5 simple but effective ways to grow your beard faster

In many cultures around the world, a symbol of power is a thick and rugged beard.

Growing a mustache or a full beard does take some perseverance and patience, especially since the growth rate will depend on your individual testosterone level and genetics.

How Long Does it Take to Grow a Beard?
When it comes to growing a beard, one of the most common misconceptions is that facial hair grows at the same rate as the hair on your scalp.

To clear that out once and for all – it doesn’t. Your beard actually grows faster than your hair, which is definitely a good thing.

Now, some of you may be surprised to hear that your facial hair follicles develop when you’re just a 5-month-old fetus.

When you eventually hit puberty, your hormones will become active and trigger your facial hair growth. Since that moment, you will be able to grow a beard.

However, some men won’t be able to have a beard, or at least, a full beard.

Hormones responsible for this are testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Testosterone will define your beard thickness, and DHT will affect its density.

Men that can’t grow a beard, or can grow just a little amount of facial hair have low levels of these two hormones so they can’t stimulate beard growth.

On the other hand, if you have 20 years and your beard is still patchy, that doesn’t mean your hormone levels are low.

It simply means that your body is not sensitive enough towards these hormones. On the other hand, being more sensitive to testosterone and DHT means that your beard will likely grow faster and at an earlier age.

If you’re struggling to make your beard grow faster, this scientific explanation will help you understand the pattern of your beard growth:

1. Testosterone and DHT travel from the bloodstream to the androgen receptors and up to your facial hair follicles.

2. Your body produces keratin by using some micro and macronutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbs, and fat.

3. During its growth, your facial hair will pass through three growth phases (anagen, catagen, telogen), just as the rest of the hairs on your body.

This is all great, but you’ve probably still wondering if there is something you can do to increase testosterone production in your body.

Fortunately, there are ways to do it, even without the use of supplements.

Exercising on a regular basis and a proper diet are undoubtedly the best ways to help your beard grow faster.

Besides that, make sure you’re incorporating enough proteins, carbs and good fats in your diet.

Working out, along with reducing stress and sleeping well will increase testosterone levels and help your body grow a beard faster.

To understand better, just ask yourself this: If your body is not in good shape, how can your beard grow healthier and faster?

You’re probably fed up with the constant talk about the importance of genetics in your overall beard growth. The reason you hear this so often is because it is true.

If your father could grow a beard, and you still can’t, or it’s patchy, just be patient a little longer.

One way or another, time and commitment are crucial things you are going to need to grow your beard properly. That’s just how things work.

While nature plays a huge role in just how fast and thick your beard will be, there are some simple steps you can incorporate into your day to help with the growing process.

How to Grow a Beard Faster if You Are a Teenager?
As already stated, time and patience are two essential things on every man’s beard journey. That’s why teenagers particularly struggle when it comes to beard growth.

When you are 14, 16, or 18 years old, patience is the one thing you always lack.

All you want is for your beard to grow faster, or if possible immediately.

However, that’s not how things happen. Beard growth rate is different for every man, just like everyone hits puberty at different times.

In the time of puberty, some teenagers may notice a few facial hairs growing on their face. That’s when they’ll start asking questions on how to make their beard grow faster.

However, your beard will start growing more when you’re between 18 and 20 years old. Then, once again, this doesn’t happen to everyone.

Maybe you are a late bloomer, and you will have to wait for your beard to grow faster and thicker a few more years.

In the meantime, you should grow what you’ve got now. Maybe you have some facial hair on your chin or just mustache without a beard. And that’s ok.

You can grow a goatee or shape your mustache as they grow. The key here is to work with what you’ve got at the moment, by trimming the areas that grow patchy or you’re not satisfied with.

It’s normal wanting to grow your beard faster when you’re a teenager, although it’s important to keep in mind how things work.

That being said, there are no magic beans that can grow your beard thicker and faster at the young age. There is no such thing even when you’re older.

No matter the age, the critical element in growing a beard is always patience, and proper care in the meantime.

Don’t get discouraged if your beard is not growing as quickly as you like, just follow some of these simple steps on how to grow a beard faster and stay committed to the process.

Step 1: Taking Care of Your Body
The reason why it is so important to take care of the body is because your facial hair condition is in direct relation to the health of the body.

Start by eating more foods that are rich in proteins like beans, eggs, and fish.

Stress is a killer when it comes to hair growth, leading to hair loss in many men.

Reduce the stress in your life by exercising more and getting a full night’s sleep each night.

Exercising will improve the circulation of the blood in the body, which will help to promote facial hair growth.

Use an exfoliant or scrub once a week to remove the dead cells on the face. This will help stimulate the growth of new hair.

Food for rapid and faster facial hair growth
Try to make it a point each day to keep the face as clean as possible, rinsing with warm water and mild soap at least each morning and evening.

