Although the scientific study from 1928 completely debunked the myth about facial hair growing faster after shaving, the myth lives on for almost 100 years.

Sigh, so many amazing beards got completely shaved off due to this urban legend.

Who would have thought that, in an age where information spread like wildfire, this misconception still exists, costing the world so many beards with great potential?

If you sacrificed your amazing beard due to this myth, we don’t blame you. It’s so easy to believe in it.

Of course it sounds convincing. Of course you want your facial hair to grow faster. And of course it seems like a magical pill you’ve been waiting for.

But now you know better.

However, we still want to provide you with a scientific explanation so you never doubt it again that shaving a beard WON’T make it grow thicker or faster.

In fact, it’ll do quite the opposite.

The proof is below, so start reading.

Benefits of Growing a Beard 

Whether you have just started growing facial hair or have been rocking a luscious beard for years, beards have several benefits that include; 

Keeping Bacteria and Dust Out of the Mouth

As you go about your business during the day, you are likely to come into contact with bacteria, dust, allergens, and other contaminants and there is no knowing what will end up in your mouth and nose. 

If you have a beard, all these nuisances get trapped in the hairs, which is why you need to wash your beard every day to remove them. 

Preventing Asthma Attacks 

There are so many things that trigger asthma attacks from stress, breathing too much cold air and dust. If you constantly get asthma attacks, then growing a beard is one way of keeping such attacks at bay.

As mentioned earlier, a beard will trap dust and stop it from getting into your nose and mouth, therefore, reducing asthma attacks. 

Protection From UV Rays

Prolonged exposure to UV rays can trigger all manner of diseases, including skin cancer. The chances are that you never remember to wear sunscreen every day, which means that you are constantly exposing yourself to the harmful UV rays. 

A beard provides you with an extra layer of protection that ensures that UV rays don’t come into contact with your skin.

Keeps You Warm Through Winter

A beard adds an extra layer that not only protects your face from harmful UV layers but that extra layer can keep you warm during winter and other cold months. 

Hides Blemishes

Acne is one of the skin conditions that almost everyone at some point in our lives. It can be annoying and, if not handled well, can leave you with blemishes. 

If you have had to deal with acne all your life, growing a beard is one way to deal with it being that you will not be shaving as often, which means that there is less exposure of your skin to bacteria that can lead to the skin drying out. 

Additionally, a beard will hide blemishes that may have been caused by acne in the past or razor burns. 

Helps Retain Moisture

If you have always suffered from dry skin, this can end up affecting your appearance. The skin could also get itchy, which leads to irritation.

One of the best ways of dealing with dry skin is by allowing the beard to grow. In doing so, the beard traps oils against the skin that keep you moisturized. 

Makes For an Attractive Look

According to various studies, nothing is sexier to a woman than a man who can grow a beard. A beard is a sign of masculinity and at the same time, it is a confidence booster.

If you are yet to start growing a beard, you should do so if you want to win points with the ladies. 

Pros and Cons of Shaving

Just like with everything else, shaving a beard has advantages and disadvantages. 

Pros

• When you shave the beard, there is less maintenance since it means only clean shaving your beard without worrying about styling. 
• When it comes to shaving, you never have to worry about anyone judging you because you have a scruffy beard, unlike when you decide not to shave. 
• Clean shaving your face can make you look younger since beards are associated with high testosterone levels. 

Cons

• Shaving is expensive since you have to spend money on blades and not to mention beard cleaning products that you require in the grooming process. 
• Shaving is tiring and not something that you want to be doing every day of your life. When you don’t shave, all you need to worry about is how to style your mane. 
• While some men may like looking younger, the babyface that a clean shave gives you is something to worry about, especially if you are looking at scoring points with the ladies. 
• Too much shaving can also lead to skin irritation.

Factors That Affect How Fast Facial Hair Grows

Since shaving doesn’t make your facial hair grow fast, what are the factors that affect how fast your beard grows?

Diet

If you are looking to speed up the rate at which your beard grows, the biggest impact will have to come from what you eat. 

Hair follicles are largely composed of keratin. As such, incorporating proteins in your diet will help to strengthen, build as well as restore the luster of your facial hair.  

