Hello all bearded gentlemen. Been away from the beard board for a few months, aside from a bit of snooping now and then didn't really have time to participate that much... but now that the year is drawing to a close I'm restarting my old topic because I've finally gathered the bottle to go for the full beard.

Through the summer I've been playing with my face fuzz a bit, from Hollywoodian to Anchor to Balbo to solo goatee... it was good fun but with the turn of the season I've started to wish for something more rugged and substantial. So, on the first of December I've stopped shaving altogether, starting from an established Balbo. Early impressions are that I might be able to pull it off after all. I've been re-reading Fork and Leopard's journeys and it's been a great motivation to give it a try. It's likely that my beard will always be a bit bottom-heavy but I'm feeling optimistic - two weeks in, I can already tell that my coverage on the sides has improved from only one year ago, so I suppose (well, hope) it'll keep improving in the future.

For now I'm not feeling very self-conscious about it. It's a bit scruffy as expected at this stage but the strong goatee draws most of the attention I guess - haven't heard a single remark yet, either negative or positive. Luckily my work situation has stabilized and there are no romantic prospects in sight, so for the next future I'll be free to just do my thing and not worry about other people's opinions.

The plan is to go for the standard 3 months and then assess. If the sides are still flakey by then I'll probably carve a Riker or Hollywoodian, but wider at the front then last time. If they turn out ok, I'll cary on growing - my ideal would be three to five inches long, tapered to the front (think King Leonidas). We'll see.

Pictures below (excuse the miserable face, I was just out of bed). Really look forward to your feedback and advice gentlemen. All the best!

Grill shot.

image

Left side (sparse but uniform).

 image

Right side (thicker but patchy).

image