The clean facial skin encourages tiny hairs to grow.

Keep in mind that nothing beats well rounded and healthy eating habits. Food in the list below is guaranteed to promote rapid hair growth.

33+ Foods That Will Help You Grow Your Beard
PROTEINS NUTS & SEEDS FRUIT GREENS
Poultry (chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks..) Almonds Apples Cabbage
Eggs Walnuts Oranges Lettuce
Fish Peanuts Blueberries Collards
Red Meat Cashews Strawberries Spinach
Beans Hazelnuts Grapes Broccoli
Yogurt, Milk, Cheese Pistachios Papayas Kale
Sunflower Seeds Lemons Brussels Sprouts
Flaxseed Limes
Kiwis
Pomegranate
Avocado
Pineapple
Step 2: Committing to the Process
One of the reasons many men struggle to grow a beard quickly is they often give up just at the point where progress is being made.

When you are trying to grow that beard quickly, there is going to come a period where the skin will become itchy to the point you are scratching your beard day and night.

This discomfort is usually where those who are not serious about growing a beard simply shave it right off.

In order for the beard to grow in, you have to be willing to allow at least four weeks for the hairs to grow.

Take a look at this 100 days of beard growth time lapse:

During these four weeks, you are going to go through many periods of uncontrollable itching.

If you avoid that temptation to shave it off when the itching becomes unbearable, you will reach a point where the hairs will soften and the itching will subside. Once the facial hair becomes soft, the growth will be less irritating.

Step 3: Minerals and Vitamins
Healthy food for growing a healthy beard
In addition to eating better, you can help your beard grow faster by supplementing your diet with the appropriate minerals and vitamins.

Talk with your physician about taking at least 2 mg of biotin each day.

This supplement is available in health food and vitamin stores, and will help to increase both the growth of your nails and your facial hair.

Start to incorporate more vegetables and fruits into your diet, they are rich in the minerals and vitamins that the hair needs in order to grow more rapidly.

Without the appropriate nutrients in your body, you begin to slow down the production of the hair.

Look into increasing your daily intake of vitamin B6, beta-carotene, vitamin C, flax seed oil, vitamin E, and nettle (we suggest taking high-quality Multivitamin – Men’s One Multivitamin ).

In your effort to grow your beard more quickly, don’t overdo it with these supplements.

Speak with your doctor and explain to them which you will be taking so they can work with you to create a well-rounded and safe supplement routine.

Step 4: Leaving the Beard Alone
During the first month of trying to grow your beard, you are going to find it looks like a wild forest growing on your face. This is when you are going to want to trim it up and start shaping it to look cleaner.

As difficult as it will be during these first few weeks, you have to resist the urge to do any grooming whatsoever of the hair.

Don’t trim, don’t shape, and don’t cut any of the hairs in the beard. As difficult as this might be to understand, the beard is going to grow faster if you can simply leave it alone.

Once you reach the 4 – 6 week mark, then you can begin to shape and clean up the region as much as you like. Forget the old wives tale about trimming the hair makes it grow thicker and darker and faster.

Currently, there is zero scientific evidence that supports those claims.

The hair is going to be stiff those first few weeks, you just need to wait until the point that it softens, then you can clean it up any way you prefer.

Step 5: Drink More Water
Not only your body but also your beard needs enough water to grow faster and fuller. Although that sounds obvious, most men neglect it and don’t hydrate themselves properly.

Water, along with minerals, vitamins, and foods rich in proteins, is essential for your beard to grow faster. Opposite of that, insufficient water will cause your beard to grow slower.

This happens because when you don’t drink as much water as your body needs, the amount of blood that flows to your face will also be reduced, and your beard won’t grow fast.

Without the right amount of water every day, the cells won’t regenerate as quickly as they should because they won’t receive the nutrients needed to do that.

The result is a coarser, drier beard that can’t grow fast as you want it to.

Scientists claim that everything between 64 and 80 oz. of water daily is the optimal amount of water an adult man should drink to grow his beard faster.

Step 6: Stop Smoking
Although science hasn’t fully uncovered all the effects that cigarette smoke has on beard growth, there are some conclusions so far.

It’s being discovered that smoking affects the beard just as aging. Only a few cigarettes a day unable proper blood circulation to the hair’s root.

This way facial hair cells don’t get enough blood needed for healthy growth, and the result is a beard that grows slower or not at all.

By making you feel like you’ve consumed enough food, even if you didn’t, smoking will prevent you from taking the vitamins and minerals found in food, which you need to grow your beard faster.

And like that isn’t enough, smoking regularly can result in your beard turning grey prematurely.

Combine that with your beard not growing fast enough, and you’ll think twice before smoking another cigarette if you want your beard to grow faster.