If you begin shaving and realize that your hair is growing back faster, that could because you have increased your protein intake. With that in mind, ensure that you consume foods such as meats, nuts, fish, and eggs.  

Exercising

Regular exercise helps increase blood flow, which has an impact on how fast your facial hair grows. 

Multivitamins

One of the most common vitamins that can be used to increase the rate of facial hair growth is biotin. It is a B complex vitamin that is a product found in most beard growth supplements.

One of the foods that contain biotin that you can incorporate into your diet is eggs. 

Type of Razor

The technique that you shave with and the razor that you use can affect how fast or slow your beard grows. While it doesn’t affect the overall growth of your beard, what affects whether you get to shave every day or after once a week depends on how low you cut the hair. 

A cartridge razor, for instance, is designed in such a way that as you shave, it pulls the hairs up slightly and cuts them thanks to the multi-blade design. As such, facial hair takes longer to grow. 

Shaving with an electric shaver, on the other hand, will not give you a close shave as razors do, which will make it seem like your hair is growing back much faster. 

Does Shaving Make Hair Grow Faster

Here’s the actual science behind it:

Hair growth is characterized by four (4) distinct phases: anagen, catagen, telogen, and exogen (or early anagen).

Anagen is the first phase, and it is the growing period that takes around 3-5 years. The next phase is the catagen phase, and it is relatively quicker than the anagen phase because it only takes place in about 1-2 weeks.

The catagen is the intermediate phase between the growing phase (Anagen) and the resting phase (Telogen). During the catagen phase, portions of the hair follicle deep down start degrading.

The degradation of the hair follicle underneath the surface of the scalp also cuts off contact with the blood vessels, essentially cutting off its own source of nutrition.

After that, the phase that follows is called the telogen phase – this is when the hair starts to rest. Remember how contact from blood vessels was cut off in catagen? Well, this is the reason why hair stops growing at this point, and in addition, hair thinning also occurs during this stage.

The telogen phase takes approximately 3 months to rest, but you might wonder what it’s resting for.

There are only two roads hair can take from this point on – either it replenishes itself and springs back up to the anagen phase, or it gets shed off in the last phase: the exogen phase. The exogen phase is basically the shedding off of dead hair, and an average person sheds off about 50-100 hairs a day.

These crossroads make sense because if hair only dies after the telogen phase, then that means everyone’s hair has to stop growing at that point.

However, since we can see people having long hair, it makes sense that hair keeps growing after a number of cycles between growing and resting.

So, after all, that, do you still think shaving makes hair grow faster? It’s probable that people started thinking of this myth because shaving essentially reverts hair back to the anagen phase, or the growing phase.

Imagine that you’ve had a beard for a long time now, and you don’t notice its growth anymore because it has probably started to rest, then you decided to shave it all off.

After a few weeks, you will be surprised that your beard has grown by a noticeable amount since you shaved it – this is because it actually re-entered the anagen phase.

This time, though, you know that it will just start slowing down again. However, that’s not the only myth about beards that have been floating around.

If you want to know the other myths, the internet is a vast and never-ending place – which is why, with a simple search, you will undoubtedly find a list of all beard myths.

Use the internet to your advantage in this way, by broadening your horizons and learning about the truth.

Methods That Really Work in Growing Facial Hair Faster

Beard growth rate differs from one man to another, but some methods have been proven to cause facial hair to grow much faster.

Now that we’ve debunked a myth on how shaving can make your hair grow faster, let’s get to some ways you can do to actually make your beard grow faster – because while shaving doesn’t work, there are certainly ways that do.

Minerals and Vitamins

Besides eating a good diet, you can help your facial hair grow faster by adding appropriate vitamins and minerals to your diet. 

You enquire from your doctor about taking at least 2 mg of biotin every day, which is a supplement that is found in vitamin and health food stores. 

You could also start taking more vegetables and fruits since these are rich in vitamins and minerals that can stimulate faster facial hair growth. 

When the body doesn’t get enough nutrients, then the production of hair is slowed down, which is why you need to think about increasing Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, Vitamin E, flaxseed oil as well as nettle in your diet. 

