How long does it take to grow a beard? This question has been running through your mind for as long as you’ve thought about growing a beard. Not every man can grow a beard. But for men who can grow some form of facial hair, it’s an exciting journey.
Understanding the beard growth stages will help you maximize your beard growth potential, whether you are dealing with that itchiness at the stubble stage or the wildness of a four-month beard.
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What Is a 4-Month Beard
Have you ever wondered what a four-month beard looks like? Well, a four-month beard has a medium length of about 2 inches. If you consider not trimming your beard for four months, it will take the right tools and products to maintain it, plus a lot of patience.
But once you’ve achieved the ideal growth, you can look forward to being able to style your beard as you like if you choose the right beard trimmer and use beard scissors.
Benefits
Looks Good
The good thing about a 16-week beard is that it’s past the baby beard and stubble stage, and you now have a good-looking beard. At 2 inches, a four-month beard is bound to draw attention.
Endless Ways to Style It
A 2-inch beard is long enough to be styled in many ways. You could even wait a few months and transition it into a killer Viking beard if you like. But what of men who have naturally curly or wavy beards? In that case, a beard relaxer can straighten your beard.
How Does It Work
A four-month beard, as mentioned, is about two to three inches in length. If you grow a beard for 16 weeks without trimming or shaving, your beard should start looking pretty impressive. Deciding to grow a one-month beard is different from growing a three-month or four-month beard.
Four months of no trimming will result in facial hair that looks messy and seriously unkempt. That’s why most men trim the neckline and line up the cheeks. If growing a beard for months without trimming, consider investing in a beard trimmer and scissors.
You also need to use beard oil; otherwise, you may have to deal with itchiness and beard dandruff as your facial hair grows. And when you are finally ready to trim and style it, a beard balm will come in handy.
At the same time, you might also want to use a wooden beard comb when combing facial hair of that length. All in all, a four-month beard takes time to grow, and you may need to wait a little longer to start styling it, so you need to think about if you are not so patient with beard growth.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A four-week beard looks good mainly because you’ve passed that baby growth stage characterized by uneven and patchy growth, and your beard has a perfect length to it.
- At two inches, you can finally begin enjoying the fruits of growing a beard for that long since it means experimenting with different beard styles.
- You won’t deal with a lot of itching or ingrown hairs with a long beard.
Cons
- A four-month beard might look messy and unkempt and may paint you in a bad light at work.
- The longer the beard grows, the more time you will need to tame and maintain it.
- At 2-inches, you might start experiencing beard problems like crazy curls, bed beard, and beard split end.
Things to Do to Make It Grow Faster
Waiting for your facial hair to grow might feel like waiting for the grass to grow. The process can be frustrating, especially if your goal is to grow a full beard. Certain factors affect your rate of beard growth.
Ideally, the younger you are, the more time it will take to hit your beard growth goals. If you are trying to grow a four-month-old beard, it’s only natural to wonder what you can do to speed up the process. The thing is, no miracle drug can help your beard grow faster.
Sure, some beard growth supplements might help accelerate the process a little, but it all comes down to the lifestyle you lead. So, here are a few things you can do to help your beard grow faster:
Maintain a Good Skincare Routine
Your facial hair will likely grow faster if you keep your skin healthy and clean. A good skin care regimen involves washing away excess dirt, oil, and grime at least twice daily to open up the pores.
It would also help if you used a gentle exfoliating scrub to remove dead skin cells that might clog the pores leading to acne outbreaks. After that, use a nourishing moisturizer to hydrate and condition the skin.
While such a routine will help improve your complexion, it will also set the pace for healthier hair growth.
Use Vitamin B Supplements
Biotin is a well know beard supplement. The supplement helps strengthen the proteins in your skin and hair, thus helping your facial hair grow stronger and faster.
Hydrate
Your body is likely to function at optimum when you are well hydrated. If you don’t hydrate, your hair suffers since the cells don’t generate quickly. Your hair follicles won’t receive enough nutrients and vitamins to boost growth.
You won’t just have to deal with slower beard growth but might also have to tolerate coarse and dry facial hair.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is vital for all functions of the body, including hair growth. If you don’t get enough every night, your cells don’t regenerate, which might slow your facial growth rate.
Find Ways of Dealing With Stress
Stress affects our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Stress will affect your immune system, which will, in turn, affect your rate of facial hair growth.
Eat a Healthy Diet
In addition to vitamin B supplements, a diet anchored in vegetables., proteins, whole grains, yogurt, and cheese will be crucial in accelerating your facial hair growth rate.
How to Grow
Step 1 – Set down the razor
The first step to growing a four-month beard is to leave it be. Don’t trim or shave it but allow it to grow naturally.
Step 2 – Train
While you are not supposed to trim or shave your beard if you are aiming for two inches of growth, there is a lot you can do in between. One of the things you shouldn’t overlook is the importance of training a beard. As your beard grows, the hair will likely increase in all directions.
It’s your job to train your beard to grow in your desired direction. You can do this by combing or brushing it regularly.
Step 3 – Clean up the neckline and upper cheeks
While you can grow your beard all natural and wild for 16 weeks, it would be best if you trimmed the neckline and cleaned up the upper cheeks. Don’t touch the rest of the beard!