Step 7: Moisturize Your Beard
Keeping your skin and beard clean and moisturized will not only make your beard look fuller over time, but it will also grow faster.

Beard oil made with natural ingredients will ensure that your beard is not dry or irritated.

Dry and brittle beard is more likely to break. Whatsmore, you can experience split ends, which in most cases leads to damaging and cutting off your beard.

However, with so many beard oils these days, you may find yourself confused when choosing the right one. After all, not all of them are of the same quality.

Some studies suggest that products with eucalyptus can help grow a beard faster than the others.

Step 8: Condition Your Beard
work on your beard to grow it faster
Beard conditioner and shampoo go hand in hand. The best way to combine them is to wash your beard with a beard shampoo first.

It’s preferable to choose beard shampoo made with tea tree oil because it is proven that tea tree oil removes dead skin and oil buildups and prevents ingrown facial hairs and dandruff.

Related article: How to Get Rid of Beard Dandruff

After shampoo, it’s time to apply some good beard conditioner. Using only the shampoo can make your beard more prone to breaking.

A conditioner will help your facial hair be softer and healthier, helping your beard grow faster.

Step 9: Exfoliate Your Skin and Beard
Dead cells on your face often impede the growth of new beard.

By scrubbing and rinsing your skin and beard with mild soap and warm water at least once a week, you’ll remove these cells, thus helping new facial hairs grow faster.

After that, apply your beard oil and massage it thoroughly into your skin and beard. Massage will improve blood circulation, and that will help your beard grow faster.

Step 10: Stop Picking Your Beard Constantly
Ideas are often born from beard stroking. But stroking your beard occasionally is one thing, and constant grabbing and picking it something entirely different.

If you’re always plucking your beard, you may soon experience your facial hairs falling off, causing unnatural patchiness.

Some men don’t grab their beards, but instead, they brush or comb it more often than necessary. Once to two times a day is usually enough.

In any of these cases, you’re not helping your beard grow faster. In fact, you’re doing quite the opposite. If you really want your beard to grow faster, just leave it alone.

Step 11: Don’t Fall For Common Beard Grooming Myths
Shaving does not make your beard grow faster. There, we said it.

20 biggest beard myths busted
Click on the image to view 20 biggest beard myths busted.

You can’t remove your beard entirely and at the same time expect it to grow faster.

Other myths have a lot to do with products that promise faster beard growth. Again, it doesn’t exist pill you can just swallow and grow your beard faster.

Mostly, products that promise instant beard growth are beard growth oils and beard growth sprays. Both of these don’t work at all.

Beard oil does have a lot of benefits, but growing your beard out of the blue is not one of them.

More Extreme Ways to Grow a Beard Faster
Minoxidil (Rogaine)
Whenever talking about growing a beard faster or thicker, it’s almost impossible not to mention Rogaine.

This product works by increasing nutrients, testosterone and DHT circulation to the beard follicles.

Some men have reported that their beard has grown faster within 6-12 month while using Minoxidil every day.

However, there are also some flows you need to be aware of.

Same men that have grown their beard faster and thicker by using Rogaine reported that after they stopped using it, the effects disappeared.

Also, Rogaine doesn’t work for everyone. Having all this in mind, you can decide if it’s the right solution for growing your beard faster.

Microneedling
Whether you’ve heard about a microneedle (derma roller) or not, you should know that there are some theories that this method makes a beard grow faster.

It works by stimulating blood circulation to the specific area on your face, thus delivering necessary nutrients and hormones to the hair follicle.

As the name suggests, this method uses small needles that poke tiny holes into the area of your face where there aren’t any hairs.

These microneedles send signals to your body that a particular face area is damaged. Your body then sends keratin and collagen into that area to repair your skin and, therefore, your beard.

Men that used this method claim it was even more effective when combined with Rogaine.

Red Light Therapy
This is one of the less known methods of growing a beard faster.

Science says that 20-30 minutes a day of red laser pointed to a beardless area on your face can efficiently produce cellular energy in the beard follicles leading to increased beard growth.

It is said that when you combine red light therapy with micro needling, minoxidil and a proper diet, your beard will almost definitely grow faster than before.

Beard Transplant
Transplanting the beard is considered the most extreme of all ways that can make your beard grow faster.

Hairs needed for this surgery are taken from your hair and transplanted into your face.

Those that experienced this surgery confirmed that it helped them have a thicker beard, but it was costly.

Price aside, beard transplant requires surgery and you should consider if you want to put yourself through all that effort and potential health risk just to have a beard.

All these extreme ways of growing a beard shouldn’t be done without consulting with your doctor first. Also, whenever possible, these extreme methods should be avoided.

After all, there are so many natural ways of growing your beard faster that work much better without any health risks