Modern Man’s Guide to Beards

The bearded look has been on the rising trend since the past half decade and this year’s street style photo shots at Pitti Uomo #85 could not prove it any other way. As the bearded look is set to stay on the higher end of trend scale for a while, let’s bust those myths and malpractices of keeping a beard. We picked some great tips from Andrew Richdale at GQ.com

The Beard Matrix The first step is of course to pick the right villian or hero. One tiny step and your bearded look may transgress from modern hip to suburbia hick. It is always handy to keep GQ beard matrix by your shaving mirror. We also recommend adding Captain Garibaldi and Yeti on the to-be-avoided quadrant.

Soften up! We couldn’t agree more with Mr. Richdale: wiry, moss like, or overgrown facial bush is hardly sexy to anyone…oh well they evoke animalistic erotic emotions but that fades after the first glance. In GQ, according to Martial Vivot from Martial Vivot Salon Pour Hommes in New York  “The hair on your face is not the same as your scalp. So no need to treat it as such with whatever shampoo you have lying around. All you want is a ‘gentle hair’ conditioner to keep your hair soft.” Martial ViVot recommends Phyto’s Phytobaume conditioner ($22). At ViTRINE we found a lovely webshop Brooklyn Grooming that specialises in products for your shaving needs (and they come in lovely packaging that will look lovely as display in your bathroom cabinet!)

What a Girl Wants! Two GQ lady staffers gave their honest opinions about beards to Andrew Richdale. Both ladies got the subject well covered. It is up to you to decide on which side of the argument you want your beard to be.

It’s not like I mind the look of beards, especially from a healthy distance of ten electric razors fashioned into some sort of eight-foot-long pole. I understand that a face thatch is a cheap way for men to hide a gamut of imperfections: jowls, acne scars, chin butt, their age. But have you ever seen that vacuum commercial where the camera “penetrates” a seemingly clean carpet? To expose the dust and mites hiding deep between the fabric hairs? I’m attempting a metaphor here. I’ve dallied with a couple bearded men. There’s inevitably food in their chin bibs after a meal. Scraps. Crumbs. Treats for later you might say, if you’re disgusting. The girlfriend of a bearded man can either go full Mother Ape and finger groom, or be at peace with nuzzling a doggie bag. Neither option is desirable.—Lauren Bans

I don’t remember the episode in which Vinnie Bonitardi first appeared on Blossom but I was probably around 9 or 10, and I do recall experiencing, in an arm-hair-raising way, my first understanding of the word sexy. It took me a few more episodes to figure out why. Vinnie’s hotness had something to do with the leather jacket and the torn Dungarees and the messed up hair, but mostly it had to do with the scruff. What Vinnie had wasn’t even a full beard, but the hint of one, just enough to get the idea that this was a guy who couldn’t be bothered. And, for the love of all clichés, who doesn’t want to win the attention of that guy? David Lascher, the actor who played Vinnie, is now clean shaven and looks like he belongs on the trading floor in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. No matter. When I admire a scruffy Mark Ruffalo or Viggo or even Ryan Gosling, it’s Vinnie Bonitardi I’m really pining for.—Sarah Goldstein

3 Myths Last but not least here are 3 myths debunked on the GQ article and hopefully that helps you make better decision and grooming choices with regards to growing a beard. New York dermatologist Dr. David Colbert sets us straight on three common beard misconceptions—including that Seinfeld thing about shaving. No, razors don’t turn you into a were-man

Myth #1: Certain foods make your beard grow quicker. “No food or vitamin makes the beard grow faster. However, we do need amino acids or protein in our diet to grow hair. For instance, guys who are anemic often experience beard thinning.”

Myth #2: If you shave more often, your facial hair will get fuller. “Shaving absolutely does not make your hair grow at any different rate. One reason it might seem that way? If you shave often, you’re feeling the prickly sensation of hair growing back more frequently.”

Myth #3: Gray beards are coarser. “If anything, our follicles become smaller as we age. Gray beards are not much different than regular ones, structurally speaking. If a Santa-like beard seems coarse, it’s just because it hasn’t been conditioned properly or is full of split ends. (Yep, you can get those with facial hair, too.)”

Note to readers: This article is an extract from Andrew Richdale on GQ.com. All images and illustrations are from that same article, except product stills of Brooklyn Grooming.