I don’t like shaming people for their extra, or lack of, hair.

Wow, more votes on "don't like beards'.

You are going to see more beards, although not long due to still changing lifestyles during and after the pandemic. I was clean-shaven for 35 years and employees in my job in New York were sent home for just wearing a tie or a suit (just non matching jackets were not accepted. I got my chance to not shave and not dye my hair in the last 15 months of remote working. I prefer the salt and pepper, short beard look. I have been wanting to go low maintenance for a long time and it is useful when you travel.

We are going to see a lot of lifestyle changes after the pandemic. Our employer was planning to bring employees back to buildings and arranged a conference call. One woman asked if the employer was aware if our formal clothes of 15 months ago would even fit? Two employees quit last week when asked to come back to building just for one day a week - any day of their choice.

I really hope these things will accelerate:
~ Downtown commercial real estate will collapse
~ Downtown will be centers of pleasure
~ Maybe more exhibition, event centers and hotels will open in downtowns
~ Car commute to work will substantially reduce
~ Hierarchical supervision structures (team lead, supervisor, asst manager, manager, director, super director etc.) from the plantation style workforce will flatten
~ Employees will not just work from home but from anywhere
~ More mall stores will close
~ Drone delivery of food and ecommerce will increase
~ Marital and non marital sex and dating will increase

I grew a beard, back when I was about 20. But in sub-zero temperatures, it would get iced up, and clink together like wind chimes. Also, teenage girls would mistake me for Bob Seger, and I got sick of being mistaken for someone I wasnt. So, I shaved it off, and havent had a beard in 46 years.

"As an older single female I'd like to know what the new "style" is concerning beards."

I'm not much of a fan of beards on women.

But it is natural.

And understandable if they don't shave everywhere else like some younger ladies.

It's a personal preference whether or not to be tonsorial titivation tolerant.

I think a nicely trimmed beard looks sexy. If his beard is just long and shaggy and reminds me of a hermit, he can stay a hermit.

Beards were once the property on cool hippy types and frowned upon be conservatives but since all the reality shows featuring inbred goobers with crappy, dumpster diving beards hit, the rightwingers have appropriated them as a sign of their "masculinity" and rebelliousness. I guess if you're an Incel and can't find a woman, a beard is the next best thing.

I had a beard for about 20 years or so.Then I decided to shave it on new year's day 2020. New decade, new look.

I prefer a clean-shaven man. Beards have disgusting fecal bacteria.

Older men with long hair and a long white beard look like crazy hermits.

I’ve worn a trimmed beard for decades now. I look better with one. I think that’s still true even with the grey.

I like whatever looks best on the individual man. Beards, like hair, can go far in modifying features like high foreheads, under-bites, long faces, etc. But - general hygiene accounted for - it's more important to me that he wears what makes him most comfortable with who he is.

I have a rather long, salt-and-pepper beard, trimmed more closely on the cheeks down to the jaw so it doesn't bristle out more than necessary. I don't really trim the center region, though, because it's a naturally crinkly hair growth so it wouldn't prevent flyaway hairs regardless (and from a few feet away it looks the same anyway). I use a hair tie when I'm outside and need to keep the wind from blowing my beard up into my face; I also use a hair tie when I just want my beard to look as presentable as possible in formal settings. Lately, I've finally gotten my mustache to train out to the sides, too, which had always been a problem for me, so now it has more of a handlebar style — though I'm still playing around with it to get it looking just right, but I think it looks better by far than all of the years when I just kept it short and clipped straight across.

I'm well aware that my beard isn't to everybody's liking, and it stereotypes me to some degree. For example, I assisted a few weeks ago for a mediator training session and there were only four trainees, two of whom are black men. One of them commented, and the other agreed, that if he had seen me in another public setting he would have avoided me, assuming that I were a Harley-driver who mightn't take kindly to his skin tone. A co-worker, relatively new to the company, said to me as I was walking into the office that, with my beard, shaved head, and bandana face mask, she thought I looked like a serious badass. Anyone who actually knows me would laugh at these characterizations: I have no malice for anyone based on skin color, ethnicity, etc., I'm not violent at all, I'm about as far from "badass" as you can get, and the only biking I do requires peddling.

Some people dislike facial hair, and that's fine, and there are various reasons for their aversion. One, in particular, though — mentioned in the comments here — I feel I need to address directly. There is this idea that beards are inherently filthy and loaded with bacteria. We're familiar with the study, and I'm not disagreeing with the results, but I want to point out that it's not the problem some people think it is. Bacteria is everywhere, on our skin, in our mouths, in the hair growing from the top of our heads, etc., and yet that isn't what makes us ill. With some basic hygiene, a beard is harmless and inoffensive. A lot of studies gain popularity just because there's a fear-mongering hook the media uses when reporting it. With a beard, there's nothing to fear but fear itself — and split ends.

And that brings me to beard care. I'm cautious about using much soap, which strips away natural oils that help protect hair. Conditioner helps some, but I routinely use a carrier oil (castor oil, in particular, but there are others) to condition my beard. Ideally, the oil is applied to the skin so new hair grown picks up the oil as it emerges from the follicle, but I find it works well to also apply directly to the hair periodically, giving it back some of its lustre and sheen and helping control the hair more easily. And, for those still fixated on bacteria, carrier oil is antimicrobial. I apply the oil, then brush it through to more evenly distribute it. It may sound like I spend a lot of time on my beard care, but I truly don't. I rinse my beard in the shower, without soap, and dry it with a towel. I brush it for a minute or so in the morning. I apply oil every few days, when it starts to feel dry or isn't holding in place well. And I trim the sides once every couple of weeks, using a small pair of sheers so I have lots of manual control over how it looks. That's it.

This has been Beard Talk with Rick. Thank you for joining me today.

Perhaps the reason so many men now seem to have beards can be attributed to the pandemic. Many just no longer care or see the need to shave every day. There also seems to be an appeal for men with 'stubble.' I once had a beard but my late partner told me it actually made my face narrower + it becoming gray made me look older. However, I once had a friend with a beard. His wife got him to shave and he actually looked a lot older as it exposed his turkey neck and lots of wrinkles. He did grow it back.

Personally I do like beards on most men. However, it isn't my face. I feel like they can do whatever they want concerning facial hair, whatever floats their boat. I have three sons in law, they're all bearded. My kids' dad was always clean shaven. Honestly, I think shaving is a PITA. I haven't shaved anything in years, I allow men the same freedom.

If I'm attracted to someone, I'm even more attracted to him if he doesn't have a beard. If I'm not attracted to someone, it makes no difference.

I've tried to grow one but can't get by the itch. Wind up shaving it off. Been clean shaven all my life.