Show us your beard!

[Razor X]

Nice pic, lightbulp!   

Here's an up-close-and-personal shot of mine, taken today:

[Mr Jules]

Here's an up-close-and-personal shot of mine, taken today:

Nice coverage and well trimmed there, Razor X.

Is that a combination of visits to the barber and your own shaving ?

[Razor X]

Is that a combination of visits to the barber and your own shaving ?

Yes.  It was last trimmed by the barber almost two weeks ago.

[TheSlyBear]

Looking good, Razor.

[baldjoeg]

Great looking Van Dyke Razor. I see yours is two toned like mine meaning it is partly grey. It looks great on you and is well shaped. Well trimmed by you and the barber. You look very distinguished. Thanks for sharing. The van dyke and your bald dome look great together.

[Razor X]

Great looking Van Dyke Razor. I see yours is two toned like mine meaning it is partly grey. It looks great on you and is well shaped. Well trimmed by you and the barber. You look very distinguished. Thanks for sharing. The van dyke and your bald dome look great together.

Thank you.  Yes, I am definitely sporting the two-toned look these days, though it appears that I'm destined for pure white instead of grey. It looks a lot better now that the white has spread and is more evenly distributed.  I never liked the patchy look very much.

[reddog]

That brings up a question. Has anyone colored their beard? I think shaving off my grey hair make me look younger, wondering how young I could look if I colored my beard dark. Can you get a temporary color?

[Sir Harry]

Lightbulp: Nice beard, and looks like it grew really fast!
Razor: Nice looking Van Dyke, like the two-tone color
Reddog: I'm sure there are members who have colored their facial hair, but yours looks well-shaped as is or whatever color you decide to use, if any.

[Razor X]

That brings up a question. Has anyone colored their beard? I think shaving off my grey hair make me look younger, wondering how young I could look if I colored my beard dark. Can you get a temporary color?

I think your beard looks terrific the way it is.  Mine seems to be headed for the same color but unfortunately I don't have your darker complexion to offset it. 

It is hard to color a beard and get a consistent natural looking result -- especially when the entire beard is grey.  It looks good now; don't tamper with success.

[xnewyawka]

I agree with Razor on this reddog; Keep it as it is. Better to be yourself, be natural, as you can usually tell a dye job. Your beard is a uniform color that looks fine.
I am heading in the same direction, with most of the grey taking over the brown. It is what it is.

Also, I believe the Van Dyke is a mustache and goatee attached, while a true goatee is just hair grown on the chin.

[TheSlyBear]

I'm obviously going to come down on the side of leaving the face fur natural.   

But if you do decide to color it, be sure not to go overboard.

My partner, like Razor, was unhappy with the white coming into his beard until it evened out. When it was just starting to go white and was patchy, he'd use Just for Men to color it.

He learned early on that if you leave it in long enough to color every single hair the same color, it looks as fake as a bad toupee. If you look at natural hair, it's a variety of colors. So the trick is too go light on the coloring and leave it in only a short while to avoid looking like it's a piece of plastic you glued to your face.

[Razor X]

I certainly don't want to look any older than I have to.  I shaved my beard shortly after I turned 40 because I thought the grey was making me look too old.  The amount of grey I had then was nothing compared to what I have now.  But I found that I could not adjust to clean shaven face. I tried for about two months but just didn't like the way I looked.  I decided that a grey beard was better than no beard.  And then I came to terms with the cold hard truth that regardless of whether I was bearded or clean shaven, and regardless of what color my beard was, no one was ever going to mistake me for a 25 year old.  .  Hell, I can't even pretend to be under 40 anymore.   

I wouldn't have minded an overall salt-and-pepper look, but what I got was random white patches that looked like a coloring job done by a 5-year-old.  Things are finally starting to even out and I'm actually at the point where I'm ready for the white to take over so I can have a consistent color again.  In another year or two maybe I can grow a Santa beard and give Marsh a run for his money. 

I really do like reddog's platinum beard. I wish I had his darker complexion to go with my (eventually) solid white beard.

[TheSlyBear]

I often wonder if mine will ever go completely white. It's been doing the salt-n-pepper thing for quite some time now. And while the percentage of salt to pepper is steadily increasing, I'm not sure if it'll ever take over completely.

No matter really. it's all good.

[reddog]

OK, I'm convinced, no coloring. At least the s/o said she was ok with my being sly, but never wants me to shave the beard.

[Razor X]

OK, I'm convinced, no coloring. At least the s/o said she was ok with my being sly, but never wants me to shave the beard.

Sounds like a good compromise to me.