick the habit.
How to Grow a Three-Month Beard
Step 1 – Lay down the razor
If you want to grow a three-month beard, there is only one thing you need to do, don’t trim it.
Allow your beard to grow out for three months without trimming if you want to achieve the right length and thickness.
Step 2 – Use the right products
During the first few weeks, you will have a lot of itching and ingrown hairs. These can be very uncomfortable and can make you shave your beard altogether.
Know what products to use. Beard oil, for instance, can help with itchiness. The best beard conditioner and beard shampoo can also help keep your beard soft and healthy as it continues to grow.
Step 3 – Maintain the beard well
As the beard grows in length, it can leave you looking unkempt if you don’t maintain it well. Your only choice is to trim it as you go.
Yes, to grow a beard to the full three-month length, you need to leave it be. But trimming here means lining the cheek line and cutting the neckline.
You can leave it to grow out naturally and start trimming after three months if you don’t need to look well-kept. The most important thing is to keep the beard clean.
How to Trim
Step 1 – Clean the beard
When it comes to trimming facial hair, you need to clean it first. Cleaning your beard before trimming helps soften the facial hairs.
First, get a beard shampoo that meets all your needs and doesn’t dry your beard. At the same time, the best beard conditioner will help replenish oils stripped away for a healthy-looking mane.
Step 2 – Dry and brush
Once you have a clean beard, pat it dry with a clean towel to remove excess water. You want the beard to be slightly humid when you are trimming it.
After removing excess water, use a beard comb or brush to remove any tangles and straighten the beard for east trimming.
Step 3 – Trim the neckline and cheek line
To have a well-proportioned beard, especially after growing it out for three months, you need to take care of the cheek lines and neckline. Trim these areas first to have a well-shaped long, and thick beard.
Step 4 – Trim the mustache
While you are growing a three-month beard, your mustache will also grow. Trim the mustache to your desired length using a pair of beard scissors or clippers.
But first, you need to brush down the mustache and then trim away any unwanted hairs that fall over the upper lip.
Step 5 – Trim the length
Use a beard trimmer for this step, making sure you start with the bigger guard working your way to a lower setting. You want to remove any hairs that fall out of place.
Trim the beard vertically, working your way downwards so that the hair doesn’t rise such that you end up taking huge chunks out of it.
Trim away the beard on each side to ensure that it’s symmetrical, brushing it back now and then to ensure that everything is in order.
At this stage, you should already have a style in mind to sculpt your beard to suit that.
Step 6 – Oil and moisturize
When trimming and shaping it, rinse your beard to remove any stray hairs, and then pat dry with a clean towel. While it’s still damp, apply some beard oil and massage it into the skin and hair.
At this point, you also need to think about styling the beard. The good thing about a three-month beard is that you can style it any way you want. The biggest debate about facial hair styling has always regarded the use of beard oil vs balm.
Both products are essential in maintaining a healthy beard, but beard balm helps more with styling. If you don’t want to style the beard, using beard oil alone should do.
If not, apply a good amount of beard balm and then massage it into the beard. Beard balm helps nourish the beard and also helps provide the right hold to your beard’s shape.
How to Maintain
Step 1 – Be patient
If you want an epic and impeccable beard, you need to exercise patience when growing it. You will go through a period of beard itchiness and ingrown hairs, but all that will be worth it when you have a long, thick, and luscious mane after three months.
Step 2 – Match the style to your face shape
When you’ve grown your beard to the desired length, you can experiment with any beard style. However, not all styles will suit you.
When trimming and styling your beard, choose a style that goes well with your face shape. Otherwise, you may end up looking weird.
Step 3 – Know when and how to trim
Trimming the beard is an essential part of maintaining a well-groomed appearance. However, you need to know when and how to trim it.
If you’ve decided to grow out your beard for three months, invest in quality professional beard trimmers and then master the proper trimming technique.
Step 4 – Wash regularly
This is an important step, especially in the early beard growth stages. Food particles and dead skin cells on the beard can exacerbate itching.
Washing and conditioning the beard is one of the most important steps when caring for your beard. And it’s not just about the facial hair but the skin underneath.
Scrub the beard a few times a week using a specialized beard cleanser to maintain the beard’s health and the skin underneath.
Step 5 – Use beard oil
Beard oil is a must-have in your beard grooming kit when you have a long or thick beard. However, knowing what beard oil to use can be tricky.
Some beard oils are too heavy; others are too shiny, while some can leave your beard looking and feeling drier. The only way to know what beard oil is correct is to experiment with a few.
However, you are better off choosing beard oil containing natural ingredients.
Step 6 – Learn how to train it
A regular trim here and there can help maintain the shape of your beard. However, there is more to that than just trimming. Training the beard is a vital part of growing a well-shaped beard.
A daily rubdown with a beard brush or comb helps untangle any knots, and it’s also a good way of training the beard to grow in the direction you want.
Step 7 – Take care of the mustache
Most people tend to forget about the mustache and only trim and maintain the beard. Your mustache is part of the equation and needs caring if you want an overall well-maintained appearance.
Clean your mustache, trim it regularly, and use a comb or brush to train it to grow in the direction you want.
At the same time, use beard oil and the world’s best beard balm on your mustache to nourish and shape it to your liking.
