Hullo bearded folks, as promised here's the 7 weeks update. As the recent string of posts can testify I had a very bad day the other day that almost made me do something regrettable. Luckily IrishDan was there to pull me up by the chin at points during the last week I've had misgivings about my beard just "not looking right"… sure, I can tell it's thickened up a lot and the added bulk irons out some of the imperfections but still, to me it looked and felt wrong - exceedingly coarse, brittle, dull… I could go on but you get the idea, seems like we never run out of words when it comes to (pointless) self-dissecting.
The good news is that in a way I was right - the beard just didn't look as good as it should have, and that simply because I was grooming it with the wrong tools. All along I'd been using a brush I had around the house, assuming it was pure boar bristle - until the other day, in a fit of paranoia, I snipped off a bristle and put it to the lighter, and whoa - lovely burnet plastic smell. No wonder the beard got so frizzy and full of static after every brush down, and the worse the more I tried to fix it. So I went and got a proper boar bristle brush, and even just two days's use have made a day and night difference. Sure the hair is getting curlier with length and it tends to go wherever it wants, but I can already see a massive improvement in the way it lies down after being brushed, and it doesn't feel anywhere as coarse as it used to.
Hope any new members will read this as it's a lesson learned the hard way - if you want to grow it, theres no cutting corners!

Apart from that, reactions continue to be positive. Had some very good feedback today at martial arts class, where no one had seen me for a few weeks due to a dodgy knee, and even got the stamp of approval from the teacher's daughter - and if even an extremely fashion-conscious brazilian teenager OKs it, really nothing can stand in my way now

Thanks in advance for all the encouragement and advice that I'm sure is going to come, and on to week 8. Beard on everyone!

Pics:

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Close up - can really see the wave here, and a lot of copper hair mixed in with the dark brown.

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… and finally one in natural light, just before leaving the house.

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