How to Trim
Step 1 – Clean
Before you begin trimming, the first thing you need to do is clean your facial hair. Use an all-natural beard shampoo. For this step, you always need to follow that up with the beard conditioners before rinsing and parting dry with a clean towel.
Step 2 – Brush
Use a comb or brush to brush the hair making sure you go against the grain at first to remove strangles and knots.
Step 3 – Begin trimming
Using a beard trimmer, start trimming your facial hair, starting with the highest number guard and working down until you achieve the length you want. When trimming, work against the grain, moving the trimmer vertically to ensure you don’t cut too much.
If you have one, use a dual-sided stubble trimmer for the sideburns; otherwise, use your regular trimmer.
Step 4 – Define your neckline
This is a crucial step that you shouldn’t skip. At this point, you should already have chosen an appropriate beard style. For most beard styles, trim just above your Adam’s apple.
Place two fingers above Adam’s apple, then trim vertically above the fingers using the shorter trimmer setting. Trim outwards but ensure that you create a defined neckline where your facial hair ends.
Step 5 – Trim the mustache
Brush the mustache hairs to the sides or down, depending on your chosen style. Using mustache or beard scissors, trim longer mustache hairs until you achieve the style you want.
Step 6 – Brush and apply beard oil
If you want, brush your hair and trim any stray hairs before washing your beard. If you’re going to skip this step, brush the beard, trim away the strands and then apply beard oil. Apply a healthy amount of beard oil or beard balm to moisturize the hair and the skin underneath.
How to Maintain
Step 1 – Keep clean
A clean beard is a healthy beard. After four months, your beard can get pretty gross if you don’t clean it regularly. So, ensure you wash your beard at least twice or thrice a week with a strengthening beard shampoo to remove dirt, oils, and grime.
Step 2 – Keep hydrated and well-conditioned
If you want to maintain a shiny and soft beard, consider conditioning it regularly with beard oil. Beard oil helps moisturize the beard plus the skin underneath, prevents itchiness and flakes, and helps maintain healthy hair follicles.
Step 3 – Trim regularly
Trimming is a massive part of proper beard grooming. Use beard scissors for more precise trimming since that is less likely to damage your facial hair. On the other hand, beard trimmers are much easier to use since they come with measured-length guards.
On beard trimming, always ensure that you trim the neckline every two weeks.
Step 4 – Stay healthy
To maintain a healthy-looking beard, ensure you consume a healthy diet full of vitamins, proteins, whole grains, and vegetables.
Best Products to Use
A four-month beard won’t cause many problems, but you still need to stock up on essential beard products.
- Beard oil. This is a must-have since, at four months, you will already be experiencing beard itch and dryness. Beard oil helps soften your beard, nourishes it, and keeps it healthy and shiny.
- Beard brush or comb. Your beard will be about two to three inches long at four months, depending on your facial hair growth. A comb or brush will help untangle the beard while exfoliating the skin. A comb or brush is also essential for spreading beard oil throughout the beard hair and skin.
- Beard shampoo and conditioner. Your four-month beard will need washing regularly. Regular soap or hair shampoo contains ingredients that might leave your beard dry and brittle. To maintain a healthy beard, stock up on beard shampoo and conditioner (all-natural products are much better).
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do wash your beard regularly with beard shampoo since food particles, dirt, oils, and grime can leave a four-month beard looking gross.
- Do consider using beard oil to nourish your beard and keep it healthy.
- Do invest in quality beard scissors and beard trimmers.
- Pay attention to the skin underneath and watch out for signs of acne and irritation so you can twerk your grooming routine.
- Don’t overdo it with beard products. For instance, apply only a few drops of beard oil to avoid an overly shiny and greasy beard.
- Don’t neglect your neckline. Ideally, your beard shouldn’t connect to your chest hair, so trim the neckline appropriately.
FAQ
What does a 4-month-old beard look like?
A four-month beard is about two inches in length and may look messy and unkempt, especially if you don’t groom it well.
How long should my beard be after four months of growth?
After four months, your beard should be about two inches long since beards grow at a rate of ½ an inch per month.
How long does it take for a beard to fill in?
Depending on your facial hair growth rate, it may take two to four months for your beard to fill in.
Will trimming thicken my beard?
Shaving or trimming your beard doesn’t make the beard grow thicker.
Where should the beard cheek line be?
The beard cheek line starts from the sideburn to the corner of your mouth.
Conclusion
So many things change as your beard grows, but these changes vary from one man to another. Depending on how fast your beard grows, your facial hair should be about two inches long at four months.
You may experience beard itching at that stage, which you can get rid of by using beard oil. Your beard will also be a little unkempt so use beard shampoo and a beard comb or brush to keep everything neat.
Overall, taking your time to grow your beard past the four-month mark means you can now style it any way you like.
Jay is one of the members of the Beardoholic writers team and NFL, celebrity barber. As a master barber with years of experience, Jay can make your beard look any way you envision. Jay’s specialty is black men’s hair and beard styles, but he also has deep knowledge on how to create a perfect neck and cheek line, short or long beard and virtually any beard and hair shape and style.