Ah.. the elusive beard....

[wutwutman]

I've always wanted a beard.  But facial hair in any quatity is not something I am blessed with.  I was well into my late 20s nearly 30 before I could manage a decent goatee LOL  I wont even mention the 'stache.

So earlier this year, after a near death experience, I decide change was in order.  So I shaved off the 'stache.  EVeryone freaked out cuz they new how happy I was when it finally grew in LOL  I love the look.  But I decided that I needed SOME facial hair so I began the beard quest.  That was in January.  It is now July and I have what is at best described as a "furry chin strap".  I know.. it's pitiful, but dammit I WILL have a beard LOL  I have crazy density issues.

Any tips or magic potions that promote beard growth?  Or words of encouragement for someone that really want to be the "bald guy with the beard"...

[slybeard]

I have mentioned it on other threads, but I was in my mid  to late 40's before my beard filled in enough for a full beard (I am 51 now).  So I have been where you are now.  For years, all I could do was a goatee and mustache.  Not to say that your beard will definitely fill in more as you age, but it may.  I do not think there are any magic potions, if I had one I would be rich by now.

We all have different genetics. Some of us get us male pattern baldness at an early age, some get a nice full beard in our teens.  Others have to wait, and some may never develop a full beard.  I am not sure beards and MPB are related, but my beard started to fill in more as my hair started thinning.

Make the best out of what you have to work with now.  Create your own style, you don't have to fit the mold of "accepted" beard styles.

[Ming the Merciless]

What genes and hormones and time give you in the facial hair department is all you will get.  There is no fertilizer to give an augmented crop of what grows in the fields below the dome.  Make do with what there is.  If the mustache is OK, go with that (your pic seems to show a decent seeding). 

Yes, I would like something that would have given Ming a bumper crop in what grows down lower (seasonally variable; not in the follicle department), but what's there is there, and I do what I can with what I'm given, harvesting often.

[Natedawg]

These 2 gentlemen have given you the gist of it, wutwutman. Time and genetics are the two key ingredients for a fine beard. Age may bring more growth (10 years ago, I wouldn't have been able to grow what I have now), but one shouldn't count on that.
Ming nailed it on the head: Make do with what you have. I believe the key is to keep trying different things/styles. Don't go into it expecting a certain outcome, or you may never discover what's best for you.  Good luck!

[wutwutman]

Thanks for the sage advice guys