Beard or no beard

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I mean white guys.

Duh! Sorry, dim moment - immediately thought of a typical continental European guy & didn't even process the word heritage!

beards or no beards are both lovely!

30ish male here, formerly bearded, shaved, now have a short goatee/van dyke
I believe beards depends on the style of facial hair, face shape, fashion style/clothes, and other factors such as age.

I'm straight, but I have no qualms about noting whether a man has good style choices or not.
I'm don't look stylish myself, not enough money-time-indecision on what suits me, but I feel I have a handle on what works with others.

Style of facial hair, unless you're in a daeth metal band, don't do the long braided goatee.
Let's come to terms with styles: http://www.ftmguide.org/facialhair.html

Style is intertwined with the other factors, but beard style can also say a lot about your personal culture. It's tenuous, but here's what I see when when I encounter a new beardy
Long goatee only = hardcore
pencil or pencil plus soul patch = urban
chinstrap = art or film school type
full Garibaldi beard = religious associations, old-school jewish, orthodox, islamic
Shenandoah (Abe beard)/Amish/Old Dutch, etc = Amish
Chevron = Cop, National Guard, Government employee - They are often not allowed to grow beards, but can grow neat conservative moustaches.
handlebar, or horseshoe = biker
Circle Beard (goatee connected to moustache) = common, baseball/football/nascar fan, has baseball cards and maybe an old camaro.

My fav combos include moderate length full beard if the person is youngish, long straighter gandalf beard if the gent is older than 55 or so. I also like the Van Dyke and Bablbo - more hollywood-stylish and escapes the stereotypes from above. Also flattering to the chin. Another nice variant is the long Circle or VanDyke with a shorter chinstrap: the Obi Wan beard from episodes 3-6.

Face Shape - hmmm. Beards can help here or they can hinder. A weak chin can be hid with a goatee (chin only hair) or with a Van Dyke (goatee + separated moustache). If you do the VD, keep the moustache part shorter and grow the goatee part longer.

Short hair - most styles as long as the hair is not spiked. Otherwise, the templar look is great - King Leonidis (Butler) in "300", David Thewlis and Liam Neeson in "Kingdom of Heaven".

Mid length hair is tricky. If it's well layered or tossled or just natural grow out, most facial hair looks good. Think Russell Crowe in any scruffy stage, Old West guys, etc... Christian bale in his wandering stage in Batman, but he looks good in whatever. Blunt cut, Poofy on top, modified bowls or emo asymmetry cuts don't work well with beards.

Very Long hair can wear most facial hair types. I guess the long draping hair well balances out anything that could go wrong with the facial hair. Might could be said about being completely bald too.

Fashion is self explanatory given the above.

Yes and No.

on 98% of guys I find facial hair unattractive. (not including stubble)

Some guys however, can manage to pull off being hot with a beard. Very few though, imo.

It depends on the guy. some guys look absolutely stupid with beards, and others...look...hott as hell.

i like stubble. that whole five-o'clock-a-week-later shadow really gets me.

facial hair is usually a plus for me. stubble looks good on just about everyone, though. you know, male. not real interested in bearded lady exhibits.

I've had beards on and off ever since I was able to grow a fullbeard. I actually get the impression that girls are more attracted to me when I'm bearded/stubbled rather than clean-shaven...

Hello, Agent Scully.

I don't like them much at all--- they itch when you kiss someone who has one. They can also trap food particles, which is unappealing to me. Also, my uncles all had beards when I was a kid. So bearded men remind me of family, not romantic interests.

^ This.
For me , beards are unattractive for that reason.

They're offputting even if you're just hugging (for me anyway) because I have soft skin, and I really don't like being stabbed in the neck or cheek with something resembling a cactus.

Well, they also often look silly (I think, but that's just my personal aesthetics - and much less important than the unpleasant touch sensation)

Beards are more suited for ugly people imo, 'almost' makes them look handsome, which is just my luck as I'm ugly but can't grow any facial hair beyond a light stubble, losing the genetic lottery sucks.

I really, really, really hate beards. The way they feel against my skin is like it's been ripping off.

Oi... necro thread.

Anyway... I voted sexy.

When you're in my age group. 15-25. Beards are not sexy.

Don't try to grow a beard in high school or when you're a young adult. Most people look better when they're clean shaven. just expressing my opinion.


Maybe if you're 30+ you can grow a beard but if you're in your early to mid twenties, I would say shave it off.

I look strange without one