Step 8 – Fuel up
Your facial hair needs a solid foundation to look healthy and well-groomed, like a house needs bricks. Eating a healthy diet and using the right beard supplements can help promote the growth of a healthy beard.
Best Products to Use
Oil
Beard oil is one of those products you can’t afford to miss in your beard grooming kit. As the beard grows in length, it becomes more susceptible to dryness.
The only way to combat that is by applying beard oil. At the same time, when you start growing a beard, you will experience a lot of uncomfortable itching.
Beard oil helps relieve beard itching, nourishes the beard, and gives your beard that natural shine that makes it look well-kempt.
Balm
Like beard oil, beard balm helps nourish the beard, but it also does something extra. Beard balm comes in handy when you want to style the beard.
There are so many beard balms on the market, and it can be hard to find a balm that suits all your needs.
When you’re buying beard balm, you can never go wrong with products that contain natural ingredients.
Wax
Beard wax, like beard balm, helps style the beard. Beard wax has more hold than beard balm, though and it’s great if you have a longer beard.
Shampoo
Your beard at three months will be about 1.5 inches, thus, attracting dead skin cells, food particles, and dirt leaving you prone to itching.
To curb that, invest in a good beard shampoo that contains natural ingredients to ensure that your beard is well-nourished, clean, and moisturized.
Wash and Conditioner
Your beard will begin getting brittle at three months and feel drier than normal. A quality beard wash and beard conditioner can help replenish the moisture lost while strengthening your facial hair.
When washing your beard with beard products, make sure that you do that at most three times a week. Otherwise, your beard will weaken if you wash it too many times.
Comb and Brush
A beard comb and beard brush are a must-have when growing a beard for three months. A beard comb and brush can help remove tangles in the beard and distribute beard oils.
Most importantly, a beard brush and comb will do a wonderful job training your beard and mustache hairs to grow in the right direction.
Trimmer and Scissors
A trimmer is an excellent tool because it helps trim the neckline and shape the cheek lines. Scissors are also great at shaping the beard by removing any stray hairs.
Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s
- Consider giving your beard time to grow by laying down the trimmer and scissors. The only trimming you can do is of the neckline and cheek area, so the beard looks well-groomed.
- Clean the beard three times a week to remove dandruff, food particles, and dead skill cells that may increase itching.
- Do trim the beard according to your face shape.
- Do use beard oil as the beard grows. Beard oil nourishes the beard and skin underneath, softens facial hair, and eases itching associated with beard growth.
Don’ts
- Don’t let your beard grow wild, even in the early stages. Your beard will grow at different rates in different parts. Trimming the longer parts will help it look well-groomed.
- Do not neglect the neckline even as your beard continues to grow. Your beard should never connect with your chest hair, no matter how masculine you want to look.
- Do not wash the beard too much as this can leave it brittle and dry.
- Do not compare yourself to others. Beard growth rate is affected by so many things, including your genetics, what you eat, and your overall health. At three months, your beard may not reach the 1.5 inches normal three-month beards do, but you’ll get there as long as you take measures to keep it healthy.
FAQ
How long should my beard be after three months of growth?
After three months, your beard should have reached an average of 1.5 inches. However, depending on factors like genetics and your health, it can be slightly longer or shorter than this. If, after three months, you still don’t have substantial facial hair, then it’s a sign that you can’t grow a beard at all.
Does beard growth slow down after three months of growth?
There are different stages of beard growth. One such period is the catagen phase which lasts about two to three months. During this period, the follicles transition from active growth to a somewhat transition period where they shrink and the beard growth rate decreases.
Which products should I use on my three-month beard?
Beard oil should be part of your beard grooming routine at the three-month mark. At the same time, while it’s not necessary unless you want to style the beard to a particular style, you also need to have beard balm and wax at hand. Use a quality beard wash, shampoo, and conditioner to clean the beard.
When should you start trimming your beard?
The right time to trim the beard is after achieving your three-month growth. However, before that, you can trim away any stray or longer hairs, the neckline, and the cheek line for a well-groomed look.
Do beards hold bacteria?
Beards hold bacteria and germs, especially as they grow longer. As your beard grows, dead skin cells, food particles, and dirt accumulate on the hairs. However, not all bacteria and germs on the beard are harmful. Either way, clean your beard at least once a week to keep it looking clean.
Conclusion
Growing a beard takes patience. The first few weeks are the most defining and are characterized by ingrown hairs, itching, and spiky hairs. You can cruise easily to the three-month mark when you get past these weeks.
Use products like beard oil to reduce itching, beard conditioner, and beard wash to keep it clean and beard balm to style it. At the same time, trim away stray hairs, the neckline, and cheek lines for a well-groomed look.
Most importantly, remember that it will take time, and you need to exercise patience. If your beard doesn’t grow at the rate you want, you can always use beard growth supplements like biotin.
Otherwise, eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, sleep well, and reduce stress to enhance beard growth.
Michele Meesh Antunes is the lady of the Beardoholic writers team and a genius when it comes to hair and beard styles that suit any face shape. She’s been a barber for years now and, no matter your personal style, she knows exactly what beard, hairstyle and length suit you. She brings the women’s perspective on beards, beard care, haircuts and hairstyles and male grooming.