WHEN, IF EVER IS IT OK TO SHAVE OFF YOUR BEARD?

'When is it ok to shave your beard?' In short, the simple answer to that question is NEVER! But from time to time we see bearded gentlemen taking to the internet to share their murderous attacks on their facial forest to just jump backwards in the evolution chain from men to boys. (Calm down, just a little light hearted humour Mr nakey face!)

But is there ever a good reason to shave off your beard? Maybe for a charitable cause? To please the wife? the boss? the friends? Let's take a look at some of the reasons behind doing so, and if, in my own opinion it's ever a good move to do so...

Firstly, you might have decided to shave off your once glorious beard-mane to have a change of image. 9 times out of 10 you'll regret doing so. When you grow out a beard it's not just a face full of hair. It's a huge part of who you are and the image that your portray. It's a known fact that once a beard has been axed from a mans face, 8 out of the 10 times the beholder will instantly begin to grow out once more, proving that this new image you're chasing is clearly not answered by taking to the razor.

You could have been pressured into shaving off your beard by a loved one or a couple of friends (It's usually the wife!) who is itching to see the face hidden beneath the all that gruff. But more often than not the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and they might not be as overly joyed by the outcome as they perhaps first expected they would be. I spoke about this the other day in a beard blog, but when I had a trimming disaster that had me left with little choice other than to start over on my beard growing game, the wife, who up until this point has voiced her displeasure for my ginger beard - made it real obviously clear that my now moon faced complexion wasn't the look she had once fallen in love with. In other words throughout the months I'd been growing out my beard, she too had been becoming rather attached to the new look and image without even realising she was doing so. So much so that when she was greeted by the old 'clean shaven Frankie' look she soon admitted she rather missed the beard. So, if your loved ones are anything like mine, you might be greeted by a very similar outcome.

Sometimes people do outstandingly generous deeds, by choosing to raise funds for various charities by agreeing to shave off their beloved furry face beards. Now, whilst I highly applaud the bravery shown by any man who so chooses to do so. I have to be the first to admit I really don't think I could ever personally do such a thing. Reason being? I guess I just haven't got the balls to commit to losing my beard-mane. I'm not suggesting people shouldn't, In fact I praise any man who does so, because in my book you're a real legend! One of our 'The Beard Struggle' ambassadors, Yutaka is set to participate in having his beard chopped for charity in the coming months, weal be sure to keep you posted on the finer details nearer the time.

Your kids will hate the new clean shave look if you do take the plunge and axe away your facial fluff. You've only gotta take a moment to search on YouTube to confirm this. It appears the younger the child the more tears shall flow. What you have to remember when it comes to kids, they make a mental image of your face and quickly associate you as Daddy. This mental image the process includes your marvelous beard. Take away that beard and you're a whole new face for the younger ones to process. In turn rather than try to understand you are still indeed Daddy, their learning minds usually register your image as somebody they don't know and struggle to mentally familiarise with. Like a stranger if you will. Now, over a couple of hours they usually warm to the baby faced Daddy look, but put yourself in their shoes if only for a moment and admit it. It must be truly terrifying from their point of view!

So, in short is there ever a good time to shave your beard? If your'e doing this for the right reasons then I guess so! All I would strongly suggest is that you are indeed 100% sure of the weight of your actions before following through with them. As you don't want to act rash and live to instantly regret it.

That's another beard blog completed for today folks. As always leave us any questions or thoughts you may have in the comments section provided below.

And until next time, Beard on Brothers, Beard on...