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It’s a common belief that shaving can actually encourage beard growth. But is it true, or is it a myth? We know that beard growth heavily depends on genetics, hormones, age, habits, and ethnicity, not shaving.
To understand if shaving can help with beard growth, you have to understand how beard growth works. But if you are looking for a short answer, here it is: there’s no scientific evidence that shaving your beard will help increase the rate of growth, and after you read about how beard growth works, you’ll understand why.
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Does shaving make your beard grow thicker?
Well, this is not true either. You might notice slightly thicker and darker hair after shaving because when you shave, your facial hair is cut off close to its root, where its diameter is bigger, and the color is darker. But soon after, the hair will grow back to its normal thickness and darkness. The myth that the beard grows thicker after you cut it is based on this illusion.
To grow a thicker beard, you need to create new facial hair follicles. And this can’t happen by shaving. The only way to do this is by increasing testosterone, which is the male hormone that makes facial hair grow faster.
So does shaving help with hair thickness? No, it doesn’t!
Does Shaving help grow your beard faster?
In order to answer this question, we need to talk about the beard growth phases. We have talked a lot about them in other posts but let’s remember how it works.
So there are 4 successive beard growth phases in your facial hair’s life cycle.
- The anagen phase also called the growth phase, is when your hair grows. This phase lasts between three and five years.
- The catagen phase follows directly after anagen, and it’s a transition stage where the hair stops growing or falls out. This phase lasts around two weeks.
- The telogen phase is the resting period that follows after catagen. This phase lasts around two to four months.
- The exogen phase is when your hair falls out after telogen. This happens for around 3 months or so.
But this isn’t a one-time process. The anagen cycle will first start over, and new hair will start growing.
In order to grow your beard faster, you need to increase the rate of your facial hair’s growth during the anagen phase; this cannot happen by shaving your beard.
Does Shaving slow down beard growth?
No shaving doesn’t slow down your facial hair growth, but it can be a barrier to it, especially if you have sensitive skin. This is because it can cause skin irritation and ingrown hair, which makes it harder for your facial hair to grow.
How to grow a thicker beard?
In order to make your beard thicker, you need to increase the number of hairs on your face. This can’t happen by shaving. So how do you make your beard thicker?
1. Increase testosterone
As already mentioned, the only way to grow more facial hair is by increasing your hair follicles, and this can be done by increasing your testosterone production. But how do you increase testosterone? This can happen through healthy lifestyle habits like sleeping well, exercising, and eating right. That will give you more energy, which can help with hormonal balance. There are also some products that help with beard growth, but you should make sure to have a healthy lifestyle first.
2. Stay hydrated
The most important thing to keep in mind before growing a beard is to take care of your skin. Stay hydrated and always moisturize after shaving or washing your face. That will prevent dryness, flaking, redness, beard itch, and irritation which can slow down your beard growth rate.
How to grow your beard faster?
While we have a whole article dedicated to what to do to make your facial hair grow faster, let’s recap some basic stuff here.
Your beard growth rate is decided by your genetics and hormones. And while there isn’t much to do to increase the growth rate, you can make your beard fuller and darker by taking care of your skin and gradually increasing testosterone levels.
As mentioned, you need to increase testosterone production and reduce stress and anxiety to grow your beard faster. You should also take care of your skin by using natural oils like jojoba oil, olive oil, and castor oil.
Wash your face with beard-friendly products – Wash your facial hair with beard wash twice per week. You should not overwash your facial hair or use a normal shampoo as that can dry out your beard and lead to breakage.
Reduce stress – When you are stressed, your testosterone production is reduced, which means slower facial hair growth. Try meditation, exercise, and spend time in nature. When you get stressed, your body produces cortisol, which negatively impacts testosterone levels.
Have a balanced diet – Eat lots of protein and zinc. Make sure to eat a healthy amount of carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins.
You should pay special attention to what you eat as it greatly impacts your facial hair growth. Make sure to take vitamins and protein supplements if needed.
You should also make sure not to eat too much sugar because it can cause insulin resistance and lower testosterone production.
And, of course, you can always use supplements like biotin to make your facial hair grow faster.
Exercise – One of the many benefits of exercise is the positive effect on testosterone levels, so take time to exercise regularly. It can also reduce stress and anxiety and have a great impact on general health and well-being.
Beard Products that can help with facial Hair growth
Minoxidil
Minoxidil is a great supplement to tackle some of the challenges of growing a beard. It increases blood flow and oxygenation to your facial hair follicles, stimulating new growth and making existing hairs stronger and healthier.
Beard Grow XL
This is one of the most popular supplements among men who want to grow their beards faster. It’s designed with all-natural ingredients that stimulate the production of DHT – one of the major hormones responsible for facial hair growth. So if you are struggling to grow a beard, Beard Grow XL will help you achieve your goal by increasing your beard growth rate.
Microneedling
One of the most effective ways to grow facial hair fast is by using micro-needling. It’s a process where you roll hundreds of tiny needles on your face. These micro-perforations cause new cells and collagen production, which helps with beard growth. It’s the same process that plastic surgeons use to rejuvenate your skin underneath and grow new collagen which is why it’s such an effective treatment for fuller, healthy beards.
Beard Oil
Many beard growth oils on the market are designed to increase your facial hair growth rate. They will not directly affect your hormonal balance but will nourish your facial hair and skin to improve blood flow and nutrient delivery to your beard.
You just need to make sure that you choose the right beard oil by looking at all its ingredients. A good beard growth oil should have Vitamin E, Argan oil, and a mix of B-vitamins, which can help improve your hair quality while increasing the speed of your beard growth.
FAQ
Should I shave to grow a beard?
No, you should not. Shaving and growing a beard has nothing to do with each other. You can have a great-looking beard without shaving.
You should decide whether you want to grow your facial hair or not depending on how much time and effort you are willing to spend on it each day.
If you are happy with the length of your beard, then there is no need for you to shave it off.
Does trimming help beard growth?
No, trimming does not help beard growth.
This is because hair growth occurs underneath the skin and not on the surface of your skin which means that you need to stimulate it from within for it to grow long and thick. You can do this by eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and using the right beard supplements as we mentioned above.
How To Grow A Mustache Faster?
The mustache is part of your facial hair so it follows the same rules of hair growth as your beard.
You have to avoid trimming it and let it grow long so you can create a thicker mustache. There are many mustache styles that you can choose from depending on how much time you plan to spend on each day.
How To Grow A Thicker Mustache?
Again, this is similar to growing a beard. You have to focus on eating the right foods, exercising regularly, and using hair supplements in order to achieve your goal.
Does Shaving Affect The Color Of Your Beard?
Yes, shaving can affect the color of your hair. The color near the root of your hair follicles will be darker than the color of your hair at the tip.
This is because when you have limited blood flow to a certain area, your body will compensate by depositing more melanin (your natural skin pigment) which makes your hair appear darker.
This means that if you shave your beard off, it will affect its color which might make it appear slightly different than before (Usually darker).
Conclusion
We hope that by now, you understand that shaving your beard and beard growth is a myth, and there are other things you can do to help your facial hair grow thicker, like eating the right foods, exercising regularly, and using high-quality hair supplements.
Also, check out our article on how to grow a beard for the first time if you are a complete beginner with no idea where to start.
And as always, if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below, and we will get back to you.
Thanks for reading!
Russell is the founder of themensattitude.com. He is a barber a beard enthusiast and he is obsessed with trying men’s lifestyle products and blog about them. If you have any questions you can hit him up via the contact page.