Drinking More Water

Besides helping you stay hydrated, water is essential to the growth of facial hair. Drinking enough hair is the best way to help your beard grow back faster but fuller.

Avoiding Smoking

Although it’s not clear what effect smoking has on beard growth, various studies have it that smoking affects facial hair just like aging. 

A few cigarettes a day are enough to affect blood circulation to the hair follicles, which results in a beard growing slower than normal. 

Moisturizing Your Beard

Moisturizing your beard not only makes it appear fuller but will help it grow faster. Beard oil contains natural ingredients that ensure that facial hair remains moisturized and the skin underneath doesn’t get irritated. 

Ideally, a dry and brittle beard tends to break, and not to mention you can develop split ends that end up damaging your beard. 

Conditioning Your Facial Hair

Beard shampoo and conditioner go hand in hand and the best way you can combine them is to wash your beard with the shampoo first. 

Go for beard shampoo that has tea tree oil because it removes dead skin cells as well as oil build-ups while preventing ingrown hairs and dandruff. 

After cleaning the beard with a beard shampoo, you can go ahead and condition it. A beard conditioner helps your beard to become softer and healthier, which helps it grow faster. 

Exfoliating

Dead skin cells tend to impede new facial hair growth. Exfoliating once a week will remove the dead cells allowing new hair growth to kick in. 

Furthermore, exfoliating can also help your beard growth. Exfoliation also improves blood circulation to the area, which causes facial hair to grow faster. 

Minoxidil (Rogaine)

Minoxidil is used to enhance beard growth. It works by increasing nutrients, DHT, and testosterone circulation to the hair follicles. 

Microneedling

Microneedling is a technique that involves using a derma roller that has microscopic needs on the face. 

The technique is used when you can grow facial hair. When the needles prick the skin, the body communicates that there is an injury there and therefore trying to repair it, triggering facial hair in the process.

Microneedling can also be used to make facial hair grow much faster using the same technique.

Red Light Therapy

Red light therapy is a less known method of stimulating faster facial hair growth. According to research, when a red laser is pointed to a beardless area for 20 to 30 minutes produces cellular energy that leads to increased beard growth. 

A combination of red light therapy, minoxidil, and micro-needling, as well as a proper diet, will make the beard grow faster than before.

Minimize Stress

Firstly, get rid of stress. It has been scientifically proven that stress doesn’t do anything positive for your body asides from keeping you on your toes for your survival.

Stress is a heavy burden people put on themselves that has proven to have detrimental effects on their bodies. Can you imagine scenarios where people have been so stressed that they can pull out their hair by simply grasping at them?

If you want your beard to grow efficiently, then you have to make your body a clean and nourishing environment for growth – this also means that your body is getting the right amount of nutrients it requires.

Proper Diet

Always make sure that your diet is composed of different nutritional sources like carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

Also, make sure you are tip-top on your vitamins and minerals – you only need a small number of vitamins and minerals in your body, but they sure help a lot.

How to Grow a Thicker Beard

Your beard might be growing fast, but it’s too sparse for your liking – well, despair no more because we bring you tried and tested tips on how to deal with a patchy beard. In other words, how you can grow a thicker beard that would make even Dumbledore proud.

Don’t Give in to the Itch

The reality of having a really thick beard eludes a lot of guys because they’ll want to trim or shave it at the first sign of itchiness or any uncomfortable feeling.

What they fail to realize is that the itchiness that they experience is due to an irritation that occurs as new hair starts to grow and typically goes away within the first four weeks of the process.

This is known as the ‘four-week rule’, and if you want your beard to grow, then fight the urge to cut your beard off and groom it better to reduce the itching throughout these first four weeks.

This involves brushing it daily, using only the best beard oil and going for weekly hot oil treatments to keep it fresh while you wait for the uncomfortable growing stages to pass.

Doing these things will only benefit you and will also make your beard softer.

Not only that, if you use the right kinds of oils on your beard, you might even be able to get rid of beardruff, as well – that’s like hitting two birds with one stone. That being said, you’re totally allowed to shave your ‘stache and trim your neck and cheek lines in the meantime.

