4 THINGS I WISH I KNEW ABOUT BEARDS BEFORE I BEGAN GROWING ON

I've grown rather attached to my beard, I know I know, starting off a Thursday morning blog post with a cheap pun might not be the best of starts, but it's true!

Ask any bearded man and they too will agree that their marvelous beard is much more than just a little hair sprouting out of their chin. It's the first thing everyone will notice about you, you'll probably get labelled with several fun beard related nicknames such as 'Uncle Beardy Face' (one of my personal favourites!) or you might get mistaken for the singer songwriter 'Rag N Bone' Man.

Although I wouldn't be without my beard now, there are often certain things I wish I knew about growing a beard prior to beginning my 'beard growing journey' taking place that might have made my life that little bit smoother, shall we say.

Today, I wanted to highlight a small collection of these in order to hopefully lend a hand to those of you who may have just began your beard growing journey, or relate to those of you, like myself, who already pack an impressive beard.

So, let us begin as we discuss 4 Things About Beards I Wish I Knew Before I Began Growing One...

WHEN BEARDS FIRST BEGIN TO SPROUT, THE ITCH LIKE DAMN CRAZY!

We've all heard of the dreaded 'beard itch' phase. Many of us have in fact experienced this first hand. But my lord, how irritating is it!! In hindsight if I only knew how unbelievably irritating and uncontrollably uncomfortable our stubble can be when it first begins to grow, I might not have been so enthusiastic to grow a beard in the first place.

I've had many friends attempt growing a beard to only fall at this itching stage, but thankfully I am pleased to report it doesn't last all that long, and you can help ease the process by keeping your skin well hydrated with either a good skin moisturizer, or a touch of 'TBS' beard oil (yes, your stubble needs to be cared for too!)

So, rest easy brother. that dreaded itchy face of yours will soon be a distant memory forever more, and rightfully so.

GROWING A BEARD TAKES A WHOLE LOT OF TIME!

Whoever thought a man only grows a beard because they are in fact 'too lazy' to shave and want to save some time each morning couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, a man might save 15 minutes each morning to begin with, but once a man's beard begins to take shape that is when the work really begins.

Ask any beardsmen and they'll no doubt have their very own beard grooming routine which often involves lots of beard combing, washing, oiling, and the amount of socail media selfies we take is just ridiculous! (No? Just me then)

Yes, taking good care of your beard can be very time consuming, but is it worth it? You can bet your ass it is!

CURLY, STRAIGHT, LONG AND SHORT, NO TWO BEARDS ARE EVER THE SAME!

Another assumption that we often get wrong is expecting that you can grow a beard identical to that Google image you admired that first gave you the inspiration to begin to grow out your beard. Whilst the idea that we can make our beards grow out as we wish them to, it's rather unrealistic, because no two beards are ever the same.

For example, when I first began growing my beard it grew out pretty straight and rather easy to manage. Then when it reached a certain length it began having a mind of its very own, and looked wilder each morning looking worse than an untamed yard lawn.

Whereas, that bastard 'Bob' from work might decide to grow out a beard, which could grow much faster than your own and look flawless in the process. It's about learning to work with what you have and appreciate that your fuzzy face is unique to you and you alone for all the right reasons.

YOUR BEARD MIGHT BE A TINT OF GINGER, EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A REDHEAD!

Here's another pointer I was blissfully unaware of when I first started growing out my beard. You might have noticed your beard has a touch of red/ginger to it, but why? You're not a 'redhead' so having a ginger beard makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The reasons as to why your beard might be ginger is rather lengthy, but can be discovered right here in a previous blog post of ours. But try not to sweat it. As stated earlier, learn to love your beard for what it is. Be it ginger, blonde, black, brown, pink or purple. it's your beard and yours alone, so rock the sh*t out of it proudly, Brother.

So, there you have it, 4 Things About Beards I Wish I Knew Before I Began Growing One. Have I missed something from today's list? Or do you have a beard related question you'd like to ask us? Then why not leave us a comment below!