Get to Sweating

The more you sweat through exercise, the more testosterone you’ll generate, which in turn stimulates new beard hair growth through healthier follicles.

Exercise also increases blood flow to your muscles as well as your scalp, while sweating removes toxins to unclog hair follicles and give way to new hair growth.

Reduce Stress

When you stress out, a chemical called ‘cortisol’ is generated by the body in response, and this is bad for your beard growing campaign.

For one, cortisol constricts blood vessels, which then reduces the number of nutrients that make it to your blood in order to grow the hair follicles.

Secondly, it prevents the proper development of testosterone, which, as you know, is very good for growing your beard. You can stop stress in its tracks by practicing meditation, eliminating draining and negative people from your life, and, most importantly, exercising!

Try Some Supplements

A well-known daily supplement to take when growing out your beard is ‘biotin.’

This beard vitamin supplement will make your beard grow faster and thicker by strengthening the quality of keratin in the hair, which leads to having an even and healthy-looking beard.

Moreover, the best part is that you can easily find it in drug stores for a very affordable price.

Eat Healthier

Consuming foods that are high in essential vitamins and minerals is one of the fastest ways of having a thicker beard – because your beard can only be as healthy as your body is.

Vitamin-rich foods like greens, vegetables and lean protein should all be a daily part of your diet as these will definitely boost your testosterone production to promote better hair growth.

Apart from proteins, particular vitamins to consume include Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamins, A, C, E, B6, B12 and, as mentioned, biotin.

Get Some Rest

Getting at least 8 hours of sleep has been proven to reduce stress levels and improve testosterone production to better your chances of having a fuller beard.

On the flip side, getting anything less than 6 hours of sleep each night will reduce your testosterone levels by a whopping 15%, followed by noticeable patches in your beard that you obviously don’t want.

So, get more sleep, and you’ll soon see the results as your beard will grow stronger and thicker.

Get a Transplant

Although it hasn’t gone mainstream yet, beard transplants are for real and are usually the final resort for men who’ve tried it all.

The procedure works by transplanting some hairs from the back of your head onto your chin to fill in those stubborn patches.

If you’re considering this option, then keep in mind that it’s not a quick fix and can take up to months before you start to see the results.

Different Beard Styles

If you have followed our advice, then you will have a long and full beard – now, your next problem might be on how to style them.

Don’t worry, though, because here are some of the beard styles you can choose from. However, if you want a list of some beard styles, you will be able to quickly find it if you click here:

• 5 o’clock Stubble
• Full Beard
• Van Dyke Beard
• Goatee Beard
• Long Goatee
• Lumberjack Beard

If you have trouble with shaving or trimming your beard, all you need is an ultimate beard shaper to make it more easy and convenient for yourself.

How to Maintain Your Beard Properly

Step 1 – Allow it to grow

The first step to growing a luscious beard is giving it time to grow before you start shaving. Once the beard has grown, you can go ahead and trim it to your desired length and thickens. 

Step 2 – Exfoliate, tame and nourish the beard

Ensure that you not only wash your beard but exfoliate it properly. Washing and exfoliation gets rid of dead skin cells as well as preventing ingrown hairs that may lead to irritation. 

After that, you can use beard grooming products like beard oil to nourish that beard and keep it moisturized and looking healthy. 

Step 3 – Match the style to your face shape

When it comes to maintaining a good looking beard, nothing speaks volumes than getting it right with the styling. Always style your beard to match the shape of your face. 

Step – Trim regularly

Depending on how fast your facial hair grows, to maintain your chosen style, you need to make sure that you are always trimming and shaping your beard. 

Step 5 – Comb the beard

If you have a long and thick beard, then dust and food crumbs will get stuck within the hairs. To keep the beard looking great, make sure that you run a beard comb through it to remove any food crumbs and dust that may have been trapped in the hairs. 

How to Shave Correctly 

Step 1 – Wet the beard

The first step before you use any kind of razor is to wet the beard. You can do this when you are showering to help avoid razor burns and irritation.

Step 2 – Apply shaving cream 

If you are going for a clean-shaven look, then you might want to consider investing in a good quality shaving cream.

The cream softens the beard to prepare it for a close shave and not to mention a well-lubricated beard is much easier to shave since the razor glides smoothly without irritating the skin.

Step 3 – Use a shaving brush

Using a shaving brush to apply the shaving cream helps to raise the hairs for a close cut and not to mention exfoliates the skin in the process. 

Step 4 – Use a good quality razor

If you want to have a good shave free of razor burns and shaving rash, then consider investing in a good razor. 

Step 5 – Rinse the razor often 

Before you begin shaving, rinse the razor in hot water and ensure that you do that after every few swipes. This helps remove the hair and cream which makes the razor more effective as you continue shaving. 

Step 6 – Shave properly

If you are new to shaving, you might end up cutting yourself a few times when you are shaving. You can avoid this by learning how to use the razor properly.

Shaving against the direction the hair grows will give you a closer shave, but you are also likely to cut yourself in the process. 

Begin shaving the soft hair and finish off with the hard ones. This is to give hard hair time to absorb moisture and become softer. Again don’t press the razor too hard since you will likely end up with razor bumps and razor burns. 

Step 7 – Re-shave

You might not achieve a clean shave with the first swipes, in which case you need to reapply shaving cream and start shaving again for a much smoother shave. Avoid over shaving however, because it can cause razor burns.

Step 8 – Clean and soothe the skin

Rinse your face with warm water after shaving. If you are using a cleaner, use one with a high concentration of tea tree oil to protect against spots and rashes. Finally, you can go ahead and rinse your face with cool water and then pat with a clean towel to remove excess water.

Step 9 – Apply aftershave lotion or balm

The skin loses moisture during the shaving process. Good quality aftershave lotion will help restore the moisture while keeping the skin smooth and moisturized. 

Do’s and Don’ts When Shaving a Beard

• Do wet your beard before you shave to make the hairs soft for shaving to prevent shaving burns. 
• Do use a good quality sharp razor that will shave clean without giving your razor burns or irritating the skin.
• Do use short strokes if you want a neat, painless shave. Short strokes also tend to reduce the pressure you apply on the blade, which results in fewer cuts. 
• Don’t use alcohol-based aftershaves since these result in a dry burning as well as hardening sensation that could result in darker facial features. 
• Don’t ever shave with a dry razor since this will only be inviting razor rashes and razor burns. 

FAQs

What is the typical rate at which facial hair grows?

If you get everything right from the diet to using the right products, the beard should grow at about a centimeter every month. As such, if you intend to grow a beard for a year, it should be about 4.75″. 

Will shaving everyday help grow a beard?

Shaving your beard every day will not in any way help your beard grow. In fact, if you are just starting to grow a beard, shaving every day might hinder beard growth in the end. 

How fast does facial hair grow back after shaving?

Regardless of how or when you shave your facial hairs, your beard should grow at approximately the same rate, which is about one-quarter-inch every month. 

Does shaving make facial hair grow thicker?

There is nothing scientific to prove that facial hair grows thicker after shaving. The reason why people think this happens is that new growth tends to be darker than the old one mainly because it has not been exposed to the natural elements yet. 

Does shaving stimulate facial hair growth?

Shaving does not in any way stimulate facial hair growth since it doesn’t improve blood circulation or anything else that might activate the growth factors that would make the hair grow faster. 

Conclusion

One of the misconceptions that have always been there has been that shaving makes hair grow faster. This is a myth that has no scientific backing whatsoever. If you want your facial hair to grow faster, you might want to incorporate things like multivitamins, exercise, a good diet, and facial hair growth techniques like micro-needling and the use of minoxidil. 

That concludes our tips on how to grow a beard quicker as well as thicker, and we hope that you’ll take from it what you can and use the knowledge wisely. While practicing these tips, make sure to stay patient as stressing out will only serve to enhance the problem.

Also, remember to lead a healthier lifestyle. That includes daily exercise, eating better, getting more sleep, and just taking better care of yourself in general. Not only will this make you wear your beard better, but it’ll improve your overall quality of life, too.